Burning Impossibly Bright

Hey everyone! How are you all? I'm doing well - I've settled into Sixth Form at school now and am really enjoying it - and also learning to balance school work with reading and blogging, hopefully! Here's what I've been reading this month!       1. Rules of Summer by Joanna Albin 2. Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter 3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 4. Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter 5. United We Spy by Ally Carter 6. Model Misfit by Holly Smale 7. Weirdos vs Quimboids by Natasha Desborough As you can probably tell I really loved Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series, and I read them all in order (ish - I had to read Dorian Gray in between books 4 and 5 for school - boo! and they didn't have them in the library so I had to wait for them).. Anyway, it was as in order as I could get them :P I really loved them and I think the series might be one of my favourites - and I'm thinking I will review it as a series soon, as that will...

This Song Will Save Your Life Leila Sales 10th October 2013 Macmillan Children's Books Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing. Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together. It was probably kind of inevitable that I was going to love This Song Will Save Your Life. I love contemporary books, and I love them even more when they're about music and I love them even even more when they're about the kind of music that I like, and when that m...

Title:  Model Misfit Author:  Holly Smale Series:   Geek Girl, #2 Pages:   356 Publisher:  HarperCollins' Children's Books Date of Publication:  26th September 2013 Source:  Publishers, via NetGalley Synopsis from Goodreads: “My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek.” Harriet knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year, though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this. What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives. With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes. Because, this time, Harri...

The Dream Thieves Maggie Stiefvater 18th September 2013 Scholastic UK The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater! Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after… I don't want to speak too soon, but I think I may have a new favourite Maggie Stiefvater book. The Dream Thieves was just brilliant. Usually I find that second books are not always as good as the first, but The Dream Thieves was, in my opinion, better than The Raven Boys. And I think that the next two books (I think it's a quartet?) will just keep on getting better. I really love these books, and I really love Maggie Stiefvater. ...

Hey everyone! Sorry I've not been posting much, again... Anyway, today I've got another awesome guest post from Katie Dale to celebrate her new book, Little White Lies ! __________ LITTLE WHITE LIES Gorgeous Christian is a mystery. Why does he dye his hair, clam up whenever Lou asks about his past, and have no family photos? But when Christian’s secret is publicly revealed, Lou finds herself in terrible danger – and keeping secrets of her own… As lie follows lie, nothing is as it seems, and soon Lou finds herself ensnared in a web of deceit, her loyalties torn, her emotions in tatters as she faces a heart-wrenching dilemma: should she shatter the lives of those she holds dearest, or betray the guy who, against all odds, she's fallen in love with? LITTLE WHITE LIES by Katie Dale Published by Simon & Schuster UK August 2013 Website: katiedaleuk.blogspot.com Twitter: @katiedaleuk __________ A lot of things that have happened in my life have somehow made their way into my ...

Letterbox Love is the UK's version of IMM, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at  Narratively Speaking  :) For review: World After by Susan Ee (I wasn't hugely in love with Angelfall, but I'm still looking forward to reading this and finding out what happens next. Thank you Hodder!) This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (I am really excited about this! I'm hoping it'll help to pass the time until I can get my grubby little hands on a copy of Fangirl. Thank you Macmillan!) That's all for me this week! What did you get? 

Briar Rose Jana Oliver 12th September 2013 Macmillan Children's Books A dark and sexy reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale from the author of THE DEMON TRAPPERS. For Briar Rose, life is anything but a fairy tale. She's stuck in a small town in deepest Georgia with parents who won't let her out of their sight, a bunch of small-minded, gossiping neighbours and an evil ex who's spreading nasty rumours about what she may or may not have done in the back of his car. She's tired of it all, so when, on her sixteenth birthday, her parents tell her that she is cursed and will go to sleep for a hundred years when the clock strikes midnight, she's actually kind of glad to leave it all behind. She says her goodbyes, lies down, and closes her eyes . . . And then she wakes up. Cold, alone and in the middle of the darkest, most twisted fairy tale she could ever have dreamed of. Now Briar must fight her way out of the story that has been created for her, but she can...

Letterbox Love is the UK's version of IMM, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at  Narratively Speaking  :) For review: Shine by Candy Courlay (I haven't heard much about this book, but it looks really sweet and I like the cover a lot. Thanks Random House!) The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (AHHHH. I loved the Raven Boys a lot so I am really excited about reading The Dream Thieves. Thank you so much Scholastic!) Hurt by Tabitha Suzuma (Also really looking forward to this. Tabitha Suzuma is amazing and I'm sure this book will break my little heart. Thanks again, Random House!) Also, winner! The winner of the United We Spy giveaway is: *drumroll* Zaynab! Congrats!  Awesome. So what did you get in your letterbox this week? :)

Hello! Just thought I'd drop in on this fine Friday the 13th to say that it's now officially been three years since I started this fair old blog. That feels like a really long time for me Usually two years is the point at which I start to give up on things, so I think I can count this blog as a personal success. And I thought I should do something to commemorate it seeing as I completely forgot last year.. Whoops. No giveaways or anything, though, sorry... I would love to be able to give something proper back to all of you lovely people, but I can't. Maybe next year, though! (if I remember...) So instead, I thought I'd just do a sentimental, Oscar speech-esque thank you post because that seems like the appropriate (and slightly douchey) thing to do. Thank you to the blogging community, especially the UK lot, for making me feel welcome and at home in the blogosphere, and for not running away if we met in real life (what with my frizzy hair and stupid t-shirts and face an...

Title:  Phoenix Author:  SF Said Illustrator: Dave McKean Series: Standalone Pages: 496 Publisher:  David Fickling Books Date of Publication: 1st August, 2013 Source:  Publisher* Synopsis from Goodreads: THE SUPERNOVA IS COMING . . . ONE BOY ALONE CAN SAVE THE GALAXY! Lucky thinks he's an ordinary Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing - and wakes to find an uncontrollable power rising inside him. Now he's on the run, racing through space, searching for answers. In a galaxy at war, where Humans and Aliens are deadly enemies, the only people who can help him are an Alien starship crew - and an Alien warrior girl, with neon needles in her hair. Together, they must find a way to save the galaxy. For Lucky is not the only one in danger. His destiny and the fate of the universe are connected in the most explosive way . . . My Thoughts: I really enjoyed Phoenix  and I thought it was great. I didn't know too much about it until it droppe...

The end of the blog tour, and the series, that is. Though this post isn't actually about The End. It's about Rachel Morgan and Joe Solomon, professional badasses and all around great people and spies. I was really excited to be given the opportunity to talk about two of my favourite characters in the series (though, let's face it, they're all my favourite.) And, if me talking about Mama Morgan and Joe doesn't appeal to you all that much, there will be a giveaway for a copy of United We Spy, too! Trust me when I say that you want this book. You really want this book. Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that ...

United We Spy  Ally Carter September 5th 2013 Orchard Books Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie—and her country—forever. PROS AND CONS OF UNITED WE SPY  (A list by Cicely Wynne) PRO: Cammie taking the initiative to go after the Circle and being her most badass spy self. CON: It's the last book. PRO: Liz, Bex, Macie and Zach being there for Cammie and sisterhood and kissing and everything you want in a final book in a series about spies. CON: It's the last book. PRO: Two of the best prison breaks in YA history. CON: IT'S THE LAST BOOOOOOOOOOOK *cries* Okay, enough with the lists. Clearly, I d...

The month of August has come and gone, and with its passing comes the inevitable round up post. This is probably going to be a short one, though, because I read about 6 books and am very annoyed about it because I have had all this time off and I have done practically nothing with it. Books read: Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix by Queen J.K Cruel Summer by James Dawson Briar Rose by Jana Oliver Soul Storm by Kate Harrison Vivian Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle United We Spy by Ally Carter Book of the month: Now this is a really hard decision, because even though I didn't read that much, pretty much everything that I read was really good. I think I'm going to have to pick two... United We Spy by Ally Carter (which is the only book you are going to hear me talk about for the rest of this week - look out for a review on Thursday and my blog tour post on Friday) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (which is fab and my second favourite and I don't know why I...