Review: Misty Falls by Joss Stirling

Savants and an evil serial killer are hardly the stuff of realist fiction, but somehow, with her latest young adult novel, Misty Falls, Joss Stirling has created a book that is realistic while having plenty of elements that make it wildly fictional.

Misty's savant gift means that she is compelled to tell the truth (a little like Ella Enchanted, but not that bad) and she can also use her powers to make others around her more honest. Unfortunately, that's not always a good thing, and Misty's honesty has gotten her into trouble plenty of times. On a trip to South Africa, Misty meets Alex, who is gorgeous and confident, but who seems to dislike Misty on sight. But the pair have bigger problems - a serial killer is killing young savants around the world, and Misty and Alex are prime targets.

The heart of the story is Misty, who is both a Mary Sue - the perfect female character girls often write themselves as in (fan)fiction - and painfully realistic. Unlike a Mary Sue, Misty has many, many faults and insecurities, but that's exactly what makes her appealing, and what makes readers want to be her. Misty is first the insecure teenager we all were, then a savant, meaning we relate to her in spite of her powers.

In Misty Falls Stirling tells both a love story and a murder mystery, and combines them both seamlessly. Lighter moments, like Misty and her friends attending a summer camp and Alex and his schoolmates competing in a debating competition, sit alongside the darker parts of the storyline. And rather than splitting the book in two, the serial killer storyline is always in the background of the other action.

Misty Falls is the fourth book in Stirling's savant series, and characters from the previous three pop up, which I love since it offers familiarity, but also moves the story forward because this time round we get to spend more time with members of the Benedict family we haven't seen before ( and who doesn't love a Benedict boy?!). Stirling could continue expanding the savant universe (and she can because she's built up her mythology so well) and I would read every word.

How I got this book: From the publisher, Oxford University Press. This did not affect my review.

Cover reveal: Misty Falls by Joss Stirling

I don't usually (read: ever) do cover reveals on my blog, but I couldn't resist with this one. I love Joss Stirling's books and last night at a blogger event, Oxford University Press Children's revealed the cover for her next book, Misty Falls. It's beautiful, check it out:

What do you think?

Review: Storm and Stone by Joss Stirling

The Finding Sky series by Joss Stirling was something I stumbled upon by accident, so when I got her new book, Storm and Stone, through the post, I was pretty happy.

I delved into Storm and Stone expecting more of what I'd found in the Finding Sky series - some danger, a little bit of angst, a whole lot of romance and a happy ending.

Instead, I got quite a lot of angst, and a crime story nestled in between a tale of growing up and surviving secondary school. In Storm and Stone Stirling has taken a typical tale of growing up - complete with Mean Girls - and stuck in a healthy dose of mystery.

American student Raven Stone starts off the new term at her English boarding school with a missing roommate and an encounter with the bitchiest girl around, who is set on making life for Raven as difficult as possible. With few friends, Raven finds herself striking up conversation with the new boys, Kieran Storm and his friend Joe Masters. But the new guys aren't what they seem, and neither are some of the students she goes to school with, who have weirdly morphed into Stepford kids.

As mentioned, Storm and Stone is primarily a novel about growing up. Raven faces bullies (really, really mean bullies) and family problems. She experiences the wonderful feeling of having a crush on someone who seems to have no interest in you (note the sarcasm) and is constantly trying to figure out why she doesn't fit in. There's at least something that Raven goes through that every female can relate to and has gone through at some point in their life.

While Raven tries to navigate life, she's also thrust into a mystery which seems almost impossible to unravel. All around her, students are disappearing and then coming back, devoid of their original personalities and more inclined to turn on the not-so-perfect, very human Raven. Although this might seem unrealistic, Stirling makes this plot point seem realistic by having Raven's friend Gina turn into one of these shells, causing her to completely ignore Raven. While most of us have probably never had brainwashed friends, I can definitely think of instances in my life where one day you were best friends with someone, and the next day they completely ignored you. Throwing Gina into the mix makes the mystery surrounding Raven much more believable.

I must throw in a mention of Kieran, Raven's love interest. There's no insta-love between the pair, thank goodness, but there is the more realistic insta-attraction. That's followed by the fact that Kieran is a very flawed human when it comes to emotions and communicating with people, even if he is super clever and a young James Bond of sorts. It's great to see a love interest with so many faults, and to have a love interest called up on those faults by the author, instead of having them ignored (coughEdwardfromTwilightcough).

Storm and Stone is a dark read at times. One section where Raven is attacked is particularly brutal, and seems like it's going to end very, very badly. Stirling isn't afraid to address tough issues like bullying, although some of her bullies don't get the comeuppance they deserve, even though they bullied her long before the events of the book took place. The central mystery is also a little weak, only because I felt the villains were a little one-sided and we didn't see enough of them for them to justify what they were doing. Since the focus of the book was Raven though, I understand why this was, as she also didn't see much of the criminals.

Overall though, Storm and Stone is a solid read, especially if you're looking to read some genre YA. With its mix of crime and mystery, Storm and Stone is a great alternative to all the YA dystopia out there.

How I got this book: From Oxford University Press for review

•Storm and Stone is released on February 6 2014.

The Sunday Post (#29) and Showcase Sunday (#15)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and Showcase Sunday is hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie and the Story Siren. They're a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog, highlight our newest books and see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, or bought.

Book stuff
Review: London Villages, Explore the City's Best Local Neighbourhoods by Zena Alkayat
Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

Added to my shelves

I got lots and lots of books this week, as with my new job I've been visiting lots of publishers. I won't be sharing them all here yet though, since some of them still have release dates a long way off and I need to sort through them all. Aside from those, though, I got some great stuff through the post.

My Secret Santa present arrived (organised by The Broke and The Bookish, and sent by Kirsty-Marie at Studio Reads). Here's what Kirsty-Marie got me:

I've been wanting The Raven Boys for absolutely ages, so I'm ecstatic to finally own a copy.
I also got After Eden, which looks interesting. I have an uncorrected proof of this, but the proper version is so much more exciting looking.
I also got a beautiful bookmark that's got a really cute book charm on it (you can just see the bookmark on top of After Eden), and some chocolates, which aren't in the picture.
Thanks Kirsty-Marie!






I'm a big fan of Joss Stirling's Finding Sky series, and Oxford University Press this week sent me a copy of her new book, Storm & Stone, plus another upcoming release, Nikki Sheehan's Who Framed Klaris Cliff? Both look great, I'm looking forward to reading them.










And finally, one book given to me by one of the publishing houses I visited this week (Hachette UK) - I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb. I'm really looking forward to reading this one.

What have you added to your shelves?

Book review: Seeking Crystal by Joss Stirling

The third book in Joss Stirling's soulfinder series, Seeking Crystal could all too easily be extremely predictable. Luckily, it's not.

Crystal's family are all brilliant savants. The runt of the litter, her powers extend to finding lost keys and the like. Things only become worse when on a trip to America Crystal's sister Diamond bumps into her soulfinder - Trace Benedict of the legendary Benedicts.

Resigned to living in the shadows of everyone, Crystal heads back to Italy to try and carve out a career as a costume designer. But with Diamond and Trace's impending wedding, Crystal not only finds herself constantly annoyed by Trace's younger brother Xav, she also encounters dark forces that are intent on revenge.

Seeking Crystal is a great YA novel, with a little bit of everything - mystery, intrigue, romance, danger and good old teenage angsting all thrown into the mix.

I loved Crystal - she was really relatable, perhaps because of her lack of savant activities, which meant she seemed more "normal" than Stirling's other characters. And the relationship between Crystal and Xav was interesting to watch, developing steadily throughout the book before exploding. 

With this being the third book in the soulfinder series, the Benedict family now seem like familiar friends, and Sky from Finding Sky and Phoenix from Stealing Phoenix also make appearances. The continuity helps ground the novel, and make it more enjoyable.

Stirling produces likeable characters (including a mega-famous film star) and an intriguing plot in Seeking Crystal. A great read, this is the sort of YA novel you pick up when you want something quick and easy to fill the time.

How I got this book: Borrowed from the library

Book review: Stealing Phoenix by Joss Stirling

Stealing Phoenix was an accidental find of mine. On a visit to the public library I stopped by the teen section to see if any new Maggie Stiefvater books had come. None had, but this caught my eye instead, and I'm glad it did.

The book follows Phoenix, a young girl with special powers living in a community of savants. Her community is actually more of a cult, led by a fat, ugly, horrible man known only as the Seer.

Motherless teenager Phoenix, and the others in the community, earn their living by stealing for the Seer, but he's more Bill Sykes than Fagin. For their troubles, the community get to live in a dank and dingy tower block in east London, and they don't get punished.

Tasked with stealing from an American teenager, Phoenix fails. She manages to get the Seer to give her an extra day, and goes back to find Yves once again, only to discover that he is her soulfinder - basically her soulmate.

Phoenix tries to protect Yves by heading back to the community, only to discover that the Seer wants to use her status as soulfinder to buy entry into a worldwide club of evil savants. What ensues is a battle between love and duty to the one you love, and it's not one that's easily won.

Stirling's characters are excellenty crafted. I felt like I knew Phoenix really well within just a few pages, and I completely understood her emotions and motivations throughout the novel.

Yves, too, was a great character, and the way Stirling built his family into the story was well done considering there were so many of them, and so little time spent with them in the book. Stealing Phoenix is the sequel to Finding Sky, a book which follows Yves' younger brother. Further books follow the rest of the Benedict clan, and I'm definitely looking forward to reading them.

While I loved the characters, my favourite thing about Stealing Phoenix was its London setting. Stirling has connections to east London, and said she wanted to visit the area in a book, as it's changed so much in the past few years due to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. I found her descriptions of London spot on, from the concrete of Barbican to the description of run down tower blocks to the plushness of some of the West End's hotels.

Stirling's strength is the pictures she draws of the world she created, and despite the savant elements, I felt Stealing Phoenix was realistic and relatable - two great things for a book which still whisks you to another world.