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14th April 2022, Welbeck Kids I was so reluctant to leave the world evoked by Skye McKenna in Hedgewitch that I started reading this book again immediately after finishing it! This is something I hadn't done since I was a child. And Hedgewitch reminds me of the books I loved when I was younger, particularly Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones, which I regularly borrowed from my local library. As I turned the pages of Hedgewitch for the first time, it felt like being reunited wi

Walker Books, 6th January 2022 One of the most anticipated books of 2022 was fortunately released right at the start of the year! The Tower at the End of Time is the magnificent sequel to The House at the Edge of Magic, which was one of my favourite reads of 2021. As January is such a gloomy month, I made sure I got hold of The Tower at the End of Time as soon as it was published. It is every bit as amazing as expected. Even though it follows on from the events of the previou

The Raven Heir by Stephanie Burgis Stephanie Burgis has been one of my favourite literary discoveries of 2021 and I've actually read more books by her this year than by any other author! It all started with the magnificent A Most Improper Magick which is the first in a Regency-era middle-grade series full of magic, mischief and manners. After reading all the books in the trilogy and the novella that came after it, I moved on to Snowspelled. This is Volume I of The Harwood Spe

The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke by Kirsty Applebaum, Nosy Crow Lonny Quicke is a lifeling, which means that he has the ability to give life to creatures that are dying, but at a cost. When Lonny uses his gift, it causes him to grow older. The larger the animal, the more time it takes from Lonny. If he were to help a human, it would turn him into a geriatric. To protect Lonny from his instincts, and selfish people who might take advantage of them, his family lives hidden awa

Darwin's Dragons by Lindsay Galvin, Chicken House, January 2021 Ever wondered what it might have been like to join Charles Darwin on the life-changing and ground-breaking voyage of the Beagle? Darwin's Dragons takes readers to the Galápagos Islands in 1835. Narrated by cabin boy Syms Covington, we see this intriguing landscape through his eyes, and get the opportunity to explore and collect specimens with Darwin. When a storm knocks Covington overboard, readers also experienc

A Most Improper Magick, the first book in the An Improper Adventure/Kat, Incorrigible series by Stephanie Burgis Thanks to the wonders of #Bookstagram, I discovered the Kat, Incorrigible series by Stephanie Burgis after seeing A Most Improper Magick on the Piccadilly Press Instagram page. Originally released in 2010, a new edition with a revamped cover was published in August 2020. When I learned this was a magical middle grade book set in Regency-era England, I couldn't have

The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes is one of those wonderful books that you miss as soon you stop reading. I spent the weekend immersed in this story and finished it Monday afternoon. Slightly depressed later that evening, I realised I was feeling lonely without this volatile dwelling place and its unconventional inhabitants. This story introduces Nine, an orphan and "thiefling" who steals to earn her keep in a hideout

Spoiler-free review of Morgana Mage in the Robotic Age by Amy Bond I discovered this after seeing it mentioned on social media. As author Amy Bond is Irish (and so am I), a librarian, and this was her first novel, I downloaded a sample of the ebook out of curiosity. The main character and the setting were so intriguing, I had to find out what happened next, and purchased it immediately. Morgana Mage is an eleven-year-old who lives in a forest full of witches, on the outskirts

Spoiler-free review of A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison A Pinch of Magic is an absolutely irresistible blend of adventure, intrigue and enchantment, which draws you in immediately and is action-packed from page one. The first in a trilogy, this introduces the Widdershins sisters, Charlie, Betty and Fliss, who discover they are bound by an ancient curse. A series of disasters sets the curse in motion and the sisters must race against the clock to break it before it destro