Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott [Book Review]

So many many months ago, I received a finished copy of Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott from Chicken House Publishing. I'm so sorry to the people at Chicken House that I didn't read it sooner, but thank you so much for sending it to me, I really appreciated it!!

Anywho, Salt & Stone is the sequel to Fire & Flood which follows 16 year old Tella as she participates in a gruelling tournament called the Brimstone Bleed. What is that you ask? 4 zones, many competitors and only one winner. The prize? A cure for any illness for one person only.

Not only that, but each competitor gets a beast to help them. Each has a different ability and they are called Pandoras. Tella's is a little fox called Madox. He is adorable!!! Honestly, read Fire and Flood and you'll see what I mean. Squee!

You know how in quite a few series, the first book is incredible and then the second isn't as good? This isn't the case here. Salt & Stone is amazing, even better than Fire & Flood. The PERFECT sequel to a PERFECT series beginner. 

This series will test your emotions, it will make your heart race and your blood freeze. It takes it's toll on you in ways you didn't believe a book could, and by the end of it, you feel like you're part of the Brimstone Bleed itself.

Do me a favour folks, read this series!

Jakob's Colours by Lindsay Hawdon [Review]

[I was very kindly sent this book by Hodder & Stoughton in return for an honest review, thank you!]

Jakob's Colours focuses around an event during WW2 that no one ever really mentions - the Romany Holocaust. I was intrigued by this title as I have read many books about Hitler, be it with characters from within the Nazis or those opposing them. But there are hardly any stories written about the amount of Romany Gypsies killed or sent to concentration camps during this time.

What makes this book so heartwrenching is that Jakob is a child. He is a gypsy and he is alone. There are consistent flashbacks to how his parents met, how their destinies entwined so deeply and passionately that they chose love over luxury, and this in itself makes this novel have two plotlines...the story of Jakob's parents, and Jakob's story himself as he is saved by strangers. Saved by strangers whose lives are in danger but see a young boy and automatically help.

I was pulled in so many different directions by this book, I was either smiling at the love between the characters or feeling destroyed because of the tragedies in their lives. I felt my heart in my mouth when the Nazis were approaching and I pretty much let out a victory cry whenever success neared.

This book not only gave me an impression of a near untold era of history, it also made me understand just how important selflessness and care can be. Whilst the enemy may appear to be the strongest entity, the true strength and beauty is in that of the altruism between complete strangers.

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix [Book Review]

Meet Amy Ponder.

She's your average young girl, struggling to pay bills all whilst working for a company named Orsk, who sell expensive flat pack furniture to anyone and everyone. We start the book with Amy hating her manager, Basil, and we discover that she wishes to transfer shops. Simple enough, eh? Happy story coming up about Amy's fabulous life?

WRONG.

Yes, Amy's life is about to get a whole lot worse. Horrorstor follows Amy, Basil and Ruby Ann as they spend the entire night in Orsk, trying to discover the source of some rather creepy goings on. At first it just seems like a usual scenario, maybe a thief? A maintenance problem? But no, this is far far creepier, and just a bit more supernatural. This book completely grips you, as the fear sets in with every page, and with the addition of the book actually looking like an Orsk catalogue, complete with furniture descriptions that get creepier as the book goes on. I was absolutely hooked.

Grady Hendrix has written Horrorstor in such a way that anyone could pick it up, believing they were going to read a simple tale about a young girl and be dragged into the horror element before they could even realise what was happening. Hairs were sticking up on the back of my neck, my heart was racing and even the very thought of being near a wardrobe made me feel quite queasy.

The writing style was superb, with fantastic build up to the really gruesome parts of the story, meaning that even when your stomach was going to turn inside out with fear, you couldn't stop reading. I absolutely adored this book, it has 100% made it into one of my favourite reads for 2014. An absolutely unforgettable unique book, I can't wait to see what Grady Hendrix does next!!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

[I'd like to say a huge thank you to Quirk Books for sending me this to review, you guys rock!]