Children’s Picture Book Review: Ellie-May & her toy dragon, Ben, by Genna Rowbotham

Purchase Links
Genna’s website:             www.gennarowbotham.co.uk/shop
Amazon (Paperback):    https://amzn.to/3InCyJN
Amazon (eBook):            https://amzn.to/3GmtLp1
Google Play: (eBook):    https://bit.ly/3QjcKR9

Ellie-May & her Toy Dragon, Ben

Feeling so excited for a new day ahead, Ellie-May struggles to sleep. So when her toy dragon, Ben grows into a real-life dragon, they take to the starry skies and embark on a night-time adventure together, where they visit Ben’s castle and enjoy a dragon party.

But as the sun begins to rise and the stars fade, will Ellie-May be able to stay awake?

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Review: Strong Female Character, by Fern Brady

14 February 2023
£16.99 | Hardback

Blurb

A summary of my book:

  1. I’m diagnosed with autism
    20 years after telling a doctor I had it.
  2. My terrible Catholic childhood: I hate my parents etc.
  3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the
    corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me.
  4. Homelessness.
  5. Stripping.
  6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.
  7. I hate everyone at Edinburgh uni etc.
  8. REDACTED as too spicy.
  9. After everyone tells me I don’t look autistic,
    I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.
  10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.

If you’ve ever been on a night out where you got blackout drunk and have laughed the next day as your friends tell you all the stupid stuff you said, that’s what being autistic feels like for me: one long blackout night of drinking, except there’s no socially sanctioned excuse for your gaffes and no one is laughing.

In this book, Fern uses her voice as an autistic, working class woman from Scotland to bring her experiences with sex work, abusive relationships and her time spent in a teenage mental health unit to the page. Written with unflinching honesty, Strong Female Character is a game-changing memoir on sexism and autism.

(I changed some of the blurb copy because Fern Brady has made it clear she doesn’t like being referred to as neurodivergent and wants people to use ‘autistic’ instead.)

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Review: Expectant, by Vanda Symon

PUBLICATION DATE: 16 FEBRUARY 2023 PAPERBACK
ORIGINAL | £9.99 | ORENDA BOOKS

Blurb

The shocking murder of a heavily pregnant woman throws the New Zealand city of Dunedin into a tailspin, and the devastating crime feels uncomfortably close to home for Detective Sam Shephard as she counts down the days to her own maternity leave.

Confined to a desk job in the department, Sam must find the missing link between this brutal crime and a string of cases involving mothers and children in the past. As the pieces start to come together and the realisation dawns that the killer’s actions are escalating, drastic measures must be taken to prevent more tragedy.

For Sam, the case becomes personal, when it becomes increasingly clear that she is no longer safe, and the clock is ticking…

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Review: The Jaguar Path, by Anna Stephens

Second chunky new fantasy in two days, I’m spoiling you all!


THE JAGUAR PATH
│16 FEBRUARY 2023│
HB │ EB │EA
Anna Stephens

Book Two of the new epic fantasy trilogy by the acclaimed author of GODBLIND.

The Empire of Songs reigns supreme. Across all the lands of Ixachipan, its hypnotic, magical music sounds. Those who battled against the Empire have been enslaved and dispersed, taken far from their friends and their homes.

In the Singing City, Xessa must fight for the entertainment of her captors. Lilla and thousands of warriors are trained to serve as weapons for their enemies. And Tayan is trapped at the heart of the Empire’s power and magic, where the ruthless Enet’s ambition is ever growing.

Each of them harbours a secret hope, waiting for a chance to strike at the Empire from within.

But first they must overcome their own desires. Power can seduce as well as crush. And, in exchange for their loyalty, the Empire promises much.

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Review: Song of Silver, Flame like Night, by Amelie Wen Zhao

2 FEBRUARY 2023
HB│EB│EA
Amélie Wen Zhao

Blurb

Once, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and spends her days
scavenging for remnants of the past. For anything that might help her understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother, in her last act before she died.

No one can see the mysterious mark, an untranslatable Hin character, except Lan. Until the night a boy appears at the teahouse and saves her life.

Zen is a practitioner – one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom, whose abilities were rumoured to be drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Magic to be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.

Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

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Audiobook Review: The Dying Season, by Rachel Amphlett

The Dying Season(Detective Kay Hunter crime thriller series Book 12)
 
Imprint:                      Saxon Publishing
Publication date:       12 February 2023
Availability:               Worldwide
ISBN eBook:             978-1915231-12-3
ISBN paperback:      978-1915231-10-9
ISBN large print:       978-1915231-11-6
ISBN audiobook:       978-1915231-13-0

When a man is shot at point blank range outside an isolated country pub, Kay Hunter is thrust into one of the most dangerous cases of her career.

As personal and political disputes threaten to undermine her efforts to track down the killer, Kay’s investigation is complicated further when her superiors elect to coordinate the subsequent manhunt themselves.

Uncovering a covert trade in outlawed weapons and faced with witnesses too scared to talk, Kay will have to do everything in her power to stop the killer and prevent another tragedy.

Except this time, one of her team is in the direct line of fire…

The Dying Season is the 12th book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett, and perfect for readers who love fast-paced crime thrillers.

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