Letterbox Love #108

Letterbox Love is a way to give all of the books I receive for review some exposure. Summaries are taken from the cover, or Amazon/NetGalley/Goodreads in the case of e-books, unless otherwise stated.

Carry On, Rainbow Rowell (hardback)

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, is he were here – it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow is a ghost story, a love story, and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell – but far, far more monsters.

YAY! So excited! And this book is so beautiful – the naked hardcover! The endpaper map! The ribbon bookmark!

Beautiful Broken Things, Sara Barnard (signed proof)

I was brave

She was reckless

We were trouble

Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie: confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives – beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious – and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

I am SO looking forward to this! And it was so lovely to find the proof is signed. Thanks Sara and Macmillan!

I was lucky enough to go to a blogger brunch at Walker Books yesterday and here are the lovelies that I received in my goody bag!

Hour of the Bees, Lindsay Eager (proof)

What does it mean to fully alive?

Magic blends with reality in a stunning, coming-of-age novel about a girl, a grandfather, wanderlust, and reclaiming your roots.

While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina – Carol – is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents prepare to move the grandfather she's never met into a home for people with dementia. At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge, whose face is covered in strange bumps that catch the shadows and don’t let go and whose eyes are impossibly old. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol herself drawn to Serge, fascinated by his crazy stories about an ancient oasis in the desert with a green-grass lake and a tree that gave the villagers the gift of immortality. As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible – and what it means to be true to her roots.

This sounds really interesting!

The Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman (proof)

Jane Austen’s high society and Cassandra Clare’s supernatural underworld collide in the first book in the Lady Helen trilogy, perfect for fans of historical fiction and fantasy.

London, April 1812.

Lady Helen Wrexhall is set to make her curtsy to Queen Charlotte and step into polite Regency Society. Unbeknownst to Helen, that step will also take her from the glittering ballroom of Almacks and the bright lights of Vauxhall Gardens into a shadowy world of demonic creatures, missing housemaids and deadly power.

Standing between those two worlds is Lord Carlston, a man of dubious reputation and infuriating manners. He believes Helen is destined to protect humanity, but all he can offer is danger, savagery and the possibility of madness. Not the kind of destiny suitable for a young lady in her first London Season.

This delightfully dangerous adventure of self-discovery and difficult choices has all the unnerving dark magic of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and the action of classics such as The Scarlet Pimpernel.

This is going to be a crazy lot of fun!

Maladapted, Richard Kurti (proof)

A gripping thriller about survival against all odds

Cillian survives a devastating terror attack on a packed train. How did he escape when everyone else – including his father – was killed?

Desperate for answers, Cillian turns to the mysterious Tess. In a secret hospital far away in the Provinces, they make a shocking discovery about what is really happening in Foundation City?

With his life suddenly in danger, Cillian needs Tess’s help. But who is she and can Cillian actually trust her?

Sometimes truth is the most dangerous thing of all…

I wasn’t sold on this until Richard read an excerpt, but it sounds fast-paced and intriguing.

Twenty Questions for Gloria, Martyn Bedford (proof)

Two go missing.

One comes back.

Gloria is tired of her ordinary life. So when a mysterious new boy bent on breaking all the rules strolls into her classroom, Gloria is ready to fall under his spell. By the time she learns the truth about him, Gloria is a long way from home…

A powerful new psychological thriller from the award-winning author of Flip, shortlisted for the Costa Award.

Sophie