The Balloon Thief – Aneesa Marufu featuring guest post by Aneesa Marufu

In a fantasy world that draws on South Asian heritage, customs, folklore and dress, The Balloon Thief by Aneesa Marufu offers a window into the dichotomy of privilege and oppressed, how those labels are more complicated than we perceive and the motivations to both keep the status quo and to turn to violent rebellion being …

Christmas with a Difference: A Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher

Crossing over with my involvement in the Instagram 12 Days of Bookmas I chose to feature A Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher today, which although not ‘new’ this year, absolutely deserves to be in hands and hearts every Christmas. I’ve not been shy about my love of folklore, mythology and especially stories of the Fae, …

By Rowan and Oak- Melissa Harrison

Today’s review is a little different as I took part in the Chicken House Instagram tour for By Rowan and Oak that asked us to create a nature table to evoke the meaning across these two novels which tell the tale of a small group of Hidden Folk awakening in Spring to the realisation that …

Rita Wong and the Jade Mask- Mark Jones with illustrations by Seamus Jennings

Rita Wong and the Jade Mask is a curious story. It has this whimsical feel that has whispers from a wide range of modern MG influences, of Pages & Co, Podkin and Stubbs and Dragon Detective meets with portal magic, tumbling into a strange magical world like The Midnight Hour trilogy. It’s very different from …

Eva Evergreen; Semi Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Just look at that cover. I mean how was I suppose to resist, I did try for about a year then caved and treated myself for my birthday. A cosy gorgeous adventure where a young witch must prove herself and solve problems with a gaming feel and Japanese infused world building this book is an …

A Hunter’s Moon – Danny Weston

You may have gathered from my blog that if a book has a folklore inspired setting, I'm going to be piqued, if it also has connotations of fae, as in dark fae like The Call by Paedar O Guillin then even more so, throw in historical fiction and I'm chomping at the bit. A Hunter's …

The Puffin Portal Vashti Hardy illustrated by Natalie Smillie

You may have guessed that I’m a huge fan of Vashti Hardy’s writing and she’s a wonderful person too ! The Puffin Portal is the sequel to her first collaboration with Barrington Stoke The Griffin Gate, a tale that blends the Hardy-verse of STEM steeped societies and steam punkery into it in accessible form for …