Death

Death by K J Wignall was an interesting read. It was my first in the Mercian trilogy, and is the last book, so it probably wasn't a great place to start! From what I gather the Mercian trilogy has recieved little publicity and isn't very well known, however from what I have heard the people who have read it generally loved it! I don't think it helped my take on the book to start at no.3 because I think, by then, the majority of the characters had been fully developed and Wignall was tying off loose ends and finishing the story.

'I am pestilence and plague, war and turmoil. I am what you fear when the night is dark, I am the shiver you feel in your spine when you least expect it. I am the dreams from which you awake full of dread. I am the dreams from which one day you fear you will never wake at all. I am death, and you will know me soon enough.'


The Mercian Trilogy appears to follow a complicated story to do with 4 vampire kings and an evil vampire king of kings who is imprisoned. It seems rather convoluted but I think, again, it would be clearer and more fun to follow if I had started, as the author intended, at novel no. 1! There were a few events in the book that I thought could have been better developed and capitalised on. On the whole the book was really quite brief and quick, I prefer books with a longer storyline and although this book had an OK pace it did seem to, in my opinion, race to the finish. It felt like the author was really focused on culminating the story rather than taking his time and developing everything fully! It was an interesting experience to read a book written for young adults that still had it's fair share of romance yet was written from the male lead characters point of view. It is definitely a unisex novel and I can see teenage boys becoming very smitten with the multiple vampire battles and thoroughly described fights. Maybe you could buy no.1 (Blood) for your boyfriend, brother, friend to try and get him reading!

Wignall has an interesting take on vampires. It is far more similar to Nikki Bekket Everneath's vampires, more concentrated on the idea of energy, rather than Twilight etc. Wignall writes in a careful rhythmic prose, quite hypnotizing at times and I enjoyed the novel's writing style. I think it is a series you could become very obsessed with. 

However I only liked this book, it didn't jump out at me, and it wasn't really my style. So I would give it a 3 out of 5, and would be done with it there. It can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for £5.24 and although it's not for me I can see people loving it, and I can see it becoming a very popular series. It's published by Electric Monkey an imprint of Egmont.

En Bon Lu!
Tabs
X

Finished

OK, I admit it, I wasn't really back. Believe me I wish I had been! But my last exam - my French took up all my time. I never ever want to see a conjugate verb or a pronoun in French again..... well at least not for a little while. But I've done it. Finished school. Finished putting up with crap from bitches and nosy bossy teachers. Finished exams/revising (well for a year). Finished working!

Eh no. Unfortunately I have not finished working as because from half 3 on Wednesday I was flung straight into my job at my aunty's restaurant. And hell were we busy. Apparently people have nothing better than to travel to the middle of nowhere, stare at a beautiful view (see below) eat delicious seafood and homemade cakes, visit the castle and the beach....... I mean what's wrong with them?!?!?

So yes, we've been very busy in our cafe and I haven't had a chance to sit down, apart from tonight when I rode my horse for the first time in five days (she went crazy!). And trust me, that wasn't great as I had just had a Hepatitis B injection in preparation for my trip to Zambia. They really REALLY hurt!

So it is now 00.18 in Scotland, I'm sitting in my bed, with Zach Sobiech and Sammy Brown playing (I'll talk about them another day) my brother snoring next door, no dog as she's just had puppies (eek I know.... photos later I promise!) Anyway so despite my long arduous day I am cutting into my precious much needed hours of sleep to give you, yes you all, a review on a book. A book I was meant to review a good month or so ago but here it is now, just for you'se!

Sleep well, I won't (at least not yet!)

Grumbling frazzled Girl X

I'm Baaaaaack! And Mature!

So after a good month or so, of respite from the addictions of Blogger. I have been wrapped in the whirlwind of exams with my Advanced Higher History and Biology last week. (Equivalent of A-level if you are interested!) They were back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday and it was hectic. History was a flipping three hour long exam....... my hand has never, I repeat NEVER, written so much in my life, my poor hand was falling off and apart, only being held together by the fact the pen was glued to my hand - this I can tell you caused several painful blisters! Biology was OK..ish..... I am so glad it's over - although I must admit.....prepare for a nerd alert, but I did enjoy the exam - but even I can say, despite my nerdism (new word ) I will not EVER miss  Cellular Biology. Cell. Bio is the stupidest hardest most boring thing ever.... for me anyway!

So you might have noticed there is the ominous sounding 'And Mature!' added on to the end of my blog title. And yes I acknowledge it does sound like a cheese that has been around the world and has come back smelling delectable (or in the case of cheese despisers, i.e. me,  disgusting, stinky and overrated). However it does not mean I have come back to Blogger smelling of over ripe cheese, instead it means I have matured.... right OK, please dispense once and for all of all those cheese connotations that are springing into your cheesy mind. I have decided that seeing as I am leaving the hell hole I call school in less than, oooh 7 days (get in!!!) it was time for a much needed sprucing of my blogging style and it's posts. I am still going to write in my stupidly chatty long winded fashion, because my family and friends tell me to shut up all the time so I need to vent my ridiculously chatty tendencies in some way (Blogger) but I would like to make my blog contents a little more adult and so I am using my dramatic and long awaited, I know it's not really but hey a girl's got to hope she makes an impression, return to Blogger as a way in which to disclaim any swearing or adult content in later blogs. I'm 17, most of the things in my brain revolve around driving, sex and work, and so well my dear followers you might just have to deal with the dirty, obviously hilarious, mind ramblings of this Scottish lass!

And just to make you readers out there who feel I'm getting a bit big for my boots, which I'm not - I'm a size 5 and proud of it! ;) - today I failed my driving test for failing to observe a white van coming towards me. Well, I did notice it but by that point I was halfway onto the road. I did brake and stop but I was causing an obstruction as people had to go around me which failed me! Darn! Probably good that I wasn't let loose on the roads quite yet. Frankly the world's not ready for this girl on wheels yet!

Anyway now I've got back into the swing of blogging expect some more posts soon, particularly book reviews, which have been mounting up into a stack of teetering books that I will have to work my way studiously through over the next few weeks. I still have my francais exam to do but after that I can commit my time to Blogger, Sims, my job, and passing this evasive driving test!

Au revoir!
Tabby est ici!!
X

Shipwrecked

Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham is darker than her previous two novels, Dear Dylan, and Finding Cherokee Brown. However I think I enjoyed it more. Shipwrecked is what I would look for in a Young Adult novel with equal amounts of sass, adventure, drama, and romance. I like how Curham manages to make sure that there is an equal amount of girl/boy time to girl/friend time. 

Shipwrecked follows a dance crew as they become wrecked on a desert island while they travel to a cruise ship to perform. Curham really develops each individual character, Grace, Belle, Jenna, Cariss, Todd, Ron, Dan, and the Flea. The story is told from Grace's point of view and she's a perfectly flawed teenager, she's real, she's easy to relate to and she's kind and likeable. I really enjoyed following Grace and watching how her relationships changed with the members of the dance crew. I also thought Curham introduced Cruz, the Spanish boat boy, to the crew well (he's shipwrecked with them) and portrays the attraction between Grace and Cruz well.

Something I have to comment on about Curham's writing skill is that she is amazing at dialogue. All the dialogue in Shipwrecked is beautifully written and seems realistic even when the events that are taking place seem far from! Just flicking back through this book in order to remind myself of what I thought I've reminded myself how much I liked it! and how I can't wait for the next in the series!

I'd give Shipwrecked a very high four as Curham has really mastered older YA writing with this book and I I really enjoyed it and plan to re-read it!! Published on the 3rd June, at the moment, you can order it from Amazon.co.uk for £5.59 which is a bargain!

Go for it, Summer treat.

Καλή ανάγνωση (Greek)

Tabs

X

Back and Better than Ever

Back from France, a relatively relaxing week containing lots of girly chats with my best friend, a lot of walking, a lot of food, and some pretty fit boys! What more could a girl want?

We went to Bretagne to visit my best friend because otherwise I wouldn't have seen her till summer and I couldn't live with that, couldn't cope with school without a break from the biatches at school! It was lovely there and the beaches were massive. See below! I now feel totally replenished and alive and am ready to ride out the last 4 weeks of school hell and then do my exams and leave!

Now school starts tomorrow and I have four weeks until study leave starts and my exams!! Eeek.... not looking forward to that! I'm going to take this opportunity to apologise in advance for my lack of blogging over this next couple of months, I have lots of book reviews to type up but due to the intensive revising I'm going to have to partake in, in order to get the grades I need for Cambridge, I'm going to be covered and buried in books! However after the 29th May I will be free, from school and exams, and will be embarking on a amazing gap year consisting of..... wait for it...... the first three months...... working in a cafe at my house! Yaaaaaaay! 

Anyways take care everyone and I'll speak to you when I speak to you! (Apologies to any publishers if  reviews for your books are slow going out, I'm under a lot of school pressure!)

Tabs

X

France

Sorry guys, quick note to say I'm off to France for a week so no blogs. Mum's rushing me out the door so I can't stay long. I've got a lovely backlog of book reviews for you when I get back..

I'll love ya and leave ya
Tabs
XXX

P.S. HAVE A NICE HOLIDAY

April Fool's Day

I admit it, I fell foul to the pranks of April Fools Day.... pranked nonetheless by Google! I know! I feel betrayed by the dear creators of Blogger..... anyways back to the story..

Ever heard of the Google Nose? Nope me neither, hence the innate desire to click on this uncharted waters that's concept was so cool! Apparently Google Nose meant you could smell items through your computer, phone etc. I was captivated and entranced. I proceeded to spend around five minutes trying to smell freshly baked bread, diapers, peppermint and others from my laptop screen. Needless to say I couldn't smell anything so I eventually admitted defeat and clicked on the Need Help? button and was told the following

If you are experiencing problems with Google Nose^BETA, please note the following:

• "418: Scent transfer protocol error" indicates system congestion; please try again later.
• Due to technological constraints, not all smells are compatible with all devices.
• Refrain from licking or biting your screen.
• Try upgrading to a modern browser, such as Google Chrome.
• It is April Fools' Day.

It took me a while to notice the It is April Fools' Day. I felt very stupid but have to concede it was hilarious and Google had done well. It was very funny to watch my dad trying to smell the Beach from my dear laptop...

Tehehehe, I think it must be one of the first April Fools I've falled for!

Love it! <3

Sniffer Tabs
X