Fear Files: Hide And Seek - Christopher Edge

Adam really isn't enjoying his camping trip with Sol and his family: what he thought was going to be a glamping weekend turned out to be a night or two in a dingy tent where he couldn't sleep. So Adam suggests walking to the nearby village  which turns out to be no better as it's apparently deserted. But when he suggests a game of hide and seek to Sol, Adam gets far more than he bargained for.

Oh my goodness, this book is aptly named! There is something incredibly spooky about it that means fear and apprehension lurks at the turn of ever page.

With the book put together as the first case in Darkdive, a database for first hand accounts of unusual experiences, the book catalogues Adam's account of his game of hide and seek.  I really don't want to give anything away so I'm not going to say too much more about the plot. What I will say though, is that I would hate to be in Adam's shoes; nothing seemed to make sense but everything felt so horriblly real and believable at the same time. I could feel my heart-rate rising just reading the book and the element of the unknown really does build the tension.

I love Christopher's books for the elements of science and the way he can twist plots to really make readers question their opinions and their understanding of what's happening, and Fear Files absolutely does this again.  I finished the book just before lunch and I was still lost in Adam's world hours later, mulling over the events and trying to come up with an answer to what actually happened! 

Publishing 25th September, Fear Files: Hide and Seek will certainly grip you and will absolutely make you think differently about a game you no doubt played countless times as a child.  Perfect for fans of Dan Smith and Jennifer Killick, I'm already excited for the next book in the series.     

How To Get Magically Popular - Radhika Sanghani

Sabina has just moved from central London to a small village so her mum can set-up her own beauty business.  However, Sabina is finding the move much trickier than she expected, especially trying to fit in at her new school, Marston Girls' School, where everybody seems so very different to her. She's also missing her best friends, Harry and Ria, terribly.  So when a meditation class leads to Sabina discovering she has psychic powers, she quickly becomes the most popular girl in school but even then, things don't seem to be working out quite how she expected.  The question is, can she sort things out before it's too late?

This is a wonderfully readable story about friendship and learning to be yourself, and I just know that children in my school are going to devour it when they get their hands on my copy next term.  

Like The Girl Who Couldn't Lie ( you can read my review here), How To Get Magically Popular takes an ordinary school girl and looks at what happens when something quite out of the ordinary happens to her (it was lovely to see a subtle nod to TGWCL in this book).  It incorporates family life with negotiating friendships and school which are things readers will find very relatable. 

Sabina feels that everything has changed for her, and right now she doesn't feel it's for the best. With Freya she finds somebody she can be herslef with, but then the lure of popularity rears its head when the Leeshes notice her, but is their friendship real or are they just using her?  The book would make a brilliant reading for pleasure book in my Y6 class next term and would definitely spark some interesting discussions.   

Publishing in the 14th August, How To Get Magically Popular is a book about friendship, family and finding out how to be true to yourself, and I loved it!

Bury Your Friends -Benjamin Dean

Woodthorn Academy is a school full of elite teenagers, including children of the Prime Minister, children of famous actors, and even a budding tennis star destined for Wimbeldon.  A summer party results in two of the students, Noah and Patrick, going missing,  but Noah reappears several days later, in dramatic fashion at a memorial service for Patrick, with no recollection of what happened.

Despite Patrick still being missing, the rest of the group decide to go ahead with their A-level results party at the country house of the now ex-prime minister. However, during the evening, it becomes clear that things are about to take a very dramatic turn for the worst when they discover a killer in the grounds of the house; one who has control of the central electronic operating system for the house, and who is demanding that the friends evict one person every hour or someone inside the house will die.  Suddenly, the party atmosphere is gone and everyone is fighting for their lives. With no phone signal and no way out, how many will survive until morning?

I have to admit that I'm a little biased when it comes to Benjamin Dean's books, especially his YA novels as I absolutely love them. Finding Bury Your Friends on Netgalley was a huge plus for me, especially as it fell at the start of my holiday so I could read it almost uninterrupted round the pool!

The book is a dark and brilliantly gripping who done it with great dollop of scandal and twists thrown in for good measure (imagine Made In Chelsea on a murder weekend!).  The ten friends realise that this could be their last hurrah together before they all go their separate ways so had planned to reveal their results and onward plans together at a dinner at the country pad of triplets Hugo, Verity and Wim, whose father just happens to have been Prine Minister until a recently leaked video of Wim forced him to resign.  Although Patrick remains a missing person, the group are determined to go ahead with the celebrations.  There is money in this group (with the exception of Noah who won a scholarship to the school) and this is evident from the start.  Their privilege oozes from the page in and there are characters you will love, and definitely some readers will find themselves shouting at!

The book is gripping and creepy, and you never know quite what's going to happen.

Once the 'game' has begun things ramp up and you definitely won't want to put the book down but equally may find yourself reading from behind one hand whilst screaming at the characters on he page!  With elements of humour woven in, this is a book that will enthral and captivate readers in equal measure. 

However, it's not one to read in a house alone on a dark night unless you're feeling brave.

Publishing on the 14th August (just in time for readers to gobble it up before A-level results day!) , Bury Your Friends is another guaranteed hit for Benjamin Dean... just don't read it alone in the dark!

Grimstink - Daniel Peak

 

Grimstink is an alien who has been sent to Earth to kill off all lifeforms on the planet; however, as he arrives, he swaps places with Layla Tenby who just happens to be out delivering leaflets.  Can Grimstink figure out life on Earth and succeed in his mission and can Layla manage to return to the planet she has been unceremoniously plucked from?

Daniel peak is a BAFTA winning scriptwriter and a writer on the Horrible Histories series so I was looking forward to reading Grimstink when it arrived, and I wasn't disappointed.

Layla is spending her birthday in what she feels is the worst way possible: starting a new job her mum has found for her delivering leaflets through people's doors.  Her mood only gets worse when she realises that she can't use any tricks to quickly get rid of the leaflets either.  Before she has even begun delivering, she stumbles upon a fancy looking jewel-like stone which she decides to keep as a birthday present to herself; however, it sticks to her like glue and, before she knows it, she's finds herself in a large dish fighting for her life - this was definitely not how she planned to spend her birthday!  Meanwhile, Grimstink is doing his best to blend in with the locals on Earth, which includes befriending Layla's younger brother.

Told in dual narrative, what unfolds is a funny race to save humanity and for Layla to save herself.  I particularly enjoyed reading Grimstink's interactions with humans and his attempts to blend in - I'm not certain I'll ever look at Ed Sheeran in the same way again!

Publishing on the 10th July, Grimstink is a hilarious book that combines adventure with killer deathbots, and quirky friendships with a race against the clock in a book that is guaranteed to have children crying with laughter. 

Sandy Fin Operation Splash Landing - Martin Stewart

 

'Sandy lives in the Museum of Seaside Stories with the famous explorer Emile du Pont.  Aided by Emile's inventions, Sandy and his best friend Lily are being taught the art of ocean exploration.  Then Albo Start arrives with secret plans to turn Portwhistle into a Seaworld-style thee park, locking up marine life.  Sensing skulduggery, Sandy and Lily set out to stop Start!'

It's no secret that I loved Martin's Bridget Vanderpuff series and they are hugely popular in school (my copies are rarely on the shelf in my office), so I was thrilled when his latest book published and I got to meet Sandy Fin, a delightfully quirky character who uses his scales and his ability to be underwater for long periods of time to his advantage.  He is brave and is determined to do the right thing, no matter how tricky that might be - readers will warm to him immediately.

I also liked the environmental messages that are woven into the book in amongst the adventure and Sandy and Lily, and I know that readers will love to hate the baddy that emerges.

Out now, Sandy Fin Operation Splash Landing is a wonderful book that will make a great summer holiday read.  I really hope there will be more to come from Sandy.

Oxford Blood - Rachael Davis Featherstone

Eva and her best friend George are spending the week at Beecham College in Oxford as part of the interview process to earn a place to study there.  However, when they arrive, it quickly becomes apparent that there are some people there who believe they are more entitled to a place than others.  At dinner, it is clear to Eva that George is behaving very differently and she can't get to the bottom of why.  Then when Seb from Reapington Manor College challenges George to a dare, Eva grows annoyed and storms off.  And that is the last time she sees George alive, for when she finds him the following morning, he is dead on the steps of a statue in the grounds of the college.  The police quickly decide that this was nothing more than a tragic accident but Eva is adamant that George was murdered and sets out to prove she is right.

I love a murder mystery and what better time to read a book set in an Oxford college than whilst on a train taking me to Cambridge for the weekend! (there is a fierce rivalry between the 2 colleges so the irony was not lost on me).

Eva and George are from the same state school and are, rightly so, incredibly proud of the fact that they have both earned a place at interview week.  Eva is a dedicated student and it's been a dream to earn a place at Oxford to read English.  She wants nothing more than to get her place through her own merit and doesn't want anything to distract her from that and that includes her skin colour and socio-economic status which she worries will work against her and is why she lives with the words of her mother from the night before she died 'You astound me, Eva, there is nothing you can't do.'  There is a feisty determination in Eva which becomes increasingly apparent at the plot unfolds - she is forced to draw on strengths she didn't know she had, but ends up putting herself in danger. 

What at first seems to be just a murder mystery is in fact a book that delves into some though-provoking topics:  privilege and the influence wielded by secret societies; equality and equity in the Oxbridge system; funding from controversial sources... it would certainly be a book that would create debate in a senior school classroom.

I loved Oxford Blood!  It's well written and engages from the beginning; the plot is an intricate one with plenty of twists and intrigue that keep you guessing.  I found myself completely immersed and gobbled it up in under a day as I just couldn't put it down!  

Oxford Blood publishes 28th August and I highly recommend pre-ordering it. 

The Murder At World's End - Ross Montogmery

It's 1910 and Halley's Comet is due to pass Earth which is causing all sorts of conspiracy theories to raise their heads; not least at Tithe Hall where the Viscount is preparing to lock every member of the household into their rooms to protect them as the comet passes. At the same time, Stephen Pike arrives at the house.  Just out of prison, he has received a letter offering him a job at Tithe Hall; however, when he arrives, the head butler seems to be oblivious.  Despite initial hesitations, Stephen is given a job as an under-butler and is immediately put to work helping to seal up every room.  When all is done, he is directed to the far reaches of the house to tend to Miss Decima Stockingham the family matriarch who, at 80 years old, still instils fear in every member of staff.  However, Stephen quickly realises that Miss Decima isn't as senile as the family may think and the two strike up an unlikely professional relationship.  The following morning as the family and staff begin to emerge from their lockdown, they discover that there has been a murder, and the culprit must still be in the house.  With all eyes turning to Stephen, the newest member of the house, can Miss Decima help him to discover the truth before it's too late?

Anybody who is a regular reader of my blog will be aware that I am a fan of Ross' MG fiction and so I was thrilled to discover that he's written a book for grown-ups.  An early read proved too alluring and, knowing how much I love a murder mystery, I dove straight in.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the style of writing; there's a tension due to the fact that this is essentially a locked room mystery within a locked house and I enjoyed trying to figure out who the culprit might be - my suspect list changed frequently as the plot progressed!

Above all, I adored Miss Decima!  She's a brilliantly curmudgeonly character who is a force to be reckoned with; she's not allowing her age or her gender (this is 1910) to interfere with the science she wants to pursue and I love her approach to everything she does.  There's a real humour to her and the relationship that builds between her and Stephen is lovely to read.  I think she actually relishes the chaos that unfolds around them and she comes to life whilst investigating the crime.   

The Murder At World's End publishes in hardback on the 30th October and is a book that will keep you guessing, will make you chuckle and will leave you wanting more from this new unconventional crime-fighting duo.