Review: Miss Mabel’s School for girls

Never underestimate the power of a determined witch.

Letum Wood is a forest of fog and deadfall, home to the quietly famous Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, a place where young witches learn the art of magic.

Sixteen-year-old Bianca Monroe has inherited a deadly curse. Determined to break free before it kills her, she enrolls in the respected school to confront the cunning witch who cast the curse: Miss Mabel.

Bianca finds herself faced with dark magic she didn’t expect, with lessons more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Will Bianca have the courage to save herself from the curse, or will Miss Mabel’s sinister plan be too powerful?

Miss Mabel’s School for Girls is the first novel in The Network Series, an exciting new fantasy collection. A gripping tale about the struggle to survive, it will take you to a new place and time, one you’ll never want to leave.

I took me a while to get around to reading this book. Not sure why. It was amazing.

The setting was brilliant and the story even better. I was kept guessing the whole way through. I read it in a few days (quick for me just now). The magic was really clever and original. I was very unsure of Miss Mabel, was it all an act or was she truly like that. Bianca was a great lead character. She was strong and spunky.

All the different types of magic was engaging I was not bored even for a line. It’s frustrating that I cannot out into words how much I enjoyed this book. It was magical, enchanting and overall just a great read. I am very much looking forward to the next one.

5 out of 5 stars. (I wish I could give it more).

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Review: Static (Flight 29 Down #1)

Before they landed on a remote desert island, the survivors of Flight 29 Down weren’t necessarily friends. Some of them were friend-ly, some were healthy competitors, and some were . . . just plain strangers. Get the backstory on television’s hottest group of tween castaways in this original prequel.

It says it’s a prequel, it’s not really, it’s just the story, as same as the first few episodes of the T.V. series. I really enjoyed this. It was a nice clean story made for kids. Okay it has danger and people getting hurt in it, but it’s not gruesome. All the kids just want to get home. To me it would be a little more realistic if they relished the time away from adults more, just for a few days, they were all so sensible. But it was nice to see that. They mostly got on, had their differences though.

The idea of crashing on a deserted island is a very scary one. With not much food and only one adult who goes off into the jungle, also not much drinking water, it would be too frightening for some kids that age.

Overall it was a really good read, looking forward to reading the second one 🙂

Four out of five stars

ARC Review: Pickin’ Peas

Pickin peas. Land on my knees! sings a pesky rabbit as he merrily eats his way through the pea patch Little Girl has planted. But when Little Girl snatches him up and takes him home to put in a box until pea season is over, the rabbit is soon singing a new tune as he plans his escape. With a nod to Brer Rabbit, Pickin Peas is based on two folktales collected in Alabama and Virginia at the end of the last century. The lively storytelling voice of Margaret Read MacDonald, matched with Pat Cummingss bright, bold pictures, makes this funny battle-of-wits tale perfect to tell out loud, letting everyone share in the fun of chanting its rhymic refrain!

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

At first I read this on my kindle and it was all jumbled up. Then I read it on the PDF file and it was amazing. The artwork was beautiful, and I liked how the story was written over the picture, made it feel very involved. Even though I did not know the tune I found myself singing the song in my head, it was catchy. The bunny was so clever and cute. I would recommend this book to children especially if they have parents who are good singers.

Four out of five stars

TBR Thursday: Week 8

The idea of TBR Thursday’s is to say which book that you have had for more than three months, you are planning and reading over the coming weekend (or week if you are busy like me). This meme is hosted by Words with Sarah.

I still have not read this, think it is about time I did. I loved the first two in the series. Really looking forward to it, although I know a little of what happens.

TBR Thursday: Week 7

The idea of TBR Thursday’s is to say which book that you have had for more than three months, you are planning and reading over the coming weekend (or week if you are busy like me). This meme is hosted by Words with Sarah.

I ashamed to say I loved the T.V. show. really looking forward to reading the book.

What book are you reading this weekend?

Incantation Paradox by Annamaria Bazzi Blog Tour – Spotlight and Giveaway

Incantation Paradox by Annamaria Bazzi

Magic is an illusion. It doesn’t really exist. Or does it?

A horrible car accident destroys Dolores Reynard’s life. But instead of waking up in a hospital bed, she awakens in a teenager’s body. Soon, she discovers she is at the heart of the murderous mystery surrounding the death of Mona, the young girl whose body she occupies. Caught between an evil greater than she ever imagined and a wizard who heals her tattered heart, she is forced to play a dangerous game of intrigue in the hopes of finding a way to return to her previous life.

Will magic be her ally, or will it lead to her demise once and for all.

Want to buy this book or read reviews?

Amazon usa – smashwords – Goodreads – Barnes and Noble – Amazon UK

Some fun facts

– When behind the veil Dolores’ true form materializes, losing Mona’s looks.

– When I first wrote the book, I wrote it in first person, but Eric kept calling to me and I had to rewrite it in third person limited just so I could find out who he really was.

– Through the various drafts, the protagonist changed name from Mara to Dolores.

– In my mind Dolores was going to fall in love with Richard, but she had different plans and fell in love with Jason.

– The original title of the book was Trapped in a Nightmare, but when I googled the title another book had claimed the title so I called the novel Incantation Paradox.

Author Bio

Although born in the United States, Annamaria Bazzi spent a great deal of her childhood in Sicily, Italy, in a town called Sciacca. Italian was the language spoken at home. Therefore, she had no problems when she found herself growing up in a strange country. Upon returning to the states, she promised herself she would speak without an accent. She attended Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Computers with a minor in Spanish.

Annamaria spent twenty years programming systems for large corporations, creating innovative solution, and addressing customer problems. During those years, she raised four daughters and one husband. Annamaria lives in Richmond Virginia with her small family where she now dedicates a good part of her day writing.

Want to know more about her? Here’s some of her links.

Goodreads – Blog – Website – Facebook – Twitter

Giveaway

2 x e-copies of Incantation Paradox

Ends 10th of August

Unfortunately WordPress does not allow me to have the widget but if you clink the link below it will take you there. Here is a link to another blog which does have the widget. Here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Plenty more people are involved in this blog tour, take a look here, to see them.

I am almost finished this book, the review will be in the next few days. It’s really good so far 🙂

Happy reading

Emma