The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) by Katie O'Neill

The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) - 3.25 Stars

Synopsis

Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

Review

I received with thanks an ARC copy of The Tea Dragon Festival from Oni Press and Netgalley.

This is my review of The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O'Neil. This will be published on 17th September 2019

This was beautifully written but I am defiantly not the attended audience but I am glad that I read this cute graphic novel. 

The Beholder (The Beholder #1) by Anna Bright

The Beholder (The Beholder #1) - No Rating

Synopsis

Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after.

As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match, a partner who will help secure the future of her people. Now that day has finally come.
But when the night of Selah's engagement ends in an excruciatingly public rejection, her stepmother proposes the unthinkable: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.
From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and even beyond borders of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But as she searches for her future husband, she realizes that her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks… and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending.

Review

This came in my recent Fairyloot box. Unfortunately this was an interesting concept but not to my taste.

The Witches by Roald Dahl & Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

The Witches - 4 Stars

Synopsis

THE WITCHES by Roald Dahl is the story of a detestable breed of Witches.

BEWARE.

Real witches dress in ordinary clothes and look like ordinary women. But they are not ordinary. They are always plotting and scheming with murderous, bloodthirsty thoughts - and they hate children.
The Grand High Witch hates children most of all and plans to make every single one of YOU disappear.
Only one boy and his grandmother can stop her, but if their plan fails the Grand High Witch will frizzle them like fritters, and then what . . . ?

Now you can listen to THE WITCHES and other Roald Dahl audiobooks read by some very famous voices, including Kate Winslet, David Walliams and Steven Fry - plus there are added squelchy soundeffects from Pinewood Studios!

Review

This is part of my Roald Dahl read along.

The Twits by Roald Dahl

The Twits - 3 Stars

Synopsis

Phizzwhizzing new cover look and branding for the World's NUMBER ONE Storyteller!

Mr Twit is a foul and smelly man with bits of cornflake and sardine in his beard.
Mrs Twit is a horrible old hag with a glass eye.
Together they make the nastiest couple you could ever hope not to meet.
Down in their garden, the Twits keep Muggle-Wump the monkey and his family locked in a cage. But not for much longer, because the monkeys are planning to trick the terrible Twits, once and for all . . .

And now you can listen to THE TWITS and other Roald Dahl audiobooks read by some very famous voices, including Kate Winslet, David Walliams and Steven Fry - plus there are added squelchy soundeffects from Pinewood Studios!

Also look out for new Roald Dahl apps in the App store and Google Play- including the disgusting TWIT OR MISS! and HOUSE OF TWITS inspired by the revolting Twits.

Review

Another instalment in my Roald Dahl read along.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu (Artist)

Mooncakes - 4 Stars

Synopsis

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Review

I received with thanks an ARC copy of Mooncakes from Lion Forge and Netgalley.

This is my review of Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu. This will be published on 15th October 2019

This was a beautiful tale of a witch and her werewolf friend. This has mystery, magic and intrigue. I really enjoyed reading this tale and would read another graphic novel by this writing duo. This also had excellent LGBTQ+ representation.

Would recommend if you love a good witchy romance.

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl & Quentin Blake (Illustrations)

James and the Giant Peach - 3 Stars

Synopsis

James Henry Trotter lives with two ghastly hags.

Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks boiled and Aunt Spiker is bony and screeching.

He's very lonely until one day something peculiar happens. . .

At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and GROW AND GROW. Inside that peach are seven very unusual insects - all waiting to take James on a magical adventure.

But where will they go in their GIANT PEACH, and what will happen to the horrible aunts if they stand in their way?

There's only one way to find out . . .

Review

Part of Roald Dahl Read along. 

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

The Simple Wild - 4.5 Stars

Synopsis

Calla Fletcher wasn't even two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when Calla learns that Wren’s days may be numbered, she knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.

She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this rugged environment, Jonah—the unkempt, obnoxious, and proud Alaskan pilot who helps keep her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.

Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. Soon, she finds herself forming an unexpected bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago. It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.

Review

This was my first K.A. Tucker novel and will not be the last. This was a heartbreakingly beautiful novel. Calla and her romance with Jonah was done well and at the end I wanted more.