Book Review: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane; Neil Gaiman.

I always find myself getting a little bit excited when I start a book by Neil Gaiman. His worlds are always built so well and I find myself really enjoying them! I thought this time, having read a couple of children's books, I'd go for something a bit different. I bought it a couple of months ago and it fit perfectly into the Key Word Challenge for this month. Also, being under 300 pages, it definitely fits into the Quick Fix Challenge too!

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane
AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Headline Publishing Group
PAGES: 255
GENRE: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Horror, Adult

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.


Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

What I Liked:

• Neil Gaiman's imagination seriously never ceases to amaze me. Some of the crazy things this man comes up with are so bizarre, and yet I love it all! This book was no different. He created a world that seemed like nothing more than a man's distant memory of a somewhat magical childhood. And yet, there was an underlying sinister tone that something was not quite right. Did it all happen or was it in his head? I was gripped from start to finish, and there were some pretty horrifying events that kept my eyes glued to the page.
• The characters were pretty cool in this one. The Nameless Boy was a likeable hero, despite the fact that nameless main characters usually irritate me. The Hempstocks were a curious, fun family and they reminded me a lot of one of my friends, her Mother and Grandmother. Seriously, the likeness is uncanny. I also really liked Ursula Monkton as a villain.

What I Disliked:

• The fact that the story was short meant that it was a bit of a whirlwind and I couldn't help but feel disappointed that the story wasn't longer and more fully explored. Ursula Monkton for example could definitely have stuck around a bit longer to cause more havoc than she did! She had so much potential!

Overall Conclusion:

I have enjoyed a few Gaiman books recently, but this is definitely my favourite so far. It had a really cool concept, good characters, and a fantastically creative world in which it was set. I will forever worship the imagination of Neil Gaiman, it amazes and horrifies at the same time. I just wish the book had been longer!

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'New Series That I Want To Start'.

Well today I'm off ill, but feeling a bit better, I thought I'd do this list now and at least be a little productive today.

1) 'The Gentlemen Bastard' Series; Scott Lynch.

Fantasy is a favourite genre of mine and so for this list, I thought I'd include a lot more of that because I have so many good ones to read! Scott Lynch's well-loved series is just one example. I have not read a single one of these books. This is partly because I haven't had time and mostly because I'm a terrible person. I definitely need to get onto these!

2) The 'Demon Cycle' Series; Peter V. Brett.

A friend of mine bought the first book, 'The Painted Man' for my birthday and urged me to read this series. Since then I haven't, and every time I have seen them, they have told me off for not doing so. I really ought to get round to it if I can because I feel like I might be missing out on something spectacular!

3) The 'Languedoc Trilogy'; Kate Mosse.

I bought myself 'Labyrinth' a while back too and thought it looked great! I'm a pretty big fan of Historical Fiction and Kate Mosse is a name I see everywhere in this genre. It's a fairly big book though, and so part of an even bigger series. I can't wait to find time to get into it.

4) The 'Anna' Series; Kendare Blake.

Just look at the artwork for this series! It's not only gorgeous but it looks ultra creepy too! I have a slightly strange part of myself that is a huge fan of scary books and I think this one has the potential to be. I really want to start and find out!


5) 'The Raven Cycle' Series; Maggie Stiefvater.

This series just look so awesome! I have wanted to read a Maggie Stiefvater book for a while and I would love to get into this series. A lot of fellow Bloggers seem to agree and it seems to be a very well-loved series of hers. Hopefully I can start it soon and really get into it!

6) The 'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' Series; Ransom Riggs.

Well as I included the 'Anna' series because it looked like a chilling read, I couldn't not include this series! The covers are particularly terrifying and I can't wait to see exactly what this series is actually about. The title doesn't give a huge amount away but it has been recommended by many people!

7) The 'Throne Of Glass' Series; Sarah J. Maas.

I know that it is pretty terrible that I haven't read this series. So many people, friends and bloggers alike have told me that it is very good and I adore the cover artwork. The sooner I can get round to this series, the better.

8) The 'Scarlet' Series; A.C. Gaughen.

A series based on the age old tale of Robin Hood? Yes please! I have always loved those stories and cannot believe I haven't read this series yet. The covers look great too! It just screams 'strong, female lead' (something that I adore)! There's a new book, 'Lionheart' coming out soon too. I can't wait!



9) The 'Chaos Walking' Series; Patrick Ness.

I want very much to get round to this series because it looks like such a good one. Patrick Ness is one of those authors that I hear such good things about, and I've never got round to actually reading. I plan to rectify this ASAP, as soon as I get time!

10) The 'Mistborn' Series; Brandon Sanderson.

The same friend who bought me 'The Painted Man' also gave me another book for another birthday. The first book of this series. I'm not ignoring her bookish advice on purpose, honestly! I just have so many books to get through, that I'm finding it difficult to actually get through them.

Last Week's Shenanigans (October 13th - October 19th)...

So this week, other than being at work and having a pretty good week there, has been non-eventful. I was supposed to be seeing a friend of mine on the Sunday, but then we both ran into a terrible problem. Illness. Despite desperately trying to avoid it, it would seem winter is coming and I am destined to be ill again. I've been feeling a little odd all week but the Weekend has definitely proved something is wrong. In fact, as I write this, I feel pretty terrible!

In other news, the Flat has got into Once Upon A Time in a big way and I'm enjoying re-watching it. I'm still suffering from Game Of Thrones withdrawal symptoms though and can't believe I have to wait so long for the next series!

I Reviewed:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Places That Books Have Made Me Want To Visit
Life Of A Blogger: Favourite Toys

Book Review: The Witch Of Salt & Storm; Kendall Kulper.

Hooray! Another book bites the dust! This one will be entered into a couple of challenges too. The first being the 2014 'Key Words' Challenge, as the word 'The' is in the title. As well as that, this book fits nicely into the 'Monthly Motif' Challenge category of Witches!

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: The Witch Of Salt & Storm
AUTHOR: Kendall Kulper
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Little Brown Books
PAGES: 416
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction, Young Adult

RATING: 2.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
You don't know what you must give up to become a witch.

Avery Roe wants only to claim her birthright as the witch of Prince Island and to make the charms that have kept the island's sailors safe at sea for generations, but instead she is held prisoner by her mother in a magic-free life of proper manners and respectability.

Avery thinks escape is just a matter of time, but when she has a harrowing nightmare, she can see what it means: She will be killed. She will be murdered. And she's never been wrong before.

Desperate to change her future, Avery finds a surprising ally in Tane—a tattooed harpoon boy with magic of his own, who moves her in ways she never expected. But as time runs out to unlock her magic and save herself, Avery discovers that becoming a witch requires unimaginable sacrifice.

What I Liked:

• Kulper's writing was very good. Yes, there were some niggles that I shall get to later, but this book is very quotable in some respects and I really felt she had thought a lot about her writing style. The book gripped me pretty well, particularly in the second half and it was filled with many twists and turns to keep the story alive.
• I liked the romance. In other reviews I've seen some complaints, but I thought it was nice and I supported them the whole way through. It was so full of emotion and heartache, as well as lovely moments. I suppose some could say it was rushed, but in my eyes the situation was urgent and the romance had a purpose, in that it furthered the plot.

What I Disliked:

• I am not sure if this was a purposeful move or just appeared on my copy, but there were a fair few consistent grammatical mistakes. Sentences didn't begin with capitals, chapter names had a happy mix of both, and though this didn't exactly ruin my reading experience, it irritated me a bit. If it was a purposeful move then I don't really understand why it was like that.
• It was a little bit of a slow-starter. There was a lot of description, particularly on the topic of Roe Witches and Whaling. While these were interesting to read, it meant the plot was a little more basic than it could have been.

Overall Conclusion:

I found it pretty tough rating this book. Part of me wanted to give it 4 stars because I did enjoy it. However, there were a few things that bothered me and I decided I couldn't quite give it that. If you're into Witch books, it's a pretty good read! It covers Witchcraft well, has a good romance, and I really enjoyed the writing. There were some grammar issues that bugged me, and it took me a little time to get into it, but if there are follow up books I would love to read them.

Life Of A Blogger: 'Favourite Toys'.

Oh my goodness, I grew up with and loved so many different toys over the years. Being born in the 1990s also meant that I had many awesome, classic playthings! Here are some of them!

• Cuddly teddies. Most notably, my toy Raccoon, Ricky. I talked a little about him in my 'Prized Possession' post a couple of weeks ago.
• Polly Pocket. I used to have quite a few of these, my favourite being a House/Pet Salon.
• My Little Ponies. I actually collected a fair few of these and loved playing with them (as well as toy horses in general). They looked a little different to how they look now but I loved them all the same.
• Playdough. I literally loved this stuff and made so many things from it. I used to love the smell too.
• Hot Wheels Cars. I wasn't just a girly-girl, I collected toy cars too. In particular, I used to ask for Hot Wheel Cars because I always liked the fact that there were so many of them!
• V-Tech Laptop. For a long time, this was my only source of entertainment. There were so many great games and things to do on this thing that I would spend hours on it!
• K-Nex. This was like the next best thing to Lego for making things. My Dad and I used to have a whole trunk full of it and work very hard on making huge models of Rockets, Ships, Cars, Ferris Wheels. At one point, we even made a Robot Spider that moved (though I got scared and quickly dismantled it).

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Places That Books Have Made Me Want To Visit'.

This week's topic is one I have been looking forward to for a very long time. Maybe because there are a huge number of places that I read in stories that make me go 'I want to go there'!

1) Hogwarts (The 'Harry Potter' Series; J.K. Rowling).

I am fairly sure that The School For Witchcraft And Wizardry will appear in a lot of lists. Who doesn't wish that their Hogwarts letter would come through the window via owl? I certainly waited a long time for the invite that would lead me through the busy corridors, from classroom to classroom learning amazing things. And can you imagine the Library? Heaven.

2) Tortall (The 'Song Of The Lioness Series', etc; Tamora Pierce).

I have always praised Tamora Pierce, and her amazing world-building abilities. She wrote many series set in Tortall and I loved them all. But more importantly, I loved the world! The Palace, the Carthaki Empire, Sarain etc. were so well described and sounded like such beautiful places to visit and I would love to see them properly.

3) Inkworld (The 'Inkworld' Series; Cornelia Funke).

This was such an interesting world. I remember loving the front covers for these books because the world they depicted just looked so magical. I would have loved to have seen the world that Dustfinger lived in, met Bluejay's gang, seen the White Women (or perhaps not!) etc. Awesome books with an awesome world!

4) Misselthwaite Manor ('The Secret Garden'; Frances Hodgson Burnett).

When I read this book as a young girl (and watched the film), I loved the thought of running around this huge house. It's filled with secret passageways and many rooms to explore and of course, there is a beautiful garden outside to see too. It sums up the idea of an old Victorian House perfectly.

5) Prague (The 'Daughter Of Smoke & Bone' Series; Laini Taylor).

That's right, I'm not talking about Eretz. I've never been to Prague but it sounds like a beautiful place to go! I've done a bit of research and the architecture looks stunning. It would be such fun to hang out with Karou and Zuzana at the Poison Kitchen, see The Charles Bridge, or attend The Marionette Theatre.

6) Alagaesia (The 'Inheritance' Quadrilogy).

Okay, so under a tyrannical King this might not be the best place to live. But I would love to visit this place purely to see how beautiful it was! In particular, Du Weldenvarden sounds like a gorgeous forest (I am a bit of a fan of forests) and is of course the home of the elves! Who doesn't want to visit elves?!

7) Trollus (The 'Malediction' Trilogy).

I loved this book when I read it and can't wait to read the next one! One of the things that really became clear was that the City of Trollus, despite being surrounded by a deadly Labyrinth and residents trapped inside, sounds like a pretty cool place to be. It has gardens, libraries, and some very interesting residents.

8) Westeros & Essos (The 'A Song Of Ice & Fire' Series; George R.R. Martin).

Once again, not necessarily the friendliest place to visit. Yet the world is built so beautifully that I would love to visit. From the snows of the North and beyond the wall, to the beautiful meadows and cities of the South, then across the Narrow Sea to the scorching heat of Essos. The characters would be fun to meet too. Danaerys, Arya, Tyrion, Varys, etc. Of course there are some characters that would be best avoided I feel.

9) China ('Under Fishbone Clouds'; Sam Meekings).

I read this book recently and liked it a lot! It made me really want to visit China. There was a lot about the Culture and Myths in the book and it sounds like a graceful and lovely country to visit.

10) The University, Tarbean ('The Kingkiller Chronicles'; Patrick Rothfuss).

I love this series a lot. The world is built well, but in particular I would like to attend the University and learn Magic. The University felt like a more complicated Hogwarts and very much appealed to my slightly more mature mind.

Last Week's Shenanigans (October 6th - October 12th)...

We are now a week into October and I confess I'm a little disappointed with my reading progress. I am enjoying the month so far though, and this week has been no exception. As usual, I have worked for most of it. It has been pretty busy all of a sudden at work so I've been pretty tired after shifts. One thing I did manage to accomplish this week was watching the rest of the Game Of Thrones series so far, meaning I'm fully caught up and waiting for Season 5 like everyone else! As a result, the flat are now going to watch Once Upon A Time from the beginning and I'm excited to revisit that series!

My parents and sister also came to visit on Sunday, which was nice. It felt like such a long time since I've seen them that I had been looking forward to them coming to see me. They came bearing gifts of a chocolatey nature too, which were well appreciated!

I Reviewed:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Character Driven Novels

Life Of A Blogger: Scents