AUTHOR INTERVIEW: James Nicol

The Apprentice Witch

by James Nicol

Publisher: Chicken House 

Publication Date: July 7th 2016

Summary

Arianwyn has fluffed her witch’s evaluation test.

Awarded the dull bronze disc and continuing as an apprentice – to the glee of her arch-rival, mean girl Gimma – she’s sent to protect the remote, dreary town of Lull. 

But her new life is far from boring. Turns out Gimma is the pompous mayor’s favourite niece – and worse, she opens a magical rift in the nearby Great Wood. As Arianwyn struggles with her spells, a mysterious darkness begins to haunt her – and it’s soon clear there’s much more than her pride at stake …

Q&A 

with James Nicol

1.     What was the inspiration behind The Apprentice Witch?

It was a combination of wanting to write a story that had magic at it’s heart but was also set in a world where the magic was real and everyday and not a secret.

The main character popped into my head one day she was casting a spell in a garden at night. I wrote it all down in a furious hurry and then took it from there!

2.     How did it feel to see The Apprentice Witch develop from your initial idea into a physical book?

SO amazing! But there were so many milestones between that initial idea and seeing the book whizzing around the printers warehouse that it’s all been pretty exciting one way or another. Seeing so many other people invested in something that I really just made up is a little bit weird in the most wonderfully bonkers way!

3.     Where did your love of writing come from?

From my love of stories and my love of reading. I think all writers are really just over excited readers who get a bit carried away. I’ve always had a vivid imagination and its very handy to have that when you are trying to write a book. Books have a great power to transport us, give us knowledge and to inspire us and I have always been fascinated by that.

4.     Who was your favourite and least favourite character to write and why?

Oh, I loved writing ALL the characters, each one for different reasons. They were all needed to create the story and all play their part. Some of the more minor characters  like Mr Thorn who drives the bus and Aunt Grace and Uncle Mat where trickier as they are not in the book as much as others so you don’t have so much chance to develop them on the page. Actually some of the more unpleasant characters were perhaps more fun to write than they should have been.

5.     What was your biggest challenge writing your first book?

Knowing what I was doing as I really didn’t know how to go about it! I wrote out of sequence, had about 36 different word documents on my laptop and wrote myself into several corners and out again (thankfully!)  Thankfully I was accepted to work with The Golden Egg Academy for Children’s Writers and they helped me a great deal from sorting out the structure of the book to helping to find my authors ‘voice’ I would not have gotten this far without them, and it certainly wouldn’t have been so much fun!

6.     Are you working on anything at the moment?

Yes! I’m pleased to say that Arianwyn and her chums will be off on another adventure next year sometime in book 2, so I’m writing that currently and thinking about a 3^rd adventure for them for 2018!

7.     Lastly describe your book in five words… Go!

YIKES!!! Magic, friendship, courage, enchantment, adventure!

Giveaway: The Book of Life

THE BOOK OF LIFE

by Deborah Harkness

Pages: 592 (Hardback)

Publisher: Headline

Publication Date: July 15th 2014

ISBN: 9780755384778

Summary 

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.
With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close. 

Check out my reviews for the first two books in the series!

      

GIVEAWAY

The very kind people at Headline Publishing have provided me with a copy of the epic conclusion to the All Souls Trilogy to giveaway and this is your chance to get your hands on it!

Prize

x1 Hardback copy of The Book of Life (UK residence only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Hexed

HEXED

by Michelle Krys

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: 10th June 2014

ISBN: 0449813118

Received from: NetGalley

Summary

A stolen book. A deadly plan. A destiny discovered. 
If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won't stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn't want to be her?
Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie's world, she learns that her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn't get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that's seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she's a witch too.
Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie is about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

Review

I was so excited about this book! I wanted it to be good but it just wasn't. It wasn't the great read I was expecting it to be which left me feeling all kinds of disappointed. It dragged, and the character's were annoying at best. It didn't make me want to turn the page (which is kind of an important quality for a book to have) and even though I felt like there was a good story line in there - somewhere - I just couldn't get into it.

Hexed is primarily a story about witches and the difference between good and evil. It's a story that focuses a lot on friendship and the what not's to do in a relationship. Indie is a normal everyday bitchy cheerleader one day and then the next she sees a leather clad teenager die right in front of her. Which then leads to a series of events that will unravel her world. Which in all honesty, isn't exactly a bad thing as Indie's life before was so shallow it would made a paddling pool look like the deepest depth of the ocean.

Something good... something good... well the character's had pretty cool names. Okay, that's a little hash it did have one or two redeeming qualities. Firstly, there were one or two moments - towards the end of the book - where Indie's snarky attitude was something close to funny and then there's the fact that it's not actually badly written. The settings are brilliantly vivid and the story line is some what interesting but overall it didn't pull together. It seems to lack that something extra that makes a book special.

The problem with Hexed was that it pushed all my buttons! I think that every single one of my book pet hates where in this book and it made it almost impossible to get through!

• Annoying teenage girl protagonist - check. 
• Unappealing book boyfriend - double check! 
• Cliffhanger - AH! 
• Then, as if it couldn't get worse, the epilogue decided to take a different POV - which I HATE! Stick with one point of view, or make sure we're had two POV the whole way through!! 

But I think the biggest problem with this book was the fact I couldn't connect or get behind any of the characters. I found Indie incessantly annoying and Bishop was just... meh. They were all flighty and melodramatic. It was like reading a witchy soap opera. 

I'm not sure if it's just me or maybe it really is a bad book but what I do know is I won't be reading book two - even though it had a stupid cliffhanger than made me what to through my kindle at a brick wall! However, what really disappointed me was the fact that it had a half decent story line and the potential to be something great. 

"Oh Please" someone tell me why I just wasted my time reading this!?

**I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**

A Witch in Love

A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Title: A Witch in Love

Author: Ruth Warburton

Publishing Date: July 5th 2012

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

ISBN: 1444904701

Summary (From Back Cover)

When love is tangled up in magic, how do you know what's real?

Anna still finds it hard to believe Seth loves her. She has vowed to suppress her powers, but magic - like love - is uncontrollable. 

Review

It kind of surprised me how much I enjoyed this book! Don't get me wrong, I liked A Witch in Winter - I liked it a lot actually - but we had a couple of issues. Now it would seem, after a little break away, I've missed Seth and Anna. Tom and Em. Even the grumpy git that is Bran! This instalment is jam packed and it doesn't wait to throw you into the deep end.

So, the story for the second Winter book picks up six months after A Witch in Winter concludes and I'm happy to report that Seth and Anna are together! It would also appear that Anna has discovered how to make a decision without the world crumbling down around her! The whole book is focused around the one question that wasn't answered before, what happened to Anna's mum? You find out more about that side of her family, about her powers and why Tom's kept so tight lipped over the past eighteen years. So much more happens in this book - you won't be disappointed!

Seth and Anna! Together - yes. Happy - debatable. It was never going to be smooth sailing, and in all honesty? I don't think I blame Anna for being dubious. I mean, wouldn't you always wander if Seth loved you if the only reason you had gotten together in the first place was because of a spell? Hand on heart I firmly believe Seth's feelings are real but put in that situation there would always be a voice in the back on my head asking, are you sure? 

And to make things a whole lot worse there's always Bran. Who, as it turns out, is so much more than just your average bigot! If there's any one character I think you should watch out for it's Bran Waters. In this book you find out just how deep his hatred for witches goes. I found it hard to read at times, not just because he was a horrible man but also because of how hurt Seth became with his Grandfather's actions. 

Which brings me to Seth. Oh, Seth! The poor sod. In my heart I think I want these two to work it out but at the same time I can't help but think that maybe he's better off without Anna. They both seem to drag each other into dangerous situations and then they tare each other apart trying to keep the other one safe! 

There were some real OH MY GOD moments in this book - which I'm not going to give away. What I will say though is that there was one point where I came very close to not finishing this book. Not because it wasn't good, because it was! But because I didn't want it to end the way I thought it was going to, and in my little deluded head if I didn't finish the book everyone could live happily ever after. 

Needless to say I finished it, and my hearts still in tiny little pieces on the floor. My brain on the other hand was more like this...

I can't wait to read the final book in The Winter Trilogy as there are still so many questions unanswered. A Witch in Love was my favourite, and if the series continues the way it's going I expect A Witch Alone will be heartbreakingly gorgeous! 

Bellow are some of the notes I made while reading A Witch in Love via My GoodReads Page

If you haven't done so already check out our review for the first in The Winter Trilogy, A Witch in Winter.

You can also check out our Q&A with Ruth Warburton by CLICKING HERE

A Witch in Winter

A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary (From Back Cover)
When love is tangled up in magic, how do you know what's real?
When Anna meets Seth, it's magic. But her hidden powers unleash a spell that sparks a war among witches and enslaves Seth's heart.

Review
If I'm being completely honest, and lets face it I usually am, I bought this book because I liked the cover - I do this a lot. I wasn't expecting it too be that great, but I was wrong and should start judging books by their covers more often. It has some really interesting moments that connect a greater story of finding a comfortable place between your heart and you conscience.

I'm going to kick things off with some of the negatives because truth be told I kind of want to get to the part where I can gush over how much I liked the story! The main problem I had with this, and it's one I've had with other books, is that I didn't like the main character. I mean, I don't hate Anna the way I do Katniss from THGs but I struggled to feel sympathetic to her situation. I read this with a book buddy on GoodReads and we both said that Anna's inability to make the right decision was a constant snag in the story. It's hard to feel sorry for someone who's hit themselves in the face and all that.

Okay, now that's out the way I can move onto Seth! Seth is kinda of adorable - in a bod boy kind of way. The girl I was reading this with fell for him straight away although it took me a little more time to get won over by his charms. If there was anyone in this story that I wanted to get a happily ever after it was Seth... and maybe Abe. Abe is complicated - to say the least. You don't really find out much about him, he's a secondary character but his power over the weather is enchanting and his dry wit is endearing. I really hope we see more of him in the next book!

One character that I would tell you to keep an eye out for is Emmaline! She quickly became one of my favourite character's; if it was possible for the story to have been told from her point of view I would have preferred it. Actually keep an eye out for that whole family!

The story itself was really interesting. I would have liked a little more of the 'old' magic but the way in which this book is written you could close your eyes and see every spell being cast. I got a little frustrated with the fact the main character is unable of making a decision that didn't endanger the entire population of Winter, but when the story unfolds towards the end her rashness come in handy - I guess.

Another thing I loved about this book was that you could tell that it was written by a Brit! Now, it's not really that big a deal it's just little things here and there that make it feel all the more familiar. Simple things like instead of grassing or narcing Warburton sticks to good old fashioned dobbing.

Overall it's a great witchy read that is full of plot changes and unexpected twists, adorable and intimate moments, as well as a great last line! Definitely worth adding to your list if your into fantasy. The writing flows effortlessly making it such an easy read!

This is one witch you don't want to miss... mainly because she'll probable decide to cast a spell and end the world, so best to keep an eye on her!

Official Book Trailer

A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary (From Back Cover)

It begins with absence and desire.

It begins with blood and fear. 

It begins with a discovery of witches

A world of witches, demons and vampires.

A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. 

Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it. 

Review
An intelligent and well written vampire novel - all most unheard of and yet here we are. You can tell when reading this that Harkness has an interest in research with it's so methodical in it's story plots. There are so many different intellectual themes that you'll defiantly need your thinking cap on with this one. It's a little like reading A Game of Thrones, in the sense that you have to be paying attention, no skimming over bits because if you start doing that you're just going to get lost.

The story follows Dr Diana Bishop, a witch in her early thirties who comes across an old manuscript when researching a paper in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Unbeknown to Diana, the manuscript she's found was lost a long time ago and it's resurfacing has also led to Oxford being invaded with Demons, Witches and Vampires. One of those Vampires being Matthew Clairmont. The story follows these two creatures as they come to terms with what Diana has uncovered and their ever growing feelings towards each other. No to mention the fact Diana has refused to acknowledge her powers for the past two decades, so being dragged into the magical world beyond human eyes it's exactly top of her to do list.

I'm going to start with the main problem I have with this book, because it's the ONLY problem I have with this book. Now, I understand why Harkness has written Matthew to be fiercely protective and almost obsessive over Diana, it makes sense. She's taken the biological traits of a predator and made a real and multi-layered vampire that works. None of this glittering nonsense. However, maybe it's just the feminist in me but I found it almost cringe worthy in parts where he's proving his dominance over Diana. I wanted to shake her and slap him! But in all fairness, that might just be me.

Saying all that, I have a soft spot of Matthew. Yes he's a slightly controlling 1509 year-old but he's also rather damn sweet at times. Although I don't think I like him as much as Marcus Whitmore, his dashing lab assistant. I could go into all the different character's but there are so many that I don't have the time and you lovely people defiantly don't. Which means you'll have to read it and find out for yourselves - you can thank me later. What I will say is keep an eye out for Emily, Sarah and their cat Tabitha - as well as the magic house that has a mood all of it's own!

This is a great book! It's as epic a fantasy as you're going to get set in the present day. It's magical and charming, as well as extremely interesting and intuitive. That's not even mentioning the epic love story at it's centre. It's an intelligent outlook on the vampire/witch culture we've all come to love. If you're someone looking for a fantasy novel, but are fed up of all the teenage nonsense that comes along with it? Then this is the perfect book for you. Would recommend to any lover of fantasy fiction!

I could get behind this... fan made 'dream cast' vid for A Discovery of Witches. FYI there is a movie in development, I do believe that the screenplay has been finish, although it's a long way off being cast.