Winner
When I first started blogging around seventeen months ago, not only was I surprised that I could do it, but that I was slowly amassing an audience as well. Since then, my audience is mostly comprised of fellow Aussie bloggers, but A HUGE shout out to the incredible international book blogger community, especially my friends and supporters in the Philippines. They've been instrumental in bringing the Aussie community together with their comments and support of our young adult blogs. My fellow Aussies, Americans, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canadian visitors, thank you for your support. As I usually offer Aussie only giveaways, it's about time I said thank you to my wider audience as well. So wherever you're from and as long as The Book Depository ships to your country, then this one is for you. Thank you all for your support.
Check out my review for Year of The Rat by Clare Furniss.
Look out for my Twitter Retweet to win a copy on Twitter.
Look out for my Twitter Retweet to win a copy on Twitter.
I always thought you'd know, somehow, if something terrible was going to happen. I thought you'd sense it, like when the air goes damp and heavy before a storm and you know you'd better hide yourself away somewhere safe until it all blows over.
But it turns out it's not like that at all. There's no scary music playing in the background like in films. No warning signs. Not even a lonely magpie. One for sorrow, Mum used to say. Quick, look for another.
The world can tip at any moment… A fact that fifteen year old Pearl is all too aware of when her mum dies after giving birth to her baby sister. Told across the year following her mother's death, Pearl's story is full of bittersweet humour and heartbreaking honesty about how you deal with grief that cuts you to the bone, as she tries not only to come to terms with losing her mum, but also the fact that her sister, The Rat, is a constant reminder of why her mum is no longer around…
With thanks to Simon and Schuster Australia, I'm giving away two copies of this brilliant new contemporary by first time author Clare Furniss. Described as Poignant and thought provoking, it tells the emotional story of teen Pearl and how she copes with a new sibling while dealing with the death of her mother. To enter, simply follow the prompts below. To join the growing Twitter discussion, use the hashtag #ThatRatBook and join thousands of readers that have already discovered the brilliance that is Year of The Rat.
Alexander Altmann A10567
Written by Suzy Zail
Published May 1st 2014
352 Pages
Thank you to Walker Books Australia
★★★★
Fourteen year old Alexander Altmann doesn't need to look at the number tattooed on his arm. A10567: he knows it by heart. He also knows that to survive Auschwitz, he has to toughen up. When he is given the job of breaking in the commander's new horse, their survival becomes intertwined. Alexander knows the animal is scared and damaged, but he must win its trust. If he fails, they will both be killed.
In Birkenau, you're simply a number. It's been weeks since Alexander Altmann has seen his mother and sister, separated by prison camps where the Jewish family is now at the mercy of the German soldiers. Each day, Alexander sees men whipped, shot and abused and then prays that he isn't next. There's no bathing within the camp and being sent to the showers means something entirely different. They are left to sleep on wooden pallets, with only the clothes on their backs. A meal is a stale piece of bread and prisoners are left to fight over the peel of a piece of fruit, often to the death. If the prison camp has taught Alexander one thing, it's to keep his head down, his mouth shut and pray to a god that he no longer believes in.
When Alexander is chosen to work the stables at Auschwitz, along with several other men, he will be made to care for the horses the Nazi officers ride. The rules are simple, keep your assigned horse well fed, healthy and in peak physical condition or you'll become another lifeless body being carried out and replaced. But when Alexander is given the Commander's horse to care for, he's acutely aware the fine line he treads between life and death should he step out of line. With the memory of his horse back home, he befriends Serafin, the stunning Arabic horse and Isidor, a fellow stable hand. Before long, Alexander is assigned the role to tame the new wild stallion brought to the barracks, affectionately named Midnight. Midnight is frightened and doesn't trust Alexander, which makes the three weeks he has to train the horse that much more difficult.
While he struggles to tame the horse, Alexander finds himself caring for the animal even though becoming soft may just end his life. Midnight represents freedom and an unbridled hope that he may just survive the camp after all. But as the war burns closer, Alexander's dream of freedom and preservation may just burn with it.
Kelly's Thoughts
Alexander Altmann wasn't what I had expected. I assumed from the synopsis that the storyline was about being imprisoned by the Germans and concentrated on the appalling and cruel conditions. But I was pleasantly surprised. Alexander Altmann represents hope even in the darkest of conditions and the fight for life. Alexander's story was nothing short of heartbreaking, at only fourteen, he is taken into the adult male camp and kept in inhumane conditions. Men dying is a part of everyday life, and I use the term life loosely, as the prisoners are only barely existing. Alexander has been through more in his short life, than any of us would in a lifetime, he has no idea where his family is, but knows if he has any chance of surviving, he needs to remain hardened. He won't allow himself to make friends, with men dying all around him, he figures there's no point. I can't even begin to imagine being only fourteen and thrown into a terrifying world that no child or adult should experience. It was horrific.
Based on a true story, it is said that Suzy Zail was visiting the Holocaust Centre in Melbourne when Alexander Altmann begun to materialise. She was listening to a guest speaker in which an elderly man participated from the audience, uzy sought the man out after lecture and heard his story. Fred Steiner is Alexander Altmann with a fictional blend. He survived, migrated to Australia where he married and had children of his own, in a country that prides itself on freedom for all and continues to speak at the Holocaust Centre in Melbourne. Through the pen of Suzy Zail, I'm incredibly humbled and grateful to have read his story.
Written by Barry Jonsberg
Dystopian, Science Fiction
Published in Australia May 2014
312 Pages
Thank you to Allen and Unwin
Add to Goodreads
★★★★
★★★★
Pandora Jones wakes in an infirmary - her body weak, her memory providing only flashes of horrific scenes of death. She soon discovers that her family has succumbed to a plague pandemic which almost wiped out humanity. Pan is one of the survivors who have been admitted to The School - a quarantined, heavily guarded survival-skills facility - to recover their strength, hone their skills and prepare for whatever comes next. Pandora's skill is intuition, but how useful will it be outside the secure walls of The School? And what if it leads her to question where the truth lies...
Plague. Pandemic. Intuition. Secrets. Truth. Courage. Action. Survival.
Pandora can't remember much from before arriving at The School, rescued from the streets of Melbourne where the bodies of the dead lie haphazardly in the destitute streets. Glimpses of a life she miraculously survived show the virus that had spread at an alarming rate. Starting with a cough, the flu like symptoms seemingly killing those infected within hours. But now Pandora Jones finds herself brought to the safety of the walled community known as The School, where teens of all ages are housed in simple down conditions, with meager meals and army fatigues. They are taught to survive the new world, where each night over four hundred students are plagued by nightmares, their soul wrenching cries only further proof what the world has lost.
The former military barracks is walled in, the location chosen to keep the students and instructors healthy and uninfected. Beyond the fence lies a village, where civilians bring supplies to and from The School. The message is clear, students are not to cross the wall. Placed within an orientation group of fellow new students, the group are expected to learn, to train, to eat and work alongside one another, including the charismatic Nate. Nate is the picture of physical perfection, strong and intelligent who loves to run. Other team members all seem to have unique and differing traits, with Pandora's verging on the supernatural. Pandora has the gift of intuition, able to sense someone watching her, a lost item or even person. Fellow team members are skeptical, and none more so than Jen. But to survive The School, the group of teens need to band together.
As an easy friendship blooms between Pandora and Nate, the two teens are both curious to why lies beyond their surroundings. Finding a route of escape is easy, making it out undetected? Not so much. But when the group are tested on their new survival skills, it soon becomes clear that The School isn't the safe haven they believe it is.
I really enjoyed Admission, it blended an apocalyptic storyline, with survival, romance and a psychological teen thriller that is a brilliant start to what is set to be an incredible series. Imagine everyone around you, from teachers, parents, siblings, neighbours and friends that are lying dead in the streets. A virus sweeping the globe and wiping everyone out but a few questionable strangers and yourself. With no one to turn to, and that's where your memories seem to fade. But luckily you were rescued by a small walled community known as The School, which seems more like being imprisoned than taught to survive.Kelly's Thoughts
Barry Jonsberg created a world in which the reader won't know whether to flee from or escape to, and nothing is what it seems. I liked Pandora, she's a modest protagonist that wants nothing more than to blend into the background and not draw attention to her gift of insight. Nate soon becomes her partner in crime, both teens sharing a curiosity of what lies beyond the wall. Admission simply has one of the best Prologues I've ever read, 'It took slightly under eight hours for Melbourne to die.' I was completely hooked from page one, and it didn't disappoint. The storyline flows beautifully and to put it bluntly, screwed with my head. You know something is coming, you prepare for it, and then Barry Jonsberg completely surprises you and leaves you wanting more. The cliffhanger is simply evil. Kudos mister Jonsberg. This is one series that I can't wait to continue.
I know that - what we are. But why do you hate me?
Escape.
It was the only word pounding through fallen angel Sage Cross’ mind when her world came crashing in. Fallon was nothing but a painful memory, something she wanted - no, needed - to forget. Now she has a chance to let that part of her past go and be in a place where she can finally heal. A place where lamia and lapsus don’t exist and she can just be… Sage. But of course, it doesn't last.
Nothing ever lasts.
Her happily mediocre life with her cat familiar, Sunny, and best friends, Janie and Perkins, is nothing but a mirage. Especially when a brooding vampire - first name Adam, last name irrelevant - takes root in her life. Someone who hates her for simply existing, yet she is unable to get him out of her mind.
Or her heart.
With her brother and friends in danger, Sage is the key to either ending it all or causing the destruction of not one, but two supernatural beings.
Fallen angels. Lapsus.
Vampires. Lamia.
Who will survive?
Sage, the final installment in the Blood Crave Series.
Freebie Download
Grab your free copy of Fallen Tears, A Blood Crave Novella on Smashwords.
Click Here to download your free copy and enter the coupon code: XQ59M
The coupon code expires April 30th 2014.
Nymph: The Love Oracles is available now.
Thank you to Jaclyn and the team at Walker Books
Check out my Review
The Love Oracles is a love story based on Greek mythological characters set in modern times. It chronicles the story of Merope, a Pleiad star nymph, who falls in love with Lukas, a mortal boy who lives on an olive farm on a small Greek island. The relationship between Lukas and Merope is forbidden and so a wild journey of gods, men and monsters unfolds as the two struggle to find a way to be together. A fun and flirty teen read that will appeal to the fans of Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush series. She's Tonya Alexandra, and she's an Author on the grill.
The One and Only Jack Chant is available now in both paperback and eBook format where all great books are sold.
Thank you the fabulous Lara and Allen and Unwin
Check out My Review
Today, Fire Country by David Estes turns one year old. In the first year since Fire Country was born, so much has happened. David signed with an agent, sold more than 10,000 books, wrote five more books and published a further three). He knew he just had to celebrate and he'd love for you to be a part of it! David owes so much of his support to the blogger community, and he wants everyone to have the chance to be a part of the Fire Country Birthday Bash.
What's a party without prizes? Yes, David is not only giving everyone a chance to download their own copy of Fire Country, book one in the Country Saga for free, but he's also giving you stuff too. You could win an Amazon giftcard open internationally, U.S residents can win a signed copy of the David Estes book of your choice, or a handful of David Estes eBooks of your choice.
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