She Wolf is the powerfully engrossing story of one young, fiercely independent, Danish girl’s fight for survival, and vengeance, in the bleak, wintery landscape of Northumbria in AD 866, following the death of her mother soon after they are washed ashore.

The story centres around Ylva’s absolute single-minded determination to get revenge for her mother’s death, revenge being a central tenet of Viking religion.  She resolutely believes that her mother has been killed by the three-fingered man, a dangerous and frightening warrior, and refuses to cry or grieve, until she has succeeded in her vengeance. 

Her fear and pain are kept at bay by her inner conversations with Geri, her faithful dog and her memories of the stories her mother told as well as the biting of the inside of her cheek, something she relies on to keep her emotions from spilling over into the grief she refuses to express.  I found this action, which is repeated at various points in the story, incredibly moving; for me, it crystallises what an incredibly courageous and fierce young girl Ylva is as she battles to control her pain, anger and fear.

Soon after her mother’s death, Ylva meets a Saxon warrior, Cathryn and her silent, wary companion, Bron.  Cathryn is determined to help Ylva, and Ylva is just as determined to journey alone.  Initially, Ylva fights against accepting any help as she is fiercely independent and naturally mistrusting of strangers, until circumstances leave her no choice.  Should she trust this stranger offering to help her, and talk her out of her vengeance?  What price is Ylva willing to pay to avenge her mother’s death? 

The action is relentless and fast-paced as the tension builds to an almost unbearable crescendo:  hunter becomes hunted, wolves and bears roam the forest …  This tension is masterfully counterbalanced with the building of fledgling friendships, blossoming trust and the tentative acceptance of help.

Ylva’s story captured not only me, but also my class who I read it to as our class reader.  We were all utterly engrossed in Ylva’s heart-stopping adventure through the forests of Northumbria, and learnt a lot about fierce girls and Viking culture.

The June theme for Six for Sunday, hosted by A Little But a Lot, is Bookish Wishes and today’s wish is for:  Characters who deserve another/their own book.  This was quite a tricky one for me as a lot of the characters I love have, or are getting, sequels.

These are the ones who I would love to read about again or follow other characters in the story, which I’m not aware of having/getting sequels:

Tess de Sousa in The Star-Spun Web by Sinead O’Hart:  Tess’s adventure to a parallel universe with the star-spinner was engrossing.   I’d love her to go to other universes as she takes on Mr Cleat and Mrs Thistleton again!

Pog  in Pog Padraig Kenny:  I would love to go on another adventure with Pog, perhaps as he helps some other children, saves the world from monsters again, or to learn more about his backstory.

The sheep dog in I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak:  whilst I adored Cosmo, I’d really like to know more about the sheepdog’s story, told from his viewpoint.

Bron or Ylva in She Wolf by Dan Smith:  I’d love to know about the adventures of Cathryn and Bron, perhaps from Bron’s perspective, before they meet Ylva, or follow Ylva beyond the end of the story as I’m sure there’s more fierceness to come as she fights for justice.

Emmeline and Thing in The Eye of the North by Sinead O’Hart:  Emmeline and Thing are such fantastic characters that I’m sure they could go on a mission to save the world from another villain bent on world domination!

Eska, Flint and Blu in Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone:  another adventure with Eska, Flint and Blu in the wonderful snowy kingdom of Erkenwald as it comes under threat once again would be fantastic.

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words.
What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we
judged it by its opening lines?

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

On the bright side of the valley, ten furrows from Lane
End and some twenty furlongs from the village of North Owlcot, in a place where
the great metal city of Medlock was just a dream, there was a small farm.

This one is the opening to a middle-grade book:  any ideas?

This is my current read which is incredibly engaging. I’ve
booked myself some reading time tomorrow morning to finish it.  Goodreads synopsis:

A year after the death of her older brother, Prue Haywood’s family is still shattered by grief. But everything changes when a stranger arrives at the farm. A new, incredible technology has been discovered in the city of Medlock, where a secretive guild of inventors has developed a way to capture spirits of the dead in animal-like machines, bringing them back to life. Prue knows that the “Ghost Guild” might hold the key to bringing her brother back, so she seizes the stranger’s offer to join as an apprentice. But to find her brother, she needs to find a way to get the ghost machines to remember the people they used to be. Yet if Prue succeeds, all of society could come apart…

There were two reasons I was attracted to this book:  the front cover (Elsa Klever) which immediately made me think of primordial witchcraft; and, the fact that it was set in an isolated Irish town.  I’m so glad these were enough for me to begin reading it, and it didn’t disappoint!

Sixteen year-old twin sisters, Maddy and Catlin move to Ballyfrann, an isolated Irish town nestled in the mountains, with their mother after her marriage to Brian, the owner of a castle in the town.  Although the twins clearly have a very close bond, they have very different personalities.  Catlin is outgoing, attention-seeking and quite self-absorbed whilst Maddy is more serious, introverted and reflective.  The girls also have different perspectives on life, with Catlin superfically focussed on religious iconography whilst Maddy feels more connected to nature, and suspects she may be a witch.  Their awkward moments and difficulties as they try to settle into school life are perfectly portrayed with deft, pertinent observations.

It does not take Maddy long to sense that there is something strange, and secretive,  about Ballyfrann and its inhabitants.  She sees her sister enter into an obsessive relationship with an older teenager, Lon, a relationship which threatens the sisterly bond.  Is this just young love, or something more sinister?  She discovers that Aunt Mamo, who lives with them, is a practising witch who suspects Maddy’s own latent witchcraft.   Out in the woods, she makes an horrific discovery … a sacrifice to ward of greater evil?  Oh, and there is the small matter of the missing girls … the many, many missing girls …

Catlin is not the only sister making new relationships.  Maddy, who has always found it difficult to develop friendships, seems to find it somewhat easier to form friendships, albeit awkward ones, in Ballyfrann, perhaps because she belongs in the town.  Her developing relationship with Oona, another native returning home, offers some relief from the darker nature of the main story line, although it is not without its complications.  Maddy’s character drives the story.  She is a very sympathetic protagonist:  full of brutal honesty, uncertainty, confusion, guilt and incredible loyalty to her sister.  To what lengths will one sister go to protect the other?

There is a pervading sense of foreboding throughout as Catlin’s insidious obsession with Lon grows, sacrifices are made and undertones of darkness are drip-fed into the narrative, culminating in the macabre.

This book is probably not for the faint-hearted as it does have some disturbing scenes; however, they are such an integral part of the plot and necessary to understandng  the impossible life-changing choices forced upon Maddy that they can be justified, although uncomfortably so. 

I was completely engrossed in finding out Ballyfrann’s hidden secrets, allowing its dark undertones to envelop me, and following Maddy on her journey to discover her talent, something all inhabitants of Ballyfrann have, being that which binds them together. 

This is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words.  It asks three questions:

1.       What are you currently reading?

2.       What did you recently finish reading?

3.      What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m currently reading Wildspark by Vashti Hardy set in the world of Medlock which I’m looking forward to finding out more about, although I haven’t been able to read as much as I want to.  I hate when work gets in the way of reading!   

I recently finished Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan.  This was an absorbing read about the strange occurrences, and hidden secrets, in an isolated Irish town, Ballyfrann.  It is a book full of witchcraft, teenage angst and darkness.  I’m just finalising my review, ready to post tomorrow.

I intend to read Circe by Madeline Miller next.  This seems to be the book everyone is talking about, and I’ve had a few people recommend it to me, so I’m looking forward to diving into it!  One of my work colleagues is also reading it, so it’ll be good to have someone to discuss it with face-to-face!

This is a weekly meme now hosted by The Artsy Girl Reader.  This week’s theme is Books From My Favourite Genre.  This was a very easy choice for me as my absolute go-to genre is fantasy.  I think this goes right back to my childhood when I first entered Narnia and travelled down the rabbit hole with Alice.  There are so many fantasy books I adore that I’ve decided to restrict myself to listing only books in series and then divide these into YA and middle-grade.

The trilogy that really got me into reading fantasy as an adult was Lord of the Rings.  I remember going to the cinema to watch it, and just really not being able to cope with having to wait so long for the next film!  The next day, I ordered Lord of the Rings, and completely lived in that world for the next few weeks.  This led to The Belgariad (and all other David & Leigh Eddings books) and The Riftwar Saga, both of which I loved, not just for the world’s created, but because of the characters, who were incredibly believable and sympathetic. 

A few of these are probably really obvious choices, but I just had to include them anyway!  I came to Harry Potter late – after all the books had been published.  I remember picking one up at the end of July and, by the middle of August, I had read them all.  The Chronicles of Narnia completely hooked me, and drew me into this incredible world as a child.  James Nichol has created the most amazing character in Arianwyn, who fails her witch exams, but is really the most fantastic witch!  The Wild Magic Trilogy has had two books published:  Begone the Raggedy Witches and The Little Grey Girl, which has the best depiction of a ghost that I’ve ever read in middle-grade – just incredible! 

I’m sure there are some great series I’ve missed out on – I almost feel guilty choosing so few books but it was a Top 10 and, by including series, I got a few more books in my list!

Have you read any of these?  Are there some other great series I’m missing out on?

#20BooksOfSummer is an annual event hosted by 746 Books and runs from 3^rd June until 3^rd September.  The aim is to clear some books from your TBR pile.

I have only been blogging since April, so this is the first time I’m taking part in this challenge.  It looks like too much fun not to have a go and, hopefully, it is one I can complete – no pressure!  It gives me a good chance to go through my ever-growing TBR pile which seems to have taken on a life of its own – nothing to do with my book buying addiction, of course!

I think the hardest part of this challenge will be keeping to these titles as more books are published that I want to read!

I’ve chosen a mix of YA and middle-grade books. This is my list:

20 books over 3 months – ready, steady, go …

The June theme for Six for Sunday, hosted by A Little But a Lot, is Bookish Wishes and today’s wish is for:  Books I Want to be Written.

I’ve decided to go for types of books I would like to see more of, or even more of, in children’s middle-grade fiction.  In no particular order, they are:

1.       Timeslip novels.  I can’t remember when I read my first time-slip story (I must have been just out of primary school), nor could I remember the name, but I do remember that it was about teenagers going back to the time of Cuchulain of Ulster, and that the memory of my fascination with the book still lingers, many, many years later.  Just recently, I think I’ve been able to re-discover the book:  The Druid’s Tale by Orla Melling, and have now managed to get a copy.  I’d love to see more of these stories, travelling to different periods of history.  I love the mix of the modern with the historical, and how characters from two very different periods of history interact. 

2.       Science-fiction set on other worlds.  I love sci-fi series like Star Trek and Firefly.  I would love to see middle-grade fiction set entirely on other worlds with interaction between alien and human species, as I think these would be fascinating.  

3.       Celtic mythology/folklore with a modern twist.  Growing up in rural Ireland, I read, and heard, many stories of Irish folklore.  We had a ‘fairy tree’ (hawthorn) tree on our family farm, which was never allowed to be cut down for fear of causing offence to the faery folk.  If I were ever to write a story, it would be linked to faery lore!

4.       Pre-historic.  I loved Earth’s Children’s series and The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Series, and would love to read some more stories set in pre-historic times.

5.      Ghost stories:  I’ve read Seaglass by Eloise Williams and The Little Grey Girl by Celine Kiernan recently.  I would love to find more books suitable for middle-grade in this genre.

6.      LGBTQ:  I’ve read some excellent YA fiction with LGBTQ characters, but am not really familiar with this population being represented in middle-grade fiction.  I would like to see more stories where the diversity of modern families is shown.

If you know any great children’s fiction related to these types of book, I would love to hear your recommendations.

This is the story of one quiet girl making her voice heard, not by learning to shout the loudest, but by showing her inner strength, determination and courage, and making others listen in order to do something that matters.

As full of excitement, power and tension as a lightning storm! Mina, an Alorrian farm girl, is waiting for her storm beast, used to help manipulate the weather, to hatch. But the storm beast that emerges is not what her family expected for their quiet, dependable, sensible girl. Pixit, a Lightning Beast – unpredictable, loud, brave – bonds telepathically with Mina and helps her to believe in herself. Theirs is a heartfelt relationship, full of trust, support, love and humour.

Mina wants excitement and adventure, and to explore the world outside her farm. She soon finds herself training at Mytris Lightning School where she develops firm friendships, full of trust and humour, with some of the other students.

During an attempt to harness electricity from a lightning storm, she finds herself outside the boundaries of Alorria, where she makes a startling discovery. Are the devastating storms suffered by the Outsiders somehow related to the Ten-Year Festival celebrations of her people? Her visit to the Alorrian Capital does nothing to allay her suspicions, but what can she do? Can she be the spark that will change the world, just as she always hoped? Will she be brave enough to defy the authorities, and journey beyond the mountains to find the truth?

I would highly recommend this book to children of 9+: it is full of adventure, excitement and warmth, and has some powerful messages about self-belief, being true to yourself and inner strength.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for an e-ARC of this book.

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

Our father died in flames when he was twenty-six and we were two. We don’t remember. All we have is story. Sense memory, the feeling of soft earth. His name upon a pitted slab, limestone, lichen-pocked.

This is from a book just published on 30th May by an Irish author. Any ideas?

This is my current read which I’m loving so far. Goodreads synopsis:

Everyone in Ballyfran has a secret, and that is what binds them together…

Fifteen-year-old twins Madeline and Catlin move to a new life in Ballyfran, a strange isolated town, a place where, for the last sixty years, teenage girls have gone missing in the surrounding mountains.

As distance grows between the twins – as Catlin falls in love, and Madeline begins to understand her own nascent witchcraft – Madeline discovers that Ballyfrann is a place full of predators. Not only foxes, owls and crows, but also supernatural beings who for many generations have congregated here to escape persecution. When Catlin falls into the gravest danger of all, Madeline must ask herself who she really is, and who she wants to be – or rather, who she might have to become to save her sister.

Dark and otherworldly, this is an enthralling story about the bond between sisters and the sacrifices we make for those we care about the most.