#Review of The Nancys And The Case of the Missing Necklace by R.W.R. McDonald @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #TheNancys

The Nancys and the Case of the Missing Necklace
By R.W.R McDonald

Review by Louise Cannon

Today I am on the Random T. Tour and Orenda Books blog tour with a review of The Nancys with a review. It’s a book to treat the young adult/teen in your life, perhaps for Christmas.

Nancy Drew, I loved reading about her mysteries when I was a teen. It’s one of the series that got me into liking crime fiction, that’s carried on into adulthood. This sort of brings it back to life, in a sense, but respectfully without re-writing them. This series is with a whole new character who discovers Nancy Drew’s mysteries. It’s a delightful way to introduce one character from the past that can still be read to another in present times. The representation of this merge feels significant and shows teens that they too can read books that perhaps their parents read and enjoy them as well as follow a new character all at once.
This time with 11 year old Tippy Chan who lives in a quiet part of New Zealand. She’s discovered her uncle’s old Nancy Drew books and can’t get enough of them. She’s so taken by her that she wants to be just like her newly discovered idol. The moment arrives when she discovers her teacher, dead beside Riverstone’s only traffic light. This sparks off the detective club, she affectionately calls The Nancys. Her mum isn’t exactly happy about it and between that and a wrongful arrest, all seems as thought lots is conspiring against its formation.

Tippy herself has a lot of imagination and lots of motivation about her, a bit like Nancy Drew. Eleven year olds, perhaps not to form a crime solving group, could find inspiring, that they can do more than just talk about something, but actually follow through with friends. Tippy may be the character to draw out something positive.

The book is charming, humorous and mysterious. Tippy herself is honest, bright, super observant and has a wit about her. She’s also dealing with grief as she’s lost her dad. This is handled sensitively and also, rather heart-warmingly, shows how escaping into books and also drawing some inspiration from them can bring about a bit of healing as well as remembering that bringing friends together can be positive too. It’s quite a meaningful book where its themes are concerned.

The mystery itself is one that teens can delve into and have fun trying to solve alongside Tippy and her crew of Nancys.

Readers also see Uncle Pike. He’s flamboyant and quite quirky. He’s also a hairdresser to the stars. He brings a different side to Tippy’s family, which is both fun and interesting. There’s also the rather cynical Melanie who is a neighbour. It brings Tippy’s outer world together and some fascinating conversations as well as those with The Nancys.

#Review By Lou of The Soul Trapper By Stanislava Buevich @StacyBuya @LoveBooksTours #LBT #BlogTour #YoungAdult #Mystery #GamingMystery

The Soul Trapper
By Stanislava Buevich

The Soul Trapper is great for 13 years plus readers who are into gaming and/or their technological devices in the many form they come in and it’s worth teens/young adults getting excited about and also worth adults reading too for the value of its thought-provoking nature as technology moves ever onwards. Today I am on the Love Books Tours blog tour. See the blurb and my review below.

Blurb

Childhood friends Stef and Paul embark on an immersive virtual reality adventure, only to discover that The Disappearance of Eden Rose holds more than just puzzles and challenges. Encountering a mysterious character named Ollie James, they uncover a chilling link to a real-world tragedy: the unsolved deaths of numerous children over a decade ago. As they delve deeper, Stef and Paul realise they’re not just playing a game – they’re racing against time to unravel a shocking cover-up and undo its damage, risking their lives in pursuit of truth.

Review

The Soul Trapper is one of those reads that you just know teens are going to get gripped by the immersive adventure and mystery feel.

Innocently playing a game (it reminds me a little of a book by Gillian Cross many years ago, which is still very much relevant today) is what Stef and Paul think they’re doing. They’re just friends gaming in the virtual reality world. All is far from what it seems. It’s a whole lot more sinister than that. This creates intrigue and some page-turning tension. It becomes apparent that it isn’t a game in the true sense of the word, it has collided with the real world and a real mystery to be solved…

It’s thought-provoking about VR in-particular and also an entertaining story.

#Review of The Virtue Season By L.M. Nathan @lmnathanwriter @RandomTTours #YoungAdult #Dystopia

The Virtue Season
By L.M. Nathan

Peeking! What a cover to then dip further into the pages of. Discover the blurb and my review of The Virtue Season below as part of The Random T. Tours blog tour.

Blurb

The world didn’t end all at once but drip by drip…

“An utterly compelling dystopia…A simply stunning debut” – Kat Ellis, author of Harrow Lake

Manon Pawlak has just turned eighteen, a debutant at the start of the Virtue Season: a process that will result in a match with a suitable genetic mate. Her best friend, Agatha, has been decommissioned, forbidden to partake in the season and unite with the boy who has had her heart since they were children.

When Manon’s mother wades out into the waters of Penn Vale with stones sewn into the lining of her coat, Manon’s genetic purity is called into question and she’s forced to rely on the fisherman’s son, Wick, to keep her secret. But as they dance, the truth about their world starts to unravel, and Manon finds herself at the centre of it all. And the council is watching.

Review

Manon Pawlak is the main character in The Virtue Season. It’s a complex and at times, profound YA tale of forbidden romance and about women’s rights and enduring love. It’s as scandalous as Bridgerton and as dark at times as The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games. It’s quite a mashup, but an interesting one all the same that makes this debut quite a compelling read, along with a good style of writing.

It’ll make older teens and young adults really think more about the relationships they form, as well as being able to escape into a tale of romance and power. It lures readers into a dystopian readers into a world run by power hungry people who want to create the perfect state. A state where everyone has to be perfect or the unthinkable happens. I won’t say what as it would be a bit of a spoiler.

It makes for an interesting, thoughtful read that becomes rather immersive because you want to know how it ends.

#Review By Lou of War of the Wind @NeemTreePress #TheWriteReads #BlogTour #YoungAdult #MiddleGrade #EcoThriller

War of the Wind
By Victoria Williamson

Eco-Thriller with neuro-diverse characters, War of the Wind has energy to it that sweeps you away into its locale to find out what’s mysteriously happening on the Scottish island. Crossing Middle Grade and YA, War of the Wind is good for 11 to 15 year olds, although ages above this will also get something from the characterisation and vibe.

Find out more in the blurb and my thoughts in my review below.
Discover more about the author who also works for widely known and used, education company Twinkl, her other books. For schools, there is also a link to free education resources and to request a school visit.
Thanks to The Write Reads for the blog tour invite and book.

Blurb

AN ADVENTUROUS ECO-THRILLER FROM AWARD-WINNING CHILDREN’S AUTHOR VICTORIA WILLIAMSON

On a remote Scottish island, fourteen-year-old Max’s life changes forever when he loses his hearing in a boating accident. Struggling to make sense of his new life and finding it hard to adapt in school, he begins to notice other — even stranger — changes taking place when a new wind farm appears off the island’s coast.

With the help of three school friends with additional support needs, Max discovers that a sinister scientist, Doctor Ashwood, is using wind turbines to experiment on the islanders. They must find a way to shut down the government’s secret test before it spins out of control…

Review

Set on a remote Scottish Island that is surprisingly inhabited by humans as its a tough terrain and is so cut off from the rest of the world, it doesn’t even have internet. No one has even installed anything like that for their own use, like I saw someone miraculously get onto the net in factual programme: Ben Fogle’s programme, New Lives In The Wild.

Life is precious and not to be taken for granted. 14 year old, Max, had it all ie a normal, healthy life, until he was involved in a boat accident and lost his hearing. He has 3 friends who also have additional support needs. Each are portrayed fairly accurately for the higher functioning end of spectrums. For Max’s character, it is good that struggles are portrayed in adapting to a different type of life as opposed to gone deaf and gets on with things. Readers will gain a sense of either themselves or empathy and understanding as well as it being more realistic.

As other senses sharpen and Max gets more curious about what’s going on about him, he notices a new company has moved in and is erecting wind turbines just off the island’s coast and there are scientists too. Science, of course has many advantages, but some scientists and some science is not all good as Max and his friends are about to find out. This is where the mystery really begins and the book becomes more captivating as weird experiments are carried out on the islanders, using the wind turbines to see how they react and what happens and you discover what Doctor Ashford’s motives are and what he hopes to achieve…
It has a sinister vibe to it that keeps you wanting to know how it will all end.

About the Author

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.

Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.

Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.

You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com

The Interviews By Lou – Questions answered by various actors, a presenter, authors

The Interviews

Conducted by Louise Cannon (Lou), featuring various guests, whom I am eternally grateful for giving the opportunity to interview them.

Ever wanted to know more about what inspires authors to write? What’s behind the written page? Behind the scenes of an actor’s life as they take to the stage? Plus much more? Here, I have 22 interviews I have created and conducted with authors, actors, a presenter from both sides of the Atlantic. Also included are a couple with blog tour organisers, where you’ll learn more about what this entails and an extraordinary secretary.
Get comfy and cosy with a cuppa, sit back and see what people have divulged for you. All interview answers are exactly as people have told me. So many genres, you may be inspired for what to read or who to look out for on a stage or TV.
Check out the links. They’ll open in a new tab, making it easy for you to navigate back to this page.

Actors/Presenter/Authors

Fern Britton on The Daughter’s of Cornwall, part of her family’s life, letters and more. The review also weaves through and more… Interview Here

Robert McNamara on the play – Report to An Academy By Franz Kafka, performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and more… Interview Here

Vanessa Heron on being The Secretary of the Oscar Wilde Society, how the society came into existence, her favourite play, how to join and more… Interview Here

Ronald Rand – Solo Transformation On Stage on getting into character, his acting, his book and his charitable works, and more… Interview Here

Laura Loane – The first interview I conducted. She talks about books, acting, disability and more…. Interview Here

Authors

Cecelia Ahern on PS. I Love You, Postscript, Freckles, themes around health and more… Interview Here

Matson Taylor on the Evie Epworth books. Discover more about what inspired him, his job out-with being an author and more… Interview Here

Lotte R. James on The Gentleman of Holly Street, the strong themes and advice for historical fiction authors… Interview Here

Anna Willett on The Newlywed where she talks of special crime squads, keeping writing fresh, getting into the psyche of the setting and more…. Interview Here

Val Penny on Hunter’s Chase, setting the book in Edinburgh, combining dark themes with humour and more… Interview Here

Isabella Muir on A Notable Omission, writing crime fiction, the fun of research, the 1970’s and more. Interview Here

Miriam McGuirk on Second Chances, the importance of finding new opportunities after seismic life changes occur, the importance of communities and their hubs and more… Interview Here

Jeanine Englert on Conveniently Married to A Laird, writing historical romance, the class system, marrying out of convenience and more… Interview Here

Viv Fogel on Imperfect Beginnings, writing poetry, an art installation, her birth mother, the noise and the silence within her writing and more… Interview Here

Candi Miller on Salt & Honey, Africa, Culture, Charities and more… Interview Here

Lela May Wight on Bound By A Sicilian Secret, the importance of relatable, gritty themes being included in romance, the inspiration behind the main character being Sicilian and more… Interview Here

Bobby Twidale on De-Ja-Vu, being a former teacher, engaging boys in the education system, writing complex relationships and more… Interview Here

Sarah Rodi on Claimed by the Viking Chief, writing about the Viking period, devouring books in the library, servitude and marriage and more… Interview Here

Tani Hanes on Puppily Ever After, writing a ‘coming of age’ story, values in the book relating to real life, pets and more… Interview Here

R.L Baxter on Blue Lunar and the Apex Grail, writing fantasy, building fantastical worlds, his varied career and more… Interview Here

Paul De Blassie III on Goddess of Everything, the mother/son relationship, the supernatural and his other job of Depth Psychology, the healing of the human mind Interview Here

Simon Van-Der-Velde on Backstories, his “office kimono”, the inspiration for short-stories, his ‘desert island’ books and music and more… Interview Here

Thank you for taking the time to read the interviews.

If you work in the world of stage and theatre or in the world of books and would like to be interviewed, then please do get in touch via my Contact Form

#Review By Lou of The Heart of Pangaea By Lindsey Kinsella #LindseyKinsella #LoveBooksTours #Fantasy #BlogTour

If fantasy worlds and dinosaurs, with a dose of family life are your bag, then take a read of The Heart of Pangaea. Find out more in the blurb and my review.

Blurb

Robyn has a vivid imagination, even for a twelve-year-old. Vivid enough to create herself a companion—but Ed isn’t your ordinary imaginary friend. Ed is a Dimetrodon, an ancient beast from a forgotten age.

When her mother falls ill, Robyn and Ed delve into her subconscious, to the prehistoric kingdom of Pangaea, in search of a cure. But in a world of dinosaurs, pirates, and ancient magic, can they even save themselves?

The Heart of Pangaea brings the wonders of palaeontology to a magical, fantasy setting.

Review

Palaeontology seems to be a emerging in a few books recently, from crime fiction to fantasy. It’s a fascinating world, after all, people are infinitely interested in dinosaurs and fossils from eras gone by. Robyn, the main character in this book is too. It’s an imaginative world that she creates, conjuring up an imaginary friend – Ed, a creature that walked the earth long ago. Her mum falls seriously unwell with a disease so many adults get and this sends her on course to find a cure. This in-turn puts her own life in danger in the fantastical world she lands in, as she travels back in time to to when the world was in what was called “Pangaea”, estimated at some 300 million or so years ago, when continents were vast and Africa, India, South America, Australia, and Antarctica created the Pangaea continent, long before it is thought humans walked the earth.

The book is adventurous as well as dealing with significant health issues, but in a way that is definitely aimed at the young adult market, done in a sensitive and yet bold way, which is good since so many people have an unwell adult in their family at one time or another. The fantasy element brings fun, magic and adventure as well as a realism that people want to be proactive in helping a loved one.

The pace moves quite well to capture young minds and I would say certainly 12 years plus would be able to enjoy The Heart of Pangaea.