Beth Garrod guest post

 

I'm delighted to host one of my favourite contemporary YA authors, Beth Garrod, on my blog today. Beth's YA books are hilarious, warm and uplifting, so they're perfect if you're looking for a fun read. 

Sister Switch is Beth's middle-grade debut, and I'm so excited to read it! It's a modern take on Freaky Friday about two sisters who accidentally swap bodies and have to learn to live as each other if they're going to get out of this mess!

Beth has written a fantastic playlist to get you in the mood for reading Sister Switch or if you happen to find yourself trapped in a sibling's body...

The Ultimate Body Swap Playlist

If you ever find yourself looking in the mirror and seeing the wrong face staring back, I suggest you immediately seek medical help. However, if you decide not to do that and opt for some music based therapy instead, then here are some body-swap bangers to help you get through this challenging time.

*Warning* this playlist makes no musical sense, but maybe that’s *exactly* what would be needed to land you back in the right body….

Shout Out To My Ex – Little Mix

Shout out to my ex… body that is. Because someone would be walking around it in right now and JUST IMAGINE all the damage they could be doing. In fact, maybe don’t. You’ll have enough on your plate trying to figure out how to switch back, without wondering if your body is going around telling your boss what they really think, or bamboozling your best mate by suggesting you switch movie night for the gym.

Back For Good – Take That

And now we’re taking it right back – waaaay back to when the X Factor was not even a twinkle in the Barlow’s eye. But you can bawl along to this ballad whilst staring at photos of you in happier times. In the supermarket! On the sofa! Even an under the chin selfie. What you’d give to be back in the right body (even from those angles). And then you can queue up Could It Be Magic too - maybe something about stallions in the sun could sort it out?

Good 4 U – Olivia Rodrigo

Well, good for you, you look happy and healthy, not me. I’m stuck in your body wondering if I’ll ever be able to wear my own pants again.

Sure, that’s not quite the lyrics, but singing along to this at full volume makes most things feel better tbh.

Willow Smith – Whip My Hair

Now, this is a bit of a Willow Smith throwback, but frankly if I was trying to invoke a mysterious magical hairdresser – just like Lily and Erin in Sister Switch – then who knows. Maybe a hair-based helicopter is exactly what’s needed to summon The Hairy Godmother? And even if not, it would be nice to at least see if a new body could unleash some previously untapped dancing potential.

That’s Not Me – Skepta

Sure, Skepta was maybe not talking about swapping into his sibling’s bods (although he doesn’t have an all-round over-achieving family), but I would definitely be prone to shouting this every time I saw myself doing something I would never normally do. Drink coffee? That’s not me! Wear not-flat shoes? That’s not me! Looking like a mess? No, that’s… no that is me.

So there you have it – some body swap bops to get you through any body-switch nightmare. Although, maybe head for a medical practitioner before reaching for a playlist…

Thanks so much for joining us, Beth! I love discovering new songs to add to my playlists. I just hope I don't need them for a body-swapping incident...

 

Victoria Stitch: Bad and Glittering review

Twins, Victoria Stitch and Celestine, are denied their royal birth-right. Celestine accepts the decision with good grace, but Victoria Stitch is consumed with her obsession for power.

The twins are like moonlight and sunshine - could it be possible to break free of the role you have been given, rewrite your story, and change your own destiny?

This is a gorgeous start to a new middle-grade series and is perfect for readers ready to move on from the Isadora Moon books.

Reading Victoria Stitch is such a sensory experience. The illustrations are beautifully Gothic and the setting is sumptuously described. It was one of those books where I want to eat the food and live in the world.

I loved the deliciously dark touches of this book, from the plot to the characters. Victoria is a fascinating character with so many depths and her relationship with Celestine felt really believable. 

This book really is a breath of fresh air. The plot is super unique and the dark fairy tale quality is great. I also found the magical system inventive and accessible for younger readers.

I had a lot of fun reading this and I can't wait to see what Victoria Stitch gets up to next!

Books of the Year - Jim from YA Yeah! Yeah!

The last post in my 'Books of the year' series is an especially good one! Jim always gives amazing recommendations and I'm so happy to share the books he's enjoyed most this year.

Wed Wabbit, by Lissa Evans, is a staggeringly imaginative MG novel which sees Fidge catapulted into a strange world ruled by the title character, a cruel dictator. As the 10-year-old girl and her cousin Graham struggle to try to return home, there’s action, excitement, and a huge amount of fun in store for readers. Some  of the best world-building I’ve read in ages, and pitch-perfect character arcs for both Fidge and Graham, make this an absolute gem.

Speaking of MG books with characters trying to return home, Katherine Rundell’s latest, The Explorer, is a sheer delight.  This is absolutely not a surprise, of course, but it’s an amazing read. Like her previous novels Rooftoppers and The Wolf Wilder it’s a lyrical and evocative novel with a wonderful cast of characters, and the setting of the Amazon jungle is brought vividly to life. Hannah Horn’s gorgeous illustrations add even more to this wonderful book.

Angie Thomas’s YA debut, The Hate U Give, is a stunningly powerful novel inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Lead character Starr, witness to the shooting of her unarmed friend by a police officer, is an incredible narrator whose story is hard-hitting, moving, and even surprisingly funny at times despite the subject matter. As a rousing call to arms to stand against injustice, books don’t get much better than this.

And finally All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai was a rare adult novel which completely captivated me, Starting in the 2016 we were meant to have – a wonderful utopia with unlimited energy, this follows a slacker who is the son of the man who’s invented time-travel. Despite the perfection of this world, main character Tom is left alone by a series of heartbreaks, and after a time-travel accident ends up wiping out the world and catapulting him into ‘our’ 2016 – which may seem like a nightmare world in comparison, but which has people who love him in it. He’s left to try and decide whether to ‘fix’ the universe, or to hold on to the people he cares for. Stunning voice here, genuinely unexpected twists and turns in the plot, and really lovely characters.

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Thank you to everyone who helped me with 'Books of the year' week! It's been great to see such a range of favourite books and I'll definitely try to read as many of them as possible next year.