The Mountains of Instead

Championing fiction as an escape from pandemics, politics and bad TV.

Books I Thought I'd Hate But Ended Up Loving

This post is inspired by The Book List meme hosted by the awesome I'm Lost in Books.  I really liked the topic this week (which was the brainchild of Cristina at Shredded Cheddar), so here goes... As usual all book titles link back to their Goodreads page so that you can check out these gems fo…

A rose, by any other name... (Review: Bad Blood by Rhiannon Lassiter)

Bad Blood
Rhiannon Lassiter
OUP 2007


An an abandoned house in the Lake District, a cupboard door opens into a playroom. Buried in dust is a collection of children's books in which the names of characters have been savagely crossed out. Here three children played a make believe game, sacrificing th…

At The Broken Places (Review: Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness)

Monsters of Men
Patrick Ness
Walker Books 2010


POSSIBLE SPOILERS Monsters of Men is the third book in the Chaos Walking series. If you haven't read the first two books in this series then please check out my reviews of The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and The Answer and then go away and …

In My Mailbox (#5)

In My Mailbox is a meme created and hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren with inspiration from Alea at Pop Culture Junkie. It basically give book bloggers everywhere the opportunity to share what books they have received/bought/librarised (yes, I know that librarised is not a word) over the las…

Refreshingly real, apart from the ghosts... (Review: The Summoning by Kelly Armstrong)

The Summoning
Kelley Armstrong
Orbit


“After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as f…

Vampire Diaries contest...

Are you Team Stefan?  Or Team Damon?   Or Team I-think-they're-both-a-little-creepy-but-Matt's-kind-of-hot?  
Are you suffering withdrawal after the TV series thrilling finale?
If so, I may have the answer as I have the first four books in The Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith to give away!…

Stop all the clocks... (review: I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder)

I Heart You, You Haunt Me
Lisa Schroeder
Simon Pulse


Girl meets boy.
Girl loses boy.
Girl gets boy back...
...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows…

In My Mailbox (#4)

In My Mailbox is a meme created and hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren with inspiration from Alea at Pop Culture Junkie. It basically give book bloggers everywhere the opportunity to share what books they have received/bought/librarised (yes, I know that librarised is not a word) over the las…

Deadly Little Similitude (review: Deadly Little Secrets by L. Stolarz)

Deadly Little Secret
Laurie Faria Stolarz
Hyperion

Some secrets shouldn't be kept...
Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downt…

Man's Inhumanity to Man (Review: The Ask and The Answer by P. Ness)

The Ask and The Answer
Patrick Ness
Walker Books


“We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him …

A thing of beauty....

This really is a beautiful thing. If my copy of the book doesn't do this, I'm taking it back to the store.

In My Mailbox (#3)

In My Mailbox is a meme created and hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren with inspiration from Alea at Pop Culture Junkie. It basically give book bloggers everywhere the opportunity to share what books they have received/bought/librarised (yes, I know that librarised is not a word) over the las…

'Til death do us nearly part... (Review: Nearly Departed by Rook Hastings)

Nearly Departed
Rook Hastings
Harper Collins 2010


“I've seen a ghost," said Emily. "Well, not seen one exactly. Heard one. At least, I think I have!" Everything has a rational explanation. Unless it doesn't. Welcome to Weirdsville...Woodsville is not like other towns. Night fall…

Dee-lightful (Review: Lament by M. Stiefvater)

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception
Maggie Stiefvater
Flux 2009


“Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand - one who can see faeries. 


Unexpectedly, Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy named Luke…