The Mountains of Instead

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

Half Bad, Half Wild... and Half Lies (Sally Green sneak peaks)

Sally Green's Half Bad was the breakthrough book of the YA scene last year.  Beautifully written, haunting and unique it was an extraordinary debut.  So extraordinary, in fact that it holds the Guinness World Record for pre-publication translations and has now been sold in fifty languages aroun…
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FYA Photo-a-Day: 17 Fred Savage

Everyone knows that Fred Savage hates kissing books:

Myself, I can live with them.  Me, I really can't stand...  New Adult.

The tropes that repeat, ad nauseum, in NA titles are both predictable and troublesome.  There is usually a strong-willed female protagonist with a troubled past.  The trouble…
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FYA Photo-a-Day: 17 Do Not Read In Public

This one was easy:

...because of all the feelings.  And the tears.
Hazel Grace is dying. She’s been dying for quite a while from the cancerous tumours submerging her tired lungs and she is quietly resigned to the end of her personal story. This doesn’t stop her from getting a bit depressed (an unders…
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FYA Photo-a-Day 16: Drink of Choice. And no, it's surprisingly not gin.

...because who doesn't like a nice cup of tea.  Makes the world a better place.
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FYA Photo-a-day: 13, 14, 15.

Favourite reading spot

When the weather is nice, I like to take a cup of coffee and my book and wonder down to the end of my street where there is a nice bench and a handy wall and the sea. And don't think for a minute I don't know how lucky I am...
Best Cover

I couldn't choose.  But at …
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FYA Photo-a-Day 12: A Powerful Quote

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history wit…
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All That Glitters (Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing)

The Jewel Amy Ewing Walker 2014
Violet Lasting is about to become Lot 197, a child-bearing commodity for the wealthy of her city who reside in the glittering confines of the Jewel.  Previously ruled by four houses and now by an Elector and Electress, it has long been known that the Jewel is barren – o…
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FYA Photo-a-Day 11: Fictional Love (a special addition for Shona and the YAckers)

Sebastian Scott from the Sadler's Wells series by Lorna Hill


A long time ago, back when the Mountains of Instead were mere hillocks, I wrote a post about the attractiveness of men who play music. I listed my favourites, or at least the ones that would have had me swooning as a teen. You can find…
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FYA Photo-a-Day 10 - TEABS!

TEABS - for the uninitiated, The End of an Awesome Book syndrome or the end of book blues.  You know the ones... those times where you finish a book that has been so wonderful or which has emotionally slain you so badly that you wonder about for a week or two, listlessly picking books up and settin…
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The 5th Wave (our review, again, because of terrible embargoes and INFINITE SEA)

One of our top reads of last year, was The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey.  Clearly, it made the top of several lists as it is now being adapted for film and the sequel has been embargoed until its release date next weeks. As we can't, therefore, review The Infinite Sea yet (much as we would really, r…
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FYA Photo-a-Day 9: Most Anticipated... and why I love The Raven Cycle

When having to choose my favourite series, for day whatever it was in the last week, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater was the first series that came to mind.  The thing is, it isn't finished and it just didn't seem fair to let an unfinished symphony win over the many series that I have …
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FYA Photo-a-Day 6/7/8. Because Weekend.

As a quick refresher, I'm taking part in Forever Young Adult's Photo-a-Day September.  It's a lot of fun and you can find out more about it here.
Day 6 My Shelves

These are not all of my shelves, nor all of my books.  This makes me both happy and slightly concerned.  But mainly happy.
Day 7 …
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FYA Photo-a-Day 5: Favourite Author

I have many, many, many favourite authors.  Many.  I literally couldn't choose just one on the merit of books alone so I have instead chosen Maggie Stiefvater because she made me a car to match the one in her book. And I am apparently quite materialistic and like gifts. 

Also, her books are real…
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FYA-Photo-a-Day 4: Favourite Series

This was quite hard.  I like a lot of series and Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness was a very close contender but in the end, I've returned to the Old Kingdom more over the years.  Below are my thoughts on Sabriel, the first in the series, first written for Hot Key Books to celebrate the forthcomin…
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FYA Photo-a-Day 3 - Currently Reading

So, I'm currently reading...

...and it's really, very good.  I'm reading it a lot more slowly than I expected to as my daughter took one look at the title and demanded that I read it aloud to her.  So I'm stuck on a chapter a night, which is pretty frustrating.
In the words of Goodrea…
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Uncomfortably Numb (review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas)

Dangerous Boys
Abigail Haas Simon and Schuster 2014
A half-built house; a knife; a girl; two brothers.That’s how it ends and also how, for Chloe, it all begins.When Ethan Reznick sauntered into her life with his easy smile and laid back attitude he was exactly what Chloe needed.An escape from her pare…
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