Review: The Harp of Kings - Juliet Marillier

A young woman is both a bard--and a warrior--in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels.

Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and is a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan's burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the kingdom will be thrown into disarray. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision--and the consequences may break her heart.

Blackthorn & Grim:
Dreamer's Pool
Tower of Thorns
Den of Wolves

Warrior Bards:
(This series can be read completely separately but it stars Blackthorn & Grim's children)
The Harp of Kings
A Dance with Fate (2020)

Visit Juliet Marillier's website for more information

Review:
I've been a fan of Juliet Marillier ever since I first started reading her Blackthorn and Grim series a few years ago so I was absolutely thrilled to find out that she was returning to this world with The Harp of Kings. Although the new Warrior Bards series can easily be read without reading the previous books the story is set in the same world but many years later and it stars Blackthorn and Grim's grown up children Liobhan and Brocc.

Liobhan is a skilled musician and singer but the one thing she wants more than anything is to become a warrior. Brocc is more interested in his music than fighting but he chose to accompany Liobhan to Swan Island, where elite warriors are trained, to keep his sister safe. Dau is another member of their class and he is in fierce competition with Liobhan to be the top student. The three are still in training when they are selected for an important mission. They'll need to take on new identities for the duration of the challenge with Liobhan and Brocc as travelling bards while Dau works as an apprentice blacksmith.

Their mission is to find a missing harp. The Harp of Kings is an ancient artefact that has been used at the coronation of all the previous kings, it has been stolen from the Druids and unless it's found in time the crown prince will not be accepted by his people as their rightful king. They need to find answers but that is made very difficult by the fact that nobody can know who they really are or that the harp is even missing in the first place. Add in the way the local fae seem to have taken an interest in both the harp and the siblings who are looking for it and things are going to get complicated fast.

I absolutely love Juliet Marillier's writing style, her books are very character driven and they read just like an old fashioned fairytale. I love the way she weaves folklore and fae creatures into her work and the blend of mystery and magic is just seamless. The story is told in alternating points of view from Liobhan, Brocc and Dau, all three were distinctive characters with very different outlooks on life. I love the strong bond between Liobhan and Brocc, they always have each other's backs and they are willing to risk a great deal to protect each other. I wasn't a fan of Dau's at first, he had some very old fashioned ideas about women wanting to be warriors and to be honest he came across as a bit of an idiot but he really grew a lot throughout the story and I enjoyed seeing him and Liobhan go from fierce enemies to grudging allies.

This story has a lot of heart and it was totally captivating from the first page to the last. I'm already desperately waiting for the sequel and I can't wait to spend more time with these characters.

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
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Paperback:

Review: Wonderland: An Anthology

From the greatest names in fantasy and horror comes an anthology of stories inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Join Alice as she is thrown into the whirlwind of Wonderland

Within these pages you'll find myriad approaches to Alice, from horror to historical, taking us from the nightmarish reaches of the imagination to tales that will shock, surprise and tug on the heart-strings. So, it's time now to go down the rabbit hole, or through the looking-glass or… But no, wait. By picking up this book and starting to read it you're already there, can't you see?

Brand-new works from the best in fantastical fiction

M.R. CAREY
MARK CHADBOURN
GENEVIEVE COGMAN
JONATHAN GREEN
ALISON LITTLEWOOD
JAMES LOVEGROVE
L.L. McKINNEY
GEORGE MANN
JULIET MARILLIER
LAURA MAURO
CAT RAMBO
LILITH SAINTCROW
CAVAN SCOTT
ROBERT SHEARMAN
ANGELA SLATTER
CATRIONA WARD
JANE YOLEN
RIO YOUERS

Review:
An anthology of stories inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland already jumps straight to the top of my wish list but then you tell me it includes stories from authors like Juliet Marillier & L.L. McKinney and I just get even more excited about it! This book includes a collection of 17 short stories and 2 poems that were all inspired by Alice and her adventures and written by some very well known writers: Jane Yolen, Robert Shearman, M.R. Carey, Genevieve Cogman, Cavan Scott, Juliet Marillier, Jonathan Green, George Mann, Angela Slatter, Rio Youers, Catriona Ward, Laura Mauro, L.L. McKinney, James Lovegrove, Lilith Saintcrow, Alison Littlewood, Cat Rambo and Mark Chadbourn.

All of these stories are linked to Alice in different ways, be it through a familiar character: Alice herself, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter or perhaps even the Cheshire Cat; or a familiar place: falling down a rabbit hole or stepping through a looking glass maybe. Perhaps the link is just a throwaway phrase or a chance to visit a part of Wonderland that you've never explored before. I love how different each of the stories are, some are spooky, others are introspective but most of them are as weird as the tales they're based on.

As with any anthology there were some stories I loved and a few that didn't resonate quite so well but overall I thought the quality of the stories was very high and a few particular highlights were The White Queen's Pawn by Genevieve Cogman, Dream Girl by Cavan Scott, Good Dog, Alice! by Juliet Marillier (my favourite of the collection), The Hunting of the Jabberwock by Jonathan Green and Smoke 'em if You Got 'em by Angela Slatter.

This is the perfect collection for Alice in Wonderland fans, there really is something for everyone and it's a great book for dipping in and out of when you want something quick to read.

Source: Received from Titan Books in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Don't forget to check out the rest of the stops on the blog tour:

My Favourite Reads of 2016

It's always fun to look back over the year and try to pick out my favourite reads. I've read a lot of amazing books this year but I've also reread a lot of series I love so I've decided that I'm only allowed to include first reads in this list and I'm also going to try and limit it to one book per author so that a few favourites don't dominate the list! The links below will take you to my reviews.

Young Adult:

1. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
2. Morning Star by Pierce Brown
3. Night Study by Maria V. Snyder
4. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
5. Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
6. Barefoot on the Wind by Zoe Marriott
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition - J.K. Rowling & Jim Kay
8. Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
9. The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima
10. Secret of the Gargoyles by Rebecca Chastain

Adult:

1. Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews
2. Archangel's Heart by Nalini Singh
3. Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
4. See No Evil by Pippa DaCosta
5. A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet
6. Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier
7. Siege by K.F. Breene
8. Beyond Surrender by Kit Rocha
9. Lets Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
10. Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre

What were your favourite reads in 2016? Do any match up with the ones on my list?

Review: Den of Wolves - Juliet Marillier

The “powerful and emotionally-charged” fantasy series from the author of the Sevenwaters novels continues, as Blackthorn and Grim face haunting secrets and old adversaries...

Feather bright and feather fine, None shall harm this child of mine...

Healer Blackthorn knows all too well the rules of her bond to the fey: seek no vengeance, help any who ask, do only good. But after the recent ordeal she and her companion, Grim, have suffered, she knows she cannot let go of her quest to bring justice to the man who ruined her life.

Despite her personal struggles, Blackthorn agrees to help the princess of Dalriada in taking care of a troubled young girl who has recently been brought to court, while Grim is sent to the girl’s home at Wolf Glen to aid her wealthy father with a strange task—repairing a broken-down house deep in the woods. It doesn’t take Grim long to realize that everything in Wolf Glen is not as it seems—the place is full of perilous secrets and deadly lies...

Back at Winterfalls, the evil touch of Blackthorn’s sworn enemy reopens old wounds and fuels her long-simmering passion for justice. With danger on two fronts, Blackthorn and Grim are faced with a heartbreaking choice—to stand once again by each other’s side or to fight their battles alone...

Blackthorn & Grim:
Dreamer's Pool
Tower of Thorns
Den of Wolves

Warrior Bards:
(This series can be read completely separately but it stars Blackthorn & Grim's children)
The Harp of Kings
A Dance with Fate (2020)

Visit Juliet Marillier's website for more information

Review:
I have absolutely loved Juliet Marillier's Blackthorn and Grim series, it really has got better with every book and as much as I'm sad that we've reached the end the last instalment Den of Wolves was everything I could have hoped for.

This story is a little different to the previous two because Blackthorn and Grim spend a lot of their time apart from each other. Grim has agreed to take on a difficult building job and it means working a lot of long hours and coming home late at night and exhausted. While Grim is busy at Wolf Glen Blackthorn is helping to take care of a scared young girl who has been sent to court by her father to learn how to be a lady. As you might expect from this series there is a lot more to the story than that, Blackthorn and Grim are both uniquely qualified to solve the mystery surrounding Wolf Glen and the heartwood house but it's not going to be an easy task.

I don't really want to talk about that side of the plot though, instead I'm going to focus on the main characters and how much I've loved seeing them grow throughout the series. Blackthorn is still a prickly and stubborn woman, she's suffered too much and it's left her very defensive and wary of letting people in but we've watched as she slowly started to enjoy practising her craft as a healer again and she's definitely come a long way since the first book. I remember in the beginning that she thought of Grim as nothing but a nuisance but we've seen first hand how her feelings have started to change and in this book that old adage absence makes the heart grow fonder really comes into play. It's only when Blackthorn is left to cope without Grim being around that she realises how much she has come to rely on and care for him.

On Grim's part we've known he was in love with her for a long time now but he's finally brave enough to lay his cards on the table and risk their friendship in the hope of gaining something much more special. Blackthorn definitely has some difficult choices to face in this book. She needs to decide if she's brave enough to open her heart again in spite of the risks that entails and she also has a chance to finally get her revenge on Mathuin but it may cost her more than she is willing to pay.

I have to admit that I was expecting more books in this series and I'm still hoping the author may decide to revisit these characters again in the future but I thought she did a brilliant job of tying all the loose ends together so we're not left with unanswered questions. I love both of these characters and I've enjoyed every minute of their story so it's been sad to say goodbye to them but I'm glad the series has reached a fitting end. This is a series I know I'll be rereading again in the future but in the meantime I'm going to start working my way through Juliet Marillier's backlist.

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback:

Review: Tower of Thorns - Juliet Marillier

Award-winning author Juliet Marillier’s “lavishly detailed” Blackthorn & Grim series continues as a mysterious creature holds an enchanted and imperiled ancient Ireland in thrall.

Disillusioned healer Blackthorn and her companion, Grim, have settled in Dalriada to wait out the seven years of Blackthorn’s bond to her fey mentor, hoping to avoid any dire challenges. But trouble has a way of seeking out Blackthorn and Grim.

Lady Geiléis, a noblewoman from the northern border, has asked for the prince of Dalriada’s help in expelling a howling creature from an old tower on her land—one surrounded by an impenetrable hedge of thorns. Casting a blight over the entire district, and impossible to drive out by ordinary means, it threatens both the safety and the sanity of all who live nearby. With no ready solutions to offer, the prince consults Blackthorn and Grim.

As Blackthorn and Grim begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together, it’s apparent that a powerful adversary is working behind the scenes. Their quest is about to become a life and death struggle—a conflict in which even the closest of friends can find themselves on opposite sides.

Blackthorn & Grim:
Dreamer's Pool
Tower of Thorns
Den of Wolves

Warrior Bards:
(This series can be read completely separately but it stars Blackthorn & Grim's children)
The Harp of Kings
A Dance with Fate (2020)

Visit Juliet Marillier's website for more information

Review:
I fell in love with both Blackthorn and Grim in Dreamer's Pool but this series is honestly getting better and better with each new book. I'm not sure that I have enough words to do Tower of Thorns justice but I'm going to try because I really do want everyone to discover these wonderful books for themselves. Although this book does work well as a stand alone I do think you'll be missing out by not reading the series in order, mainly because both books are excellent but also because it's been so brilliant watching the friendship slowly build between the main characters.

Blackthorn and Grim have started to build a life for themselves in their new home, Blackthorn would deny it but even she has made a few ties within the community and I think she's enjoying practising her craft as a wise woman again. She still doesn't have much patience and doesn't have the best people skills but she is very good at figuring out what is going on and finding a solution to fix it. When Prince Oran is approached by a noblewoman who is in desperate need of assistance Blackthorn is the most likely person to be able to help her. You see Lady Geiléis's lands are being badly affected by a cursed monster that's been trapped in a tower near her home. The monster howls from dawn to dusk without letup and it's driving the people and animals in the vicinity mad. This has been going on for nearly two years now and Lady Geiléis is desperate for a way to make it stop.

Blackthorn initially isn't keen to offer her services but an old friend convinces her to investigate, promising her it will get her one step closer to taking revenge on her greatest enemy. Grim has reservations about it but he would follow Blackthorn to hell and back if it meant he could keep her safe so when Blackthorn agrees to help Grim travels with her to Lady Geiléis's home. When they arrive it quickly becomes clear that there is more going on than they originally suspected but what remains to be seen is whether they can solve the mystery in time or whether the curse will cost them more than they ever bargained for.

I'm not really going to talk much more about the plot in this review because I want to focus on the characters. We've seen a huge change in Blackthorn since the beginning but she's still a damaged young woman who is desperate to take revenge on the person who wronged her (and who can blame her after everything she's been through!). I've enjoyed seeing her character start to take a small amount of pleasure in things again though and I've loved watching her friendship with Grim develop. I'm desperately hoping for romance between these two at some point but I'm so glad Juliet Marillier is taking her time with them because they're both too damaged to find their happily ever after just yet. I was a tiny bit irritated with Blackthorn in this book because of the way she turned all of her focus onto a familiar face from her distant past. I could understand why she was so pleased to see someone who knew her before her life was destroyed but I was upset for poor Grim who was so convinced that she was going to replace him with the new guy. It was interesting to get more of a glimpse into a side of Blackthorn that we've never met before though and I did love the way things turned out in the end.

In the first book Grim was more in the background, he was there to help Blackthorn whenever she needed him but we didn't get to learn much about his past or why he had such a low opinion of himself so I was thrilled that we got to see much more of him here. I absolutely love Grim's character, he's the kind of guy who is pretty happy to fade into the background but he goes out of his way to help anyone he meets and he's far more intelligent than most people give him credit for. People seem to think that because he's big, strong and quiet he can't be clever but that is far from the truth and he's very observant in an unobtrusive way. Blackthorn relies on his instincts as much as her own and I love the way she always turns to him to talk through her ideas. It's heartbreaking to see how little Grim thinks of himself and I really want to see that change as the series continues but now we have had a chance to learn more about his background I can understand why he feels that way. I'm not going to talk about what happened to him but I will say his scenes stole the limelight in this book and left me more in love with him than ever. He is just as damaged as Blackthorn but we got to see him do a little healing here and I was so proud of him for the way he faced up to his past and started dealing with his issues. There's still a way to go but he's definitely making progress.

This series has a really familiar, fairytale type feel to it, Juliet Marillier has created a world full of magic and fae folk, there are dark curses and mysterious goings on but also strong friendships and some really light hearted and fun moments that just make you smile. From the moment I picked up Tower of Thorns until I reached the very last page I didn't want to put this book down and even then I just wanted to turn to the beginning and start reading it all over again. This series has quickly become one of my favourites and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Den of Wolves when it's released later this year.

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Paperback:

Review: Dreamer's Pool - Juliet Marillier

In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she’ll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help.

Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters.

With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic.

Blackthorn & Grim:
Dreamer's Pool
Tower of Thorns
Den of Wolves

Warrior Bards:
(This series can be read completely separately but it stars Blackthorn & Grim's children)
The Harp of Kings
A Dance with Fate (2020)

Visit Juliet Marillier's website for more information

Review:
Blackthorn was born to be a healer but treachery, betrayal and a year spent in prison for a crime she didn't commit have changed her. Now she's a bitter and angry young woman whose only focus is on revenge against those who wronged her. Just as she thinks she's about to get her chance to tell her side of the story the rug is pulled out from underneath her when she discovers a plot to murder her before her she can publicly prove her innocence. When she is approached by fae stranger Conmael, he offers her a deal, life and freedom in exchange for seven years of service to anyone who asks for her assistance. She will be forbidden from seeking revenge for the duration of the bargain and if she refuses a single request her punishment will be severe. Blackthorn knows that making a deal with the fae can be fatal but she already has death hanging over her head so she makes the decision to live now so she can eventually make her tormentors pay for what they did to her. After a daring prison break Blackthorn and fellow prisoner Grimm set out to find a new home and soon find themselves at the centre of a mystery surrounding a prince and his fiancée.

For a long time now I've been hearing amazing things about Juliet Marillier but this is actually the first book of hers I've read. I went in with high expectations and I wasn't at all disappointed, Dreamer's Pool has a dark and twisted fairy tale feel to it and although I'd managed to guess one of the main plot twists there were plenty of surprises along the way and I really enjoyed getting to know these characters. Blackthorn is brilliant, for someone who is incredibly wise and who has natural healing abilities she really doesn't have much in the way of people skills. She's been so hurt by past losses and betrayals that she doesn't want to let anyone close again, she deliberately pushes people away and tries to keep her distance but no matter how much she wants to keep a barrier up around herself people are naturally drawn to her and they respect her because of the sound advice she gives them. I could completely understand why Blackthorn was so set on revenge (and I really hope we get to see her mete out her own kind of justice eventually!) but I actually really enjoyed seeing her start to settle into her new home and put down a few roots. She'd deny any affection for her new village vehemently but we can all see she's starting to soften towards the people she meets.

Grim is another great character, he's as messed up as Blackthorn just in different ways. He's a big tough guy, someone who is incredibly powerful physically and who has a quick temper on him when people cross him or especially Blackthorn but at the same time he has a kind of sweetness to him and he's quite a big softie when you get to know him properly. I really enjoyed watching the bond that slowly starts growing between them, Blackthorn is determined to keep Grim at a distance but he worms his way into her heart anyway and they make a great team. There isn't much in the way of romance between them but I have high hopes that we'll see some in later books.

The story is told from three different points of view and Blackthorn, Grim and prince Oran are all narrators. Prince Oran has always dreamed of marrying for love but his family have been putting pressure on him to wed and start a family. When they arrange a match for him with Lady Flidais he only agrees to proceed after weeks spent exchanging letters convince him that they have a chance at falling in love. Unfortunately for him the young lady that arrives for the wedding is nothing like the one he was writing to, she seems to have undergone a complete change of personality and he has no idea why so he turns to Blackthorn for assistance. I liked Oran, he's very honourable compared to the other nobles and he bucks tradition in a good way. He cares a lot for the people he is responsible for and goes out of his way to make sure life is better for those who live in his home and the local villages. I'm not going to talk too much about what happened between him and Flidais but I enjoyed watching Oran and Blackthorn trying to get to the bottom of things.

Dreamer's Pool was a great start to the series and has definitely left me excited to start the next book. The series was darker than I expected but I mean that in the best possible way and I loved the whole fairy tale feel to it. I'm very curious to find out what Conmael's ultimate plan for Blackthorn is and I'm looking forward to spending more time in this world. This may be my first Juliet Marillier book but it certainly won't be my last and I'm looking forward to making my way through her back list as soon as possible.

Source: Received from Orion in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Paperback:

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten New To Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2015 (& yes I do know I'm 2 days late LOL)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week has a different theme & you can find all the details about how to join in HERE.

Today's topic is Top Ten New To Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2015 and I've discovered some wonderful new authors this year so I have lots to talk about. This will include a mixture of debut authors and authors who have been around for a while but who I only discovered this year. I'm also including a selection of adult and YA author's so there hopefully should be something here that appeals to everyone.

I've been looking forward to this topic for ages but life got in the way & I'm only just getting around to actually writing it so I apologise for being 2 days late. Better late than never though so here we go :o)

I love discovering new authors (I've actually read books by over 50 new to me authors this year!) and you can see a list of all the author's I've discovered in 2015 HERE if you're interested. It's been very hard to narrow it down to just my top 10 but I've finally done it so here are my favourites:

Pippa Dacosta

Pippa Dacosta has quickly become one of my favourite authors, I fell in love with her writing when I picked up the first in her science fiction series Girl From Above: Betrayal but have since also devoured her urban fantasy series that starts with Beyond the Veil. In fact I've worked my way through her entire back list (11 books and novellas) since August so that should give you a hint about how much I LOVE her stories. You can read all of my reviews of her work HERE.

K.F. Breene

K.F. Breene is another author whose books I've been absolutely devouring, I've not managed to make my way through her entire back list but I did devour all of the books currently available in her Warrior Chronicles series and I'm now desperately waiting for the next book to be written! Read my reviews HERE.

Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

I can't believe it took me so long to discover these author's wonderful series, I absolutely devoured These Broken Stars and This Shattered World earlier this year and the final book in the trilogy, This Fractured Light, is right at the top of my Christmas wish list this year. Both Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have been added to my list of auto-buy authors and I can also highly recommend Illuminae that Amie wrote with another fabulous (but not new to me) author Jay Kristoff. Read my reviews HERE.

V.E. Schwab

Another new autobuy author has to be V.E. Schwab, I absolutely adored both A Darker Shade of Magic and Vicious. Both books are very different but utterly brilliant and I'm glad we're going to get more stories set in each world. You can find my reviews HERE.

E.K. Johnston

A Thousand Nights was one of my favourite books of the year so of course I had to include debut author E.K. Johnston in my list. This story is incredibly atmospheric and was so, so beautiful to read, I completely devoured it and I can't wait to see more from this author in the future. Read my review HERE.

Becky Chambers

I've been really enjoying my science fiction this year and Becky Chamber's debut, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, was brilliant. It has such a varied cast of characters and I really hope that this is going to be the start of a new series. I'll definitely be watching out for whatever this author writes next though. Read my review HERE.

Pamela Clare

I don't tend to read a lot of romantic suspense but I've been hearing amazing things about Pamela Clare's writing from American bloggers for such a long time now so when I found out her books had been picked up by a UK publisher I couldn't resist giving them a try. I can definitely understand why everyone raves about her now because these books are amazing! You can find my reviews HERE.

Naomi Novik

I loved Uprooted so much that I've already read it twice this year, it's an absolutely wonderful fairytale type fantasy story that I don't really have the words to describe, hence the reason I STILL haven't written up my review for it! I will be getting caught up with my final reviews by the end of the year though so watch out for this one - it's put Naomi Novik on my list of must read authors and I'm really looking forward to working my way through her back list.

Juliet Marillier

Another fantastic fantasy story that I'm yet to write a review for. Dreamer's Pool was brilliant and I already have the next book in the series that I'm hoping to read very soon so Juliet Marillier is another recommended author.

Louise O'Neill

Louise O'Neill's Asking For It isn't an easy read, in fact there were times when it was incredibly painful and it made me so mad that I could have probably committed murder if I'd been able to climb into the story and confront some of the main characters! This is such an important book though and I really do feel like EVERYONE should read it, Louise shines a light on rape culture in today's society and I think it paves the way for some very important questions that we all need to ask ourselves. I really think this should be required reading in schools to get people openly talking about what constitutes rape and whether anyone is ever Asking For It (of course they're absolutely NOT but you'd be surprised at how many people don't agree with that!). I've heard great things about Louise O'Neill's debut novel Only Ever Yours too so I'm planning on reading that one as soon as I get a chance.

So those are my favourite newly discovered authors for 2015. Have you read any of the books or series I mentioned? Which ones are your favourites? Who are your top new authors? I'm always looking for recommendations :o)