Winners: Nearly Departed & Immortal Remains by Rook Hastings

I was planning on announcing the winners over the weekend but time ran away with me.  With the help of random.org I can confirm that the 2 winners of my Rook Hastings giveaway (each winning a copy of both Nearly Departed and Immortal Remains) are:

Maryam (From Books Glorious Books)

&

Spav (From Fiction Kingdom)

Congratulations to you both!  I'm just about to send you both an email asking for your addresses so I can get your books in the post to you.  If I don't hear back from you within 48 hours then different winners will be chosen.  Sorry if you didn't win but I have plenty more giveaways coming soon so check back for your chance to win.  In fact if you'd like the chance to win Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson click here to enter my current giveaway!

Giveaway Update - More Prizes & Another Winner Added - GIVEAWAY CLOSED

*UPDATE - THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED - Winners announced here*

Just a quick update to say thanks to the lovely Tiffany from Harper Collins I am adding an extra winner to my Rook Hastings giveaway.

Tiffany has kindly sent me another set of these books so now 2 winners will each receive copies of both Nearly Departed and Immortal Remains.  The first winner will receive brand new copies of both books & the second winner will win my read once (but in very good condition) copies. 

The contest is still international & if you've already filled in the form to enter then you don't need to do anything else.  If you haven't entered yet then click here for more information & for a chance to win.

Thanks so much to Tiffany and Harper Collins for sending these books to add to the giveaway!

Giveaway: Nearly Departed & Immortal Remains - Rook Hastings - GIVEAWAY CLOSED

*UPDATE - THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED - Winners announced here*

I really enjoyed the first 2 books in the Weirdsville series by Rook Hastings so I'd like to offer one of my readers the chance to win both of these books.  This giveaway is for my copies of the books so they have been read once but are in nearly new condition and I hope that the winner will enjoy them as much as I did.  Here are the descriptions for both of the books, if they appeal to you please see below for information on how to enter the giveaway.

"I've seen a ghost," said Emily.  "Well, not seen one exactly.  Heard one.  At least, I think I have..."

Woodsville is not like other towns.  Night falls a little earlier there, the shadows are darker and denser, and everyone knows it's a place where strange things happen.  Even if they won't admit it.

Bethan would prefer to be anywhere but here.  Jay has his theories, but isn't ready to share.  Hashim sees more than he'll say, while Kelly's demons are all too flesh and blood.  But Emily's freak-out brings them out of denial and face to face with the supernatural.

Anywhere else, Friday night would be date night.  But not in Weirdsville...

"You see, the girls that died - it wasn't by accident.  They were cursed, every one of them.  Cursed to meet a horrible death..."  Charlotte swallowed.  "And I'm going to be next."

Four freak accidents.
Four mysterious omens.
Four signs of trouble.

Shadows are getting darker and the town of Woodsville is getting creepier by the hour.  Something is coming, something old and evil.

For more information about Rook please visit her page on the HarperCollins website here



Giveaway Details:

• I have one copy of each of these books that will both be sent to one winner.  These books have been read once but are in good condition.
• This giveaway is international so anyone can enter.
• You don't have to be a blog follower to enter (although of course I'd love it if you were LOL)
• If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Goodreads you can get extra entries but this is not required.
• You can get extra entries by spreading the word but again that isn't required
• You can also get extra entries by commenting on Rook's guest post here, my review of Nearly Departed here or my review of Immortal Remains here. 
• To enter please fill in the form below
• You have until the 17th September to enter the giveaway and I'll announce the winner soon after. I will email the winner as well as announcing it on my blog and you will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen.
• The books will be posted to the winner as soon as possible after they have sent me their address, I will obtain proof of postage when I send the parcel but I can't be held responsible if the book is lost in the post.  If the winner is international I will use the cheapest method of postage so it may take a while for the books to be delivered.

*UPDATED* (8th Sept)

• Thanks to the lovely Tiffany from Harper Collins I now have a second set of these 2 books to include in the giveaway.
• There will now be 2 winners, the first person picked will recieve a brand new copy of each book and the second winner will receive my copies of the books that have been read once but are in good condition.
• If you have already filled in the form to enter you don't need to do anything - you will still be included in both draws.
• Please don't enter more than once - you won't gain anything as all duplicate entries will be deleted before winners are selected.
• The giveaway is still international and all other rules remain the same as above.

Author's Animal Antics - Rook Hastings

Author's Animal Antics is a new regular blog feature here at Sarah's Book Reviews where I'm very excited to have some fantastic authors come and chat to us about their pets.  I'm thrilled to introduce the lovely Rook Hastings as my guest today...

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I'm not a cat person, I do love cats but I am sadly very allergic to them. So allergic, in fact, that when a ghost cat rubbed itself around my legs, it brought me up in hives.

I'm even allergic to cats from beyond the grave!

But mainly I'm a dog person and have been since I was two-years-old and climbed into a litter of collie cross puppies and refused to go home until I was allowed to take one with me. That was my first dog, Merry.

My current dog, and much loved family member, is Polly the Poodle, named by my daughter when she was two. Polly is a standard (large) poodle, and although she is approaching seven, she is exactly like the unruly puppy I brought home. She has a fondness for bread, can open the fridge and once ate an entire packet of After Eight mints, leaving a neat little pile of the wrappers by her paws.

Polly is quite a good guard dog, in that having a big black dog sitting by the window would put most criminals off. But in reality, she is a shocking coward, having been chased by a cat and frightened by balloons. If there is a knock at the door, she gets me to go first, peeping round my legs to see who's there.

On the bright side, she is very sweet natured and great with my children, who climb all over her and tug her hair, which she puts up with very well.

I don't have her cut in the fancy poodle style, she's too much of a rough-and-tumble dog for that. Her favourite thing to do is to chase the intercity trains than run alongside the canal tow path where I walk her. I swear she could beat a grey hound any day, she is so quick.

Polly lies on my feet while I'm writing and if I'm stuck, stroking her often helps. Although, she can get a bit over keen and once deleted half a book with one fell swoop of a paw!

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Thank you so much for visiting today Rook!  Rook Hastings is the author of the fab young adult horror series.  The first book Nearly Departed was released earlier this year and the second book Immortal Remains released in the UK today.  I really enjoyed both of these books & would recommend them to anyone who enjoys a good ghost story.  You can read my reviews by clicking on these links - Nearly Departed & Immortal Remains.  I'm going to be hosting a giveaway for both of these books later today so make sure you check back later for a chance to win!

Find out more about Rook at the HarperCollins website here

For more information about the Author's Animal Antics feature click here

Review: Immortal Remains - Rook Hastings

"You see, the girls that died - it wasn't by accident.  They were cursed, every one of them.  Cursed to meet a horrible death..."  Charlotte swallowed.  "And I'm going to be next."

Four freak accidents.
Four mysterious omens.
Four signs of trouble.

Shadows are getting darker and the town of Woodsville is getting creepier by the hour.  Something is coming, something old and evil.

Weirdsville Series:
Nearly Departed
Immortal Remains



Review:
I really enjoyed Nearly Departed so I was looking forward to revisiting Woodsville and the characters in Immortal Remains.  I was expecting a creepy read but Rook Hastings outdid herself and Immortal Remains was positively scary in places.  If you're a fan of ghost stories then I'd highly recommend this series but you might have to sleep with the lights on afterwards!

We were already introduced to the main characters in Nearly Departed but we get to know them even better in Immortal Remains.  Hashim is still the popular, sporty teenager he was before but he is struggling to deal with the events of the previous book.  He sees ghosts everywhere he goes but is living in denial and has stopped speaking to the others because he just wants to forget everything that has happened.  He doesn't want to think about the reality of the events that are taking place in Woodsville and I can completely understand how he feels.  He is a likable character but features less in this story - although he still has an important part to play - and I'm hoping we get to see more of him in future installments to the series.

Kelly is one of the popular crowd who used to bully other members of the group.  She was the character who I wasn't expecting to like at all when I started reading the first book but she quickly became my favorite character in Immortal Remains.  We already knew she has a tough home life but we get to find out more about her life in this story and you can't help but feel sorry for her.  Since starting to hang out with the others she is being ostracised by her former friends and is losing her popularity, this is difficult for her to deal with but I was pleased to see the way her feelings changed throughout the book.  Kelly is tough and she has attitude - she had me laughing out loud on several occasions with her snarky one liners.

Bethan is the goth girl with blue hair and a ghost blog that everyone at school loves to tease.  She has never really fitted in before but seems to be finding her place within the group.  When she is contacted by Charlotte (a pupil from the local posh school) via her blog Bethan is the one who gets the others involved.  Four of Charlotte's friends have died in mysterious circumstances and Charlotte believes that they were all cursed after playing on an Ouija board - she thinks that she will be next.  She asks the friends to help her but will they be able to free Charlotte from the curse?

Jay seems to be the glue that holds the group together, without him I get the feeling that the others would drift apart and head in opposite directions.  Jay was very much the geek in the first installment but he is starting to shed his nerdy image and I'm curious to see if this continues in the next book.  All of the characters are very lifelike and remind me of people I was at school with.  It is very easy to relate to each of them and I think the story is more frightening because it reminds me so much of being a teenager and the things that used to give me nightmares when I was younger.

I would highly recommend this series to any fans of a good ghost story - if you enjoy a spookily good read you'll love both of these books.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Rook Hastings comes up with next.

Source: Received for review from publisher HarperCollins

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.

Review: Nearly Departed - Rook Hastings

"I've seen a ghost," said Emily.  "Well, not seen one exactly.  Heard one.  At least, I think I have..."

Woodsville is not like other towns.  Night falls a little earlier there, the shadows are darker and denser, and everyone knows it's a place where strange things happen.  Even if they won't admit it.

Bethan would prefer to be anywhere but here.  Jay has his theories, but isn't ready to share.  Hashim sees more than he'll say, while Kelly's demons are all too flesh and blood.  But Emily's freak-out brings them out of denial and face to face with the supernatural.

Anywhere else, Friday night would be date night.  But not in Weirdsville...

Weirdsville Series:
Nearly Departed
Immortal Remains

Review:
I wasn't sure quite what to expect from this book as I've not read much in the YA horror genre but the when I saw Nearly Departed was described as Skins meets the supernatural I couldn't wait to read it.  I really wasn't disappointed & this was a great start to a new series.

From the first chapter I was transported back to my school days - the class dynamics have been very well set up and I'm sure that everyone, young or old, will identify the characters with people they were at school with.  I was also very impressed with the descriptions of the estate in Woodsville where the students live.  The vivid descriptions took me back to days spent in a very similar South London estate when I was growing up. 

I loved the fact that the main characters weren't just the popular kids.  You have Bethan who is intelligent but feels like she doesn't belong, she doesn't want to be like everyone else and dreams of escaping from the estate and making a better life for herself.  Jay is the self-confessed geek but has a caring side to him that I really liked.  Hashim has brains but doesn't want anyone to know it - he is only interested in playing football and acts like the class clown.  Kelly was the one I didn't think I'd identify with - she is beautiful and one of the popular kids but also a bully which isn't something I like in a character.  As the story unfolds and you find out more about her it is easy to understand why she is the way she is and she becomes much more likeable.  Then there is Emily - the least popular girl in school.  Often the subject of bullying by other students she tries to disappear in the classroom and hardly ever speaks.  Most of the time no one even realises she is in the room.

But it is Emily who is the one who first speaks up about the strange things that are happening in the town.  By speaking up in class she attracts the attention of the others and is teased mercilessly, I'm sure you will all remember similar scenes as the one that plays out from your own school days.  As a punishment the unlikely group are made to work together for an assignment.  It is when they get together outside of school that they find out more about about what Emily has experienced.  Jay and Bethan are determined to help Emily but Kelly and Hashim take a little more convincing.

Emily belives that her house is haunted so Jay decides they need to do a paranormal investigation to prove to her that everything is fine.  The others agree to help and from that point on nothing will ever be the same for any of them. 

The plot is fast moving, full of twists and downright spooky in places.  It kept me gripped from beginning to end and even though I'd guessed at the major twist about halfway through the book I couldn't be 100% sure I was right until the end of the book.  Overall I thought this was a great start to a new series and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment!

Source: Recieved for review from publisher HarperCollins

Other Reviews:
I Want To Read That
Rhiana Reads
I Was A Teenage Book Geek
Nayu's Reading Corner
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.

Friday 56 - Nearly Departed

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Storytime with Tonya and Friends

• Grab the book CLOSEST to you.
• Share the 5th sentence on the 56th page.
• Note the title & author
• Link back
 

The 5th sentence:
 
Was there a leak in the lift?  Water, electricity and a metal box - not a good combination.
 
Page 56, Nearly Departed by Rook Hastings