When I See Blue - Lily Bailey

New town, new school, but the bully is in Ben's head ...

There are 4 things you should know about Ben:

1. He's 12 years old

2. He's the new kid at school

3. His special number is 4

4. He has a bully in his brain

Sometimes Ben's brain makes him count to 4 to prevent bad things happening. Sometimes it makes him tap or blink in 4s. Mostly it makes the smallest things feel impossible. And with a new school, a moody big brother, an absent dad and a mum battling her own demons, Ben feels more out of control than ever. But then he meets April, and with his new friend, Ben might finally figure out how to stand up to the bully in his brain, once and for all.

An authentic and affecting #ownvoices story about living life with OCD, from the inspiring author and mental health activist, Lily Bailey. Perfect for readers of A Kind of Spark and The Goldfish Boy.

 

What did I think?

Oh my goodness this book is outstanding.  I absolutely adored Ben and I miss him so much already that I can’t wait to read it again soon.

Although I did know a little about it, I finally understand OCD and I’m significantly older than the target audience.  This book is sure to help children understand their OCD and also ensure that school friends are more understanding and compassionate.

I don’t have OCD but I recognised bits of myself in Ben; I am super-sensitive and constantly blame myself for things that are beyond my control.  Just reading about Ben also being like this and looking at it through the eyes of Ben’s therapist, was a real eye-opener for me.  I am not a magical being with powers to control events!  Thank you for making me see this, Lily Bailey!

When I See Blue is aimed at 9-11 year olds but I’d prefer to say it’s for 9+ as this book definitely does not have an upper age limit.  With beautifully illustrated chapter headings, it can be enjoyed by children and adults alike and it just might change their life.

Beautifully written, honest and charming, When I See Blue is one of those books where five stars doesn’t seem quite enough.  Very highly recommended - it’s time for you to meet Ben!

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost - Jamie Adams

It's a slight digression from crime fiction on this damppebbles Blog Tour today with my review of The Fathers, The Sons and the Anxious Ghost by Jamie Adams.  

Three guys in their thirties have something in common. Their children all go to the same school. One day a tragic event leads to them having to deal with a lurking aftermath which draws them into each other's lives and causes them to rethink their attitudes to just about everything. The children tell the second part of this story, ten years after the initial events. The dust seems to have settled until one of them uncovers information that throws everything back into chaos. The third part… well that will have to wait.

What did I think?

It was a nice change to read a novella with The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost being only 90 pages long and taking around 1 hour to read.  Don't mistake it for a shallow light read though as Jamie Adams has packed a lot of story into these few pages, so it's very much a case of quality over quantity.  

It took me a little while to get used to the lack of contractions in the book, for example using 'I am' instead of 'I'm'.  I found it a bit odd, especially in speech, but I soon got used to it and attributed it to a little quirk of the book.  The book is written in 3 parts; I'm sure you'll be able to guess the parts from the title of the book.  They are all linked and come together very nicely at the end, leaving me with a little lump in my throat.

I felt there were some very strong messages in this book regarding mental health and bullying but I did have to give myself a virtual smack for jumping to conclusions.  I've always said that there are two sides to every story but for some reason I saw one side of the story in The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost and pinned my colours to that mast.  Thank you Jamie Adams for reminding me that not everything is as it may first appear.

A little book with a big message, The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost is a very thought-provoking book that I really enjoyed.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Waterstones
WHSmith
Foyles
Hive



About the author:

Jamie is a teacher who has studied a geography degree back in the nineties because of his love of nature and the outdoors. He found environmental education especially important and soon became a teacher for the primary-age group. Jamie enjoys reading and watching all kinds of theatre productions, from high dramas to lively musicals. His love of writing shines through in everything he does.

After writing a group of short stories linked to romance, which he published as ‘Short Dates’ independently, he decided to write a novella centred around topical issues such as mental health, parenting and relationships.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamieAdStories Website: http://jamieadstories.com/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jamie-Adams/e/B07C642RJZ/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

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BLOG TOUR: The Space Between Time - Charlie Laidlaw

There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on Earth… 

Emma Maria Rossini’s perfect life begins to splinter when her celebrity father becomes more distant, and her mother dies suspiciously during a lightning storm. This death has a massive effect on Emma, but after stumbling through university, she settles into work as a journalist in Edinburgh.  

Her past, however, cannot be escaped. Her mental health becomes unstable. But while recovering in a mental institution, Emma begins to write a memoir to help come to terms with the unravelling of her life. 

She finds ultimate solace in her once-derided grandfather’s Theorem on the universe – which offers the metaphor that we are all connected, even to those we have loved and not quite lost.  

What did I think?

Wow, Charlie Laidlaw...you have just blown me away!  I read and enjoyed Charlie Laidlaw's The Things We Learn When We're Dead so I didn't hesitate when a chance came up to take part in the blog tour for his new novel, The Space Between Time.  I expected a slightly quirky novel but I was completely unprepared for the emotional and thought-provoking journey I was about to embark with Emma Maria Rossini.

It's a difficult book to review without giving away any spoilers but it's fair to say that Emma doesn't have a conventional childhood; with her father spending more and more time away from home as his acting career takes off, she is pretty much being brought up in a single parent family.  Paul's absence causes a huge strain on the family and Emma's mother is convinced that Paul is having an affair with every leading lady with whom he comes into contact.  Nothing is hidden from Emma and like a sponge she soaks up all the damning evidence and the cracks begin to appear in her relationship with her father.  As with any story, there are always two sides but it is many years later before Emma gets to see the full picture.

Like her father changed his name to Paul Ross to lose the Italian link, Emma in reverse dropped the 'Emma' and became Maria Rossini.  I really felt her struggle as she tried to reinvent herself as a new person, but ultimately she is the same person underneath whatever she decides to call herself.  As her mental health becomes increasingly unstable, she is encouraged to write a journal to help her find the root of her problems and finally make peace with who she is.  I loved reading Emma's journey; it's poignant, witty, heartfelt and thought-provoking.  Charlie Laidlaw has given Emma a beautiful voice and it really makes you think about what people hide behind their smiles.

The Space Between Time is as beautiful as it is tragic; as uplifting as it is heartbreaking and simply breathtaking in its uniqueness.  A highly recommended read.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon



About the author:

Charlie Laidlaw was born in Paisley and is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. He has been a national newspaper journalist and worked in defence intelligence. He now runs his own marketing consultancy in East Lothian. He is married with two grown-up children.

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BLOG TOUR: The Key - Kathryn Hughes

Today I'm taking part in the blog tour for The Key by Kathryn Hughes.  This is an absolutely breathtaking book that I will remember for a very long time.  You can read my review below and you can also click here to read an extract comprising the prologue that made me gasp out loud and chapter one set in 2006.

1956

It's Ellen Crosby's first day as a student nurse at Ambergate County Lunatic Asylum. When she meets a young woman committed by her father, and a pioneering physician keen to try out the various 'cures' for mental illness, little does Ellen know that a choice she will make is to change all their lives for ever...

2006

Sarah is drawn to the abandoned Ambergate Asylum. Whilst exploring the old corridors she discovers a suitcase belonging to a female patient who was admitted fifty years earlier. The shocking contents lead Sarah to unravel a forgotten story of tragedy, lost love and an old wrong that only she may have the power to put right . . .

What did I think?

I was a late entrant to join The Key blog tour and I thought that I would struggle to read the book in the time given, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  No sooner had I picked the book up than I was wiping my eyes after turning the final page.  Kathryn Hughes is such a talented author that she effortlessly weaves so much emotion into the pages that even the coldest heart can't fail to be moved.

The prologue is set in 1956 with an attempted dual suicide and murder that made me gasp out loud, but we are teasingly left dangling for quite a few chapters before we pick up this thread again.  As we meet Sarah in 2006 we discover the abandoned Ambergate Lunatic Asylum and Sarah is determined to tell its story through a book she is writing.  Sarah befriends a homeless young man who is sheltering in the asylum and the pair investigate the empty corridors and empty rooms together.  One day they stumble across the attic filled with suitcases and one suitcase in particular is like opening the wardrobe door to Narnia as we glimpse into the past of 1956.

Student Nurse Ellen Crosby is very empathetic and wants to make a difference; her outspoken views often get her into trouble with the sister and the doctor, but I loved her standing up to them to get her point across.  Ellen is drawn to Amy Sullivan who is admitted on the same day that Ellen started at Ambergate and is the same age as her.  Amy's story is terribly tragic and her misery is compounded as each day of her incarceration in Ambergate passes.  In 2006, Sarah traces Amy via Ellen and the whole heartbreaking story is revealed.

I had to brush a few tears away whilst reading The Key; the pain and suffering must have been immense for the men and women forced into institutions, many of them as sane as  you or I.  It's quite shocking to think that places such as Ambergate Asylum actually existed.  Thank goodness for Enoch Powell, then Minister of Health, who promised to close many of these asylums in his 'water tower' speech delivered in 1961.  

The Key is a completely heart-wrenching and poignant story that left me completely powerless to prevent my eyes blurring with tears as the story unfolded.  It reminded me of the TV show Long Lost Families as my happiness for the characters at the end of the book was coupled with a lone tear trickling down my face.  It's a beautifully written novel, inspired by the real-life discovery of a room filled with suitcases in a derelict asylum in Willard, New York.  In addition to reading The Key, it's well worth visiting the Willard Suitcases website to read more about this amazing story.  I definitely won't forget The Key anytime soon.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon


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Praying For Sleep - Jeffery Deaver

Michael Hrubek, a young schizophrenic, has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane. And he's making his way towards Lis Atcheson, the teacher who testified at his trial.

Four people are racing to intercept him before he finds her. His psychiatrist; the hospital director; a professional tracker. And Lis's husband, who plans to stop Hrubek before the madman reaches his wife.

But Michael's mind - with its delusions of murder and betrayal - is crystal clear about one thing. He knows Lis better than she knows herself. And he carries with him a monstrous secret that will tear apart many lives in the course of one horrifying night...

What did I think?

I apologise in advance for the short review as I wasted too much time reading this book to write about it.  I've read Jeffery Deaver for many years now and this doesn't even come close to the Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance thrillers.  I wasn't hooked, I wasn't thrilled, I was praying for it to end.

Michael Hrubek has escaped from a mental institution and despite everyone knowing where he is going - to find Lis Atcheson, who was a witness at his trial, they feel the need to track him across country.  Even Lis's husband joins in the chase, with me thinking he would be better off at home protecting his wife if he cares that much about her.  Why go looking for someone when you know where they will be? So after MANY days of tracking Hrubek, he finally turns up at Lis's farmhouse and you know that not everyone will leave there alive.

I really struggled with this one; I found it boring with too many characters and I had little care about who they were or how they fitted into the story.  If this was my first Deaver, I wouldn't read any more.  I do think I have been spoilt by reading so many good books of late, but I will definitely stick to the Rhyme and Dance books from now on.

My rating:

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The Mirror World of Melody Black - Gavin Extence

It all starts, as these things sometimes do, with a dead man.

He was a neighbour, not someone Abby knew well, but still, finding a body when you only came over to borrow a tin of tomatoes, that comes as a bit of a shock.

At least, it should.

And now she can't shake the feeling that if she hadn't gone into Simon's flat, if she'd had her normal Wednesday night instead, then none of what happened next would have happened.

And she would never have met Melody Black . . .

Wild and witty, searing and true, THE MIRROR WORLD OF MELODY BLACK is about the fine line that separates normal from not - and how life can spin, very swiftly, out of control.

What did I think?

I absolutely loved this book; the author completely laid himself bare and gave us a warts and all glimpse into the life of a manic depressive.  Sometimes scary and constantly emotional, I feel like Gavin Extence has bared his soul to each and every person who picks up this book.  Abby's illness must have been so difficult to put into words but Gavin Extence does this flawlessly.

Abby calls round to her neighbour's flat one day and finds his dead body.  This would be a shock for most people but Abby isn't most people, so she deals with Simon's death in almost a clinical and factual way.  It was then that I realised things weren't quite right with Abby and, as she heads into a manic episode, I braced myself for the impending train crash.  The description of her manic episode is so honest and raw that I couldn't help but be moved to tears.

Despite being in the title of the book, Melody Black only plays a small, but very significant part, in the book.  I loved the way she talked about a mirror world; you can be going along minding your own business then, suddenly without realising, step through the mirror into a completely different world.  As you swap places with your reflection, which 'you' is the real you?  I found this really sad; it made me think of people who say that they feel like a shadow of themselves.  Perhaps they have unknowingly stepped through a portal and swapped places with their real self, leaving their reflection to cope with the trials of daily life.

It was a really nice surprise to find Abby taking a trip to Lindisfarne.  This is in my neck of the woods and Lindisfarne is an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful island, with more than its fair share of history and legend.  Gavin Extence perfectly described how the island is cut off by the tides.  Abby decides to leave the island on foot via the Pilgrims' Way but stops for a rest, which she purposely extends until the tide comes in, leaving her stranded in the middle of the sea; I had goosebumps reading about her sleeping alone in the stilted refuge hut, completely cut off and surrounded by the chilly and tempestuous North Sea, underneath a magical twinkling blanket of stars.  

Compelling and emotional, The Mirror World of Melody Black is impossible to put down.  It's an honest and thoughtful account of a little-understood depressive illness with just the right amount of wit to lighten the mood.  Gavin Extence is the author of The Universe Versus Alex Woods, which I haven't read but certainly want to now.

I received this book from the publisher, Hodder, via Bookbridgr in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon