Becky's Book Reviews

It's been a while since I've done a book spotlight, so thanks to Rockstart Book Tours, I'm really happy to be able to feature  AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir, which releases in the US today. I don't know about you, but I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy. Below you can check out some info about the book, enter a giveaway courtesy of Penguin Teen, read a letter from Sabaa and view the book trailer. Enjoy! A letter from Sabaa Tahir. Dear Readers, Today, my “baby” AN EMBER IN THE ASHES is finally out in the world! From inception to pub date, this journey took eight years. And what a journey it was: writing, rewriting, revising, editing, querying, submitting; Meeting other debuts, bloggers, booksellers and librarians, and hearing their thoughts on EMBER. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the radness. And now, the book is here! I am so excited to see it in the hands of readers. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. To celebrate rel...

UPDATE: Thanks so much to everyone who entered the giveaway. Unfortunately there could only be one winner, but don't fret, because there'll be more of these to come. That said, congratulations to The Book Wurrm. You've won yourself copies of any two books listed below. You have 48 hours to claim your prize, thereafter which another winner will be chosen. Next giveaway will be coming your way in the near future. ______________________________________________________________ Today I’m all about celebrating some of South Africa’s most talented authors and because I want their books to be read widely and everywhere, I’m making this an international giveaway (Yay - although I should add that my giveaways are almost always open worldwide). I’m offering two of any of the books listed below to one lucky winner. All you need to do is leave a comment and tell me what the one book is that you wish more people would read or talk about and why. Below are just a few of the many wonderfu...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of my columns here, and seeing as I’ve been whinging a lot about readers who don’t return books in the same condition it was lent to them, on Twitter, I thought I’d post this little column on book rules to live by. Warning: Some (mostly harmless) snark ahead. :-)) The first two points are most important as they involve, and are addressed to the non-readers in our lives. Here goes: 1) Stop interrupting us when we’ve huddled into the most comfortable spot imaginable and are completely immersed in the world between the pages. Unless someone needs to be rushed to the hospital or the house is on fire, we will assume that any of your mortal needs can either be taken care of by you, or by the other person in the house who doesn't read. 2. Avoid trying to persuade us to get rid of books because you think there’s no space. The floor is a space. If you trip over a book, it’s not the book’s fault. You just need to be more careful and watch where you’r...

It’s been years since I’ve last taken part in the Top Ten Tuesday meme , a feature brought to you by the fabulous bloggers over at The Broke and The Bookish .  In today’s post, and as per this week’s theme, I share the top 10 quotes that have made me feel all sorts of emotions. This won’t be the first bookish quotes post I’m doing, but I never get tired of talking about passages or quotes from books that have deeply resonated with me, hence this post. So, without further ado, here’s my top 10.  1.   “It's my experience that people are a lot more sympathetic if they can see you hurting, and for the millionth time in my life I wish for measles or smallpox or some other easily understood disease just to make it easier on me and also on them.” – All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven Why this resonated: As someone who has depression ( I wrote about this in a post quite a while back), this passage really hit home. While my experience with this book has left me feeling, for...

The follow up to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Hodkin’s Evolution of Mara Dyer is a story filled with nail-biting tension, intense creepiness and spine-chilling moments. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (published by Simon Pulse, a division of Simon & Schuster UK, in 2013)   Disclaimer: Review first appeared on Women24.com . You can purchase a copy of the book on Raru.co.za NOTE: Given that The Evolution of Mara Dyer is the second book in a trilogy, this review may contain spoilers from the first book . I’m a sucker for a good, psychological and mind-bending, twisted read. This, is why I finally decided to pick up The Evolution of Mara Dyer. It’s a book that’s been sitting in my shelf for ages, and one that I’ve been meaning to read for a while. The first thing you should know is that this isn’t the kind of book you can read without having read the first book.  The events that occur in this book, is preceded by the cliff-hanger ending of The Unbecoming of Mara...

A beautiful, bittersweet and delightfully subverted reimagining of a classic story that has been (and still is) enchanting both young and old since the age when fairy tales first began.   Disclaimer: This review first appeared on Women24.com Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen (published by Henry Holt in 2015)   Sarah is the only daughter of parents who’ve always lived nomadic lives.  Since her mother hates the wintry weather, the family is often forced to move to warmer places. As a result, Sarah spends most of her time feeling very lonely. What she doesn’t realise, is that there’s more to her family’s movements than they’re letting on; movements that soon have a huge impact on her when her mother walks out on the family. When her father’s behaviour changes dramatically, it isn’t long before Sarah’s deposited at the doorsteps of her grandparents’ home – grandparents that she’s never even met. In the isolated woods of her grandmother’s almost-defunct castle, our young heroine soo...