#Blogtour The Burial Witch by Cari Thomas

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Burial Witch; a Threadneedle Novella by Cari Thomas, published by Harper Voyager 5th of June 2025.

If you've read Threadneedle and Shadowstitch, The Burial Witch fits between the two previous books, along with The Hedge Witch - it's novella length.

About the Author

Cari Thomas has always loved magic, inspired by her upbringing among the woods and myths of Wales’s Wye Valley. She studied English and Creative Writing at Warwick University and Magazine Journalism at The Cardiff School of Journalism. Her first job was at teen Sugar magazine, where she ran the book club and quickly realised she wanted to be the one writing the books instead. 

She went on to work at a creative agency, spending her spare time researching magic and accumulating an unusual collection of occult books. She wrote her first novel, Threadneedle, while living in London, wandering the city and weaving it with all the magic she wished it contained. She now lives in Monmouthshire with her husband and son, who bears the appropriately Celtic name of Taliesin. Follow @carithomas_auth on X

About the book

“The unopenable box. A mythical object that appears in fairy tales and folklore across all cultures around the world. Sometimes the box can only be opened by the right person at the right time, such a rightful heir, and in other tales it is considered a warning. A test given to the protagonist who are typically forbidden from opening the box. When they eventually succumb, what they unleash cannot be put back in.”

We follow Miranda Richardson, a highly strung, highly driven member of the covens who discovers a mysterious, unopenable box in her parent’s loft.

Taking place between events in Threadneedle and Shadowstitch, this is a perfect magical read for fans of the series, collectors and all dreamers.

Review 

The Language of Magic world has been opened up to include novellas, which allows both author and reader to experience characters individually. The magical worldbuilding began with the popular Threadneedle book. In a way it reflects the hive of magic, the coven and the connections, whether they be great or small, and how the entirety can be explored even when following the smallest link.

I love that aspect of the series, and that it is written with an emphasis on younger readers, yet also leaves space for the older readers who enjoy a great magical yarn.

In this novella length story we learn more about Miranda and her struggle to align the magical secrets she encounters with the devout rigidity of the religious dogma she and her family follow. The imbalance and anxiety she experiences when the taught evil reveals itself as something curious and non-threatening. It makes her question herself, what she believes and the family history.

I found that core element interesting, however the short read is heavily laden with preachy pious dialogue and interactions. The magic was never given a chance to emerge, shine and enchant. Instead it's an angsty, dark, fearful chapter in an otherwise adventure laden magical series. I won't even start with the other aspects of Miranda's arc that could have been written in a better way.

For me this was a case of 'what it says on the box doesn't reflect actual contents of said box' and perhaps what it said on the box is was what it should have been. Not sure how this has passed editorial - just from a worldbuilding, plot and character arc perspective - and the sensitivity reading, without setting off a few alarm bells.

I'd go as far as to say, whilst I have highly recommended the previous Threadneedle - The Language of Magic books and adventures, including buying them for younger readers as gifts, I would hesitate to recommend this one. 

The cover art and design of this book series is par excellence though - they are beautiful, they would look great in a clothbound version.

Buy The Burial Witch at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: HarperVoyager; pub date 5th June 2025. Buy at Amazon.com.

#Blogtour The Children of Hiroshima by Sadako Teiko Okuda

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Children of Hiroshima: The True Story of How I Searched for my Family in the Ruins of the City by Sadako Teiko Okuda. Published by Monoray, 8th of May 2025.

About the Author

Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in 1914, Okuda was teaching sewing on a small island some 35 miles off Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. Even from that distance, both her sight and hearing on her right side were permanently damaged. From 1960 and until her retirement, she taught home economics at a non-traditional high school in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.

About the book

‘The little boy did not cry or speak. He just stood there and stared at me intensely. With great effort I stood up and tested to see if I could walk with my injured foot. When I did, he came to stand even closer to me and, without saying a word, grabbed my little finger very tightly.’

Sadako Teiko Okuda was living in Osaki-shimo, an island off the mainland of Japan, when the bomb hit Hiroshima on the 6th of August 1945. There was a blinding flash and the window next to Sadako smashed, a shard of glass leaving a painful burn on her neck. Soon, news came that her niece and nephew who lived in Hiroshima were missing. There was only one thing she could do - leave the relative safety of the island and set off into the city to find them.

Over the following seven days Sadako roamed the ruins of the city, desperately searching for her family and coming across dozens of displaced children. With only water and a little medicine, she provided care, compassion and tenderness in the face of unprecedented tragedy. And in turn, they helped her to find hope in the very darkest of times. 

Told simply and powerfully in daily diary entries, The Children of Hiroshima is an extraordinary and deeply moving human story of loss, innocence and hope.

Review

A story retold using snippets from diary entries, memories noted, painful reminders, but equally an important historical reference from an eyewitness that needs to be remembered. These brief moments and encounters only graze the cusp of the tragedy and trauma Sadako must have seen and experienced. Indeed instead of drawing the focus to the physical horror there is an emphasis on human connection, the fragility of said connections and how one moment can make a difference.

To comfort, care and lay aside personal priorities - finding her relatives - to ensure strangers feel safer in their last minutes or hours. It speaks volumes of the compassion Sadako exhibited, but in equal measures of the lack of hope, the senseless destruction and the magnitude a nuclear event has on humanity.

Not spoken about as frequently as the Holocaust, however the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 are not only one of the biggest tragedies of that time period, but also one that should also be noted as a key warning.

There is no real way to reconstruct, evaluate and recount the actual devastation that was caused by the nuclear bombs the US dropped on Japan. Without a doubt there is no way to justify what in reality was a test in real time on real victims or that the perceived threat justified dropping not one but two bombs of that magnitude.

The decades of destructive aftermath, consequences on an entire population. The result being the surrender of the Japanese and yet the taste of something akin to a war crime lingers. There is simply no justification then or now for using nuclear weapons. This was eighty years ago, one can only imagine the horror of a 21st century evolved nuclear event. Our political leaders and self-appointed dangerous dictators at the end of the switch, they are a danger to us all.

This book is not only a story that should be remembered, it's also a reminder of how violence and destruction is committed with such ease and a lack of foresight, especially when the perpetrator/s have zero repercussions and their country is so far away that they never encounter or suffer from the aftermath of these decisions.

Buy The Children of Hiroshima at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Monoray; pub date 8th May 2025 |  Paperback |  £8.99. Buy at Amazon.com.

#Blogtour The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper - published by William Morrow 22nd May 2025.

About the Author

A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting an MA and teaching high-school literature and history.

Her debut novel, The Other Alcott, was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. More novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Hooper now lives in Seattle with her husband and two teenage daughters.

About the book

When a young librarian discovers historic dollhouses in a hidden room, she embarks on an unexpected journey that reveals surprising secrets about the lost miniatures.

Tildy Barrows, Head Curator of a beautiful archival library in San Francisco, is meticulously dedicated to the century’s worth of inventory housed in her beloved Beaux Art building. She loves the calm and order in the shelves of books and walls of art. But Tildy’s life takes an unexpected turn when she, first, learns the library is on the verge of bankruptcy and, second, discovers two exquisite never-before seen dollhouses.

After finding clues hidden within these remarkable miniatures, Tildy sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses, aiming to salvage her cherished library in the process. Her journey introduces her to a world of ambitious and gifted women in Belle Époque Paris, a group of scarred World War I veterans in the English countryside, and Walt Disney’s bustling Burbank studio in the 1950s. As Tildy unravels the mystery, she finds not only inspiring, hidden history, but also a future for herself—and an astonishing familial revelation.

Spanning the course of a century, The Library of Lost Dollhouses is a warm, bright, and captivating story of secrets and love that embraces the importance of illuminating overlooked women.

Review

Imagine stumbling across a secret room full of history and one that inadvertently reveals secrets about your own family history and past. It's not something Tildy expects to come across, but in the end she welcomes the accidental opening of hidden doors.

Behind this particular hidden door are exquisite dollhouses filled with secrets, miniatures and stories. In a way the houses are individual stills of a life lived, a library of a different sort. A visual representation of secrets, a way to speak without saying a word, but right there in plain sight.

At times it felt as if the story was pulling in multiple directions and no real consensus on which direction to take, the result being a lack of connection or perhaps an inability to create one that results in the reader really establishing a concrete link. The miniatures and dollhouses are a fascinating topic, especially when historical links are drawn into the story. The fact history washes out, erases with impunity, the presence and actions of women who contributed to the world we live in, regardless of which skill, action or in what capacity - it's something we need reminding of and of said women.

It's more of a comfortable genre mixing read, it lacks the strong direction and identity to be more than that, which is fine. There is a large demographic for uncomplicated and comfortable. 

Buy The Library of Lost Dollhouses at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks - Harper 360, pub date 22 May 2025. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Kill Creatures by Rory Power

'From the New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls comes a gripping dark thriller – perfect to read in a single sitting that unravels friendship, jealousy, desire, rage and revenge, with a shocking twist that will leave you breathless.' 

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Kill Creatures by Rory Power - published 5th June 2025 by Scholastic UK.

About the Author

Rory Power grew up in New England, where she lives and works as a story consultant for TV adaptation. She received a Masters in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia, and is the New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls, Burn Our Bodies Down, and In a Garden Burning Gold. Visit itsrorypower.com or instagram.com/itsrorypower

About the book

Last summer, Nan's three best friends disappeared into Saltcedar Canyon.

She's spent the year since grieving their loss and avoiding questions about what happened that night. Now, on the anniversary, she's ready to say goodbye, and so are the girls' families, who have reconvened to hold a memorial. But their vigil is interrupted by the shocking return of one of the missing girls alive. Everybody is overjoyed. Everybody, that is, except Nan, who was pretty sure they were dead. After all, she's the one who killed them.

Review

Colour me surprised, this was a really good read. I'll definitely be reading more by this author going forward.

This is a tense dark domestic psychological thriller. Four girls go on a secret midnight escapade and only one of them returns. Nan is dreading the vigil for her best friends, but perhaps not because of the loss and the painful reminder of their disappearance. Instead she finds the entire dramatic exercise a tad boring and time-consuming. The last thing she expects is the unexpected reappearance of someone she knows is dead - she knows because she was there when it happened, in fact she is the killer.

What follows is an extremely complicated cat and mouse game, I would hazard a guess that neither the reader, Nan nor the undead girl know exactly who is the cat in this scenario or indeed the mouse. Is Nan going to have to fix her mistake, that's if she actually did it, right? If she killed her friend why is she alive? Or is there something bigger going on - is it really more than just teenage rage, perhaps an overactive imagination, but that doesn't explain the other missing girls does it?

I would love to see this developed into a small screen series, it has the right kind of pithy characters and plot to captivate a large audience. Power is an author with a depth of understanding when it comes to the often complex intricacies of the teenage mind, especially that of the female variety. Friends, enemies, frenemies - from besties to willing to kill in the blink of an eye, such is the irrational and dangerous world of the teenage mind and hive.

Buy Kill Creatures at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Scholastic Uk, pub date 5th June 2025. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill - published 22nd May by Bedford Square publishers - courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Edward Underhill grew up in the suburbs of Wisconsin, where he could not walk to anything, so he had to make up his own adventures. He studied music in college, spent several years living in very small apartments in New York, and currently resides in California with his partner and a talkative black cat. 

He is the author of the young adult novels Always the Almost and This Day Changes Everything. The In-Between Bookstore is his first book for adults.

About the book

If you had one chance to talk to your younger self… would you? What would you say?

A healing novel about a trans man in New York who - almost 30, laid off, broke - moves back to his small Illinois hometown. Darby left Oak Falls, Illinois years ago, hoping to find a community and to leave behind the memory of his childhood best friend, Michael, and the painful way their friendship ended. 

He walks into the bookstore he worked at in high school and feels an eerie sense of déjà vu  – everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the till is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen... a teen who just might give him the opportunity to change his own present for the better – if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.

Review

Always an interesting concept - the question of whether someone would choose to return to their past, their younger self or a specific moment in time, in order to change something that could possibly alter the trajectory of their already trodden path.

In this case the glitch in time is only accessed via a bookstore that holds core memories for the main character, but the glitch isn't always accessible, which in turn generates a certain amount of doubt. Is it merely self-doubt creating a scenario that would erase uncomfortable memories or is this something more monumental.

Darby the 30-year-old encounters teenage Darby in a strange glitch of magical realism, more importantly the pre-transition version of themselves that has yet to embark on the journey towards understanding self and identity. It's a very important period of time that changes relationships, bonds, and decisions going forward.

What is communicated ten-fold is the magnitude and almost worm-like presence of a sense of 'not quite right' buried deep in the psyche and the physical body, that takes over every element of thought and interaction. It explains why older Darby wants to help younger Darby find their path and in doing so spare them some confusion and pain. One could of course throw in the Butterfly Effect and consequences of changes, just to generate a little grey cell action and raise philosophical, perhaps even moral questions. 

This is the first venture away from YA and into adult fiction for the author, and although it's a interesting read I don't think we've quite managed to shake the general vibe of the young adult sub-genre. Ironically, given the story and plot, I would define it as a bridge building exercise in transition. I also think the In-Betweenness of it all serves a far greater purpose, which readers will find intriguing.

I enjoyed the concept and the story.

Buy The In-Between Bookstore at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bedford Square; pub date 22nd May| Paperback| £9.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker

 It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker.

About the Author

Ellen Baker is the author of Keeping the House and I Gave My Heart to Know This. She has worked as a bookseller and event coordinator at an independent bookstore. Originally from the Upper Midwest, she currently lives in Maine. Follow @EllenBakerBooks on X

About the book

In 1924, four-year-old Cecily Larson’s mother reluctantly drops her off at an orphanage in Chicago, promising to be back once she’s made enough money to support both Cecily and herself. But she never returns, and shortly after high-spirited Cecily turns seven, she is sold to a traveling circus to perform as the “little sister” to glamorous bareback rider Isabelle DuMonde. With Isabelle and the rest of the circus, Cecily finally feels she’s found the family she craves. But as the years go by, the cracks in her little world begin to show. And when teenage Cecily meets and falls in love with a young roustabout named Lucky, she finds her life thrown onto an entirely unexpected—and dangerous—course.

In 2015, Cecily is now 94 and living a quiet life in Minnesota, with her daughter, granddaughter, and great-grandson. But when her family decides to surprise her with an at-home DNA test, the unexpected results not only bring to light the tragic love story that Cecily has kept hidden for decades but also throw into question everything about the family she’s raised and claimed as her own for nearly seventy years. Cecily and everyone in her life must now decide who they really are and what family—and forgiveness—really mean.

Sweeping through a long period of contemporary history, The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson is an immersive, compelling, and entertaining family drama centered around one remarkable woman and her determination to survive.

Review

Hidden within the folds of familial relationships and complexities is the realisation that the parents we know often only allow us a brief look into their lives, before they disappear again. The child, the teen and the young person who came before is often an unknown entity to the family and children they create. Secrets, trauma, mysteries and many a chapter locked in deep vaults forever.

If a DNA project had never opened said vault then chances are Cecily would have taken her past and her memories to the grave. Instead something as simple as a genetic story of connections opens up the door to answers and healing.

I think it's important to note the atrocities committed in the name of profit, of virtue signalling and with a general lack of empathy. Just another massive statistic of children, girls and young women who were left traumatised and maimed in the name of the greater good. Tragic.

It's a story that would work well on-screen and in a sense is written in a way that plays to that thought. Historical fiction with a nod to a contemporary family structure, which includes both flaws and bonds.

Buy The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Mariner Books, pub date 20 Feb. 2024. Buy at Amazon com. Via Bookshop org.

#Blogtour The Drownings by Hazel Barkworth

Celebrating the paperback release of The Drownings by Hazel Barkworth - publication date 10th April 2025, published by Headline Review | £10.99 | Paperback.

'From the critically acclaimed author of Heatstroke, The Drownings is a captivating and intoxicatingly atmospheric novel about competition, obsession and influence; about female rage, and how the darkness of the unconfronted past continues to haunt our present.'

About the Author

Hazel grew up in Stirlingshire and North Yorkshire before studying English at Oxford. She is a graduate of both the Oxford University MSt in Creative Writing and the Curtis Brown Creative Novel-Writing course. Hazel works as a cultural consultant, delving into the cultural topics and conversations with most pertinence. This fascination sparked the themes explored in both of her novels. Her debut novel Heatstroke was a Cosmopolitan Best Book of the Summer in 2020. The Drownings was written back in the streets of her own university days, where the ghosts of her student self were lurking around every corner. She now lives in York with her partner.

About the book

University wasn’t in the plan. But when a catastrophic knee injury destroys Serena’s future as an Olympic swimmer, the years of brutal training and spellbinding manifestation lead her to Leysham, a dark and gloomy university campus in the north. 

Walking home at night, Serena stumbles on a young woman floundering in the viscous and freezing waters that snake through the campus. Helped by a mysterious older woman, they drag the student from the water to safety.

Attending an enthralling lecture shortly after, Serena instantly recognises the woman speaking. It is Jane – the woman who helped Serena save a life. And as Jane speaks, Serena’s eyes are opened to the history of witch trials, misogyny and murder that lives in Leysham’s waters, and continues to infect the present day, with drink spiking and sexual assaults rife on campus.

Captivated by the older woman, Serena and her cousin Zara, a rising star of social media, launch a campaign to force the university to confront the misogyny and violence which haunts Leysham. But as protests flare across the campus, a simmering rivalry takes hold between the cousins. And when cracks start to appear in Jane’s motives, everything spirals out of control…

Review

I'm not even sure whether any screen version could do this the justice it deserves. It would take a simultaneous narration throughout to capture the way Serena interacts with her inner thoughts and self. The constant exploration of past, present and future, the way the doubtful introvert blossoms into the uncontrollable extrovert who is set alight by imagined transgressions.

However, the most powerful connection and conversation is the one Serena has with water. It's almost a compulsion and intrinsically linked to her failure, her success, her drive and power. The first chapters highlight this overwhelming obsession with bodies of water - no matter how large and in what setting. 

Alongside this larger than life character, who is for all intent and purposes, the wallflower and the quiet observer; is Zara. Zara is the complete opposite and also the cousin who wants to stand in the spotlight and be heralded as voice of change. 

Set to a background of a long line of past transgressions against women, which emboldens the present population of young men to view women in their vicinity as prey. The two young women become enmeshed in a rebellion of sorts, a fierce stand against misogyny and the patriarchal systems that protect the predators - always.

I really enjoyed this, perhaps because the author has the ability to write with a flair of lyrical prose then flip to social interactions and scenes that have a more abrupt and intense style. It makes the reader wonder whether Serena is on the precipice of something, a cliff or a realisation, then again it could simply be a discovery and regaining of self. Loved it! It's a brilliant read.

Buy The Drownings at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Headline Review - pub date 10th April 2025 | £10.99 | Paperback. Buy via Bookshop.org

#Blogtour The Blackbirds of St Giles by Lila Cain

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Blackbirds of St Giles by Lila Cain.

About the Author/s

LILA CAIN is the pseudonym for two authors writing together. 

Kate Griffin won the Faber/ Stylist Magazine competition with Kitty Peck and the Music Hall Murders and went onto to write three more novels in the series before writing her first standalone novel, Fyneshade. Follow @KateAGriffin on X

Born to Windrush-era Jamaican parents, Marcia Hutchinson worked as a lawyer before founding educational publishing company Primary Colours and was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010. Her solo debut novel Mercy is due for publication in summer 2025. Follow @marciathewriter on X

About the book

Some things are earned. Some things are worth fighting for…  

It’s 1782, Daniel and his sister Pearl arrive in London with the world at their feet and their future assured. Having escaped a Jamaican sugar plantation, Daniel fought for the British in the American War of Independence and was rewarded with freedom and an inheritance.   

But the city is not a place for men like Daniel and he is callously tricked and finds himself, along with his sister Pearl, in the rookeries of St Giles – a warren of dark and menacing alleyways, filled with violence and poverty.   

The underworld labyrinth is run by Elias, a man whose cruelty knows no bounds. But under his dangerous rule is a brotherhood of Black men, the Blackbirds of St Giles, whose intention is to set their people free.   

Can Daniel use his strength, wit and the fellowship of the other Blackbirds to overthrow Elias and truly find the freedom he fought for…? 

Review

Daniel's story begins with loss and simultaneously the severing of vicious ties to embark on a path to freedom. The version of the freedom he encounters is just another type of oppression and slavery. Tyranny comes in all shapes, sizes and colours, because surviving often means becoming what you despise the most.

It's a story that is sure to anger and infuriate, especially because of the injustice, the threats, the constant state of danger and battle to stay alive. The kindness and friendship that sets Daniel on his path to St Giles is rarely experienced gain after the death of his friend and comrade. The truth is the world is full of racists, thieves and cutthroats.

I couldn't connect to the core atmosphere of naiveté, the lack of self preservation and inability to have a realistic take on the majority of situations. The past experiences of both of them, but especially Daniel, should have instilled a greater sense of survival and definitely a lack of trust. It makes for great drama, but surely prior experience, trauma and life lived under extremely dire circumstances would give the majority of people a better instinct for survival. 

Given the ending I think it's possible we might be hearing more about Daniel and Pearl in the future - The concept would make great tv by the way. Here's to vindication, retribution and a little more justice for Daniel, Pearl and the Blackbirds in general.

Buy The Blackbirds of St Giles at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  Simon & Schuster UK, pub date 30 Jan. 2025. Buy at Amazon com.