Scookie Reviews

I've had quite the month, guys, one that's been unexpectedly fantastic. Let me break it down: Nest Pitch 2015 Nest Pitch is a query contest, and I'm ecstatic to announce THE CLEARING made the cut! I'm on #TeamSugarRush, working with the lovely Louise Gornall to polish up my opening for the agent round on the 11th of May. Fingers crossed! Oxford University Press After several interviews, I've been offered an internship at Oxford University Press in the digital content ops department. I can't wait to get started, although I'll actually need to wait until June 29th before embarking on that stage of my career.  Hidden Gem Awards I've read all of my top picks - all were fantastic. I'm working on mini reviews and the rankings. If all goes to plan, I will be posting up the result next week.  Cheers!

FAIRY KEEPER by Amy Bearce 4 stars Verdict: Young girls will love this one! Shorten blurb: Forget cute fairies in pretty dresses. In the world of Aluvia, most fairies are more like irritable, moody insects. Almost everyone in the world of Aluvia views the fairy keeper mark as a gift, but not fourteen-year-old Sierra. She hates being a fairy keeper. Fairy nectar can heal people, but it is also a key ingredient in synthesizing Flight, an illegal elixir that produces dreaminess, apathy and hallucinations. She’s forced to care for a whole hive of the bee-like beasties by her Flight-dealing, dark alchemist father. Then one day, Sierra discovers the fairies of her hatch are mysteriously dead. The fairy queen is missing. Her father’s Flight operation is halted, and he plans to make up for the lost income by trading her little sister to be an elixir runner for another dark alchemist, a dangerous thug. Desperate to protect her sister, Sierra convinces her father she can retrieve the...

SLEEPING TOM by E.V. Fairfall 3 Stars Verdict: Brilliant first third. I can definitely recommend the first third... Hitchhiking is a bad idea but Caden is desperate.  When she accepts a ride from the first car to come by she meets Gabriel. He's her age, hot, and the closest thing she has to a savior. Problem is, he is a total jerk. With nowhere to go, Caden convinces Gabriel to let her stay with him for one night. He reluctantly lends a couch. That night Caden wakes up to strange noises. Concerned, she rushes into Gabriel’s room, already anticipating his bad temper. Instead, he’s kind, sweet, and suspiciously harmless—nothing like the man who gave her a ride. He seems like a different person altogether, and claims he is. By night he is Tom, and by day he is Gabriel. Caden finds herself drawn to the mysteries hidden in his eyes. For Gabriel, Caden is an annoying mistake. One night turns into many, and despite all his anger towards her, she stays. She even seems to acce...