I received this book from Titan in exchange for an honest review.

Meddling Kids follows the Blyton Summer Detective Club when they're all grown-up, and still haunted by the last mystery they solved when they were 12 - and whom the culprit may not have been the man in the mask they thought it was. Now Andy, Kerri, Tim the Dog, Nate and a ghostly Pete have returned to the spooky lake to finally see if things were as supernatural as they believed.

I really liked the premise of this book. I was and still am a massive fan of Scooby Doo so the thoughts of a story telling what happened after a gang similar to Mystery Inc grew up really appealed to me.

I feel like this book started off strong, and I enjoyed the introductions to all the characters and starting to learn their different personality traits and how the past case in Blyton Hills affected them all differently. However, as the story really got going, it actually began to fall short for me and I could no longer ignore some of the things I was having difficulty with. There were a lot of really odd comments made about Andy - who is described as being a tomboy growing up, and now just a badass ex-Marine - and how maybe she was transgender. However, these comments were always made by people other than Andy, and sometimes in derogatory ways that were written to seem kosher and honestly the whole thing came across as really transphobic. I also didn't like how forced Andy and Kerri's relationship seemed at times, and it honestly all felt a bit sleazy near the end. I get what the author was trying to do but it didn't work.

This book was also just way too long, and I got really bored at times when I was suppose to be on the edge of my seat. My favourite part of the story was Tim the dog, and I also liked that the guy who bullied them when they were younger apologized for his actions and acknowledged what he had done wasn't right (even if his apology wasn't that well-received).

4.5 Stars

I received this book from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.

This Cruel Design is the much anticipated sequel to bestselling YA dystopian This Mortal Coil which followed teenager Catarina as she tried to survive in a world where humans' bodies are ran by special, encoded tech but a virus with no cure is ravaging the world and causing people to form zombie-like habits before exploding, literally. Catarina's father is a world-renowned scientist who may be humanity's last hope but three years ago he was kidnapped by a corrupt organisation and Catarina has been on her own. Until a man calls Cole shows up claiming to be sent by her dad.

This Cruel Design follows on pretty much days after This Mortal Coil ends when Catarina, and the readers, found out something huge and the virus was continuing to evolve and get deadlier, despite desperate cure measures. I was honestly hooked into this book from the moment I started and though it took a while to get back in touch with the story and remember who everyone was, and what they were doing (I kept mixing up Dax and Cole for some reason), it didn't stop me from reading it furiously and wanting to find out what happened.

I really loved the direction this novel took - both with the world building, the new characters introduced and the slight steer away from the YA romance that was a bit too heavy in the first book. I loved that we ended up in Entropia, and saw a different style of living with more gene-hacking and tech use than where we had previously been with Catarina and Cole.I feel like the world building was better here, and though I would have liked a bit more of it, and time in Entropia, I'm confident we will see even more in the third novel.

Mato as a character was a fantastic addition for the get go, especially with the element of him being completely grey and I had no idea if I wanted to trust him or not. I also feel like I can add in Jun Bei as a new character here as well, as though we only got snippets of her in This Mortal Coil, I feel like we really began to understand her in This Cruel Design. There were definitely both human parts of her revealed to Cat, and the more dangerous side.

I wish I was a bit more tech-savvy to be able to break down how great the descriptions are of the type of tech, coding, and gene hacking used in this trilogy but unfortunately I'm not. All I can say is even for a tech dummy like me, I was able to understand what Cat and the others were doing with their tech and appreciate the gloriousness of it, and imagine a possible future where someday humans might actually have access to this kind of technology.

The end of this book, the last line (!!), was a riot and I honestly cannot wait for the next one and see what happens.

A really interesting novel around two millennials growing up in a small Irish village and their complicated, secret relationship moving from secondary school to college where suddenly everything flips and they need to rediscover each other and themselves all over again.

I was so sucked into this story from the get go.There was something extremely raw and real about Connell and Marianne from the moment I entered the world and I'm not sure if it's because I've known people like them, I've been both of them at different points in my life or we just grew up in the same type of Ireland and were in a very similar environment.

Normal People is a very fast, flowing book because of the lack of typical dialogue which I don't think would suit every type of book or writing style but worked perfectly with this one - mostly because of the typical Irishness of the conversations and the phrases used by all the characters.I heard the conversations, the tones, the nuances, ringing in my ears rather than reading them in my head.

While Connell and Marianne's relationship is both frustrating and engrossing all at the same time, I feel like the back and forth and run around thing they had with one another is actually quite of reminiscent of the type of sexual, intimate relationships a lot of people in their 20s have during college years.

Normal People also touches on heavier topics more than just fitting in and finding your place in a world that seems to expect you to be everything at the same time. It touches on emotional and physical abuse in the home, self harm in the type of relationships you can seek out when you're hurting and male mental health and getting help.

A lot of this book actually reminded me of the quote from The Perks of Being a Wallflower - ". We accept the love we think we deserve."

3.5 stars

Notes on a Nervous Planet is a beautiful collection of thoughts, passages and fragments from Matt Haig about the high energy, pressured world we live in today and how to remain calm while surrounded by so much craziness, and technology.

This was honestly a lovely book to sit down to and read over the course of a few days. I really enjoyed being able to pick it up and read 50 pages here and 50 pages there. I felt no rush to get it finished, mostly because it's the type of book that deserves all of your time and energy so you can get something out of it.

The book wasn't extremely linear because it is as Haig describes it at one point just a collection of his own thought fragments about the world and how we can make it better for ourselves through little acts of self care. I actually think that Matt Haig probably doesn't realise what a lovely, calming influence he is in that book, and what a friend he is during the reading of it. He is someone who has suffered from depression and anxiety for years and I feel like you can tell by his reassuring writing voice, he knows how to talk to people going through a tough time and just looking for some comfort.

There were loads of different parts of this book that I had to share on my Instagram story (which I know, is completely contradictory to the book's message of learning to switch off) but I do think this book is an accessible one for every kind of reader and everyone willing to hear Haig's message will get someone out of it. A perfect stocking filler for Christmas I think, for every member of the family from granny to little brother!

3.5 stars

I received this book from the author/publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bel is the distant grand-relative of the king and never expected for her role to be anymore more than just a little bit noble. However, when the entire royal family is wiped out in an attack, Bel's father is suddenly King, her brother the Crown Prince and Princess Bel is shipped off to another planet for an arranged marriage with someone she hasn't even met before.

This YA sci-fi story is so much more than an arranged marriage plot line but if 'arranged marriages to love' is one of your buzz phrases for a book, you'll love this one. I really liked Bel as a character - she's really tough and feisty but she's also a trained warrior and the way she thinks and reacts are often what you would expect of someone who grew up like her. She never really did anything out of character and I really enjoyed seeing her character progression from rather reluctant princess to a true queen and leader. She earned the loyalty of her people, and her husband to be's, and it was well deserved.

I definitely think the love triangle plot of this book could be removed altogether as it brought no extra element into it for me, except some eye-rolling at Bel's constant thoughts about how she'd love to kiss Shae. There was no chemistry between them, it was very tepid tap water, and I much preferred the chemistry and dynamic Bel had with Con.

The action in this book was great and I loved the descriptions and scenes, particularly when Bel was flying. The flying machines in this book were really cool, and I loved how important they were for Bel and her country people. Some things seemed to happen quite fast - like the time they were hiding in the forest, I wasn't sure of the timeline - there were definitely parts of the story I wanted slowed down a bit so I could fully immerse myself in the world that I truly loved being in.

The world is honestly really interesting, and I want more of it and for Bel to explore every inch and know all its history as it seems so rich. This book ended in a really nice place but I'm definitely excited for the next one already.

I received this book from Penguin Ireland in exchange for an honest review.

Married Quarters tells of life in a border town during the late 1900s Ireland, and is mostly told through the eyes of Danny - the Sergeant's son - when he is home from college. Each chapter focuses on a different guard stationed in the town, and his relationship with Danny, the Sergeant's family and other people in the village.

This book was written quiet well and parts of it did get my attention (I particularly loved Chisholm who used to just threaten to shoot everyone but was actually harmless) but unfortunately for the most part, this book just wasn't for me. There wasn't a real narrative or plot through the book that really linked the chapters together except that the guards were all in this one town. I liked that the style of the chapters had the point of view from Danny but we hardly ever actually heard his name, and I liked how he seemed to attach himself to each guard over different things and become involved in their life.

I DNF'd this book about 80% through, or a chapter and a half away from the end. It just got very boring for me and I lost all enthusiasm to finish it off. As I said. the writing was in no means bad - it just wasn't the story for me.