HORROR BOOK REVIEWS||

*Both books mentioned were received in exchange for honest reviews. This is no way effected my opinion on these books*

Hi Guys,

Last year one of my personal goals was to step out of my comfort zone a tiny bit more. This included my reading. I used to only read books like "Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snoggimg" which are cutesy tween reads. I started to read more fantasy which I have now become obsessed with and different genres like steampunk and historical fiction. One genre I hadn't dived into completely was horror because I get scared so easily but I enjoy being scared. Today I will be reviewing two horror books which I enjoyed that I would recommend if you feel like being scared a bit!

THE DARK ROOM BY TOM BECKER

When Darla and her feckless dad, Hopper, move to Saffron Hills, Darla hopes it'll be a new start for the both of them. But she stands no chance of fitting in with the image-obsessed in-crowd at her new school. Then one of her classmates is brutally killed when taking a photo of herself. A murder Darla herself predicted in a bloody vision. When more teens die in a similar fashion it appears that a serial killer is on the loose - the 'Selfie Slayer'. Darla alone is convinced that the murderer might not be flesh and blood

MY THOUGHTS

I personally loved this book! It gave me the right kind of chills and really had me on the edge off seat. I liked how  modern elements were added to make the story more relatable for a younger audience and it gave of an eery feel to the book. This was a gripping, action packed and fun read which I would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for a horror book to send a shiver down their spine! I overall gave this book a 4.5/5 stars.

THE HAUNTING BY ALEX BELL

Some curses grow stronger with time…
People say that all Cornish inns are haunted, but the Waterwitch’s history is particularly chilling. Built from the salvaged timber of a cursed ship, the guest house’s dark secrets go further back than anyone can remember.
Emma is permanently confined to a wheelchair after an accident at the Waterwitch which took place when she was ten. Seven years later, she decides to return to the place where the awful event occurred. But the ancient inn still has its ghosts, and one particular spirit is more vengeful than ever…
A chilling new title in the Red Eye horror series from the author of Frozen Charlotte.

MY THOUGHTS

Although this book was a fun read, I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I had high hopes for the book but it took me so long to get through it as it didn't pull me in as much as The Dark Room. Nonetheless, it was a fun read and I did like the diversity in this book by having one of the main protagonists in a wheel chair who is strong minded and thoughtful. It still held the creep factor and I would recommend this book if you're into historical horror! I gave this book a 3/5 stars.

Keep Reading,

Naomi...xxx

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A Piece of Creative Writing

Hi guys,

Recently I have started to enjoy creative writing so I just wanted the share something I wrote in one English Lesson (btw this wasn't planned as I forgot to do the planning homework, lol!). I edited it a tiny bit so here it is:

A blanket of murkiness does not only cover her once blue skies but the water which drowns her vast body parts. She chokes on the outcome of human activity, gropes for the layer which once protected her and burns slowly underneath the stat which once kept her going. She was earth and she was slowly dying.

Vultures circle the sky and though they were waiting for her downfall and destruction, preaching on withered trees and picking at carcasses which lay across the few dry lands. Rubbish, plastic bottles, tin cans, cables, batteries, fish, sharks, birds, life. All shattered across the shores, burying themselves into the sandbags though they can be dug up again like Viking coins wanting to be part of history but, who would be there to find them? Who would want to stay on a sphere of water, wastage and war?

 A place which survived for millions of years only to destroy itself. A place where people never got along and showed guns, skilled guts and severed heads instead of showing unity, peace and love. It wasn't she who caused the destruction. She gave them a blank canvas and some paints only to be served ripped material, crimson staining the innocent and a chipped wooden frame. They gave her splinters and she didn't have time to pull them out because the damage was already done expecting her to smooth it all over and suddenly be as she was before. That's the thing. She isn't the universe. She can't decide whether or not she wants to expand or collapse into herself, she can't keep herself and everybody around her going on and on until time decides to stop. Maybe she could've prayed to some deity, but don't be silly, she's just a piece of rock right?

To her the endlest seas felt like the sorrow she continuously drowns in. The polluted skies show her blurred lines of understatement and that she should've wept long before, now there wasn't enough time to save her. She should've choked them from the air supply like they strangled her with their industrialisation. She should've somehow fed the hungry mouths and given them her lands and then starve those with money motivated stomachs-yet it would make her worse than they ever were. She should've shielded the endangered, fought the tyranny and the hate. Then she remembered, she wasn't human. She wasn't meant to feel emotional, feel pain, have faith or wish for the better. She wasn't allowed to have pity or fear or hatred or even love. She lost all those privileges when she let life roam her. She was once a gem of the galaxy, different to any other. Now she was a dull stone and she let it happen.

Thank you for reading this!! This is my first try at creatively writing properly so it probably is utter crap!!

Keep Reading,
Naomi...xxx

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Racial Diversity in YA (and the lack of it)||

Hello Guys,
If you don't already know, one of my main goals for 2016 was to write even more discussion posts as I do enjoy them. Today I am going to be talking about racial diversity in YA and how we are extremely lacking in the racial diversity section of things. It's kind of sad in a way that in my 14 years of living and 10 years of reading, I haven't been seeing enough characters from backgrounds of an ethnic minority and that really does annoy me. Even if a character from an ethnic minority is in a book, they are always taking the backseat and dying in vain of white characters. The only reason I'm writing this is that I'm sick of seeing the same character's regurgitated throughout books and I'm sick and tired of not seeing strong lead characters from different ethnic backgrounds. It gets extremely boring and to be honest it is pushing me away from the YA genre.

My problem is that young people grow up idolising characters which just don't represent them and they will long for the long straight hair or the green eyes or the fact that these white characters in books are getting all the attention. Also, I am not here to bash white people as I'm not racist but I'm just saying things how they are. Let's face it, YA is literally being white washed and I hate that. I thought that now we are in the 10's and we are reaching such great  milestones that racial diversity in literature shouldn't be a problem. I'm  not here to ask for all white characters to be exiled but I'm asking for more of a balance. Sometimes I do want to read a book about characters who are Indian or African or Middle Eastern or Eastern European or Latina or Aborigines or Native American or Vietnamese or South American or Caribbean. The list of culture is endless yet books decide to stay on one side of the spectrum. I want to read a book about a badass black girl because that would be awesome!


I don't blame authors though. They have to write books which they think publishers will be pick out to keep a roof over their heads and to pursue their dream of writing for a living
 I think that publishing houses need to pick out more titles with characters from ethnic minorities and cultural difference. I think that we as a community can come together and fight for YA books to represent the world and its beauty. I feel as though blatant racism is being covered up too but that is for a later topic. I  know that we have started to discuss these kind of things and I love that but not enough people are joining in on the conversation and we do welcome you with open arms.

If you visit and school in London, you will see people from every where. Everybody has a different culture and we talk about our differences and I think that this should be discussed. I'm lucky enough to grow up in a city where I've met people from all over the world with different parts in them, learnt a bit of their language and just be friends with people who are the so different to me. I think that this should be represented more and I'd love to see the day this happens.

Feel free to debate with me and be a bit of a devils advocate. Also please remember I am 14 years old, I wasn't alive for the milleniium, I can't name many tv shows pre 1999, I was using WiFi to play CBeebies games before I could read and I do love to jam to a bit of One Direction once in a while. I'm basically trying to say that I don't know a lot and I have a whole load of years to learn more!

Keep Reading,

Naomi...xxx

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