I, Witness (Madison Attallee #1)

 I, Witness (Madison Attallee #1) by Niki Mackay

Paperback, 352 pages

Published 19th April 2018 by Orion

Shelves:  adult-fiction, arc-or-review, books-i-own, crime-thriller-mystery, read, read-in-2021, realistic-fiction

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

They say I'm a murderer.

Six years ago, Kate Reynolds was found holding the body of her best friend; covered in blood, and clutching the knife that killed her.
I plead guilty. 
Kate has been in prison ever since, but now her sentence is up. She is being released.
But the truth is, I didn't do it. 
There's only one person who can help: Private Investigator Madison Attalee, the first officer on the scene all those years ago.
But there's someone out there who doesn't want Kate digging up the past. Someone who is willing to keep the truth buried at any cost.

I, Witness is the first book in the Madison Attallee series by Niki Mackay. This is the first book that I've read by Mackay but I can definitely say that it will not be the last. I was both impressed and completely captivated by this compelling psychological thriller.

This story focuses on Kate Reynolds, a young woman who is convicted for a crime - the murder of her best friend, Naomi - that she no longer believes she committed. On release from prison, Kate turns to Private Investigator Madison Attallee who also worked on the original crime investigation. The story follows the discovery of the whole story of what happened on that night and what led up to the crime. 

The story is told with alternating narration, each chapter following either Kate or Madison's mindset. This form of writing was fantastic as it gave us short bursts of each character and it was so easy to tell myself 'just one more chapter'! Though both of the main characters held my interes, Madison was the absolute star of the book and I loved reading about her. She was such a raw and real character, clearly dealing with her own complex issues whilst also helping Kate with her trauma. It was so refreshing to read about such a perfectly imperfect character and I am so glad that this series will continue, giving us the opportunity to read and learn even more about her sweary, chain-smoking, rock-music loving self. The realism of all of the characters in this story was fantastic. 

Whilst this story deals with some clearly difficult and traumatic issues such as death, alcoholism and domestic abuse, it was a relatively quick read for me as I was just so desperate to keep on reading. The pacing of the book is fantastic and it really is the definition of a 'page-turner'. There are several twists and turns in the book and though the ending may become somewhat guessable nearing the latter-half, it still holds your attention until the action-packed end. 

As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book and it's definitely something I would recommend to anybody who enjoys the crime or psychological thriller genre. I, Witness was simply but well written, not overly complex but always intriguing, entirely entertaining and I can't wait to read more from Mackay!

Blog Tour Stop - North of Nowhere Guest Post

North of Nowhere Blog Stop!

Last year I was introduced to Liz Kessler's writing when I read and enjoyed her standalone book, A Year Without Autumn. I received some lovely news when I found out that Liz will be releasing a second standalone book, North of Nowhere. Liz has very kindly provided a guest post for me to share with you, something which will surely pique your interest of her latest book. Here is what Liz would like to share with you:

I’m really excited to have been invited onto this blog to tell you about my new book, North of Nowhere.

One reason I’m excited is because, even though this is my tenth novel to be published, it’s only my second ever standalone book – which means that when I tell people about it, I can actually say ‘I just wrote this book – buy it,’ as opposed to ‘I just wrote this book, but don’t buy it, buy the one I wrote five years ago so that if you like it, and all the others in between, then when you get round to reading the one I just wrote, it’ll make more sense.’

As you can see, the first of these statements is much quicker to say, and the chances are slightly higher that the person I’m talking to will still be listening to me by the time I’ve finished, and won’t have glazed over, wandered away or wished they hadn’t got stuck in the corner with me. But it’s also exciting for me because I think that your latest book is always the one you’re most passionate about at that time, and I love the fact that everything I want to say about it doesn’t depend on people already being familiar with anything that came before it. It’s out there all by itself, waiting to stand or fall on its own merits and flaws. And I’ve always admired anyone who does that.

So, because you don’t have to know anything about anyone in order to read this book, I’m thrilled to get the chance to write a guest piece on this lovely blog and tell you a bit about it.

So, now I’ve got the chance what do I want to tell you about it?

Well, the first thing is that, like A Year Without Autumn, which came out in 2011, this book features a timeslip situation. I’m a massive fan of time travel stories, and luckily I’ve managed to persuade my publisher to let me write three of them. Yay! Lucky me! The first one was about a girl who saw something pretty awful in her future and knew she had to go into her past and change one particular moment so that the future might turn out differently. 

North of Nowhere looks at time travel in a different way. Rather than switching time zones to change anything, this one is about characters whose present day actions affect their past as much as their future. It’s about looking at time as more of a circular entity, rather than a linear one. It’s about getting to know someone who you thought you already knew, by meeting them at a different point in their lives from their present day self. It’s about disappearance – of people, of towns, of whole lives. And it’s about coming together afresh with the knowledge you’ve gained along your journey.

I guess at the heart of it all, it’s about the kind of thing I always find myself writing about without realising it. I think I’m writing books about mermaids and fairies and time travel, but over and over again I discover that I’ve written about the things that really truly matter to me. I never, ever intend to do anything other than tell the story and be true to my characters, and I never consciously have ‘themes’ in the books. But time and again, once I’ve written the books, I discover that they are there (usually when someone points it out to me) and they’re always the same type of thing.

Family, friendship, love, loyalty. The things that are actually at the heart of my life and matter to me the most. They always manage to sneak in there when I’m not looking!

Also, like many of my books, this one is about discovering things about yourself and others that you never knew – or perhaps things you always knew deep inside but never really acknowledged until certain events make you face up to them. 

But anyway. Never mind the themes. First and foremost, it’s about the story. It’s about a girl, Mia, whose grandad has gone missing, and who has to go with her mum to a village in ‘the back end of nowhere’ to try to find him. It’s about Mia finding an escape through a new friendship, until she discovers that there’s no way her new friend can actually exist. It’s about a whole chain of events that gets more mysterious and more impossible at every turn. It’s about coming to terms with the fact that all the solutions and answers to the questions can’t possibly be real – even though they are. It’s about paradoxes and mysteries and good old-fashioned adventures.

At least, that’s what I think it’s about. But I’m only the author. I’m sure that now it’s published, it won’t take long for someone to point out what it’s really about. Until then, I’ll leave it up to you to decide for yourself…

Thank you so much to Liz for taking the time to write this piece, and also to Orion.

NORTH OF NOWHERE by Liz Kessler is published by Orion Children’s Books on 24 January in hardback at £9.99

Orion are also currently running a North of Nowhere creative writing competition to celebrate young talent. The competition is open to all writers aged 8-13 who need to finish the story (the opening paragraph of NORTH OF NOWHERE) in 500 words or less. 

Entries are open from 17 January 2013 – 28 March 2013. The winner will have their story published on the Guardian Children’s Books website, will win a digital camera as well as £100 worth of Orion Children’s Books for their school library.

Click here for more info: http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site

Hold On

Hold On by Alan Gibbons

Paperback,176 pages

Published 23rd December 2010 by Orion Children's Books

My shelves: abuse, arc-or-review, awful-cover, better-than-expected, books-i-own, death, mental-health, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, suicide, to-be-reviewed, young-adult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

When Annie returns from an extended stay in Canada, she discovers that her friend John has killed himself. Annie is devastated by his death and is determined to confront those she believes responsible—a group of boys from her school, who bullied John mercilessly in the months before he died. But Annie's parents and friends don't share her wish to bring the boys to justice. She finds herself treading a lonely path—and soon discovers that nothing is straightforward. She is helplessly attracted to one of the boys, and when she reads John's diary, it's clear they weren't the only ones to cause him so much unhappiness. The novel tells John's story as a tragic waste of a young life in an unsentimental and compassionate way, but also tells Annie's story about moving on and looking towards the future.

My thanks go to Orion for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I will be honest and say that, at first look, I wasn't expecting all that much from this book. At first look, Hold On is a very thin book and it has the accolade of being a 'Blue Peter Book Award Winner' on the front cover - I thought that this would mean it would be perhaps a little juvenile for me. However, as soon as I read the blurb, I knew that this was a book that I'd have to give a go!

My favourite books are those that feature real emotion and problems and this book certainly fits that description. Hold On tells the story of John, a boy who has committed suicide. We are told the story through John's friend, Annie, who finds John's diary, describing the last weeks of his life. Through this way of narrative, we got to learn a lot about both characters. I enjoyed the way this was written - it  was a little different, it was simple and it worked extremely well. I was a little worried that it might have become a little confusing but it didn't at all, it was very easy to follow despite the complexity of the story.

I enjoyed reading about Annie and John equally. I thought that both characters were interesting and very well developed, despite the shortness of the book. Though the story is a mere 176 pages, the whole story managed to have such fantastic depth, something that I didn't expect but was really impressed with. It was also interesting to see the impact of bullying on two different people - the victim (John) and the friend of the victim (Annie). Gibbons did a wonderful job of portraying a difficult situation very realistically. Though Annie may have acted a little controversially to the bullies after John's death, I thought it was realistic and effective. It was also interesting to see how other people (teachers, friends and family members) were coming to terms with John's death too.

This is a book that certainly surprised me as it was much, much better than I thought a short book could be. This novel is dealt with a serious situation well and I'd imagine could be a very influential book. This one is definitely not a light hearted read, but it is an important one which is emotional and packs a punch. I would certainly not hesitate to pick up another book by Gibbons who has  truly impressed me. Highly recommended! 

Ketchup Clouds

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

Paperback, 251 pages

Expected Publication: 3rd January 2013 by Indigo

My shelves: arc-or-review, contemporary, crime-thriller-mystery, death, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, to-be-reviewed, young-adult, books-i-own

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Secrets, romance, murder and lies: Zoe shares a terrible secret in a letter to a stranger on death row in this second novel from the author of the bestselling debut, MY SISTER LIVES ON THE MANTELPIECE.

Fifteen-year-old Zoe has a secret - a dark and terrible secret that she can't confess to anyone she knows. But then one day she hears of a criminal, Stuart Harris, locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. Or lies. Or murder.
Full of heartache yet humour, Zoe tells her story in the only way she can - in letters to the man in prison in America. Armed with a pen, Zoe takes a deep breath, eats a jam sandwich, and begins her tale of love and betrayal.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

Since hearing about Ketchup Clouds, I was eager to get my hands on a copy of it! I absolutely loved the sound of the blurb and Annabel Pitcher is one of those authors that I think will always appeal to me - she has the most interesting ideas and a very unique voice.

The whole idea behind this story was something that immediately intrigued me. Our main character, Zoe, has made a big mistake, committed a crime, and has  decided that she can no longer keep it to herself, so she decides to let it all out in a series of letters to Stuart Harris, a murderer on death row. I could not wait to start reading Zoe's letters!

I will admit that it did take me a while to get used to Zoe. The letters are clearly written in a younger voice than my own, which was difficult at first. However, as the book progressed and I got to know our protagonist, I could see her personality shine through on the paper and she even managed to made me laugh quite a few times! Pitcher certainly has a talent for getting into the mind of her characters - not only Zoe, but the rest of the characters also felt very realistic. I find it amazing how well the author has written the voice of a young teenager.

Several friendships and other relationships are explored in this book. Zoe's relationships with two brothers, Max and Aaron, play a vital part in this book, but I personally found Zoe's relationship with her family to be the most interesting and touching part of this book - particularly her interaction with her sisters. I also enjoyed it when Zoe clearly directed her thoughts and feelings towards the reader of her letters - with a somewhat childish naiveté but also with great sincerity.

Although there is a very heavy subject behind this story, Pitcher balanced things perfectly. The story never got too dark and if it held the risk of becoming maudlin, Zoe perked it back up again with her casual humour. The writing is simple yet impressive and easy to read. Zoe's letters held my attention throughout and the story was easy to become enthralled in. This was a page-turner and a quick read as I kept on reading 'just one more page' to discover more about what really happened. 

Whilst I enjoyed Ketchup Clouds for the most part, I didn't absolutely love it - unfortunately I didn't feel the impact that I think that this book was supposed to make strongly enough - for me, it needed some more depth. I did enjoy this book more than her debut and I would recommend it to others as it is interesting and unique. As aforementioned, I think that Pitcher's story lines will always attract, and I have no doubt that I will pick up the next book that she writes!

The Gathering Dark (The Grisha Trilogy #1)

The Gathering Dark (The Grisha Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo
US Title: Shadow & Bone


Paperback, 442 pages

Expected Publication: 7th June 2012 by Indigo

My shelves: arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, fantasy, favourites, read-in-2012, really-good, series-or-companions, supernatural, to-be-reviewed, young-adult

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.

Click here to purchase the book with

free worldwide shipping!

My thanks go to Indigo  for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Terms such as 'The Shadow Fold', 'Ravka' and the 'Grisha' intimidate me. I don't really know why, but they made me think that this book was going to be some sort of epic fantasy or something really complicated. However, I've been surprising myself this year by picking up things I wouldn't normally read. I knew I had to read this book after reading so many positive things about it - and oh my, I am so glad that I did! 

I opened the book and saw a list of the Grisha - Corporalki, Etherealki and Materialki - without much explanation as to who they were. You guessed it - I was confused already. I'm one of those people who has to have a reason for everything and has to know why things are how they are. Anyway, making notes of these terms, I started reading and I was no longer confused. This book is not confusing in the least when you get into it. If you're a little bit scared about being thrown into a book that has some foreign words in it, don't be. There are some non-english words in this book, but it is so easy to know what's being talked about - it just adds to the authenticity of the story. Bardugo's writing is fantastic. Within a couple of chapters, she managed to have me completely absorbed into this other world - in Ravka and its inhabitants.

I loved meeting Alina, our main character, and the boy she grew up with, Mal. I thought their relationship together was really well shown - it's clear that they have a very strong bond together and have gone through bad times and good. They worked very well together as a team and I can't wait to see what happens with them next. There were quite a few interesting characters that were already well formed by the end of this first book and I am looking forward to seeing what happens to them, too! I absolutely loved Genya, a girl that Alina befriends at Os Alta, where the leaders of Ravka reside. I thought that the pair had a friendship that felt genuine - Genya was just the type of girl I'd have liked to have met if I'd been in Alina's shoes. I thought that the minor characters, or the characters we didn't see/hear much of were just as important as the main characters in this book, feeling strong and each having their own purpose. 

The action in this book is mainly centred around The Shadow Fold, a very dangerous place for all of the people in Ravka, especially those who try to cross it. The Darkling, one of the most important people in Ravka, has his own ideas about The Shadow Fold and it's interesting to see what he's really like when we find out more about him during the book. There was just the right amount of action in this book for me - there wasn't constant physical battles, but there was always something happening, most constantly the internal battles of Alina. I thought that learning about the Grisha and their supernatural talents was super interesting and one of the highlights of the book for me.

This book may sound dark, and I guess it is, but there is also a lot of humour - I was really surprised with how much humour was in this book, actually. The snarky remarks of some of the characters really made me laugh and made me take a shine with them. This was a really well-developed, captivating story with good world-building. I am hoping that this is a series that will have consistent quality as I can easily see it becoming one of my favourites. Fans of Young Adult literature will eat this up. I can't wait to read the next book!    

A Year Without Autumn

A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler

Paperback, 244 pages

Published September 1st 2011 by Orion

My shelves: arc-or-review, books-i-own, fantasy, read-in-2012, sci-fi, young-adult, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, title-appeal, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

The author of the best-selling Emily Windsnap series spins a gripping tale about a girl who stumbles into the future--and must change its course to save a friendship.

Jenni Green’s family vacation has finally arrived! Even though she has to deal with her annoying little brother, her slightly overbearing dad, and her very pregnant mom, she gets to spend a week with her bestest friend in the world, Autumn. But twelve-year-old Jenni’s world turns upside down when she takes an old elevator to visit Autumn and discovers that everything has changed: not only is her friend in a different condo, but tragedy has struck Autumn’s family, Jenni’s mother has had her baby, and everyone is a year older. When Jenni realizes that the elevator caused her to skip a whole year, she tries to go back, but soon finds that fixing things won’t be as easy as pressing a button. How can she alter the past and keep her family and Autumn’s from falling apart? With honesty and insight, Liz Kessler explores how the bonds of family and friendship can endure through time.

My thanks go to Orion for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the premise of this book, but I was also quite weary about it when I first heard about it. I thought the idea behind it was interesting, but I'm always a little apprehensive of time-travel novels (I can find them very confusing) and I think that this book is aimed more towards middle grade children rather than young adults. However, I found it surprisingly enjoyable!


I admit that, at the start, I didn't think that I was going to enjoy this book as much as I did. Our protagonist, Jenni, is 12 years old and so talks quite immaturely, but this should be expected. She is quite excitable and the overuse of exclamation marks did start to bug me a little. However, as things start to change in Jenni's life, when she finds a lift which can transport her through time, her attitude, outlook and emotions quickly begin to mature, which I was thankful for. I'm glad that she didn't completely mature though - it was definitely as though it was a young teenager communicating with us.


I'd say that this is probably aimed more towards 9-12 year olds, but as the book progressed, I think some of the issues discussed and the story in general could appeal to young adults. I actually liked the simple style that it was written in. The time travel idea wasn't made to be complex, and as it was straight forward, it was really easy to follow. It is, despite some serious subjects, a light and easy read that a lot of people may enjoy. 


Jenni tries to visit her friend Autumn one day, and finds that she has travelled a year into the future, where we learn that something disastrous has happened which has destroyed Autumn's life and that also threatens their friendship. I found the way that Jenni handled herself and the situation to be both believable and interesting. I didn't really find the sub plot, where Jenni meets a woman who has also travelled into the future, to be particularly interesting but it was a good attempt of adding something extra to the story and I can see why people would enjoy it. 


The story flowed well and it was certainly a page turner at points. I found myself to get quite absorbed into Jenni and Autumn's story, wishing I could help. As I was so enthralled, it didn't take me very long at all to finish this one. The story unravelled at a good pace and it wasn't very predictable, especially towards the end, which I really enjoyed. Everything was summed up by the end, and so there was a satisfying ending. If you find reading about changing and developing friendships, you'd probably enjoy this. Don't be put off by the sci-fi idea, even if you're not usually a fan - this is a simple, quick and enjoyable read.