Reviewer: John Rating: 5 out of 5 Fairies At first, I was put off by the strange names, improbable names in my experience, but there again, I don’t live in New York. I then started to think of them, as much as anything, as aliases, names changed to protect the innocent, because this is a totally believable story. Marq is not a central character, but we all know someone like him; he does the same job you, but always has a better car, better clothes, lives in a better neighbourhood... He might be the guy at college who can get the pills to help you stay awake to study, and the pills & powder to help you celebrate/commiserate afterwards, or the guy who can connect you to the right politician/businessman; it doesn’t matter which strata of society you move in, he’s there. Jude is drawn in by this seemingly easy, if a little dubious lifestyle. Purely by chance he meets the beautiful & enigmatic Indigo and against a backdrop of secrets they hold from each other they grow c...

Reviewer: John Rating: 5 out of 5 Fairies I hadn’t read any reviews or a synopsis before I read the book, so my first thoughts were that it was going to be a ‘buddy’ type book, you know, old friends together... Then as I got a few pages into it, I thought it was a ‘coming of second age’, your 30s, where you start to re-evaluate your life, cope with the loss of loved ones; divorce etc Guess number three was it was about the secret lives of parents; did the father of one have a secret affair with the mother of another of the best friends? I was totally wrong, which made the unfolding plot all the better as I was in the same boat as the group of friends, events happening around them that they don’t understand, close calls from apparent accidents that grow more & more deadly as they realise that these are no accidents... The bond that holds these friends together is tested to extremes as they begin to unravel the meaning behind the events; familiar places take on a sin...

Reviewer: John Rating 5 out of 5 Fairies At first, I was somewhat worried by the cast list at the front of the book, there seemed to be so many characters to remember; my worries were unfounded though, I never had to refer to the list, as most of the characters they passed into & out of the narrative as it unfolded. The book is undoubtedly historically accurate and paints a picture of WW1 that most of us will be unfamiliar with, that of the effect of the war at home. The story is based around the life of Victoria, an upper middle class lady as she passes from the privileged life of her upbringing in the early pages of the book, through marriage to the love of her life & the subsequent reality of a life experience she could never have imagined. I think most of us have some idea of the muddy hell the soldiers lived through, there is enough newsreel evidence of that; but at home life was difficult in its own way; the lack of information about the fate of loved ones; ...

Reviewer: John Rating: 5 out of 5 Fairies If you haven’t already read Cicada then you should; it’s the price of a coffee, will last longer & give you more pleasure! Firefly carries on the narrative from Cicada, and having read Cicada you’ll have some idea of what is happening, but there are twists & turns along the way. I really enjoyed this book & will continue reading the series and also hunt out more books by Belle Whittington. Blair is going through a transformation, but on more than one level; as well as coming to terms with the alien nation, & the growth of her new abilities; there’s also the sense of her own alienation, separated from her friends & brother & the changes in her body as she changes from girl to woman. Dark forces operate both in the present and the past & there is a point where past & present exist together. Blair’s discovery of her family’s history raises more questions than answers... As in my review of Cicada, I do...

Reviewer: John Rating: 5 out of 5 Fairies On the surface of it, I am the wrong demographic for this book; an Englishman approaching retirement age. I don’t know much about small town America or graduation, or how the world looks to a modern teenage girl. I don’t want to spoil the plot by revealing too much, but the essence is that aliens are amongst us & have been for some time. Blair, the narrator & her friends become involved in the rescue & saving of one of the aliens, only to find there is more than one kind and they’re not all friendly. Blair is troubled by the loss of her father & brother & struggling with coming to terms with the imminent loss of her remaining brother & slightly older friends to college, as well as with the fight to save the alien. There are discoveries made about her family history as well as about herself & her friends. That’s all I’m going to tell you regarding the plot. I said in the introduction, I didn’t think th...