NetGalley November - The Missing Diamonds

I kept putting this book off. I know, I know. But, originally, my plan was to take part in this year’s Believathon, a readathon that focuses on middle grade books. But, my NetGalley TBR was getting out of hand so I decided to skip it and put this (and the sequel, which I also have) on the back burner. Then, my library’s audiobook app had this and I hit request so fast! Which is strange as BorrowBox has this on audiobook but not Audible. Go figure. 

Title And Author: Agent Zaiba Investigates: The Missing Diamonds by Annabelle Sami & Illustrated by Daniela Sosa

Publisher: Stripes Publishing

Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook & Audiobook

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/write-up and audiobooked borrowed from local library via BorrowBox

Length: 256 Pages or 4 Hours 21 Minutes

At her cousin, Sam’s, Mehndi party, Zaiba gets her first mystery: who is the mystery VIP staying at the same hotel. With the help of her best friend, Poppy, and her little brother, Ali, Zaiba puts her sleuthing skills to the test. But when the celebrity’s dog goes missing, along with its priceless diamond collar, it’s up to the trio to save the day. But are they up to the task?

Book Review - Wranglestone

• Title And Author: Wranglestone by Darren Charlton
• Publisher: Stripes/Little Tiger
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Physical
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review/reaction
• Length: 384 Pages 

I hate zombies. Out of all of the well-known supernatural creatures in pop culture at the moment, zombies freak me out the most. Hence why I’ve never read/watched The Walking Dead and it took the Other Half YEARS to make me watch Zombieland (it was in the cinema on our first date but, due to me hating zombies, we watched District Nine instead). There are exceptions to this rule - though it is VERY rare. I adore the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix and I have read books and series where they are hinted at, but normally, I stay away. 

So why, I hear you ask, did I was to read Wranglestone so badly? It’s a zombie book. Yes, but it features at its heart an LGBT romance. And this is the main reason I wanted to read this. I haven’t heard or read a zombie book that has a same-sex relationship as the main romance before.

Set in post-apocalyptic America where the Dead are Restless, one of the few safe havens is Lake Wranglestone. But Peter never feels like he’s fit in the safe community. He’s not like Cooper, a boy he’s always watched from afar, who’s strong and brave and fearless. Peter is more a homebody. And when he puts the community in danger after naively allowing a stranger to come ashore to one of Lake Wranglestone’s islands, he is forced to leave the islands and help Cooper herd the Restless Ones away from the shores before the lake freezes. 

But as the pair realises that’s something to their long-held feelings for each other, both discover a dark secret about Wranglestone. Meaning they have been lied to their whole lives…

Welcome to Wranglestone

WELCOME TO MY FIRST BLOG TOUR OF 2020!!! And I am thrilled to welcome Darren Charlton, debut author to Wranglestone, to the Pewter Wolf.

Now, for those of you curious over this, Wranglestone follows Peter, who live on the islands of Lake Wranglestone in one of the United States's National Parks. He's not like Cooper, a boy he's watchd from a far. A boy who is strong, brave and can keep himself and everyone of Wranglestone safe from the Restless Dead.

Oh yes, this is a gay romance with zombies thrown in. Did I not mention that?

As Peter and Cooper slowly being to fall in love, they unearth something. Something from Wranglestone's dark past, and with this discovery, both Peter and Cooper being to question everything.

I am currently reading this at the time of writing this post and I can not wait to talk to you guys about this! Soon, I promise! So when I was asked if I wanted to be involved in this tour by Charlie at Stripes, I jumped at the chance (and I don't really like zombies - they freak me out - so you guys know this means something for me!)

Now, before I hand over to Darren to chat about Peter and Cooper and their story, I want to thank Darren for finding time to write this post for the tour. I want to, also, thank Charlie for inviting me on this tour. And, if you want to say hi to Darren, his Twitter handle is @DarrenRCharlton and if you want to find out more about Wranglestone, check out Stripes website!

Book Review - PROUD

• Title And Author: PROUD - Compiled by Juno Dawson
• Publisher: Stripes 
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Physical 
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review/reaction
• Length: 352 Pages

This has been one of those books that as soon as I heard of it, I knew I was going to read it. It might not be straight away as my To Be Read pile is getting out of control. But I need I wanted to have my hands on a copy. 

And I thought I did when I was approved for an eProof copy via NetGalley. Alas, the file didn’t like my Kindle. So I held fire. Then this came through my front door with rainbow shoelaces (awesome!). But I held fire on reading it as I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to read this. I was in a murdery mood, reading wise. But after going to the Stripes Blogger Event, I sat down and started to slowly work my way through the collection. 

PROUD is an anthology of stories, poetry and illustrations from the top LGBTQIA+ authors, illustartors and fresh talent, each giving their own reaction to the theme of Pride. 

There isn’t much else I can say. So, thoughts on this are thus…

Stripes #Equali-tea

Yesterday was a bit of a manic day. First Saturday off in a while and was going to London for a blogger event. My first ever Stripes Blogger Event (this is their third or fourth, I believe) so I was excited and a little unsure of myself. Yes, I know, I’m in my thirties, I have been for over 8 years this October just gone and still I am worried about going to blogger events because a tiny voice in my head is still telling me “They’re going to find out your not meant to be here…” for the first few minutes. 

Anyway, after turning up and bumping into cool bloggers of Beth, Jen, Layla, Stacey, Michelle, Steph, Janay and a ton of others (who are far too cool for me to list (You know who you are. And you know my memory sucks), the event began. 

As this was Stripes #Equalitea, the five books they showed us has a cool connection with diversity. 

The first is one you might have seen on the Pewter Wolf as the author did a tiny guest post which is Whiteout by Gabriel Dylan. Gabriel explained how this story came into being (aka how he always wanted to write and then, one school ski trip in his early teacher days, he and his class got snowed in and he wondered “What if something is out there in the snow drift and it doesn’t want us to leave…?”). And that question is a the bases of Whiteout. Now, Whiteout is part of Stripes’s Red Eye range so it’s horror (Point Horror for the modern age - anyone remember Point Horror?) and, while I am not a fan of horror, I really want to read this. Whiteout follows Charlie and his classmates who go on a school skiing trip. This is perfect as Charlie is having an unhappy home life of late. But when a snow storm cuts off the resort from the rest of the world and strange things begin to unfollow at an alarmingly rate, Charlie and his classmates realise that something is out there in the storm, watching… waiting… 

And now, the main reason for the event: PROUD. This is getting a lot of buzz and noise so, hopefully, you guys are aware of this collection. If not, let me explain super quick. This collection is a mix of poems, shot stories and art that all tackle the theme of Pride within the LGBTQIA community. With authors and illustrators ranging from Simon James Green, David Levithan, Tanya Byrne, Moïr Fowley-Doyle, Alice Oseman, Priyanka Meenakshi, Fatti Burke and many more, this is going to be a hugely important book. The collection, also, has four stories from 4 previously unpublished authors - Kay Staples, Cynthia So, Karen Lawler and Michael Lee Richardson. Three of these were at the event (Michael couldn’t come due to him living in Scotland) and the three chatted about why they decided to write their stories, what Pride meant to them and read a teaser of their stories: a modern-day Pride and Prejudice retelling, teens on the run (and hiding in their local Travelodge) and a Chinese-inspired fairytale about phoenixes. You guys are going to love these!

Gabriel Dylan WHITEOUTs the Pewter Wolf

SURPRISE!!! It's my stop on the mysterious Whiteout blog tour and the Pewter Wolf is thrilled to welcome Gabriel Dylan to the blog. 

For those of you not in the know, Gabriel Dylan is the author of the new RedEye title, Whiteout. Charlie is hoping this school ski trip will distract him from his home life. But when at the ski resort he and his fellow classmates get stuck due to a freak snow storm and get cut off from the rest of the world, they get the feeling that there's something outside. Something old, and something evil... 

Only the ski instructor, Hanna, has any idea what might be out there. But should Charlie and his classmates trust her... 

To celebrate the release of this chill-fest, Gabriel has written a small list fo his top 5 teen ensembles in movies. And I think some of these choices might surprise you... Well, they surprised me, and I got to read this before this post went live! 

Now, before I hand you over to Gabriel, I just want to thank him for finding time to write this post. I know he's a busy man (you'll see why in the second paragraph he wrote) and I want to thank Charlie from Stripes for asking if I want to be involved! 

Also, if you want to check Gabriel out online (which you should), you can go to his website at https://gabrieldylan72.wixsite.com/mysite or check out his Twitter at @GabrielDylanYA. 

Strap in and let's ski/snowboard down this slope and see Gabriel's chart before the storm kicks in!