nosaferplace Book Club: Waiting For Callback (Katharine Corr: Guest Post)

Waiting For Callback
Author: Honor & Perdita Cargill
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Read why Kate chose Waiting For Callback as her nosaferplace Book Club pick here:

I know, I know: I’ve fangirled about this book before. But Waiting for Callback is SO MUCH FUN!
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Here are just some of the many reasons you should buy and read this fabulous book:
  1. Elektra
Elektra is the main character. She loves acting, and when she gets signed by an agent her life settles into a pattern of going to auditions and waiting to see if she gets a callback (interspersed with school, obviously, since she’s only fifteen). Elektra is a brilliantly relatable hero. She worries about her lack of experience with boys, she eats lots of crisps, has best friend problems and gets embarrassed by her parents. But she’s also funny and caring. And she’s geeky enough to compare the school social to a scene from Pride & Prejudice. A girl after my own heart.
  1. Mum
Makes amazing chocolate cakes, loves running lines with Elektra (“She got so into it, reading every other part with feeling and a wide range of disturbing accents”) and worries the whole time about a wide range of topics: mobile phone use, teenage parties, casting directors, boys, GCSE results... pretty much everything. But she does it all with love. The kind of mum any teenage girl would be lucky to have.
  1. Eulalie
Elektra’s French grandmother. She sweeps Elektra off to Harrods to “make some shopping”, showers her with expensive trinkets and helps (*does) her French homework for her. Eulalie sees nothing wrong with sipping champagne at practically any time of day and has any number of hilarious and completely inappropriate anecdotes involving her hanging out in stunning locations with impossibly handsome men. Goals.
  1. Moss
Elektra’s best friend. Despite a bit of boy-related trouble along the way, Moss is always there: cheerleading, defending Elektra from the evil and manipulative Flissy, giving the best fashion advice. AND she likes cake.
  1. Archie
“Archie was fit. The sort of fit that is universally acknowledged…Of course I hadn’t talked to him.” A fellow acting student, Archie starts the book as Elektra’s unobtainable crush. We follow their relationship through text messages and gradually expanding social interactions, as vital questions (what exactly is signified by ending a text message with two kisses instead of one?) are explored.


I could go on. All the characters are sharply and memorably drawn, from super-bitch Flissy who wears smoky eyeliner to school, to Elektra’s architect father, who wears black jumpers and aligns everything on his desk into perfect angles. And Elektra’s potential journey (I’m not going to include any spoilers here!) from after school acting club to the dizzy heights of proto-film-stardom is endearingly and amusingly told. Waiting for Callback is a real laugh-out-loud, feel-good book that I recommend to all ages.

(By the way, there’s also a sequel – Waiting for Callback: Take Two – which is also hilarious. Just saying.)


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nosaferplace Book Club: Radio Silence (David Owen - Guest Post)

Radio Silence
Author: Alice Oseman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Read why Dave chose Radio Silence as his nosaferplace Book Club pick here:
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WUNDERKIDS BLOG TOUR: ACRONYM CHALLENGE

I set Jacqueline Silvester (Author of Wunderkids) the challenge listed below. Find out what books we both chose!
Challenge - Spell out the title of your novel with other books that you love.
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I BLEED OUT OF MY VAGINA ONCE A MONTH

****This is a personal, way too much information post about my bodily fluids. If this offends your delicate feelings, I wouldn't read any further if I were you****

Periods. Can't live with them, can't live withou -- what am I saying? I could live without them. In fact, I'd pay to live without them. I'd give up an internal organ to live without them. There are the rare breed of women that don't mind their periods, but let me tell you, I am not one of them.

I have had periods for 10 years, come January 8th. Yes, I remember the date. It was my best friend's birthday and I called her and mumbled down the phone that I had "become a woman" - because what 13 year old would dare to say the word, period? Flash forward a few years, I still couldn't say the word period without blushing and I still couldn't buy my own pads (thanks mum!)

Was there anything worse than going to a friend's house and realising they don't have a bin in their bathroom? Or a friend telling you she had supplies in her bathroom, only to find the dreaded tampon available and attractively hanging over the toilet seat, attempting to insert a vibrator-shaped fluffy object into your vagina? Or a boy trying to have his way with you and mumbling that, "it's that time of the month"? Or changing a pad in public and trying to do it quietly, so the entirety of the girls loo didn't think you were waxing in a cubicle? Why are pads so noisy to unwrap?

Now I'm 23 and I'm ready to talk about periods. I went from a 20 year old who used to say (to my now husband), "I can't until a few days" and then give him "the look" to a 23 year old who says, "go round the shop and get me the night pads, this is a heavy period and the blood won't stop coming". And guess what? He doesn't care. And neither do I. Periods are normal and we need to talk about them, especially to men.

Let's talk about schools. They don't educate you on periods. What they tell you: you will bleed for a week out of every 28 days. Wear pads or tampons". That's it. What they don't tell you: Get period knickers, otherwise you'll ruin every pair of nice knickers you own with blood stains. Buy long pads, because guess what? When you lay down to sleep, that blood has to go somewhere. Be prepared to have long baths and sit on the toilet for copious amounts of time - it's the only time you'll be free. Let me tell you, the average pee takes me 10 seconds. Period pees take me a few minutes. I sit there enjoying the freedom of not having a piece of fabric irritating my already sensitive vagina. You may have periods that last a week, but a lucky few will get periods that last two weeks. I salute you. You'll also feel like you're about to give birth before the blood's even thinking about exiting your body. Girls, how many times have you laid on the floor in immense pain because you can't physically stand up? I used to do this at work so often. You'll put on between 7-14 pounds and inflate to the size of a pregnant woman. Your breasts are so dense and heavy, you could do a workout with them - that's if they're not so tender, that you can actually touch them. And clots (looks like strawberry jelly, yum!) - the first time I had one of those, I thought I had just turned into Jane the Virgin, who had somehow become pregnant and miscarried. I was petrified. But girls, if it's smaller than a 10p piece, apparently it's normal...who knew? And don't even get me started on your moods...

I'm not sure if I want to punch you, cuddle you, eat you or have sex with you. But those are the four moods I experience on my periods. I don't recognise myself when I'm on my period, I am no longer me.

I saw this advert today and I did a happy dance. 
Normalising periods needs to happen. More adverts like this please.

I think the most important piece of advice with periods, is go by what's normal for you. Me and my best friend have completely different periods but they're normal for us and if there's any changes, make sure you go to your GP. And I know it sucks, but we're all in this blood filled monthly nightmare together.

You can handle your period, so why can't everyone else too?

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nosaferplace Book Club: Hope (Elizabeth Corr: Guest Post)

Hope

Author: Rhian Ivory

Publisher: Firefly Press

Read why Liz Corr chose Hope as her nosaferplace Book Club pick here:

Here’s To Hope…

‘Time passes; I don’t know how much. I sit on the floor panting, looking around at the mess I’ve made… My desk chair is upended, the wheels spinning uselessly, and one of my snow globes has smashed, leaving a little pool on my desk, shards of glass swimming in the remains. I think there’s something wrong with me.’
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Hope, written by the insanely talented Rhian Ivory.


Following the death of her father, and failure to get into drama school, sixteen-year old Hope’s life is spinning out of control. The future that she had her heart set on now appears permanently out of reach. Meanwhile, her body seems to be engaging in one long act of rebellion, literally fighting her mind for control. Feeling increasingly isolated from friends, particularly best friend Callie, and struggling to connect with her mother, Hope doesn’t know what to do next.
Help is at hand however, in various guises. After a failed (and particularly traumatic) audition, Hope meets Riley on the ferry. Like Hope, Riley is frustrated by the direction his life is taking and doesn’t know what to do about it. After their initial meeting, the pair provide one another with support (winding each other up at times, too) through a series of rather endearing, and sometimes very funny, text messages.


More important to Hope’s ultimate recovery, however, is Pryia, a member of the Singing Medicine team at the hospital where Hope’s mother works. Reluctantly, Hope joins the team, and initially is overwhelmed by the suffering of the young patients she sees. However, with Pryia’s encouragement, Hope eventually re-discovers her voice, bringing joy – and hope – to the children she sings to at the same time.


Hope also opens up to Pryia about the debilitating symptoms, including almost uncontrollable anger, she experiences on a monthly basis. Pryia finally convinces Hope to be brave and ask for help from her GP. After Hope discovers there’s an actual medical diagnosis for the symptoms she’s been suffering, things slowly start to get better.


Last but not least, Hope’s eternally optimistic grandfather, Nonno, helps Hope see that her future is far from over: when one door closes, more often than not another one opens up.
Hope is a beautifully written book. There are parts of the story - particularly how Hope and her mother handle their respective grief - that resonated with me deeply. Ultimately however, Hope is an uplifting, joyous story, with two clear messages.


Sometimes you need to be brave enough to ask for help before you can heal.


And sometimes you need to be adventurous and embrace change (whether or not you invited it), because when you do…well, that’s when you let hope in.

Altogether a fabulous read. Highly recommended.

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I Am Proud. I Am Happy. I Am Bisexual.

Today is National Coming Out Day. I thought I'd share my story on my sexuality and my story. I'll be honest, although I don't hide my sexuality, I've always been really reluctant to talk about it. If you ask me, I'll tell you I'm bisexual but it's not something you'll have seen me shouting from the rooftops or parading around the streets of London celebrating and embracing. It's not that I don't want too, or that I'm ashamed; I was and always have been, scared.

I remember being 13/14 and my room being covered in posters of men and women. Everyone around me used to say, "Why do you have posters of girls on your wall? That's so weird". It was then that the seed of doubt was planted; I was different. I felt the same way looking at Demi Lovato, as I did Joe Jonas. Something was definitely wrong with me, none of my friends were like this.

And then you get older and people say, "you're experimenting", "it's just a bit of fun". The little voice in my head would whisper back, "but my feelings are real". It wasn't just a drunken kiss, it wasn't just a dare: I wanted to do that.

And then I met "Jenny". It was my first day of college, a fresh start, a place where I could embrace who I was. I noticed her instantly, she was beautiful and funny. Better yet, she noticed me too. It was just as awkward and clumsy as any other relationship I'd had previously but the love was there. It was new for me, it was exciting. We kissed and I felt like I was alive and truly myself for the first time. We fizzled out after a short relationship but it was my first lesbian relationship, and that was a huge thing for me.

We only ever kissed. I was 18 and that was all I'd ever done, with either sex: just kissing. Then rumours started at college that we'd done more, much more. I was mortified, nobody knew that we had even been together besides "Jenny". It hurt more than I can tell you that someone I cared so much about had spread my secret. My story. She was openly bisexual but I wasn't ready and that wasn't her story to tell. Not only had she told my secret, she'd spread lies about me to a place I had so desperately wanted a fresh start in.

I'm happily married now (to a man) and quite happy to tell whoever asks that I'm bisexual. Quite happy to comment on how gorgeous Demi Lovato is and that she never was "just a girl crush". Quite happy to celebrate LGBT without talking about myself. But telling this story? This is hard and made me feel like people would talk about me, and I wasn't ready for that. Now I am.

I've never "come out" to my family. I've never "come out" to my friends. I never felt like it should be a big celebration but it should be, because this is who I am. This is me. I am proud. I am happy. I am bisexual.



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See How They Lie Review

See How They Lie
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Book Swap

Mae feels lucky to have grown up at Hummingbird Creek, an elite wellness retreat where rich teens with psychological problems can get the help they need from her father, a prominent psychiatrist. The Creek has world-class cuisine, a state-of-the-art sports centre and the latest spa treatments. Every aspect of daily life is monitored for optimal health, and there are strict rules for everyone. When Mae is caught breaking the rules, the response is severe. She starts to question everything about her highly controlled life. And at the Creek, asking questions can be dangerous.

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nosaferplace Book Club: Countless (Alexia Casale - Guest Post)

Countless
Author: Karen Gregory
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Read why Lexi chose Countless as part of the nosaferplace Book Club:



Hedda has just been released (yet again) from an in-patient eating disorders unit. How soon will she be back? Does she even want to get better? Is she going to follow in the footsteps of her best friend from the unit and die in her teens?
All these questions go out the window when she discovers she’s pregnant. Now she needs to decide if she’s going to have the baby and, if so, how she’s going to manage to eat enough for it to be healthy.
Countless is one of the best books I’ve ever read about eating disorders. It glorifies nothing, shying away from triggering detail while still giving a realistic sense of what life as an anorexic is actually like. It takes a tough, unflinching look at the recovery process – and how often it’s five steps back for every step forwards.
Never gratuitous, the story is full of nuance and compassion for its cast of flawed characters – from Hedda’s parents and sister to the boy who lives alone in the next door flat, and from Hedda’s counsellor to the other girls from the unit and the expectant mums Hedda’s path crosses. Sensitive and careful, it minimises none of the characters’ responsibility for their choices while never condemning people for struggling with difficult circumstances. It’s a story that consistently withholds judgement and, instead, offers the reader a window on an interconnected series of all too real lives. We see what people do, why and where it leads, but we’re never told what to think or feel about it. This is my favourite type of contemporary YA novel – one that leaves space for me as the reader to think for myself and come to my own conclusions about the social, moral and psychological issues at stake.
The portrayal of the difficulties of surviving on benefits – and the patchiness of support and resources for teens like Hedda who can’t or won’t live at home – is particularly timely. We see how excellent some of the support is, but also why Hedda often can’t take advantage of it, sometimes because of failures in other areas – and sometimes because she hasn’t yet found the resources in herself to take charge of her life. It’s a very clever picture of how a teenager can slowly find her own way past difficulties within and without to start to see who she will become as an adult.
Walking with Hedda through her story, we understand why she is struggling and why she doesn’t have the resources she needs (both physical and mental) to make the most of her life. How do young people learn to be self-sufficient, especially when their parents, while not pure evil, are anything but perfect and haven’t given them the support they need to learn those skills? How do you find the strength to grow into a hopeful adult when much of your childhood has been filled with despair? It’s very much a coming-of-age story, but one that looks at how young people can bridge seemingly impassable gaps between who they are and who they want to be if they’re to have a future worth living.

One of my favourite books of 2017, I can’t wait for Gregory’s second novel.


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LAUNCHING MY OWN YA BOOK SUBSCRIPTION BOX

So this is a personal post. A post I have been so excited to share with you all. I'm sure most of you know by now, as it's been announced for almost a week...but I'M LAUNCHING MY OWN YA BOOK SUBSCRIPTION BOX. I just wanted to tell you all a little more about it and my reasoning behind it. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while and something I'm really quite passionate about.



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Spotlight Blog: YA Under My Skin - Guest Post

I'm so excited to have the wonderful Amy for yaundermyskin as my Spotlight Blog this week. I first met Amy at Quiz YA. I was a bundle of nerves, was shaking with a glass of wine in my hand. She came over, introduced herself and I felt instantly calmed and like I could get through the night, I'll always be grateful for that moment. It was only when I got home and started stalking her blog that I realised how much I adored her content and how it turned out to be just as fabulous as she is. Read Amy's post below on why she loves YA books and the YA community...

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S.T.A.G.S Review

S.T.A.G.S
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy gifted by Han

It is the autumn term and Greer MacDonald is struggling to settle into the sixth form at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as S.T.A.G.S. 

 To her surprise Greer receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed upon on it: huntin' shootin' fishin' - an invitation to spend the half term weekend at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S.

 Greer joins the other chosen students at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, and soon realises that they are at the mercy of their capricious host. Over the next three days, as the three bloodsports - hunting, shooting and fishing - become increasingly dark and twisted, Greer comes to the horrifying reality that those being hunted are not wild game, but the very misfits Henry has brought with him from school...
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