Ally Aldridge Books, Dystopia, Fantasy, Review, Sci-Fi, Super Powers, Young Adult

Book Review: The Guidal – Discovering Puracordis by Roxy Eloise

This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.

About the book

The Guidal by Roxy Eloise

About the Author

I met Roxy Eloise on Instagram. She reads and reviews books on her Instagram channel. She has done a live reading of Ocean Heart.

She has an upcoming author event, where she will be giving a talk at Herts Book Festival on 7 May at Hertford Castle.

My thoughts

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is set in a futuristic boarding school where the students train to become enforcers. Aurora was taken there at a young age, told she was an orphan. She has questions about that night but not allowed to ask.

She gets coupled with Pax, giving them certain privileges like going out on patrol and competing in the tournament. Things get heated until they discover something that drives Pax to attempt getting uncoupled. Meanwhile, the cocky juvie Aurora has been allocated seems to know her better than herself.

As Aurora uncovers secrets about herself, she will discover there’s more to her than just being an enforcer.

This futuristic sci-fi had great world building, and characters. This book left me wanting more. Bring on book two.

Buy The Guidal by Roxy Eloise from Amazon

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Ally Aldridge Blogging, Diary, Writing

Catch up with a cuppa Ko-Fi (Mar 2022)

Here is the low down on what I posted on Ko-Fi this month, so you don’t miss out!

Waterstones Bookshop

I spilled the beans on some exciting news in the works with Ipswich’s largest bookshop.

Behind the scenes for World Book Day

I shared what I got up to on Ko-Fi first but for my followers there I got more personal about what happened leading up to the event, and how it went.

Michelle Raab Marketing Post (Part 3):

I linn to the final instalment of Michelle’s marketing series featuring me.

WIP Cover Reveal for Forest Heart

After updating my website I realised I needed a WIP cover for my next project, Forest Heart. I really enjoyed making it and revealing it on Ko-Fi.

Follow me on Ko-Fi

It’s free to follow me on Ko-Fi and be sure you don’t miss out on my latest news, or any freebies. You can buy me a virtual cuppa or merchandise from my shop, including a signed copy of my book.

Follow me on Ko-Fi

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Fiction, Review

Book Review: The Hiding Place by Simon Lelic

This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.

About the book

My thoughts

Detective Fleet is on a cold case following the discovery of a body that is missing boy Ben from over 20y ago. The story is split between Ben and Fleet’s point of view, giving insight into what happened back then and now.

I don’t usually read this genre but I really enjoyed it. Every chapter unravelled more clues, it was fast paced, with chapters ending in a way that left you needing to read more.

The body is found at a private school and during the investigation more bodies turn up. This amps up the feeling of danger and urgency. We all the twists and turns I didn’t see the ending coming but it is was brilliant. I loved how it linked back to the hiding place.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Buy The Hiding Place on Amazon

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Contemporary, Fantasy, Festival, My Books, Ocean Heart, Romance, The Soul Heart Series, Writing, Young Adult

What I did for World Book Day!

I delivered my first ever face-to-face author event for World Book Day. It was extra special because I got to attend the high school where my book Ocean Heart is set.

The Setting

Ocean Heart is set in Felixstowe. When I started writing the novel there were two high schools in the town. Deben High School and Orwell High School, both named after local rivers. The two schools had some rivalry and I didn’t want my book about that so I merged the schools together and made Felixstowe High School.

Little did I know that the council were going to do this. The old schools were knocked down and a new modern building erected.

I’ve never had the opportunity to visit the high school so it was really fun to see if it was anything like I imagined. The school was lovely, and very modern, and a lot bigger. I was very impressed.

The students

I met up with groups of five to six students from Key Stage 3. The plan was to introduce myself, and my book, and discuss what had inspired my writing.

I’m not great at public speaking, so I took a notebook with some conversation bullet points to boost my confidence and feel more prepared. I’m not sure what I’m scared will happen, other than making a fool of myself.

The students were very sweet and polite. Once I flipped the attention off myself and onto them, I was able to relax and the conversation flowed better.

We discussed my writing, debut novel, and reading. The students came up with some great questions for me, some that madrWhen we discussed their interests they even had some book recommendations for me.

The book recommendations

My notebook came in handy to write down the books the students recommended I read.

Reflection

I’m so thankful to Felixstowe High School for having me. I appreciated that Deputy Head, Darren M arranged for me to chat with a small groups rather than in-front of a large audience.

Darren also got me thinking about delivering some leisure learning courses for Creative Writing. I’ve been going over old books, notes from courses I’ve done, to explore the idea. Ifurther

I think the more I do, the easier it will get. As a natural introvert, I have to push myself outside my comfort zone but this is good for my professional development. Plus, afterwards I was buzzing that I did it.

Discover Ocean Heart

You can pick up Ocean Heart from all good book shops and online retailers, and borrow through your library or Overdrive.