Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "fun"

Stuff the Turkey by Tara Ford

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Susie Satchel is either the luckiest or unluckiest woman on the planet, depending on how you look at it. In this novel we follow her through a series of adventures, some funny but some extremely sad.

When you look at the cover and the title, and even when you first start reading the book, it's easy to think that it will be just a fun chick-lit read, but "Stuff the Turkey" is so much more than that. It is a rollercoaster ride of emotional highs and lows. It's well-observed and the characters are very believable.

When the book starts, Susie is in a steady relationship and is very happy after starting a new job as a teaching assistant. When her colleagues play a practical joke on her she is left humiliated, but she does her best to see the funny side.

Christmas proves to be life-changing for Susie in more ways than one. "Stuff the Turkey" is written in the first person, so sometimes it did feel a bit like reading someone's diary or journal. It's a bit like a modern Bridget Jones.

The novel is fast-paced and kept me interested. I'd love to see it on the big screen as a romantic comedy.

The ending isn't really an ending, and I was pleased about that. I'm looking forward to reading more about Susie Satchel's adventures in the future.



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Forever Freaky by Tom Upton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love Tom Upton's writing style and quirky characters. Julia (Jules) is known as a freak because of her paranormal abilities. In these two entertaining short novellas, we follow her on a journey of self-discovery. The teenager struggles to come to terms with her own powers and how they affect the world around her. There is intrigue, danger, adventure, and a lot of imagination in these two stories.

In the first tale, a girl disappears at Jules' school and she is called on to use her special abilities to find the girl before it's too late. In the second story, Jules is again coerced into assisting with something she is initially reluctant to do; High School athletes are bursting into flames and no one knows why. Can Freaky Jules get to the bottom of it? Joining her in her adventures is a boy called Jack, who has an interest in all things paranormal and is also hoping to win Jules' heart.

Forever Freaky contains many interesting and realistic characters. These fun fantasy/paranormal tales come across as quite believable even though there are many strange things going on, which shows how skilled this writer is. I was drawn into the stories and enjoyed every page. I will definitely be looking out for more of this author's books.



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