Lauren’s Comments (group member since Mar 07, 2019)

Lauren’s comments from the Turning Pages by Penguin Books NZ group.

The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo Book 5) by Rick Riordan -

For fans who love and miss the world of Percy Jackson, this series is definitely for you! Book 5, The Tower of Nero, was released at the end of last year concluding the series and I can't recommend it enough. Full of new characters with awesome friendships, a talking arrow, and some beloved characters making appearances, what's not to love?

The first book (you know, to avoid spoilers!) follows Apollo, one of the least likable Greek Gods imo, after he is cast down from Olympus by his father Zeus. In order to return, he must face several trials, figure out confusing prophecies and deal with being... human.

If you've started the series but just haven't gotten round to finishing it I'd definitely recommend heading to your local bookshop or library and getting reading!

^Lauren 🐧

To enter to win a copy of The Tower of Nero head to our Instagram page: www.instagram.com/turningpagesnz
Ts and Cs apply, this giveaway is in no way affiliated with Goodreads, Instagram or Facebook. Competition will close 15 Jan, 2021 at 12:30pm. Open to NZ residents only. There will be one winner only who will receive one copy of The Tower of Nero.

Emily (https://www.goodreads.com/emilyrobinr... here on Goodreads) said: "This book is an oldie but a goodie (and note the movie does not do it justice!). The novel follows Eragon, a farm boy who discovers a blue stone in the mountains. During his attempts to sell the stone, it hatches, revealing itself to be a dragon egg, ultimately setting Eragon up for the journey of a lifetime.

I see this book as a YA version of Lord of the Rings, a book that will introduce readers to fantasy and delivers everything a good fantasy requires: a hero, dragons, romance and betrayal. Yet whilst this book delivers typical fantasy tropes, it has a unique magic system, incredible world building and even its own languages. 

This series is not to be taken lightly however, as there are high stakes as you root for Eragon on his journey. The novels become more and more intense as the series progresses and you fall for the characters, as another thing this book does well is character building. We watch Eragon mature and grow throughout, discovering his identity as a Dragon Rider, as we simultaneously fall in love with his dragon, Saphira. 

This book is YA fantasy perfection!"

If you'd like to go in to win a copy of this book, check out our giveaway on our Instagram (@turningpagesnz)

If you'd like to choose our next Pick of the Month click here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hi Turning Pagers,

We’re looking for contributors to our Pick of the Month posts. We posted one recently on the Turning Pages Instagram (in case you missed it or want to take a look!)

As many people from within our team have already submitted a Pick of the Month we thought it would be fun to hand over the reins to you. From September, we want our Pick of the Month post to be written and moderated by one of you.

You’ll also have the opportunity to give away your Pick of the Month book (to enter, people have to follow the Turning Pages Instagram but also the Instagram of the guest moderator).

The book can be recently published or one of your cherished Penguin favourites (as long as stock is available) and would be need to be around 200 words.

To submit a Pick of the Month post please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/jNmGGvtucbVDFUYw6
If you have any questions please leave them in the comment section below and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Love,
Turning Pages

We asked Kelsey what she thought of Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis and here's what she had to say:

Harrow Lake is a book made for dark stormy nights with all the creepy moments of a horror mixed with an intriguing plot and the mystery of a thriller. Like all great horrors this story starts with a murder attempt with Lola’s famous father attacked in their New York apartment. With the mystery of why her father was attacked hanging over Lola, she is sent away to live with her grandmother in Harrow Lake, the iconic location for one of her father’s most famous horror movie, Night Jar. But just like the film with its creepy setting the town still has unmistakable haunted vibes with its own urban legend of the eerily figure of Mister Jitters. Lola has to discover what is really going on in the town where her mother grew up and why she has the feeling that maybe Mister Jitters is not just a folktale. With a cinematic pacing to this book it feels like reading a horror movie script in the best way. Night film meets Stephen King’s It in this terrifying read with all the best twists and fright moments. Be prepared to not be able to sleep at night…

Have you read Harrow Lake, what did you think?

Anna K knows the rules by heart. Beautiful, rich and popular, she takes care to maintain her status as the perfect girlfriend, daughter and student. Then a chance encounter at Grand Central station with notorious playboy Alexi 'Count' Vronsky changes everything. Anna knows she needs to avoid Alexi, but sometimes fate has other plans . . .

Soon Anna finds it impossible to resist him, and finds herself willing to risk everything she has to be with him - no matter the consequences .After all, the course of true love never did run smooth . . .

The opening sentence of the blurb on Anna K reads: Welcome to the dizzying heights of New York's Upper East Side: where privilege, partying and scandal rules.

Privilege, partying and scandal are some of my favorite ingredients for a lush escapist read! This is a modern retelling of Tolstoy's epic romance novel Anna Karenina; the Imperial Russian setting becomes New York's Upper East Side, the Russian gentlemen and socialites become wealthy, privately educated teenagers.

And it totally works! Turns out wealthy teens provide the perfect vehicle for the angst and epic scope of Tolstoy's classic love story.

Pitched as a mash up of Gossip Girl and Crazy Rich Asians, the lush, glittering parties, events and homes of the book's characters are easy to get lost in, and the delicious scandals the characters find themselves embroiled in will have you totally engrossed in this binge-worthy book. It's not short (375 pages and the print is very smol!) but I finished this book over two days during the Summer. I couldn't put it down!

Out at bookstores March 17th!

Hey everyone,
Thank you for all your applications!
All the review copies have now been assigned.
Thanks again,
Lauren :)

Christmas Carol ꧁꧂ wrote: "Lauren wrote: "All proofs have been assigned and I've sent an email to everyone who will be receiving one :)"

Hi there must have been a glitch, because I din't receive the email, but I do have the..."

Hi Carol,

That's odd! Maybe it went to your junk folder :/

Glad to hear it got to you!

Lauren :)

All proofs have been assigned and I've sent an email to everyone who will be receiving one :)

Hey readers,

This is just a message to let you know that we now have an Instagram account! The feedback we had from our recent survey suggested that we create an Instagram account as well as continuing to update our Goodreads account here.

Goodreads isn't the most user friendly platform, so hopefully this means it'll be easier for everyone to chat and get to know each other.

Review applications, competitions, and everything else we do for Turning Pages will still be posted here as well.

To celebrate we're hosting a giveaway over on the Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/B53kHWzg9tc/) where you can enter to win a huge stack of YA books! (Closes December 15th, so don't wait too long to enter!)

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Lauren :)

Hi again, everyone!

We have 20 paperback proof copies of One of Us Is Next to give away in return for a review. This is the sequel to One of Us Is Lying.

You can read more about the book here: https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/one-o...

Before you apply, please read about the process of applying for review copies in the Turning Pages 'about' section.

If you'd like to receive a review copy, please fill out this application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

Please remember that by receiving a proof you're agreeing to send us a review.

Applications close December 11th. We'd love to have the reviews by January 15th.

Thanks! :)

Okay, the reading part of the readalong is over so I think we can agree that spoilers are okay from here on out?

If you're not up to date yet then this is your warning that there are spoilers below!

How did everyone feel about the ending...?

Emily wrote: "Here is my review :)

The Night Country by Melissa Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was surprised, I enjoyed The Night Country more than the first book, The Hazel Wood. In this story, we follow ..."

Thanks for sharing your review, Emily! :)

Hi everyone,

This is just a message to say thank you so much for taking the time to fill out the survey. Your comments and suggestions will definitely be taken into consideration. We're really looking forward to seeing what's next for Turning Pages! :)

The winners of the survey giveaway have all been sent an email so be sure to check your inbox to see if you won!

All the best,

Lauren :)

Okay, I now feel REALLY mean for splitting the chapters this way! As soon as I got to the end of Chapter 22 I desperately wanted to keep reading, it's getting so so interesting. I think that after I've written this post I'll keep reading.

The one thing that was really stressing me out about reading this was that only Cooper's secret seemed to be incorrect but after finishing these chapters it's all seeming a bit more suspect...

Is everyone still suspecting the same person or have all your thoughts changed?

I still really like Bronwyn and Nate but am feeling so suspicious of Janae?!

Hi everyone!

All books have been assigned to reviewers. You should have an email if a book was assigned to you.

Best,

Lauren :)

Hmm, I'm at a loss at the moment too! I really like Nate and Bronwyn's relationship as well, and I agree about one of them getting hurt... I have a feeling it's going to be Nate. Especially as he doesn't seem to let people in. I'll be really heartbroken if that happens! They've been one of my favourite parts of the book so far. I *really* don't want one of them to be the one who's lying... I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about it being very intense for high school. Especially when all the news vans start arriving and the stories show up in the papers/on the news.

I really want to like Addy but I'm still finding it pretty hard.

It frustrates me that the students spent so much time talking about the cell phones that weren't theirs but it seems not to be a thing? Surely someone couldn't be that unreasonable? Or maybe they would, I'm not sure.

When the four of them end up in Principal Gupta’s office I was kind of thinking all hell was going to break loose but that didn't seem to be the case?

How's everyone feeling about the pacing at this stage (almost halfway through!)?

- Lauren :)

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: " Did you feel immediately gripped by this book or did it take you a little while to get into it?
- Are you enjoying the writing style?
- Did any of the characters become an instant favourite of you..."

I think Bronwyn might be my favourite as well because I identify with her quite a bit!

Interested by who you suspected to be the killer! :O

Courtney wrote: "I enjoy the writing in this book because it's easy to read. At this point in the book, I am on team Breakfast Club (that's honestly just what comes to mind with those four) and think it's an outsid..."

Ooh! I think I read an interview with the author that she was really inspired by The Breakfast Club so that's really cool!

I also initially was like "Simon definitely set this up" but the blog posts changed my mind but are really creeping me out hahaha!

Kylie wrote: "I couldn’t help but keep reading after chapter 7, but wrote notes after each set of read along chapter sets so I wouldn’t give away any spoilers, it does mean my notes are a bit bullet point like, ..."

I felt like that a bit too, oops... I read to chapter 11 and then had to put the book down at that point, haha!

I can totally see what you mean about the development of the characters after Simon's death, it's definitely a good way to do it! I was expecting flashbacks instead of the story carrying on. Or maybe stories while they were being questioned by the police? That was just my first thought but I think I prefer it this way :)

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all enjoying One of Us is Lying so far! Or, if you're doing a reread, that you're enjoying it again.

A couple of questions to start off the discussion (but feel free to pop in any other thoughts/questions you have as well) This is just a starting point :)

- Did you feel immediately gripped by this book or did it take you a little while to get into it?
- Are you enjoying the writing style?
- Did any of the characters become an instant favourite of yours or were you thrown off liking any of them too much as one of them could be a killer?
- Who do you think is guilty at this stage of the book?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and get this discussion going!

- Lauren :)