Ratchet the Reluctant Witch by Sara Pascoe

Pages:  352 pages

Publisher:  Brown Dog Books

Publication: date:  October 22, 2015

ISBN-10:  1785450654

ISBN-13:  978-1785450655

Genre:  Young Adult

Source:  I received the book free in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful young adult book about Rachel aka Ratchet, a 14 year old foster kid that is ready to strike out on her own.  Ratchet has been in and out of foster care for years.  She is finally in a good home, and has befriended a younger kid by the name of Jake.  In many ways Ratchet has made herself responsible for Jake.  

Even though things are better for Ratchet and she has become good friends with Jake, she is still determined to get out on her own.  So, she does leave taking money she has saved up for the occasion.  However, she ends up in London without any money, frightened, and alone.  She meets a man by the name of Pavel.  Pavel introduces Ratchet to his friends, Ian and Emma.  They own a cafe called the Cosmic Cafe.  In exchange for Ratchets work in the cafe, they provide her with a room to stay in and food to eat.

Ratchet eventually discovers that Pavel, Ian, and Emma are witch integrators and they sense that Ratchet is a witch.  Pavel begins teaching Ratchet how to control her powers and just when she starts feeling happy with her arrangement, she is discovered by her old social worker, Bryony, along with Bryony's  cat, Oscar.   They threaten to take Ratchet back to the foster home.   Ratchet's lack of experience ends up getting her, Bryony and Oscar pulled back in time.  They end up in Essex, during the witch trials.  They also  end up on the gallows awaiting execution for being witches.  Since Ratchet is the one responsible for getting them there in the first place, she is the only one that can get them back home, and they only have a few weeks before they become permanent residents in the past.  At the very last moment they get sucked into old Istanbul, where  Ratchet becomes a fortune teller.  The Sultan's wife wants to get her fortune told by Ratchet, which leads to more trouble for Ratchet Bryony, and Oscar.  

As if being in another time is not enough trouble for Ratchet, she finds out telepathically that Jake has been in a very serious accident and is fighting for his life.  This is an enjoyable read that will take you on several adventures.  The story did seem a little slow at first, but once the characters go back in time, it more than makes up for the slow start! This book was provided free in exchange for an honest book review.

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The Urban Boys by K.N. Smith

Publication Date:  September 29, 2015

Publisher:  Two Petals

Language:English

ASIN:  B015zS01M1

Version:  Kindle file size 928B

This book starts with a bang and does not let up until the very end.  The story is centered around a group of  five high school boys that have known each other almost their entire lives.  These boys all feel like brothers, even though they are not. But, they have such close ties to each other, they are more like family, than just friends.  These boys come into contact with a mysterious energy source at the edge of a forest and their lives are forever changed.  After coming into contact with this mysterious energy, each of the boys gained a different superhero type of sense.  It turns out the that it was a good thing they received these gifts, because they would need them for the battles they were about to be up against.  They soon came into contact with a group of evil thugs in the town next to theirs.  These evil doers were destroying the town.  The town's name was Sandry Lake, and their police department was almost non-exist-ant.  So, the boys felt it was their job to get these evil doers under control.

Through the guidance of a dark stranger and a beautiful, great fighting girl named Alina, the boys became protectors of Sandry Lake and the surrounding area.  They would keep their visits to the area from their family and friends, and all of the secrecy created a lot of stress and tension.  The fights were always brutal and left the boys exhausted, and it became more and more difficult to keep their secret to themselves,

K.N. Smith has proven herself to be a great writer with this debut novel.  She grabs your attention on the first page and keeps it until the very last page.  She brings depth to the characters and the scenery that feels genuine, and makes the reader feel like they are part of the story.  I recommend this book for any person wanting to read a great, action packed story.  The target population might be for young adults, but I loved it, and I have not been considered a young adult for several years. Having done such a wonderful job on her debut novel, I can't wait to read her future books!  I received this book from K.N. Smith in exchange for my honest review, and I am truly glad I was able to read it!

Here is a short excerpt from the book to give an example of the kind of writing you can expect:

"And it took only a few steps for their senses to flare as they saw numerous thugs running behind them.  Practically tripping over one another to get to the boys, they advanced with Olympic level speed, and swarmed like ants upon the group.  Loc 2169 of 2480 or 80% 

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