I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

When Jack accidentally magics his best friend Charlie through an inter dimensional portal and onto Lonely Island, he realises he might have broken one rule too many. Especially when he discovers that Lonely Island is a prison for ruthless Twinkle and her gang of bad fairies!

Tricked into releasing the bad fairies, Jack and Charlie must confess to Mum and Uncle Dave and enlist the help of the magical kingdom. Can they dodge Bonzo the Bogeyman’s snot missiles and stop Twinkle and her gang from taking control of the entire world?

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The Verdict:

The third in Tom McLaughlin’s self-illustrated comedy fantasy series for readers aged 7+ is an entertaining if slim story about friendship that’s packed with jokes (including some laugh out loud one-liners) and the kind of gross situations that readers of this age enjoy. However, I wish there’d been some more development of Twinkle’s relationship with Jack’s mum and uncle because it would have given the plot more depth and drama.

JACK THE FAIRY: THE WEEK THE BAD FAIRIES ESCAPED! was released in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

A wild and entertaining investigation into the business of eternal life.

From the epic of Gilgamesh to the alchemy of the philosopher’s stone, humanity’s eternal quest for immortality - and its rejuvenation tricks, therapies and tinctures - has always been our most mortal endeavour.

But now, the giants of invention and investment are building a fountain of youth of their own creation: one they not only engineer, but also own and control. Death is simply their next problem to solve, the latest expression of a hubris that regards humans as appliances to be fixed and machines to be upgraded. By harnessing technology to ‘cure’ ageing, and funding cutting-edge - and often controversial - research, today’s immortalises are locked in an arms race to be the first to pocket the profits of longevity.

What was once a wild west of experimentation has wormed its way into Washington’s corridors of power. Award-winning broadcaster and academic Aleks Krotoski journeys from those cult fringes to the heartlands of government to meet the moguls, effective altruists, geoscientists and entrepreneurs who are disrupting death. Along the way, she encounters radical life extortionists transfusing their teenage son’s blood, transhumanists who want to upload consciousness to the cloud, biohackers flogging AI-powered wellness apps and billionaire kingmakers building brand-new nations.

This razor-sharp, powerful and at times chilling investigation empowers us to consider what it truly means to be human, asking: do we really want a handful of Silicon Valley power brokers to be the architects of our forever?

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The Verdict:

Aleks Krotoski is an award-winning broadcaster, academic and author focusing on technology and social science. This is a really interesting overview of the tech bros’ foray into extending the human lifespan, that brings in libertarian desire to reduce regulation and build independent economic zones, effective altruism and, above all, profit but you get more from it if you are already familiar with some of these topics and can draw them together.

THE IMMORTALISTS: THE DEATH OF DEATH AND THE RACE FOR IMMORTAL LIFE was released in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Gloria, the only human at the Cosmic Cadet Academy, is ready to make a splash. But on her first day, she ends up with the headteacher stuck on her shoe and is paired up with Razz, a cat-like alien who’s capable of throwing terrifying tantrums.

Determined to have a wild adventure, Gloria rejects their boring assignment and takes on the forbidden mission to capture a uni-corn, a creature capable of swallowing galaxies whole. Gloria may just get her wish for excitement … if she doesn’t accidentally destroy the entire universe first.

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The Verdict:

Ryan Crawford and Rochelle Falconer’s illustrated SF adventure for readers aged 7+ (the first in a series) has an energetic, fast-moving plot and bold, colourful illustrations. I liked that Gloria is difficult to like - impetuous, dismissive, and arrogant - because that’s not common in books for this age group but the world building does not hold together particularly well and it tries too hard to be quirky for me to want to read the sequel.

COSMIC CADETS AND THE UNIVERSAL UNI-KORN was released in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Prepare to blast off into space with Omar!

Omar and his friends need to make the best rocket* to win a competition - but someone is out to sabotage them …

This operation contains:
- Eight fish in puddles (the fish are really unlucky at Omar’s school!)
- Fizzy drink EXPLOSIONS
- A rocket scientist with the BIGGEST smile you’ve ever seen
- A set of VERY confusing triplets
- And one or two SUPERSPY MISSIONS

* 100% not powered by farts, well, maybe a little bit

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The Verdict:

The 5th in Zanib Mian’s PLANET OMAR series for readers aged 9+ is another fun read that combines humour with science and faith and is energetically illustrated by Kyan Cheng. Although the story is predictable, I like the way Mian incorporates Omar’s Muslim faith and how Daniel tries to control his anger issues/low self esteem with themes about the importance of friendship over winning plus there are enough fart jokes to keep readers entertained.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The bestselling DadSaysJokes is back with an all-new collection of their best jokes, guaranteed to leave you grinning and groaning in equal measure.

Q: What kind of tree fits in your hand?
A: A palm tree.

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The Verdict:

Kit and Andrew Chilvers run the popular Instagram account DadSaysJokes and this book is basically a distillation of it - a load of dad jokes and puns that will make you groan and chuckle. Some of the jokes are so old that they’ve got barnacles on them, a few are US-focused and so may not resonate with UK readers and there are also a couple that don’t work at all. For all that though, it’s more hit than miss and definitely not just for dads.

DAD JOKES: GREATEST OF ALL TIMES was released in the United Kingdom on 14 August 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

”My only talent is lying. Father says it will serve me well.”

Ceridwen Parry has run away with the fairies. But this is not her story.

For Sabrina Parry, life in nineteenth-century Wales is cruel. With her father in prison, it fails to her to protect her family and marry off her sick sister, Ceridwen.

Then Ceridwen vanishes into the eerie woods, and Sabrina is drawn into a beautiful but deadly world of fairies and monsters of old. Soon she realises Fairyland is far more dangerous than she ever expected. So when an annoyingly handsome fairy offers her a deal, Sabrina is forced to accept to save her sister.

But as with all fairy bargains, there is a heavy price. And if Sabrina doesn’t pay with her life, she will surely pay with her freedom.

Or her heart.

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The Verdict:

Anna Fiteni’s debut historical fantasy YA novel is a fresh and welcome take on fairies that couples Welsh folklore with a headstrong main character with motivations of her own beyond romance and settling down. Incorporating elements of time travel (which for the most part paper over some anachronisms) when the inevitable romance develops, Fiteni puts an interesting spin on it that plays with the reader’s expectations and which I thoroughly enjoyed.

THE WICKED LIES OF HABREN FAIRE was released in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Together they stand. Together they fall.

Southall, West London. After being released from prison Zaq Khan is lucky to land a dead-end job at a builders’ yard. All he wants to do is keep his head down and put his past behind him.

But when Zaq is forced to search for his boss’s runaway daughter, he quickly finds himself caught up in a deadly web of deception, murder and revenge.

With time running out and pressure mounting, can he find the missing girl before it’s too late? And if he does, can he keep her - and himself - alive long enough to deal with the people who want them both dead.

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The Verdict:

It’s not hard to see why Amer Anwar’s debut crime novel won the CWA Debut Dagger Award. Setting his story within the British Asian community offers a fresh take on the detective format and he’s created an interesting main character in Zaq, who makes the most of what he learned and who he met in prison. What lifts the story is Zaq’s relationship with best friend Jag, which brings in humour and humanity when at times the plot begins to creak.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Ecstasy in London.
Crack in Los Angeles.
LSD in Tokyo.
Heroin in Sofia.
Cocaine in Medellín.
Bounty hunting in Manila.
Opium in Tehran.

This is your next fix.

This is Dopeworld.

DOPEWORLD is a bold and eye-opening exploration into the world of drugs. Taking us on an unforgettable journey around the world, we trace the emergence of psychoactive substances and our relationships with them. Exploring the murky criminal underworld, the author has unparalleled access to drug lords, cartel leaders, hitmen and government officials.

This is a deeply personal journey into the heartland of the war on drugs and the devastating effect it’s having on humanity.

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The Verdict:

Niko Vorobyov is a freelance journalist and author who has a conviction for possession with intent to supply. This is a readable if glib exploration of the drug world, offering a history to modern day drug policy and the development of various narcotic substances that’s too heavy with moral equivalence and too lacking in personal reflection to be a truly informative read about the subject.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Missing-linc.com comprises a group of misfit sleuths scattered across the States. Their macabre passion is giving names to the unidentified dead. When Ellie Caine starts investigating the corpse known as the Boy in the Dress, the Boy’s killer decides to join the group. The closer they get to the truth, the closer he will get to them.

The Boy was Teddy Ryan. He was meant to have been killed in a car crash in the west of Ireland in 1989. Only he wasn’t. There is no grave in Galway and Teddy was writing letters from New York a year after he supposedly died. But one night he met a man in a Minnesota bar and vanished off the face of the earth.

Teddy’s nephew, Shaun, is no hero, but he is determined to solve the thirty-year-old mystery. He joins forces with the disparate members of Missing-linc to hunt down the killer. The only problem: the killer will be with them every step of the way …

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The Verdict:

Sarah Lotz’s standalone thriller makes the most of its original hook in that you know who the killer is from very early on so although the main story turns both on other characters discovering the truth, it’s given emotional depth by the slow reveal of family secrets and has strong themes of identity and trust. Although the ending didn’t fully work for me, I would read more about these characters and am interested in reading Lotz’s other work.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Leigh Chen Sanders is sixteen when her mother dies by suicide, leaving only a scribbled note:

”I want you to remember”.

Leigh doesn’t know what it means, but when a red bird appears with a message, she finds herself travelling to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time.

Leigh is far away from home and far away from Axel, her best friend, who she stupidly kissed on the night her mother died - leaving her with a swell of guilt that she wasn’t home, and a heavy heart, thinking she may have destroyed the one good thing left in her life.

Overwhelmed by grief and the burden of fulfilling her mother’s last wish, Leigh retreats into her art and into her memories, where colours collide and the rules of reality are broken, The only thing Leigh is certain about is that she must find out the truth. She must remember.

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The Verdict:

Emily X. R. Pan’s debut YA novel is a powerful and moving look at what it means to live with a parent with depression that incorporates Chinese spiritual beliefs with a magical realist twist. Leigh is a believable protagonist, forced to navigate grief and first love and Pan does well to show her gift for and love of art. Although a little overwritten in places for my taste (purely a personal thing), I will definitely check out her subsequent work.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.