Posted in Review

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid | REVIEW

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

This book was so fantastically written that I was able to ignore some of my issues with it. This is my full spoiler review of ‘A Study in Drowning’, which was one of my most anticipated reads of last year. This is YA Gothic, Dark Academia story, and I ended up giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Is there a book that feels like it was written for you? A book that seems to know you in some soul-deep way? A book that seems- somehow-to love you as much as you love it? When Ava Reid set out to write ‘A Study in Drowning’, she wanted to write about that feeling. About stories that see us, that save us. There is something precious and beautiful about that, but it also creates many thorny questions, such as: if you love a story, does it belong to you?

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Posted in Heart, Updates, Writing

Introducing My Next Project!

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

This blog post was written before I learned the news about how the NaNoWriMo organisation has protected a moderator and suppressed attempts to investigate their behaviour. NaNo events have been a huge part of my life for a long time, and I’m devastated to learn that minors have had a worse experience and that their abusers were sheltered. I will no longer be sharing any content related to the NaNo events or promoting the organisation.

It’s currently the camp version of National Novel Writing Month and, as I am tentatively participating this year, I thought I’d dedicate some time this month to my current project. This week I’m going to be doing the ‘Work In Progress’ tag, which I currently can’t find the creator of. If I do find them, I’ll update this post.

This story is one that I have been writing on and off since the summer of 2015, and I already have blog posts and videos in a playlist about it, so I’m glad to finally be updating that playlist for the first time in so many years.

Let’s begin!

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Posted in Review

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher | REVIEW

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

This isn’t the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince. It’s the one where she kills him.

As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn’t so fortunate—and after years of silence, Marra finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful grave witch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks: build a dog of bones, sew a cloak of nettles, and capture moonlight in a jar. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

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Posted in Ashley Poston, Krystal Sutherland, Paper Forests, Review

Books that inspired my fantasy novel (aka Forestcore Recs)

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

Recently, I’ve been missing doing book recommendations and review posts, so I wanted to bring them back in a completely self-indulgent way: recommending books that inspired my own book, Paper Forests. This is a list of books that I joke about being the unofficial Paper Forests reading list, featuring dark fairytale retellings, bisexuals who can’t make good decisions, horror influences, whimsical forests that may or may not be sentient, and magic and monsters. Paper Forests is a loose ‘Hansel and Gretel’ retelling about teenagers trapped in a sentient forest afterlife, and I hope these books truly capture that spirit.

Let’s begin!

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Posted in Reading, Review

Reliving my childhood trauma one Jacqueline Wilson book at a time

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

Recently, there’s been a resurgence of people reminiscing on books that left irreparable damage to their childhoods on TikTok and, as someone who religiously read Jacqueline Wilson books before the age of ten, I feel very qualified to contribute to this conversation.

I will only be talking about the books that I’ve read and still have haunting my bookshelves, but I am very aware that there is infinite more Jacqueline Wilson books out in the world that have more vaguely traumatic content, such as the mummified cat, the art teacher, and a girl getting paralysed on a swing. And the entirety of Vicky Angel? Not in my personal top five, but I still think about it often.

This blog is full of spoilers. Let’s begin!

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Posted in Paper Forests, Tags, Updates, Writing

New Year Writing Goals 2024

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’ve done a version of this post idea in video form for the past three years, and last year I finally decided it was time to put it down in writing so I could refer to it throughout the year. Truthfully, I did not look back on my goals once, but it’s the thought that counts.

So, here are my writing goals for 2024 and a reflection on what I achieved last year in 2023!

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Posted in Reading, Review

My Top Reads of 2023

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’ve been reflecting on what I read last year, and I want to spend a little more time talking about my favourite reads of the year and collect those thoughts in one place. I think I did a video version of this in 2022 for what I believed to be the best books of the year (so far), but since then I’ve accepted that some of the books I love to read may not necessarily be the best of books. There will also be a few repeats as I did a post midway through the year with my favourite reads of the year so far. This list will be in no particular order, just vaguely chronological, so let’s begin!

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Posted in Reading, Review

Best Reads of the Year (So Far) | 2023

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve read so far this year, and I want to spend a little more time talking about my favourite reads of the year so far and collect those thoughts in one place. I think I did a video version of this last year for what I believed to be the best books of the year (so far), but since then I’ve accepted that some of the books I love to read may not necessarily be the best of books. This list will be in no particular order, just vaguely chronological, so let’s begin!

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Posted in Paper Forests, Updates, Writing

A Very Special (Edition) Announcement!

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

Today, we have a very special announcement, and it’s for a project I’ve been working on for the past few months, and I’ve had so much fun doing it. I am pleased to announce that I am releasing a ‘special edition’ of Paper Forests in honour of its first birthday. This edition will include new cover art, illustrations, bonus content, and has a few minor edits to make your reading experience a little more enjoyable.

So, why did I want to do this?

It started with Samantha Shannon. I saw her posting on her Instagram stories that she was revising her first novel for an anniversary edition, and it just clicked that editing books after their release was something I could do. You see, I love this book. I’m proud of this book. But I’ve learned so much about editing and formatting and interior design and books in the past year since its release, and I wanted to revisit it and make it better, partly for book awards and competitions, partly for future releases. I wanted to be free from typos that I only noticed after publication, and to update the interior to higher quality images, and to commission an artist whose work I recently fell in love with.

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Posted in Personal, Updates, Writing

New Year Writing Goals 2023

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I’ve done a version of this post idea in video form for the past two years, and I think it’s finally time to put it down in writing so I can refer back to it throughout the year. So, here are my writing goals for 2023 and a reflection on what I achieved last year in 2022!

Goals for 2021: https://youtu.be/dcRwi674GcI

Goals for 2022: https://youtu.be/dxyAU3tQyxk

Continue reading “New Year Writing Goals 2023” →