How to get A*AA in A2 humanities?

I'm studying AQA English Literature, OCR Geography and EdExcel History.

The past two years have been crazy for me, last year my brother got cancer and I couldn't do my exams and had to retake year 12. Due to this my (only) AS exams this year resulted in shite grades; B in Human Geography and below a C for physical.

Now I'm going into year 13 and my family life has 'calmed down' and I'm ready to get back to studying. Now my parents have kinda high standards and think if I work smart I can get into somewhere crazy like Cambridge or Bristol. But they want A*AA and my predicted grades are nowhere near that...(also is there any point in putting Cambridge and Bristol on my UCAS list, as I know they wouldn't consider me for an offer?)

So I'm aiming higher than I'm predicted as I know if I put my head down I can get an A...in Geography however I'm not sure about History or English Lit.

Can anybody give me tips for these subjects?

I know everyone says revise and do practise papers, but humanities are different to science subjects as they're more essay based. And because I've not been able to put proper time into my studies my grades have suffered and basically my essays are ****.

Please help me guys. Thank you if you read my depressingly long post