Archive for the ‘YA’ Category

Review: Vortex – Julie Cross

March 6th, 2013 Vicky
Cover of Vortex by Julie Cross

Title: Vortex (Tempest #2)
Author: Julie Cross
Publication date: January 3, 2013
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9780230757165
Length: 434 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Age group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Synopsis

Jackson Meyer has thrown himself into his role as an agent for Tempest, the shadowy division of the CIA that handles all time-travel-related threats. Despite his heartbreak at losing the love of his life, Jackson has proved himself to be an excellent agent. However, all that changes when Holly— the girl he altered history to save — re-enters his life. And when Eyewall, an opposing division of the CIA, emerges, Jackson and his fellow agents find themselves under attack and on the run. Jackson must decide between saving the love of his life and the entire world…

My thoughts

Having read Tempest, the first book in the series, last year, I was really looking forward to reading the second installment and I’m glad to say Julie Cross didn’t disappoint. While I had some issues with the characters at the beginning of the first book, Vortex just grabbed me at the first chapter and made me keep on reading right until the end.

The story pretty much picks up where Tempest ended and since it’s been about a year since I’ve read that book, I spent the first 50 pages trying to figure out what the heck is going on. I didn’t have time to re-read the previous book but in a hindsight, I should have. So here’s tip number one for you: if you haven’t read the first book yet, do so. It’s not one of those series that can be read in any order. I did read Tempest but I was still confused at first. Which leads us to tip number two: if you’ve read the first book but you don’t remember everything (names of the EOTs and minor characters, or how this whole half-jump/complete jump theory works) then make sure to take the time to read it again because you’ll have no idea what’s going on in Vortex. I did manage to get into the story and loved everything about it but still, once I have a bit more time I’ll need to sit down and read both books again.

In terms of the plot, I think there’s less time travelling in this book than what we had in Tempest. The main focus is rather on the fight between the EOTs, Eyewall, and Tempest and the characters themselves, which I didn’t mind at all. While I wasn’t a big fan of Jackson in book #1, I absolutely loved him in Vortex. Also, there are quite a few new characters – like Lily Kendrick, Jackson’s CIA partner – as well as some people we’ve already met, like Stewart (who must be one of my favourite YA characters ever) and Jackson’s dad. Although I really missed Adam, who only plays a minor role in this book, and his conversations with Jackson but the intricate and fast-paced plot and the new characters definitely make up for it. The only character I still don’t get or managed to get used to is Holly – I still think she acts like a spoilt brat and I don’t know what Jackson saw in her.

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Posted in 5 stars, Book reviews, fantasy, Panmacmillan, YA Tags: , , 16 Comments »

Review: All the Little Animals – Walker Hamilton

February 19th, 2013 Vicky
Cover of All the Little Animals by Walker Hamilton

Title: All the Little Animals
Author: Walker Hamilton
Publication date: September 17, 2012
Publisher: Freight Books
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-9566135-6-1
Length: 144 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Age group: Adult / Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Synopsis

A beguiling, unsettling and ultimately moving modern fable set on the byways of rural Cornwall; a story about running away, the search for acceptance and burying road-kill.

Bobby is a 31 year old man with the mind of a small, frightened boy. He has run away from his privileged but abusive London home to rural Cornwall. Through an accident of fate he meets Mr Summers, a man with a terrible secret who, in atonement, has dedicated his life to burying all the little animals. Together they embark on a bizarre mission, and a savage act of revenge.

My thoughts

With only 144 pages All the Little Animals is a relatively short read which can easily be read in just a few hours, and one which I, once I picked it up, didn’t want to put down. The book doesn’t have a complicated plot and is most definitely not a white-knuckle ride that will keep you guessing till the end but it doesn’t have to be one in order to be memorable. The appeal of this novel lies not with its complexity but with all those emotions that are packed into such a tiny book.

Bobby is a 31-year-old man who, as a result of being involved in a car accident in his childhood, is trapped in the body and mind of a young boy. Bobby lives with his mother, the owner of a local department store, until she marries a man Bobby calls ‘The Fat’ and her health begins to deteriorate due to an abusive marriage and eventually dies. He, then, is forced to live with ‘The Fat’ and put up with verbal and physical abuse on a daily basis. When ‘The Fat’ kills his last remaining friend – a mouse called Peter – he decides to leave. Somewhere along the way he meets Mr Summers, a mysterious  – and as it turns out rather peculiar – little man. According to Mr Summers, who detests everything about the world we live in today, his job is to find and bury all the little animals that were run over by cars or lorries. He says “people can bury each other but the animals have to be helped. Not just rabbits and rats, but all the little animals. Other men kill them and I bury them”. Soon this eccentric man becomes Bobby’s teacher, his guardian and only friend and the one who eventually helps him overcome his traumas, let go of his fears and become free.

As I said, the plot might not be a complicated one but Bobby’s personality and his friendship with Mr Summers definitely makes up for it. The simplicity and childlike innocence that characterises Bobby’s narrative is both charming and heart-warming. His relationship with the old man and the way he talks about him and their adventures brought tears to my eyes quite a few times and is something I’m not going to forget anytime soon.

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Posted in 4 stars, Book reviews, Contemporary, YA Tags: , 12 Comments »

Review: Hysteria – Megan Miranda

February 14th, 2013 Vicky
Cover of Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Title: Hysteria
Author: Megan Miranda
Publication date: February 14, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Format: Ebook
ASIN: B009IRLD5C
Length: 353 pages
Genre: Mystery
Age group: Young Adult
Source: Netgalley
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Synopsis

Mallory’s life is falling apart. Her boyfriend was stabbed. He bled to death in her kitchen. Mallory was the one who stabbed him. But she can’t remember what happened that night. She only remembers the fear . . .

When Mallory’s parents send her away to a boarding school, she thinks she can escape the gossip and the threats. But someone, or something, has followed her. There’s the hand that touches her shoulder when she’s drifting off to sleep. A voice whispering her name. And everyone knows what happened. So when a pupil is found dead, Mallory’s name is on their lips. Her past can be forgotten but it’s never gone. Can Mallory live with that?

My thoughts

I read Fracture, Megan Miranda’s debut this time last year and fell in love with her writing instantly. The plot was fast-paced, the characters relatable and there literally wasn’t one dull moment in the story. So when I first saw that the author had a new book coming out this year, I knew I was in for a treat.

If I had to pick one thing I love about Miranda’s books it would definitely be her ability to grab my attention right away, right at the very beginning. Three sentences in and I’m already hooked – and not everyone can do that. Her ability to create suspense and keep you in the dark until the very end is definitely one of the reasons why I enjoy her books so much and why I’ll keep reading them in the future. And this is exactly how I felt about Hysteria.

It was really creepy. I loved the fact that it’s impossible to tell whether what the main character goes through – the dead boy’s mum following her wherever she goes, a mysterious hand pressing down on her shoulder when she goes to sleep and the red fingerprints and bleeding blisters on her skin the next day -  is only her imagination or if it’s reality. I was prepared for the worst – when Mallory leaves for the boarding school and needs to spend her nights in a dorm room totally alone I was convinced someone would try to kill her. I kept thinking what on earth might have happened to make Mallory kill this guy and the way Miranda describes the terror she’s felt everyday since the murder is great. The way the author works with flashbacks and how Mallory’s past is embedded into the present story worked really well as well and I think it was perfect for the book.

My only problem with this novel is that I just can’t not compare it to the author’s previous book. While Miranda’s writing style is brilliant and equally captivating in both stories and I found her characters relatable and realistic in both of her books, I just didn’t find Hysteria as fast-paced as Fracture and when it all came to an end, it fell a bit flat for me. I think I  was waiting for a heart-pounding showdown or some huge, dark secret and when it didn’t happen, I felt a bit let down. Just a tiny bit. I kept thinking ‘that’s it?‘. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book. But if I had to pick between Fracture and this story, Fracture would win by a mile.

Having said that, did I enjoy the book? Immensely. Did the author manage to hold my attention and make me keep on reading? Absolutely. Will I pick up her next book? Without a doubt. Hysteria is a great story by a wonderfully talented author whose writing style is definitely one of my favourites among young adult novelists. If you like mysteries and young adult fiction (and the combination of the two), Miranda’s work is a good place to start.

Teaser

“My mother hid the knife block. In hindsight, that was the first sign. And then, two nights ago, she locked her bedroom door. It had to be subconscious, but still, I didn’t want to think too hard about what she was secretly thinking. I guess that was the second sign. And now there was a suitcase on my bed. Which wasn’t really a sign at all. It was the actual event.”


Rating:
4,5 stars
*Many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of this book*
Posted in 4 stars, Book reviews, mystery, Netgalley, YA Tags: , 37 Comments »

Review: Survive – Alex Morel

January 17th, 2013 Vicky
Cover of Survive by Alex Morel

Title: Survive
Author: Alex Morel
Publication date: August 2, 2012
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin Books)
Format: Ebook
ASIN: B006CU9XRI
Length: 273 pages
Genre: Adventure
Age group: Young Adult
Source: Purchased
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Synopsis

Jane is on a plane on her way home to Montclair, New Jersey, from a mental hospital. She is about to kill herself. Just before she can swallow a lethal dose of pills, the plane hits turbulence and everything goes black. Jane wakes up amidst piles of wreckage and charred bodies on a snowy mountaintop. There is only one other survivor: a boy named Paul, who inspires Jane to want to fight for her life for the first time.

Jane and Paul scale icy slopes and huddle together for warmth at night, forging an intense emotional bond. But the wilderness is a vast and lethal force, and only one of them will survive.

My thoughts

I don’t know what it is about plane crash/survival stories that fascinates me but I’ve always loved these types of books. Judging by the synopsis, Survive sounded just like my cup of tea but it turned out to be even better than what I expected. There are actually no words to describe how much I enjoyed reading this book, other than… oh my goodness.

In terms of the plot itself, it’s not the most mysterious story you’ll ever read. Basically, a girl called Jane Solis, who’s been living in a mental hospital for the past 12 months or so, is on her way back home for the Christmas holidays – the problem is, she doesn’t intend to leave the plane alive. She carefully planned her own death down to the tiniest details – but things don’t go her way. Just when she’s about to hit the switch and swallow a handful of pills, the  plane hits turbulence and crashes. They landed on a snowy mountaintop in the middle of nowhere and no one seems to be alive but her. Jane, who was about to take her own life a few hours ago. Then he finds a guy called Paul and as much as they irritate each other at first, they join forces and try to figure out how to stay alive and get out of there as soon as possible. Since most of these are given in the synopsis, things don’t take you by surprise – but still, there was something about this book that made me keep on reading. I’m quite a slow reader but I devoured the first half of the book in one sitting. I think that says it all.

One of the things I loved the most about Survive is how much Jane changed during those 6 or 7 days they’ve spent on the mountain. She’s definitely come a long way from being a suicide, someone who’s constantly angry, anxious and just bored with her own life. I also loved how her relationship with Paul has changed during their adventure and how they kept motivating each other to go on and fight. I pretty much sobbed my way through the last 40 or 50 pages – it was beautifully written.

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Posted in 5 stars, Action/adventure, Book reviews, Penguin Books, Razorbill, YA Tags: , 16 Comments »

Review: League of Strays – L.B. Schulman

October 2nd, 2012 Vicky
Cover of League of Strays by L.B. Schulman

Title: League of Strays
Author: L.B. Schulman
Publication date: October 1, 2012
Publisher: Amulet Books
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0403-1
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Mystery
Age group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Synopsis

This suspenseful debut follows a group of teenage misfits in their delicious quest for revenge on those who have wronged them at their high school. When a mysterious note appears in Charlotte’s mailbox inviting her to join the League of Strays, she’s hopeful it will lead to making friends. What she discovers is a motley crew of loners and an alluring, manipulative ringleader named Kade. Kade convinces the group that they need one another both for friendship and to get back at the classmates and teachers who have betrayed them. But Kade has a bigger agenda. In addition to vandalizing their school and causing fights between other students, Kade’s real intention is a dangerous plot that will threaten lives and force Charlotte to choose between her loyalty to the League and her own conscience.

My thoughts

League of Strays has been quite a roller coaster ride for me. Even though the plot intrigued me from the very beginning and it was very mysterious from start to finish, it took me a while to get into the story. I couldn’t really relate to the main characters at first and something was missing, something I couldn’t really put my finger on. But then it all changed and I read the second half of the book in one sitting, gripping the book with white knuckles, not having a clue what was about to happen. League of Strays turned out to be a fascinating and suspenseful novel with a thought-provoking message and I fell in love with it.

I think the reason why it took me a while to get into the story was the fact that everything happened so suddenly. There’s no introduction, or any kind of reference to who these characters are – the very first time we meet them is when they first meet up with a group of strangers, also known as the League of Strays. We know very little about them and they know nothing about each other either, which is what I didn’t really like in the few chapters. I would have liked to get to know them a little bit better, or find out what they have been through in the past few years before they joined the league. But – and here comes the important bit – other than that, I loved everything else about it.

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Posted in 5 stars, Book reviews, mystery, YA Tags: , 20 Comments »

Review: How to Save a Life – Sara Zarr

September 13th, 2012 Vicky
Cover of How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Title: How to Save a Life
Author: Sara Zarr
Publication date: September 1, 2012
Publisher: Usborne
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-4095-4675-7
Length: 412 pages
Genre: Contemporary
Age group: Young Adult
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Synopsis

Everyone knows how to live, be who they are, find their place. But I’m still waiting.

Jill’s life lost all meaning when her dad died. Friend, boyfriend, college – nothing matters any more. Then her mother drops a bombshell. She’s going to adopt a baby. Mandy is desperate for her life to change. Seventeen, pregnant and leaving home, she is sure of only one thing – her baby must never have a life like hers, whatever it takes.

Heart-achingly beautiful, How to Save a Life is about finding love, truth and your place in the world… all where you least expect it.

My thoughts

How to Save a Life was the first book I’ve read by Sara Zarr and I have to say, I’m really impressed.  Contemporary fiction is one of my favourite genres but at the same time, books like this can be quite tricky. Books dealing with the loss of a loved one can quite easily turn into something very cheesy and over-the-top. However, it’s definitely not the case with How to Save a Life. Not only is Zarr’s book frighteningly real, its concept is very unique and I love the message it conveys.

The book tells the story of two seventeen year-old girls with two completely different backgrounds. Mandy grew up in a single-parent family by her alcoholic mother – she dropped out of high school, never really had friends or a loving family. She’s desperately trying to get away from her old life and start it all over again, to build a better future for herself and the baby but doesn’t know how. And we have Jill, only child to a well-to-do mother, who has just lost her father in an accident and who’s been trying to go back to her old self ever since, without success. I didn’t really manage to connect to either of them at first: I found Mandy quite naive and ‘away with the fairies’, and Jill very rude and full of herself, but they both grew on me soon enough. And I loved the contrast between the two of them: the fact that apart from the baby, Mandy has nothing or no one else – not even a proper, loving family or a better future to look forward to, while Jill has a loving mum and friends she could count on and all she does is drive them away and completely alienate herself.

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Posted in 5 stars, Book reviews, Contemporary, Usborne, YA Tags: , , 20 Comments »

Review: Billy Elliot – Melvin Burgess

September 7th, 2012 Vicky
Cover of Billy Elliot by Melvin Burgess

Title: Billy Elliot
Author: Melvin Burgess
Publication date: 2 April, 2001
Publisher: Chicken House
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-90343-433-8
Length: 155 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Age group: Young Adult
Source: Purchased
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon US | Amazon UK | The Book Depository

Synopsis

Set in northern England during the 1984 miners’ strike, Billy Elliot tells the story of a young working class boy who chooses not to follow his widowed father’s instructions to train to be a boxer. Instead, fascinated by the ballet class sharing the same building as his gym, Billy hangs up his gloves to pursue dreams of being a dancer. But even as he discovers his virtuoso gift for ballet he must hide his triumph from his father and brother – both miners on strike struggling to keep food on the table.

Based on the original screenplay by Lee Hall, this novel by award-winning teen author Melvin Burgess has captured the spirit of the original film and the now sell-out musical.

My thoughts

The reason why I picked up this book is that Billy Elliot is one of my all time favourite films and I was really intrigued by the fact that it’s been released as a novel. Since it’s related to my thesis work I’ll have to start working on in the next few weeks and it’s been a while since I’ve seen the film, I decided to combine work with pleasure and read Melvin Burgess’s novel. To be honest, I found Billy’s narration quite strange at first and I thought it wouldn’t live up to my expectations after all – but I couldn’t be further from the truth. Burgess’s novel is just as good, if not better, than the film and I was in tears all the way to the end.

What I loved about it the most is the fact that it’s narrated by several different people. Most of the time it’s Billy who’s speaking but there are chapters that are told by either Billy’s father, brother, or his friend Michael. I loved the contrast between these chapters, especially those of the father’s and his two children. The way we see things from a twelve-year-old’s point of view at first and then from an adult’s is just brilliant. Billy’s father was definitely my favourite character and I really enjoyed reading the story from his perspective as well. It was actually one of the reasons why I eventually found the book even more touching than the film. The way he describes what he feels about his wife, how poverty-stricken they are and how he can’t do anything to build a better future for his sons, how he’s ready to sacrifice himself and give up everything just to make at least one of their dreams come true is very touching.

(more…)

Posted in 5 stars, Book reviews, Chicken House, Contemporary, YA Tags: , 9 Comments »
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