October 2016 – Page 2 – My Good Reads

‘The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily’ – Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily

My first confession-I haven’t read the first in the series, so I didn’t have any emotional investment in these characters when I picked up the book. My second confession-this is a Christmas themed book but I received an advance copy of this via NetGalley in October, so perhaps the mood wasn’t quite right.

What I could tell early on was that Lily and Dash are this ever-so-cute couple who’ve been together nearly a year, but feel like they’re losing their way as real life gets in the way. Lily is miserable as she’s dealing with her grandfather’s illness. Dash is angsty as he can see things are going not particularly well, but isn’t sure how to rectify the situation.

For chunks of the book I felt things were rather contrived. It all felt like things were trying too hard to be cool/cute/Christmas-spirited. However, there came a moment when I could feel the charm working on me.

I loved Lily’s great-aunt and her way of talking to those around her. There were some great scenes – the gingerbread making, the Santa visit, the ice-skating glitter-fest – but by the time we had the treasure hunt I was unashamedly hooked.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a sneak peek of this, a book that will thaw even the frostiest heart and which will have Lily and Dash fans raving. Now I’m going to have to go and read the first in the series!

‘The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett’ – Chelsea Sedoti

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett

Due for publication in January 2017, this book is very much about the main character of Hawthorn Creely and she is a character that you will either love or loathe.

Seventeen year old Hawthorn doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere, and she spends a lot of her time observing from the side-lines. That’s not to say she doesn’t have friends, but she doesn’t seem to really connect with them.

When Lizzie Lovett – a young woman who was in the same year of school as Hawthorn’s brother, and part of the popular crowd – goes missing, Hawthorn finds herself fascinated by what happened to her. Theories range from the sublime to the ridiculous, but the fascination with getting answers leads Hawthorn to connect with others in a way that she hasn’t up until this point.

This is not an action-packed novel, but it does allow us the opportunity to see into the mind of someone who understands what it is to be seen as a little bit different. I personally enjoyed getting to know this character, and found her gaucheness quite endearing. I found her outlook on life in a small town quite refreshing, and though the ending wasn’t quite as I hoped it would be, it allowed us to see Hawthorn in a new light.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers Sourcebooks for the advance copy in exchange for my thoughts.

‘Three Dark Crowns’ – Kendare Blake

Three Dark Crowns

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

As is natural for the first in a series, an element of world-building has to take place. Here it does mean things are quite slow to get going.

Initially, there seem to be a lot of characters introduced and a fair amount of information to keep track of. However, the evident plotting that goes into this process was fascinating to oversee.

The three sisters-Mirabella, Katherine and Arsinoe-are very different, but they all fear what is their destiny. The bond between them runs deep, and certainly explains some of their actions. I liked them all for different reasons and it is hard to feel like any one of them deserves the crown over the others.

Though this was a slow start, we soon have enough going on to really get our teeth into. As the day of reckoning draws closer I was quite surprised by some of the events that took place. I certainly found myself at the end desperately keen to see where Blake takes this in the next of the series. I can’t help but feel this is a series that will get better as it goes on.

‘The Sky is Everywhere’ – Jandy Nelson

The Sky is Everywhere

Lennie, seventeen, lives with her grandmother and uncle, and is trying to come to terms with the sudden death of her sister, Bailey, just four weeks ago. When we first meet Lennie she is stuck in her grief-bouncing around trying to make sense of how she feels but talking to no one about her feelings.

Reading the blurb I thought this would be a rather lightweight read. How wrong!

Immediately I was intrigued by the inclusion of the random words written to Bailey that are found scattered round town. These bear testimony to Lennie’s feelings, but also help us to understand the relationships between the characters.

From the start I had an uncomfortable feeling about the situation developing between Bailey’s ex, Toby, and Lennie. They were both dealing with grief in their own way, but not really addressing the key issue. This, of course, sets up a collision course for Lennie’s relationship with new boy, Joe Fontaine. This relationship was incredibly intense and, if I’m being cynical, totally exaggerated but while I was reading it I totally believed in it and wanted to watch them wring every bit of happiness out of it that they could.

Throughout, there is a focus on grief and how people survive such events but I felt this had a really life-affirming message.

‘Remember Yesterday’ – Pintip Dunn

Remember Yesterday

Having loved NYT best-selling novel ‘Forget Tomorrow’ – the first in the series – I was so excited to be asked to participate in the blog tour for Pintip Dunn’s ‘Remember Yesterday’, so thank you to publishers Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with the series, I strongly advise that you read ‘Forget Tomorrow’ first in order to understand the world in which this story is set. ‘Forget Tomorrow’ ends with Callie killing herself in an attempt to prevent what she has been told is her future. When I reached the end of ‘Forget Tomorrow’ I admit to feeling a little cheated; I wanted to know what happened next. You can only imagine my relief when I received my copy of ‘Remember Yesterday’, thinking I was finally going to get some answers.

There are answers, of sorts, though they are not immediately obvious.

The story picks up ten years later, with Jessa now sixteen and trying to adjust to life without her sister. As the most valuable citizen in Eden City Jessa is only too aware of what could happen if she allows TechRA to study her psychic abilities, so she spends her time sabotaging the experiments undertaken in the labs. In her attempt to fulfil her future, by doing what she can to prevent the creation of future memory, Jessa becomes reliant on arrogant scientist Tanner – the boy from school that she loathes.

Although events twist and turn at some rate, it is only as I got some way into the book that I could start to see just how flawlessly this was plotted. It was interesting to see things from a perspective other than the one I was expecting, and I really felt that things were drawn together well that had been somewhat left hanging in the first part of the series. There also seems to be the potential for a third in the series…

‘When Everything Feels Like the Movies’ – Raziel Reid

When Everything Feels Like the Movies

A rather curious read, and one that I was quite taken with – though I can see why it will have caused some controversy.

My feelings about this book veered from one extreme to the next as I was reading. It’s a hard book to sum up, so I won’t even try, but I will try and make sense of my reaction to it.

Jude, our narrator, reminded me of Justin from Ugly Betty on acid. Everything about him shrieked of wanting attention. He is the star of his own show, and really seems to go out of his way to be provocative. He chooses to wear dresses and make-up to school, every opportunity he gets to make sexualised comments he does and his dramatisation of his life gets a bit grating. That was my first reaction to Jude, but that would be doing him an injustice.

While I found this novel to be a little crass in its expression at times – and I am still naive enough to think that the actions of Jude and his friend Angela are not typical of many fifteen year olds – there were moments when I found myself willing Jude on.

The experience of coming out as a teenager must, at times, be fraught with issues. No matter how advanced we think our society is, the bullying and abuse that Jude experiences at school were horrific. Coupled with the scant details we got of his abusive home life, I felt a real sense of outrage that nobody seemed willing to stand up for Jude in the way I felt he deserved.

Like a number of readers, I wasn’t sure I had the stomach to read this all the way through (which is crazy as it’s such a short book). Slowly I found myself being drawn in by the prolific movie references that shed light on Jude’s character and his situation, and I wanted to see where the writer would take this.

For the first half of the book I was reading in a fairly detached way, but then details started to get under my skin. This was a book that was affecting, and not always in a good way. As the novel drew towards the end I was expecting some Carrie-like homage as Jude took revenge on the offensive idiots who carried out the most obvious hate crimes. What I got floored me. Completely. I had to reread a part of the book several times as I couldn’t believe what had happened.

The image of Jude twirling on the dance floor was one I was expecting to keep in my mind for a while. Then Reid snatched that image, screwed it up, stamped on it and totally destroyed it! A brave move…but it has left me quite stunned.

What stunned me more was when I found out that this novel is based on true events.

‘Highly Illogical Behaviour’ – John Corey Whaley

I picked this one up, not quite sure what to expect, and I think I can safely say it’s one of my favourite reads in a while.

When we first hear about Solomon it’s hard to know what to make of him. He’s sixteen and ever since the day he jumped in a fountain outside school he has not left his house. His panic attacks have led to severe agoraphobia and this is one of those conditions that is so hard to imagine. Loving the outdoors as I do, I can’t understand how things could be so bad that you shut yourself away from this experience in an attempt to keep yourself safe. The terrible effects of mental health issues not being discussed/addressed are all too evident here, and the ease with which Solomon disappears from the lives of his peers is telling.

Coming at the story from this viewpoint, I found myself quite irritated by the character of Lisa initially. A very determined young woman, Lisa resolves to befriend Solomon and ‘save’ him in order to write up her experience and get a scholarship to a psychology programme. It all feels very wrong, and I spent a lot of the first part of the novel almost hoping nothing would come of it as I was so concerned about the message this would send.

Thankfully, Whaley prevents this becoming mawkish with his portrayal of Sol who has to go down as one of the characters I would most like to know in real life. He’s all too aware of his limitations, is a complete geek with a very wicked sense of humour and shows himself to be a totally genuine character. I watched with admiration as he battles his fears while finding friendship, and even when things take a difficult turn Sol remains true to himself in a way that I felt was quite inspirational.

My response to Sol was, no doubt, helped by the character of Clark, Lisa’s boyfriend. Though he seemed to be added in as a third wheel initially, his role in the development of the story was pivotal. He, again, was a genuine character whom I came to admire tremendously. His friendship with Sol was touching, without having to be labelled in the way it seemed to be heading at one point.
In spite of my reservations about Lisa initially, she shows the capacity for development and growth that I think is so important to see. Sure she gets things wrong – horribly so – but she comes to acknowledge this and shows herself to be capable of doing what is necessary to rectify these problems.

As you can see, this was a book I thoroughly adored.

‘Follow Me Back’ – Nicci Cloke

Follow Me Back

Described as ‘Gone Girl’ for teen readers, this was never likely to be a book that I was going to really love though it’s an entertaining enough read.

‘Follow Me Back is on the Carnegie 2017 Nominations list, and the cover hints heavily at the role social media and text messages will play in the story. For this reason it surprised me that the author hadn’t insisted on the presentation of these aspects of the story being more realistic.

The story itself is quite interesting. Lizzie Summersall has gone missing, but she has left her laptop behind. She is known to have become friendly with someone online, and there are fears that she might have been groomed. The first Aidan – an old friend of Lizzie’s – hears about this is when the police arrive at his door asking him to answer some questions about Lizzie’s online activities.

We are quickly immersed in a shadowy world where nobody is quite what they seem, and we are encouraged to doubt the motivation behind everyone we might come into contact with online. At times, the story surrounding Aidan and Lizzie became rather far-fetched and felt like deliberate scaremongering. However, if it encourages just one person to rethink their on-line activity then I suppose it’s a good thing.

‘Carmilla’ – J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla

‘Carmilla’ is a short, yet strangely satisfying, novella that serves as a precursor to Gothic favourite ‘Dracula’.

In Le Fanu’s story we see the seduction of Laura, the young Englishwoman who lives in a remote scholss in Austria, by Carmilla. This strange young woman appears – seemingly out of nowhere – and is taken in by Laura’s father. Carmilla is not what she seems, and Laura is convinced she met her many years ago in a dream. Cue what have become vampiric favourites: the night-time visit; the bite; the yearning for a forbidden love; the wasting away and the sense of repressed sexuality.

While the style is rather melodramatic now, I was intrigued by Le Fanu’s attempt to explore distinctly antisocial feelings for the time in which he was writing. While I understand why he didn’t focus on the relationship between Carmilla and Laura, there was a part of me that wanted to know how that relationship would resolve itself.

‘The Darkest Part of the Forest’ – Holly Black

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Hazel and her brother Ben have always been drawn to the faerie world, and there are mysteries surrounding them that get revealed as time passes. Their hometown of Fairfold is a rather unusual place, and people there are unusually accepting of the odd things that occur.

Since they were children, Ben and Hazel have both been in love with the horned prince who sleeps in a glass coffin in the woods. His faerie past is guaranteed to cause trouble, but Hazel is convinced that she has the skills needed to stop this.
When the horned prince is released from his glass coffin it’s clear that the Alderking is determined to reclaim his own. Hazel and Ben get caught up in a series of unusual events in order to try and restore peace to their town.

This is fairly typical Holly Black fare. If you are a fan, you will find much to like about this book although I did feel that things were not always well-linked.