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‘The Weight of Blood’ – Tiffany D. Jackson

Carrie for the modern era, and what a read!

Maddy is a biracial teenager who has lived her life following the rules of her deeply religious father. She passes as white, but when she is caught in a storm during cross-country, her peers learn the truth about her identity. This shouldn’t be a big deal, but in their town it is.

The ingrained racism was tough to read about. This was a town where students were educated together, but any attempts to challenge racial stereotyping are ignored and separate events are held for teens of different backgrounds. While Maddy’s secret caused a fuss, it’s the bigger secret that she’s kept from everyone that is going to cause more of a scene.

Those familiar with Carrie will know the plot. Those who aren’t, may have to suspend their disbelief for the paranormal elements…but this was a solid retelling of a much-loved story.

 

‘Skin of the Sea’ – Natasha Bowen

Skin of the Sea is a story that grabs you from the outset, with its blend of African mythology and links to The Little Mermaid. Evocative and enchanting, with an ending that had me very relieved to have a copy of book two on hand to find out what comes next.

Our main character, Simi, is a mermaid; someone who was human but rescued on the condition that she played her role in saving the souls of the dead.

Unfortunately, her memories of her human life make it harder for her to fully accept her instructions. When she finds Kola he is injured and she cannot let him die. At risk to herself, she rescues him…and sets in motion a chain of events that could have grave repercussions.

The pair journey to his home as he needs to find his twin siblings. Along the way both are challenged and forced to think about what is important to them. We see a journey fraught with danger, and though we sense things are not going to go quite according to plan there were moments that really took me by surprise.

Though I didn’t quite predict the ending, Simi’s decision makes sense…though I hope she’ll be afforded a better deal in book two.

 

‘Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match’ – Sally Thorne

Oh, how I needed this book. The Frankenstein story, humour and a romance that you can’t help but become entranced by…all add up to a fantastic read.

Our focus is Victor and Angelika Frankenstein, orphaned at an early age, but determined to pursue their scientific endeavours. Thorne borrows heavily from the Frankenstein story, but with the addition of Angelika and a cast of characters (including Belladonna the love struck pig) this becomes – dare I say it – the story that Shelley might have told if she were writing much later.

Angelika is twenty four, passionate and unorthodox. She wants a husband, but those around her think she’s strange. So, instead of reconciling herself to a life of spinsterdom under the care of her brother, she helps him in his experiments…and makes herself her ideal man.

Fourth time lucky, Angelika and Victor manage to resurrect their experiments. Unfortunately, Victor’s creation runs away and a goodly part of the book focuses on trying to get him to return to their care. Angelika, however, is shown to be just as capable and her experiment survives, stays with her and is cared for.

Will, as he is named, enters into an unorthodox relationship for the times, but the spark between them all was wonderful. There were so many moments between these two that I couldn’t pick a favourite. Even the love triangle served to strengthen their bond. There were worries as Angelika and Will try to uncover the truth of his previous identity, but even this encouraged deeper thought about the role we play in our community and how religion serves us.

I’d started recommending this before I’d finished, and now that I have I shall be even louder in my praise. Huge thanks to the author for this, and to NetGalley for granting me access prior to publication.

 

‘The Last Graduate’ – Naomi Novak

I feel it’s fitting to have closed the pages on this instalment with only a week or two left until book three comes…because I would be going mad if I had to wait ages to find out what on earth happens after that.

El is in her final year at The Scholomance, and from the outset it seems things are being made tough for her. The school has given her more classes than anyone else, she’s being taught in rooms susceptible to attack and she quickly comes to realise that her lack of planning for the future could be problematic.

Every student knows just how hard it is to graduate. With so many students killed every year, El starts to wonder whether there might be something behind the punishing schedule. Could the school be trying to ask for help?

There’s no doubt El has power that could be very dangerous. She seems to want to use it to benefit others, and I’m curious to see if this remains the case.

Her relationship with Orion seems an distraction, and I did wonder quite what the point was. However, by the time we get to the end – and I really didn’t see that coming – it sets up a very interesting dilemma for what El does next.

So, now the clock is ticking for book three…

 

‘Belladonna’ – Adalyn Grace

Belladonna is a story which works perfectly well on its own, though I’m intrigued by the prospect of a sequel.

The story opens with us being introduced to Signa, a young girl who has the ability to see Death. Throughout her early years she finds herself in increasingly difficult situations, facing death but never being taken. Guardian after guardian dies, leaving Signa in a vulnerable position, and though people fear her we are not sure why.

When another guardian dies, Signa is taken to live with the family of an aunt. She finds herself communing with Death, and trying to investigate the death of her aunt Lillian with the help of the mysterious Sylas. Happy to finally be somewhere she feels welcomed, Signa does what she can to work out who was responsible and who might want her cousin Blythe dead.

A strange relationship between Signa and Death, and I liked the way that Signa was given the opportunity to escape some of the expectations for a young woman in her position.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to publication in exchange for my honest review, and now to find out when part two can be expected.

‘Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’ – Gabrielle Zevin

 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a book about gaming but it is also a book about friendship, and a rather unconventional love story.

Our key characters are Sadie Green and Sam Masur. Both reserved, they have a shared love of gaming. Their bond is almost obsessive, and from the moment they meet in hospital to the closing pages of the book, we see the role gaming has in their lives.

While in college they design a best-selling game…and with some help from Sam’s room-mate, Marx, game design becomes their world. A start-up created through shared passion, and though there were sections of the book where the gaming talk became a little much there was plenty to keep our interest.

While we’re immersed in the world of gaming, Zevin’s focus is also the dynamics between the key characters and the relationship shared by Sam and Sadie. Complicated, fragile and prone to over-reactions, these two seemed to have a closer relationship than most lovers. Marx’s role seemed to be to bridge the gaps between the two, and yet it seemed rather cruel to dispose of him in the way Zevin did.

This was a solid 3.5 star read for me, but I’ve rounded it up because there were some moments within the book that resonated. Of all the games mentioned within the book I’m surprised that they went with the Emily poetry one to help generate interest…

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this.

‘The Book Eaters’ – Sunyi Dean

The Book Eaters takes a fascinating premise – people who can survive by eating books, each with their own distinctive taste – and evolves it into a dark urban fantasy. We see the depths people will go to in order to protect those they love, and there’s no escaping the dangers inherent in people’s obsessive need for power over others.

Devon is a member of one of the old Book Eater families. Raised on a diet of fairy tales her life is, as she recognises, one of constraint. A princess, but one who cannot escape. Destined to be wed twice, for the sole purpose of creating and raising an heir, Devon hates how the expectations of others challenges her own primal bond.

The story opens by plunging us into a world that makes little sense. Devon is in Newcastle with her son, Cai, who needs to feed regularly to survive. No ordinary child, he needs to eat minds to live. She spends her days hunting for good people to let her son feed, and the talk of knights and dragons following them is confusing.

As the story unfolds we switch back to the past and so get the details that explain the current situation. Forced into a dangerous predicament, there’s no disguising Devon’s determination to get the best for those she loves. Necessity dictates that only one child is focused on during this time, but I like the fact that her daughter was still very much in her thoughts.

The mind-eating element of this story really was quite unpleasant. However, it was interesting to see how those who were regarded as different were treated by those in control. Challenges were made, and it clearly doesn’t offer much hope for change overnight, but I wonder whether this concept was meant to get us thinking about events/attitudes in our present.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this before publication in exchange for my honest thoughts. I haven’t made mention of it yet, but that cover is a beauty!

 

‘Nothing More to Tell’ – Karen McManus

Another McManus hit in the making, with many of the features fans will recognise and love…and definite potential for a very interesting follow-up.

This time round we’re focusing on a crime that took place some years ago. The body of Mr Will Larkin, a popular teacher at St Ambrose School, was found by three students. Popular belief is that the crime was random, but many still believe there’s more to the story than has been shared.

Our prime character is Brynn, an ex-student who has to return to the school she left four years earlier. She was friends with Tripp, one of the three students who found the body, and she is convinced that there’s more to the story. While her curiosity is understandable, she’s helped hugely here in her investigations by the fact that she has an internship at Motive, a true-crime show, and has access to police reports and details that your average teenager wouldn’t.

Much of the story focuses on Brynn’s attempts to uncover the truth. Of course, people are hiding things and the story behind Larkin’s murder is definitely not what people thought. The truth is almost crazier than anything you could dream up, but it does make sense.

Our narration is split between Brynn and Tripp. We also shift perspectives to the time of the crime, and this is well-constructed to keep us dangling. If I’m being honest, the ending felt rather rushed and the least credible of the strands we’d been given but to leave us with the teaser hinting at more to come from Brynn was a definite hit.

I’m grateful to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this prior to publication, and I can’t wait to get my hands on my pre-ordered physical copy…and to see how students react once they’ve had the chance to read it.

‘This Book Kills’ – Ravena Guron

Scheduled for release in January 2023, thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this early…a debut influenced heavily by A Good Girl’s Guide and the Truly Devious series. Great fun, and definitely one to recommend.

Jess Choudhary is a scholarship student at an elite school. She’s used to feeling on the outskirts of things, but when one of the wealthiest and most popular boys in the school is found dead things get difficult. Though it’s hushed up, his murder was carried out almost word for word like the story Jess and another student wrote for a school assignment. When Jess receives a text thanking her for the inspiration, we know things are about to become difficult.

Impeded by the stipulation that their behaviour is exemplary, neither Jess nor Summer can take the risk of stirring up too much trouble. With a secret society stirring trouble for the ‘poors’, it’s apparent that someone is exploiting the institutional issues for their own gain.

With its dark undertones of institutionalised racism, and the very apparent exploitation of status for personal gain, this gave a rather derivative book a real bite. Jess and her attempts at investigation are well-meaning but rather inept…and she comes to depend on the very people who are so keen to ostracise her just a little too much for my liking.

While this didn’t exactly offer anything new, it is still a great read. I can’t wait to see how it fares when it’s let loose on the world.

 

‘The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea’ – Axie Oh

For centuries Mina’s homeland has been ravaged by storms. Every year a young woman is sent down to the bottom of the sea in order to become wife to the Sea God in an attempt to break the cycle. Nothing works. The consequences of the storms become more severe and people are losing hope that anything can help them.

Mina’s brother is in love with Shim Cheong, and when she is due to be sacrificed Mina cannot let her brother suffer so. She throws herself to the bottom of the sea, and though she does not believe herself worthy of the title of bride, she is brave enough to try and find out what needs to be done to save her people.

What follows has a fairytale quality. The prose in this was almost simplistic, but woven together in a way that kept me quite entranced.

Mina finds herself in a new land, taking on tough challenges but trying her best to do what she needs to in order to help those she loves.

Naturally, there’s more to this but it really is a story best discovered.
Stunning.