Category: Contemporary

‘Now Entering Addamsville’ – Francesca Zappia

Zora Novak is not the most likeable of characters. She is surly and definitely has a chip on her shoulder – but as we learn more about her, it’s easier to understand her.

One thing we are told very early on is that Zora is being framed.

We know that when the home of the local janitor burns down, Zora was the last to see him. He was telling her off – and in Addamsville that is reason enough to suspect Zora of wanting to burn his home down. This is, in part, because of events of a few years earlier which we learn about during the course of the novel.

Without giving away too many details, it’s important that we know Zora has a special skill. She can see the dead, and is (like her mother) responsible for keeping her town free of the entities they call firestarters. Unfortunately, her mother disappeared five years ago and since then Zora has been trying to keep her town safe without really knowing what she’s doing.

As if these events weren’t bad enough, a team of investigative journalists hunting ghosts have come to Addamsville determined to get a scoop. This seems a rather unnecessary plot side-line, but stick with it. It all matters.

Initially I was drawn to this having enjoyed Eliza and her Monsters. This is quite different, and it did take me a while to really start linking ideas/events. Personally, I’d have liked to see a little more focus on the paranormal elements of this. I’ve also got so many questions about her mother, Bach and just what on earth is going on with the town of Addamsville.

 

’10 Blind Dates’ – Ashley Elston

 

Very different from the other Ashley Elston I’d read, but I was in the mood for feel-good predictable seasonal fare and this was spot-on.

When she’s left at home as her parents are visiting her sister (in the latter stages of pregnancy and quite ill) Sophie has a great plan to spend some time with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, when she arrives at a mutual friend’s party (which should have been the first clue as he knows she’s home alone) she overheard him telling a friend he wants to break up. Ouch!

So Sophie drives to her grandma’s where she is immediately fallen upon by her crazy warm-hearted family. They decide to brighten up her Christmas by making her go on ten blind dates.

Yes, this is totally predictable (there’s an inevitable romance and the dates are a mixed bag) and will probably irritate and amuse in equal measures. However, it was just what was needed today…and it will make a perfect Sunday afternoon movie.

‘When the Dead Come Calling’ – Helen Sedgwick

When the Dead Come Calling is an intriguing read, like no crime novel I’ve read before, and I’m grateful to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication in March 2020.
Set in the northern coastal town of Burrowhead, we get to see a dark underbelly to a seemingly rural idyll. Secrets abound, and there’s a small-town mentality to the characters in this that is both understandable but also scary.
The style is unusual for a crime novel, and may not be to everyone’s tastes.
At the start of the novel we learn of the discovery of a body in the local playground. It is that of a local doctor. His body is discovered by a local police officer, who also happens to be his boyfriend. A note is discovered near his body suggesting that racism could be a factor in this crime.
As I imagine to be common in a police case, details are not immediately forthcoming. We spend what seems like a lot of time trying to work out what is going on, and when another body is discovered to try and establish the links.
What struck me most while reading was that everyone seemed to be harbouring some kind of secret. I don’t want to give away details that affect the reading, but this is definitely a read that becomes more engaging as we learn more about those involved.
Throughout the story I was struck by the references to the past of the village, and the beliefs that seemed to shape the attitudes of those currently living there. I am still unclear as to how some of the references to the Others are linked, but I understand this is the first in a series so we may get answers further in the future.

‘And the Stars Were Burning Brightly’ – Danielle Jawando

 

Beautiful.

Set against a backdrop that many find less than pleasant, this story covers so many emotional highs and lows…and forces us to confront some pretty unpalatable truths about people.

Our main focus is Nathan, the younger brother of Al. Al was a straight A-grade student who killed himself. Nathan found him. Nathan is also having to come to terms with the guilt he feels over ignoring a call from his brother on the night he hung himself.

Alongside Nathan we have Megan, a friend of Al that few people knew about. They shared an Art class. They were close, but Megan didn’t feel able to go against her ‘cool’ friends and show Al that their friendship was important to her.

There’s no doubt this story just as I’ve recounted it would have made for a tough read. However, as Megan and Nathan become friends and start to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding Al’s last moments things move up a gear.

This book made me sad, so sad. It made me angry, unbelievably angry. But it also filled me with hope.

Thank you so much to Danielle Jawando for using her own personal situation to bring to life such a compelling read, and to NetGalley for letting me read it prior to publication (expected in March 2020).

 

‘Follow Me, Like Me’ – Charlotte Seager

 

A timely reminder that what we do online has consequences in the real world, and a rather terrifying warning to watch what you post and who you ‘friend’ as an online profile might not tell you the full story.

Our story focuses on two perspectives. First, there’s popular teen, Chloe, who accepts a message from someone online and then finds herself with a ‘friend’ she’s never met whose behaviour causes a lot of discomfort. Second, there’s social misfit Amber who yearns for popularity and whose obsession with a personal trainer at her gym soon gets her into a situation that she wasn’t expecting.

The story is quite straightforward, and both girls are involved (to some degree) with the same character.

If I’m being honest, I felt the attitude of the friends, school and police were not wholly accurately presented. Given the concerns about this topic, the attitudes felt a little behind the times.

The story itself was quite obvious, but it did offer some opportunity to get under the skin of some characters you may or may not empathise with.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this in exchange for my review.

‘Foul is Fair’ – Hannah Capin

With its focus on murder and a quest for power, Macbeth is an easy story to tap into. The determination to have sway over others, and the corrupting influence it has on you, is a feeling so many can understand – even if they wouldn’t act on it. While the supernatural element of the witches is a harder thing to transpose to the modern day, the influence these characters have is something we can fear.
With Capin’s ‘Foul is Fair’ we are brought straight into the modern era and given some very topical scenarios to wrestle with.

Our main character, Elle, starts the book heading out with her close group of friends to a party held by a student at a local school. The night of the party sets in motion a rapidly darkening series of events, that we just know is going to end badly. On the night of the party Elle is drugged and assaulted by a group of students. Their leader, Duncan, is the main person she blames but each and every one involved in the attack does – in Elle’s eyes – deserve to pay for their actions.

Intent on revenge, Elle enlists her friends (the coven) to research this group and find a way in. She enrols in St Andrews ( her parents’ willingness to transfer her to the school attended by the attackers is one of the main issues with this) and begins her campaign to bring down those responsible for her attack.

Elle picks out Mack, the boy who knew enough but wasn’t involved, to be the one to help her gain what she wants. She seems to fall for him, but it was clear he didn’t stand a chance. Elle wants payback, and the way she goes about it is ruthless and – maybe – just a little bit admirable.

This is graphic. Capin spares nothing and we see the demise of the group members in full glorious technicolour. While I didn’t like this, I definitely felt I was encouraged to sympathise with Elle and look beyond the callousness of her vendetta.

I’m grateful to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication, and I can’t wait to see how students who are studying Macbeth react to this once it’s out.

‘With the Fire on High’ – Elizabeth Acevedo

Emoni is a character that you can’t help but admire, root for and sit back with a huge grin on your face for how things work out for her.

A teen mum, she’s used to working hard and making sacrifices that so many of her peers wouldn’t even consider. Heading into her senior year she’s worried about how things are changing and what this will mean for her and her daughter. When she gets the chance to take a new course – a cooking elective – it sets up things she couldn’t expect.

Alongside the potential for studying something she loves, there’s a new boy in school who seems determined to show Emoni that not everyone assumes things about her because she has a child. Though the romance was quite a large part of this, it was part of a much bigger picture and this kept it interesting.

Emoni has a passion for food. The way she talks about food and the relationship she has with it was so intimate that it was hard not to fall a little in love. Even though the events may have been quite fortuitous I didn’t begrudge anything – from the off I wanted the happy ending, or at least the opportunity for it to be so.

I can’t wait to see what Acevedo comes up with next.

‘We Are Not Okay’ – Natália Gomes

This story by Nataliá Gomes is of the moment, and it certainly delivers a clear message to teen readers.

We focus on four teenage girls: Lucy, Ulana, Trina and Sophia. Though they are all the same age, they have very different experiences and lives. However, each has a secret that they want nobody to know about, and they’ll do anything to ensure it stays secret.

Of the four girls I felt a lot of sympathy for Trina. She has a lot of people talking about her, and ends up in a situation over which she has no control. As a result she makes some difficult decisions which have pretty extreme consequences. Ulana faced a very real fear, but a lot of it seemed to be about her doubting herself and her family. Ultimately, things worked out okay (or at least looked as if they would). Sophia gets caught up in something that, increasingly, seems to be felt to be a normalised experience – and we see her just how damaging it can be. Lucy was the character I found it hardest to empathise with because so much of her story revolved around situations she had instigated. You don’t wish harm on anyone, and the way the others interacted with her did give a positive message eventually.

There was a lot happening here. It seemed as if most topical scenarios were explored here, and not all were given quite as much detail/exploration as they might have been. I felt one such incident (concerning Sophie) seemed to come out of nowhere and I had to reread a section wondering if I’d missed something.

Ultimately this was a book that made me very very relieved to not be a teenager of the social media generation, and determined to try to encourage people of this age to be as open as possible about their experiences. Everyone plays their part in this bullying culture, and the sooner we take responsibility for it the better.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ Young Adult for allowing me access to this prior to publication.

 

‘The Sky is Mine’ – Amy Beashel

Due for release in February 2020, I’m pretty convinced that this will be a hit read.

Plunged straight into the life of our main character, Izzy, it takes a while to establish quite what’s going on. We see Izzy get drunk at a party and she is threatened by someone in her college who vows to send round an embarrassing picture from the party unless she does what he asks her to. There’s no doubt that Izzy would be perfectly in her right to ignore this and call him out – but we see how insidious such attitudes are, when even his mates try to justify his behaviour by calling it ‘banter’. As a parent this horrified me, and I am really scared that anyone could ever think such behaviour is okay.

Izzy finds herself in a difficult situation. She fears just what this boy could do, so she goes to his house. He rapes her – no matter what name he gives it – and continues to try and threaten her into doing what he wants her to through her fear of what others will say.

Izzy says nothing. This is totally believable – however much you wish it weren’t. Against the backdrop of Izzy’s home-life it becomes even more relatable. She sees her once vibrant mother as a shell of herself. Her step-father controls everything and we are, slowly, given details that chronicle a horribly abusive relationship.
Eventually Izzy’s mother leaves, and Izzy gets the opportunity to reflect on her experiences and how to move on from them. Some elements of this are easier than others.

There was a lot packed into this read, but I am sure it will strike a chord – in some way – with many readers. Though elements of the story felt resolved far too easily, there were some positive outcomes that did inspire hope.

This is just another example of why NetGalley is such a great thing – getting to see new books before publication.

 

‘How Not to Disappear’ – Claire Furniss

Our memories make us who we are. So, what does this mean when we start to lose our memories?

This story focuses on two characters-Hattie and Gloria. They have never met, but find each other at just the moment that each needs the other. Worlds apart in many ways, yet there are striking similarities between them.

This is a great coming-of-age story that also encourages its readers to empathise with the other characters encountered (even if from a distance).

Hattie is pregnant by her best friend, Reuben. He’s disappeared to France while her other friend, Kat, has gone to Scotland with a new girlfriend. When Hattie is contacted about an elderly relative in the grip of early onset dementia she decides to visit her.

What follows is a road trip with a difference as Hattie takes Gloria on a trip back through time.

Told with unflinching honesty this is a moving exploration of family, memories and learning to accept the decisions you make.