Category: Romance

‘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!

‘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.

‘Paper Towns’ – John Green

Paper Towns

Quentin Jacobsen has spent most of his life in love with his next-door neighbour, Margo Roth Spiegelman. When she enters his room one night and asks for his help in taking revenge on her cheating boyfriend, Quentin gets caught up in an amusing – though not necessarily legal – evening of causing chaos. He takes this as the step forward in the relationship between them.

When he arrives in school he learns, along with the rest of the school community, that Margo has disappeared. Nobody knows where she has gone, but Quentin is convinced that the random clues that he stumbles across have been left for him in order to help him track down Margo.

While I found Quentin and his friends witty and entertaining, I couldn’t really see the appeal of Margo. It was the idea of Margo that Quentin had constructed that appealed to him. For me I felt there was something a little formulaic about the novel, but I know it’s going to appeal to Green fans.

‘The Square Root of Summer’ – Harriet Reuter Hapgood

The Square Root of Summer

Gottie H. Oppenheimer has felt things haven’t been the same since the death of her beloved grandfather, Grey, but when time literally starts to disappear she starts to wonder what is going on.

The explanation we are given is that wormholes have opened up and are transporting Gottie to her past. I won’t pretend to admit I understood even half of the ideas in this, but I found it was an interesting frame on which to hang the story.

I did find that I was intrigued by the love story, but I thought the focus on showing Gottie coming to terms with the loss of her grandfather was touching.

‘Twenty Boy Summer’ – Sarah Ockler

Twenty Boy Summer

This was the kind of book that I would have adored as a teenager; as an adult, I found myself feeling quite wistful as I read this.

Frankie comes up with a crazy plan for the summer vacation that she is going on with her best friend Anna – they have to talk to a new boy every day in an attempt to get Anna her summer fling. Anna agrees to the plan, though she doesn’t reveal to Frankie just how painful the experience will be.

Anna has always been part of a triangle with her best friend Frankie, and Frankie’s brother, Matt. The three were always inseparable, until the night their car crashes and Matt is killed.

This kind of experience would be upsetting enough for anyone, but it happened only weeks after Matt had finally declared his love for Anna. They had a perfect few weeks and were about to reveal their shifting relationship status when the accident happened. Anna hasn’t told anyone what happened between them, so she is left to grieve alone.

If I’m being honest, this could have been a really depressing story but it wasn’t at all. There was a definite sense of waiting for the inevitable secrets to spill out, but it was fairly light-hearted fun. I enjoyed watching Anna come to terms with her feelings and learn how she might come to accept what happened to her.

 

‘The Movie Version’ – Emma Wunsch

The Movie Version

Due for publication in October 2016, I thank publishers Amulet and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Described as ‘a whip-smart, heart-wrenching debut YA novel about first love, first loss, and filmmaking’ this strikes me as the kind of novel that will divide opinion.

In ‘The Movie Version’ we are introduced to Amelia and her family. She is obsessed with movies, and in her life elder brother Toby is the archetypal star. Everything revolves around her popular, smart brother and Amelia seems to accept her role as ‘second-best’ without question.

After returning from a summer away working, Amelia can’t help but notice that her brother has changed. He’s always been a little erratic, but Amelia is concerned by his outbursts and lack of personal hygiene. Initially she puts Toby’s changed behaviour down to a summer of smoking pot – and she covers for his slip-ups without question, because that’s what she’s always done – but when he is found in a state of extreme anxiety it is clear that something is not right.

Slowly it becomes clear that Toby is actually suffering with schizophrenia. His illness impacts on family life in ways that they cannot imagine, and it is all too apparent that Amelia has hidden behind her brother for so long that she has not really pushed herself to develop personally.

Initially I found the constant film referencing a little self-congratulatory, but I know this will appeal to some readers. Amelia veered between sensitivity towards her brother and genuinely offensive – perhaps this is realistic, but I wonder if her attitude will make it harder for some readers to really empathise with her.

‘Forget Tomorrow’ – Pintip Dunn

Forget Tomorrow

In this futuristic society once a person gets to their seventeenth birthday they are sent a vision – a memory sent from their future self, which is then used to help people make decisions in their present life. The context of the memory is not given, but it forms a crucial role in shaping the treatment someone receives from that point forwards.

Unfortunately, in Callie’s vision she sees herself murder her sister, Jessamine, and she is then imprisoned. With the help of family friend Logan, who is the somewhat inevitable love interest, Callie escapes and so begins the frantic race to change the course of the future.

As I was reading I was reminded of any number of science-fiction novels/films, but the story was just different enough to keep me interested. The interaction between the characters was interesting, but the thing that really got me curious to read the next instalment in the series was the ending. I did not see that coming!

Thank you to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in advance of publication.

‘Holding Up the Universe’ – Jennifer Niven

Holding Up the Universe

Being dubbed ‘America’s Fattest Teen’ means that everyone knows Libby Strout’s name. But they don’t know her, and have never tried to look beyond the surface. She will always be remembered by some as the girl who had to be airlifted out of her home as she’d got too big to leave.

When we first meet Libby she is about to start High School and she describes herself as attempting to rejoin the human race. This view has been criticised by a number of readers as Niven being anti-obesity, which strikes me as more than a little naïve. Libby’s comments seem to stem from her desire to accept who she is and how she manages her emotional state over her mother’s death. She has got used to coping alone, but now recognises that she needs other people and has to learn to lean on others for support.

Another character who is used to people viewing him in a certain light is Jack Masselin. From the outset of the novel we are told that he has a condition that means he doesn’t recognise faces. This is useful because, initially, he does not come across favourably. However, as he spends time with Libby we see he has a level of self-awareness that tempers the less appealing aspects of his personality, and I liked the fact that he forms quite a close bond with Libby.

Some of the events in the novel were a little unrealistic, or at least the characters’ reactions to them were, but it was an interesting read. There were some great moments between the two main characters, and I particularly liked the supporting characters.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my thoughts, and I hope that people don’t get put off reading this because of the comments made by some reviewers.

‘Dangerous Lies’ – Becca Fitzpatrick

Dangerous Lies

‘Dangerous Lies’ really did feel like a book of two halves.

The story begins immediately after Estella has witnessed a brutal murder, carried out by a dangerous man (her addict mother’s dealer) that the Feds want to put away. So Estella and her mother are enrolled under the witness protection program and everything changes.

The opening of the book presented seventeen year old Estella at her most awful. She sounds like she’s has a pretty tough time and got used to coping alone, but her unwillingness to let those around her do their job was frustrating. She began by whining about what a hardship leaving her boyfriend is and complaining about the middle-of-nowhere town she’s been sent to, so there really isn’t much to like about her. In fact, Fitzpatrick almost goes out of her way to make the main character as unlikeable as possible.

However, Estella – for her safety now known as Stella – does not keep up the brat-act. Slowly, she finds people that matter to her and learns to behave more like a young adult. There is a gradual self-realisation that takes place, and the relationship that develops between her and Carmina is nicely presented.

While the romance between Chet and Stella is obvious, it doesn’t stop you as a reader wanting it to happen. Inevitably, the romance takes up a fair amount of time, but it is when we get towards the second half of the novel and the ‘thriller’ element that this becomes a much better read.

Sensing the net drawing in, and then learning the truth about Stella’s past, did take me by surprise a little. The resolution was a bit feel-good but it did move away from the bleakness that had settled in.