Category: Young Adult

‘Boy2Girl’ – Terence Blacker

Firstly, this was not the book I expected. It wasn’t bad, but nor was it quite the exploration of gender/identity that I was expecting. This clash between what you might think you’re getting and what’s there could lead to a lot of disappointed readers.

Matt has a fairly safe life. Nothing much happens, then things are shaken up when his mum is given custody of her nephew, Sam, after the death of his mother. Sam is prickly, tough, but clearly deeply upset by the absence of his father. Naturally, perhaps, this is covered up with a kind of machismo, which just irritates Matt and his friends. So they decide to set Sam a challenge – one that will have serious consequences. Sam has to spend his first week at school as a girl.
Can’t see many 12 year old boys doing this, but Sam does. Of course it creates confusion, some humorous situations and a fair amount of chaos.

While there were attempts to explore issues around identity, it was itself upholding some of the sexist views it pertained to challenge. It also took some time to adjust to the different voices within the novel.

All in all this was reasonably funny, but it isn’t a guaranteed laugh out lead read (whatever it says on the cover).

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my review.

‘Moonrise’ – Sarah Crossan

‘They think I hurt someone.
But I didn’t. You hear?
Coz people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.’

Sometimes the simplest story is the most heart-breaking.

Joe, our narrator, is 17 and on his way to Texas to visit his brother, Ed. They’ve not seen each other for years, but after confessing to killing a police officer – and spending years on Death Row – Ed is about to be killed.

Joe is dealing with things that nobody his age should have to face alone. How do you say goodbye to someone you never really knew? How do you prepare someone for their death, when you are fairly sure they don’t deserve it?

The style is clear and you might even say terse at times. A lot is left unsaid, but it’s a powerful story. Another hard-hitting one, that made me cry.

Thank you NetGalley for this one.

‘Fix Me’ – Lisa M. Cronkhite

Pen is, to put it bluntly, a mess. Since her sister committed suicide a year ago, Pen has done everything she can to avoid dealing with her feelings about it. She and her friend Rose have spent the last year experimenting with Fix, a once legal anti-depressant that has become the go-to drug since it produces intense hallucinations.

When we first meet Pen she is high. She spends most of her time high, getting into more dangerous situations. While she recognises that she is playing a dangerous game, Pen is addicted to Nate – the ‘imaginary’ guy she sees during her highs.

Initially this seemed like an odd read. Pen is not a likeable character, but as we start to get hints of odd things happening around her she becomes a little more intriguing. At one point I wondered if she was doing something while under the influence, but her unreliability keeps us uncertain.

As one girl after another disappears it becomes clear that something very dangerous is going on. We question everyone, and there were moments when it seemed that Pen’s life was in danger for reasons other than the drug-taking.

I did feel that there were elements of the ending that were less satisfactory, but it was definitely an engaging story that will get under your skin. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance of publication in exchange for my review.

‘Before I Let Go’ – Marieke Nijkamp

I’d really enjoyed This is Where it Ends, so was excited to be authorised to read an ARC of this by NetGalley and the publishers. Unfortunately, it didn’t hold quite the same appeal.

While the story focuses on some interesting topics – mental health, sexuality, suicide – it’s not the kind of book I think I’ll remember much about later. A bit like The Smell of Other People’s Houses there was something that jarred with me.

Our main character, Corey, has been at boarding school for a few months, and she’s desperate to get back to Lost Creek (her remote Alaskan village of 247 residents). Unfortunately, just before her scheduled return she gets the news that her best friend is dead.

Corey returns home, but she is treated as an outsider. People don’t talk to her, she is convinced she hears strange things outside her room and she can’t reconcile what she remembers of the place with what is in front of her months later. Nothing is as she left it, and though she has questions about what happened to her friend, nobody seems willing to give her answers. Corey is determined to find out what happened, but she isn’t aware of what price she may have to pay.

The depiction of the Alaskan village was atmospheric, but we got very little about the other characters which made it hard to understand their motivation. The timeframe jumped all over the place, and this gave everything a disjointed feel that I found off-putting.

 

‘Splintered’ – A.G. Howard

Wonderland and Alice’s adventures are very appealing, but what would you do if these things were real? For Alyssa Gardner, that is not something she has to worry about.

Ever since she was younger she’s been aware of the fact that she has a bond with Wonderland. She’s been teased throughout school for the rumours that she’s a descendant of Alice Liddell…but what would her peers do if they ever learned the truth about why her mother doesn’t live with them?

There’s all sorts going on here, and initially it felt a bit of a struggle to get into. Alyssa hears voices from bugs etc talking to her, and seems totally paranoid that she may be going mad (like her mother). What is clear early on is that strange things are afoot for her.

Alyssa ends up going down the rabbit hole and finds herself part of a twisted plan to end the curse on her family/sort out who should be Queen. She recognises Morpheus, the friend from her childhood who certainly appeals to her passionate inner self. But Alyssa also has to consider the love of her life, Jeb, who ends up journeying with her.

A rather surreal experience. We recognise characters from the story but there’s a ghoulish element to them…I imagine this could be turned into a great movie.

‘Freshers’ – Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Any book that can have you snorting with laughter and welling up (sometimes, simultaneously) gets a big thumbs up!
Freshers week is a particularly odd experience, and some of the memories are better than others. What this summed up so well was that mix of heady excitement at being independent, and utter terror at having to find your own way through things without relying on your safety-net.
Told through alternating views this was great fun. Phoebe and Luke have had very different school experiences…and their first term at university is similarly different. We veer from the first night Freshers ball, to the awkward moments as you try to remember any of the people you spent the first week glued to, through seminars and awkward relationship moments to the end of the first term..and so on.
A wonderful ensemble of characters. Some great comic moments, while also raising awareness of some more important issues.
It’s been a long time since I was in this situation, but it brought it all back. Bittersweet.

‘Eliza and her Monsters’ – Francesca Zappia

On the surface, this is a clever book packed full of graphics and interesting text to support the main narrative. But, beneath the surface, it’s a story about finding yourself, coming to accept your strengths/limitations and – in part – addressing mental health issues and thoughts about the role the internet has in our lives.

Eliza has always been introverted. She feels she doesn’t fit in with her sporty competitive family, preferring to spend her time online. Here she is not the oddball she feels in real life; here, she’s Lady Constellation, creator of Monstrous Seas…a webcomic like no other.

When new boy Wallace joins her school, she finds an unlikely ally. The growing friendship between these two was well-handled, and I liked that Zappia showed us suffering can come in numerous ways and it’s all about how we deal with it.

Of course, not everything goes as smoothly as we’d like. There are bumps along the way, but Eliza comes through a pretty tough time…smiling. For those who like their reading a little different, this will be right up their street.

‘Odd and True’ – Cat Winters

Cat Winters is fast becoming one of my favourite go-to authors for a read that is just that little bit different. Due for publication in September 2017, Odd and True is no exception.

Trudchen and Odette are two sisters who have spent their lives hunting monsters and telling fantastic stories of their family’s involvement with mysterious creatures. A fairytale quality pervades this novel, but it is a world of darkness that will send little shivers down your spine.

The novel begins quite slowly, but we piece together the reality of the girls’ lives. The narrative is split between the present – voiced by Tru – and the past – voiced by Od. Just as one sister claims to no longer believe in the monsters of her childhood, the other sister arrives to take her on a journey that will see them face some of their ‘monsters’. Their family background is intriguing, but I really liked the way we learn the details of their past gradually.

When Tru follows Od on an adventure, following predictions read in teacups, we are plunged into a world of strange creatures. Their relationship was well-depicted, and I became quite absorbed in their story.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication. And a huge thank you to Cat Winters for coming up with yet another deliciously dark delight.

‘Cruel Summer’ – James Dawson

This is a difficult review to write, as I enjoyed this book but it was all just too knowing for me (without some of the elements you get when it’s done really well).

The book opens with a chapter called ‘Fade In’…telling us about the moment Janey died. It’s strongly hinted that she was murdered. The book ends with a chapter called ‘Fade Out’ where we leave our characters with all manner of secrets revealed, and most of our questions answered. In-between this frame we are given a series of scenes telling us the story.

Katie and her group have friends have never really got over the apparent suicide of their friend Janey a year ago. They decide to go away on holiday to Katie’s villa…and, of course, they have questions about that night. Nobody wants to talk about it, but someone is about to force their hand.

So much for a relaxing break and a chance to catch up…another murder is on the cards!

We see events through the eyes of Ryan, our TV star in the making. He views everything as if it was his own personal TV show, which is a form of coping mechanism, but it means everything is elevated to a more significant status in an attempt to show its worthiness. It also means that there’s a rather irritating tendency to self-consciously deconstruct everything to tell us why it’s significant, or to force us into a certain train of thought. However, it does allow us to switch between the various characters in a way that works well.

There’s the standard cliches: jock, good girl, nerd…we think we know what to expect and Dawson plays up to this. We watch these supposedly ‘perfect teens’ implode as secrets are outed. Some of the secrets are given up more easily than others, and some offer more of a motive for murder than others.

Throughout, I felt like I was reading a paint-by-numbers screenplay for a teen scary movie. It was good fun, but didn’t move beyond what we’d expect. If you want to know who did it, you’ll have to read the book. You might well have sussed it very early on, but it’s good fun watching our various characters work things out.

Relentless trilogy – Karen Lynch

Sometimes, when looking for books to fulfil an online group reading challenge, you come across something that you wouldn’t normally think of picking up. This trilogy is one of those reads.

‘Relentless’ was a book that I wasn’t convinced by initially. It introduces us to Sara Grey who found her father, murdered, and has always been determined to find out what happened to him. She hasn’t got far in her quest, but since his murder she has established she can do things nobody else can and there’s a few odd things going on around her. Everything is thrown at us in this book and, initially, it all seemed a bit formulaic. There’s vampires, Mohiri, trolls, dangerous humans, werewolves, fae…a snarky main character who finds it hard to trust people and a brooding male who you just know is going to be more than we expect. However, as things unwind it became a whole lot better than I was expecting. Elements of the story were interesting, but I felt there were some plot-holes and something of a lack of control over the environment which just stopped this from being a really good read.

In ‘Refuge’ we kick off with Sara in her Mohiri stronghold, undergoing training to try ad keep her safe from the Master vampire who’s determined to find her. She gets to learn a little more of her skills-and find new allies. We didn’t, thankfully, have to wait too long for Nikolas to return and the heat between these two was ramped up – while all being very chaste. Our key focus here is the developing power Sara has, and the realisation that a certain someone will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I got a new favourite character of Desmund, and I really liked how we start to learn a little more of Sara’s potential. I’m certainly pleased to say this left me keen to read the final book in the trilogy.