Young Adult – Page 44 – My Good Reads

‘The Girl’s Guide to Summer’ – Sarah Mlynowski

Sydney Aarons is fed up of dealing with her agoraphobic mother and younger sister. She is putting her life on hold as she looks after those around her. Sounds like the plot of a novel about a much older character than our teenage narrator, but it’s the perfect set-up for doing something drastic.

When she gets the chance to join her best friend, Leela, on a four week backpacking holiday, Sydney takes it. As we follow them on their travels we watch friendships challenged, new friendships forged and some love interest developing.

This was a quick and fairly light-hearted read. I wanted the girls to do more with their experience, and I did find the style overly formulaic by the end. The girls arrive in their new destination, find a room, find food/drink and then find people to talk to/flirt with. There might be the odd reference to a visit to a place of significance. But that is it. Repeated…over and over and over again.

It was entertaining but not particularly memorable. One of those perfect beach reads for teens who may be dreaming of having their own adventure and holiday fling. I guess if you were stuck in a tent in a soggy field with squabbling siblings (as much of my holidays were) then this would sound like the ultimate wish-fulfilment!

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

‘Angelfall’ – Susan Ee

Originally published in 2011, this first in the trilogy was one I picked up as part of a reading challenge so it was one I approached with a relatively open-mind.

The premise sounds exciting. Six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse attacked earth and destroyed life as we know it. However, the devastation and general state of things is set up as though it’s been a lot longer. The world-building and general set-up of the novel wasn’t wholly successful for me.

We open watching seventeen year old Penryn take desperate measures to try and protect her family. Events kick off quickly, with Penryn watching an angel attacked.

We’re under no illusion that angels are the bad guys, so it’s odd that Penryn helps the attacked angel and saves him from death. The desperation felt as she watches her sister seized by the attacking angels causes her to act in rather unexpected ways, but it still struck me as odd that she so willingly abandons her mother to try and rescue her sister.

The relationship between Raffe and Penryn was snarky, but also rather cute. I really wanted more to develop between them-but the aid each offers throughout the book and hints of their true feelings has to be enough for now.

Plenty of action, and I feel that some elements of this worked better than others. The ending was frustrating beyond belief, but I’m not sure I cared enough to go on and continue the series.

‘The Girl With All The Gifts’ – M.R. Carey

I admit to watching ‘Shaun of the Dead’, ’28 Days Later’ and even laughing at the zombie street pimps scene in ‘Hollywood Shuffle’, but I would never call myself a fan of the zombie movie/novel. A reading challenge I was involved in this month meant ‘The Girl With All The Gifts’ was one of my first reads…and I was uncertain what I’d make of it.

We’re told that in the future a strange fungus has changed virtually everyone into a thoughtless, flesh-eating monster. Known as ‘hungries’ these monsters are pretty efficient killers – once they’ve picked up a scent. However, there are some who do not appear to be quite the same as the others.

Our story begins with a truly awful opening, showing us our main character Melanie being strapped into her chair and taken to a classroom where she is taught along with a small group of other children. The purpose of their lessons is simply to monitor the extent to which they can retain information and to allow the scientists working with them to try and find a cure to save humanity.

Watching events through Melanie’s eyes is upsetting. They are treated with little humanity and this is hard to take – until we get a stark reminder of what happens to these children when they get a whiff of human flesh.

While this is all well and good, a whole book focused on a dead child – albeit one with a genius IQ – would not be entertaining. So, alongside Melanie we have a cast of very different adults who become central to Melanie’s existence.

I loved the way we slowly get to know more of the background to these characters as the story progresses. Dr Caldwell was, in my mind, a real monster – but deliberately so as she juxtaposes the more nurturing and caring character of Melanie’s teacher Miss Justineau. I came to really admire this disparate group as they take amazing risks in order to try and help one another.

Unexpectedly thought-provoking (though I will always be tempted to skip the more graphic descriptions of flesh-eating) and I’m not surprised this has been turned into a movie. I would have liked to know more about the background to the virus, and am definitely going to look at the second book by Carey – ‘The Boy on the Bridge’ – which is set about a decade prior to the events of this novel.

‘The Names They Gave Us’ – Emery Lord

This was one of those books that I was in two minds about before reading. I’d loved ‘When We Collided’ but I wasn’t sure whether this would be little earnest for me.

Seventeen year old Lucy is a fairly typical teenager. Her father is a pastor, so religion is a major part of her life; she has had a steady boyfriend for two years, but their religious beliefs mean they have chosen not to be physically intimate and she is close to her mother. However, when she learns that her mother’s cancer has returned Lucy’s perfect world is thrown into chaos.

Though Lucy has been a counsellor at their Christian camp for years, this summer her mother convinces her to take on the role at Daybreak – a camp for children experiencing trauma. Here Lucy makes friends, learns about herself and her beliefs and – rather obviously – develops her own sense of self.

The setting for this did bother me a little – but Lucy is quick to acknowledge her own potential to stereotype and she tackles head-on the qualms she has about her faith. I liked the way Lucy develops friendships with people that are focused on her as a person, rather than who she is or who she knows. As we watch the summer unfold we come to see the significance of the camp and people within it.

This was a genuinely moving read which, thankfully, doesn’t shy away from some pretty heavy issues. I did feel that everything was being thrown at Lucy (us) thick and fast by the end so I was less convinced by this part of it. However, Lord sends a really positive message with people dealing with things in the best way they can.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ – Laini Taylor

This, to me, seems like one of those books that will either infuriate or inspire.

We open in Prague, focusing on a young art student. All seems very ordinary – but then we’re told about mysterious handprints appearing on doorways and people dealing in teeth. From early on it is evident that we are in the realms of fantasy, but it is heavily mixed with a more contemporary feel.

The opening descriptions of Prague are evocative and starting with the focus on Karou and her rather interesting secret life definitely piques your interest.

The opening chapters seemed like a contemporary romance in places, but there were enough links to a fantasy world to keep me intrigued. However, the time-frame of this novel was rather disorientating.

We are, essentially, getting the love story of Madrigal and Akiva – a kind of fantasy Romeo and Juliet. They live in a world of seraphim and chimaera, where magic brings danger and few are to be trusted. Only this isn’t clear until about halfway through the book when we start to see how Karou is linked to their story.

I don’t want to give away how the two elements combine, but it works – for the most part.

‘Gardenia’ – Kelsey Sutton

Seventeen-year-old Ivy Erickson has one month, twenty-seven days, four hours, fifty-nine minutes, and two seconds to live.

There’s no getting away from the fact that knowing the exact amount of time you have to live would be draining. How do you live your life knowing exactly how long you have left with the people you interact with?

Ivy has become accustomed to seeing the numbers above people’s heads. Their individual countdowns vary, but Ivy is never wrong. This is bad enough, but to know your death date is highly likely to mess with your head.

In some ways this reminded me of Numbers by Rachel Ward, but in Gardenia we have a little more going on. Ivy’s best friend, Vanessa, was murdered and people in her town are convinced Ivy knows something. When more girls disappear, Ivy realises she has to do something. Only, time is running out and every moment counts.

The character of Ivy was quite sane for someone living with such a terrible burden. I liked how part of this focused on her coming to terms with things and how she interacts with people.

I was gripped by this, but I confess to finding the ending rather rushed. I also don’t feel we got any attempt to satisfy our curiosity about exactly what was going on with the numbers.

Anyway, thanks to publishers Diversion and NetGalley for the advance copy.

‘Lobsters’ – Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

‘Socially awkward’ is a fitting phrase for this…I couldn’t believe some of the stuff that was happening to Sam and Hannah and their friends.

Our groups of almost eighteen year olds are on the cusp of adulthood, and we watch them in their summer before heading off to university. We get the inevitable post-exam analysis; the drunken fumbles; the changing issues around friendships; a growing sense of needing to become independent and the highlights of summer-holiday and festival.

Throughout this I was laughing out loud at so many moments. I was also groaning, cringing and torn between being thankful I am long past that age and desperately wanting to return to that time, where anything seems possible.

I liked the characters of Hannah and Sam, and their somewhat disastrous attempts to get into any kind of romantic situation. Knowing the focus was on the love story I was holding out for a relatively hopeful ending – but I was really wondering just what else could get in their way.

The split in narrative really made this, and though this might not fit all teenagers there’s something that most will relate to. The dual perspective was used to maximum effect when we were focusing on the Hannah and Sam relationship – excellent stuff!

Can’t wait for Freshers…roll on August 2017…

‘The Last of August’ – Brittany Cavallaro

I’d thoroughly enjoyed the first in this series, and though this was fun it wasn’t quite as gripping. The focus of our story on this occasion is the disappearance of Holmes’s uncle Leander while he is investigating an undercover art-ring. Holmes and Watson travel to Berlin, with Holmes single-minded in her attempt to discover the whereabouts of her uncle and who is behind the strange goings-on at the Holmes estate.

Perhaps it was time to unleash the nemesis, but in this book Holmes is heavily reliant on August Moriarty. Though many believe him to be dead, he is alive and well – and very much needed as the numerous Moriarty family members that pop up here are all connected to this forged artwork in some way.

Holmes plays a lot of cards close to her chest in this, and we are never quite sure what’s going on. There’s the merest hint that Holmes and Watson will get closer – but their ‘friendship’ is pretty toxic and messy. There’s a story here, but we’re not being told it yet. While it might have been therapeutic for them to develop their relationship, I think maintaining this distance actually makes them more intriguing.

All in all this is a story that develops the characters for us and sets us against a backdrop of a mystery – but never quite giving us what we’re expecting.

‘Select’ – Marit Wiesenberg

Coming from a race of highly-evolved humans, Julia Jaynes has the perfect life. The perfect family. The perfect destiny. But there’s something rotten beneath the surface–dangerous secrets her father is keeping; abilities she was never meant to have; and an elite society of people determined to keep their talents hidden and who care nothing for the rest of humanity. So when Julia accidentally disrupts the Jaynes’ delicate anonymity, she’s banished to the one place meant to make her feel inferior: public high school.

Julia’s goal is to lay low and blend in. Then she meets him–John Ford, tennis prodigy, all-around good guy. When Julia discovers a knack for reading his mind, and also manipulating his life, school suddenly becomes a temporary escape from the cold grip of her manipulative father. But as Julia’s powers over John grow, so do her feelings. For the first time in her life, Julia begins to develop a sense of self, to question her restrictive upbringing and her family prejudices. She must decide: can a perfect love be worth more than a perfect life?

When I read this, I was excited. It sounds like the perfect blend of a number of elements that I usually find appealing. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite come off as successfully as I’d hoped.

There was nothing particularly bad about this, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. It really does have the potential to be a great book; at the moment, it’s far from perfect.

I wanted to know more about Julia’s family and the past of the group. I wanted some different perspectives to offer some variety. I would have been happy to have at least some of my questions about the skills Julia has and John’s role in the group answered…

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication. Due for release in October 2017 I can’t help but hope that there’ll be some changes made before it’s released.

‘Orbiting Jupiter’ – Gary Schmidt

This story is told through the eyes of our young narrator, Jack, and focus on how he copes when his family get fourteen year old Joseph – a young father who has been in detention after attacking a teacher – come to live with them.

Joseph is the kind of boy that many are quite happy to regard as trouble. He is mercilessly bullied by a trio of boys in his new school, and many of the teachers are convinced that he is bringing down the better students. He is, in many ways, a boy more sinned against than sinning – we never get all the details (thankfully) but what we are told about his behaviour suggests strongly that he has been abused while in care and that he does not come from a supportive family background.

However, Jack’s family judge a person’s character on how their animals react to them. Joseph is able to calm down the family cow, so he’s okay. A rathe simple approach, but it allows Joseph to bloom. As he relaxes in this new environment, he starts to share some of the details of his past. Unsurprisingly, things are not as we were led to believe at the start.

Just when there was a hint of something positive happening, we’re sideswiped by a move so shocking I wasn’t sure I’d read it correctly. Abrupt, certainly, but it did get me emotionally.

This is a very quick read, and I think I’d have liked to have had details fleshed out a little more or spent a bit more time with these characters. However, I really did feel an awful lot of stuff was packed into these pages…perhaps I couldn’t have coped with more.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance.