Category: Young Adult

‘Bad Things Happen Here’ – Rebecca Barrow

To the outside world, Parris is a beautiful town full of people whose lives are to be envied. What they don’t see is the dark side to the town, the secrets that lurk in the shadows and which keep those who live in Parris trapped.
Our main character is Luca Laine Thomas, from one of the wealthy families who everyone knows. Her life might seem easy, but Luca believes in the curse that is rumoured to haunt the town. Her best friend, Polly, was found dead and though it was ruled accidental, Luca is convinced there’s more to the story.
My initial thoughts on Luca and her friends were not particularly positive. While they expressed unease at the events taking place in their town, they seemed to be as much a part of the problem as anyone else. Their behaviour towards the new neighbour, Naomi, felt a little patronising and yet I hoped things would not be quite as I thought.
Once Luca learns that her sister, Whitney, has been found dead after a party, things got a lot more interesting. Luca cannot accept what she’s being told and decides to carry out her own investigation. What she learns shows that nearly everyone has something to hide.
I found myself caught up in this once the story got underway, and fans of The Cheerleaders or Kit Frick will no doubt love the approach taken. The ending left me rather stunned, but it was nice to see Luca grow in self-belief as she made her way through events. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in advance of publication.

 

‘The Blood Traitor’ – Lynette Noni

After the ending of The Gilded Cage I really was torn over whether or not to start this. I was desperate to find out what happened to Kiva, but I worried whether this could possibly live up to my expectations. I’m pleased to report that this really is a phenomenal end to the series, and – yet again – I shall be urging people to read this.

This time round we focus on Kiva and the part she plays in trying to restore the wrongs that have been taking place. Relationships are key to this novel, and while I hoped throughout that everything would resolve in the way I dreamed, it wasn’t clear cut. Nobody is quite as they seem, and there’s some seriously unexpected revelations that make so much sense once they come but which sneak upon us as we’re focusing on other matters.

Integral to the plot is a quest…and it’s a good one. Tension aplenty, risks and adventure but also the opportunity for key threads from the previous books to be addressed.

Once I’d started and got back into the world Kiva inhabits, it was incredibly difficult to put the book down. From start to finish I was desperate to see how certain elements would unfold, and though I knew the ending would be bittersweet it honestly felt as if no stone was left unturned and Evalon/Winderall would be in safe hands.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this prior to publication, and now to wait until it’s launched into the world and I can talk to others about it!

‘Aurora Rising’ – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Aurora Rising is science-fiction with heart. Set in the future, the students of Aurora Academy are about to graduate and find out their assignments. Star pupil, Tyler Jones, sets out on a solo flight the night before the draft and sets in place a strange turn of events.
He brings back a human, Aurora, and yet his delay in returning means he misses the draft and gets left with a crew made up of those students nobody else wants.
At the outset I wasn’t sure what to make of this scenario. Tyler was a character I found hard to read, but he comes into his own once their first mission is underway.
This rag-tag bunch of misfits are quirky, odd, but hugely loyal. From start to finish they bicker and squabble but they have each other’s back. And boy do they need to!
The first mission is a seemingly straightforward one, but we soon see that things are not at all what we were led to believe. Aurora has something special about her, but between them this group undertake a heist, a daring mission and even end up with one of their number sacrificing themselves for the greater good. Book two bought…and I can’t wait to see what happens.

 

‘Hollow Fires’ – Samira Ahmed

Due for release in early May, I’m grateful to NetGalley for giving me access to this prior to publication. From start to finish this had me hooked, and I think it is Ahmed’s most powerful book to date.

It’s easy to feel outrage at the kind of privilege shown throughout this book. It’s easy to feel angered by the behaviour of the two young adults who plan, carry out and almost get away with their murder of a younger teen. It’s easy to feel the fire of injustice that forces Safiya into action. But it’s also easy for many readers (and I probably count myself in this) to feel that anger and yet to not be further impacted by it. This is not part of my daily experience, and I fear that my ‘fire’ as I finished this book could be seen as ‘hollow’ if I don’t do anything with it. This is something I need to digest further.

The story of Hollow Fires itself is a compelling one. It begins when Jawad, son of Iraqi refugees, is arrested when his English teacher believes the home-made Halloween costume he proudly takes into school is a suicide bomb. The absurdity of this situation stands out…but even after being cleared of all charges, Jawad is persecuted. He becomes known by the moniker BombBoy and the growing sense of unease felt by students who are not white is deftly portrayed through the character of Safiya. When Jawad goes missing, there is an appeal but the police quickly write him off as a run-away.

Safiya has always wanted to be a journalist and she has an inquisitive nature that doesn’t allow her to blindly accept some of the things she’s told by those in authority. She is determined that people should not accept this version of events. Set against a growing backdrop of racially-motivated attacks, Safiya is convinced there is more to Jawad’s disappearance. When she finds his body wedged in a culvert in a little known part of the local park, Safiya knows that there’s more to this story than people are prepared to acknowledge. She takes it upon herself to try and get justice for Jawad, determined that those responsible will be held to account.

There are issues with the way Safiya interferes with an ongoing investigation. The way certain characters behaved didn’t always seem realistic, and there’s still a part of me that feels the outcome of this case would not, in reality, have gone quite as it’s presented here. However, these were not enough of a distraction to prevent me from feeling this is a book I would highly recommend.

 

‘I Kissed Shara Wheeler’ – Casey McQuiston

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me a glimpse of this before its release. While it didn’t have quite the emotional pull of the other McQuiston books I’d read, it drew together nicely.

Our focus is Chloe Green who’s in competition with Shara Wheeler, the Principal’s daughter, for valedictorian. Both girls are fiercely competitive and they have, for the past four years, danced a strange dance of one-upmanship. When the book opens, rumours abound as Shara has disappeared.

Determined that she will not be given the top spot by default, Chloe vows to find Shara and get her back to school in time for graduation.

The main thrust of the book focused on this rather odd scavenger hunt orchestrated by Shara who has left cryptic notes for three people, all of whom kissed Shara before she left. As we only learn about Shara through the veil of someone else’s view, I found it hard to work out quite what kind of character we were looking at. I also found the setting of the book – a strong Christian homophobic setting – really off-putting. People were pigeon-holed and made to feel wholly uncomfortable, nobody seemed to do anything about it, and it appeared to have been this way since Chloe’s mum endured coming out years earlier.

While the days before Shana appeared were instrumental in helping to develop the characters, it was once everyone was back in their rightful place that I felt things started to fall into place for me as a reader. Chloe opened her eyes a little and started to look beyond herself. It had a relatively happy ending, even though there was clearly a long way to go!

 

‘Forging Silver into Stars’ – Brigid Kemmerer

I was unsure just how much of the world of Cursebreakers this would inhabit, and though many of the characters are the same there is enough here to offer something fresh.

Our main focus is baker Callyn and her best friend, Jax the blacksmith. They live in a fairly remote town, but have their own reasons to fear the magic that King Grey has at his disposal. Both struggling to survive, they are tempted by an offer to pass notes between people in exchange for silver. Naturally, they become curious as to the content of these notes, and as events proceed they learn all too well how their actions have consequences.

Alongside our pair, much of the action focuses on Tycho and Lord Alek, and their obvious dislike of one another. Both have their own reasons for visiting Briarfeld, and it’s a hard task to work out who to trust. Is their job protection? If so,who exactly are they protecting, and from what?

The pacing of the story means that things take a while to get going, but we learn some interesting details about Tycho and his powers. We get to see a little more of the inner circle and the issues they’re facing. Some familiar faces return…and there are more than enough hints about exciting things to come as the story continues.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this before publication.

 

‘The Agathas’ – Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

 

Oh boy, are readers due a treat when this is released in May. Huge thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this before publication, and I’m hoping this isn’t the last we’ve heard of the Agathas.

Alice Ogilvie is a rich kid who has everything. She recently disappeared for five days, and nobody knows where she was in that time, but now she’s returned to school and is forced to have a tutor to make up her grades. Her tutor is Iris Adams, a girl who’s determined to leave Castle Cove as soon as she can for reasons she wants no one to know.

Before too long we see an unlikely friendship develop between our Agatha Christie-obsessed duo. Their unlikely friendship centres around their quest to find out exactly what happened to Alice’s ex-best friend when she disappeared after a Halloween party.

When Brooke’s body is discovered, the investigation becomes a little more serious. Those close to Brooke are implicated, and some aren’t but are definitely hiding something. Through some rather dubious means, Iris and Alice (and their own little Scooby gang) try to work out what happened.

From start to finish I found myself wholly immersed in these characters. Sassy, a little crazy, but definitely with their hearts in the right places, Iris and Alice are characters you can’t help but root for. The book has its fair share of darkness, and I’m really hoping that Glasgow and Lawson will treat us to further adventures from this group. From the sounds of it Castle Cove has more than its fair share of mysteries to be solved.

‘My Dearest Darkest’ – Kayla Cottingham

Our story begins with talented musician Finch Chamberlain heading to the prestigious Ulalume Academy for an audition. The audition goes well, though Finch finds herself making trouble for student Selena St Clair. She is desperate for acceptance and expresses the view she’d do anything to get in. Next thing we know, a stag with eight eyes appears on the road in front of them, her father crashes the car and Finch and her parents are plunged into the river.

With our main character dying in the opening chapter, and then starting at the Academy, it was clear from early on that this was not going to be an ordinary read.

Finch hears a strange voice, her hair has turned white and she quickly finds herself wandering the tunnels below the academy where she seems to conjure a spirit known as Nerosi.

Suspend your disbelief. The girls at this school are ultra competitive, so for them to make their own deal with the devil in exchange for their heart’s desire makes sense. Initially the demands are fairly straightforward. The girls get flawless skin and increased popularity. Of course, it doesn’t take long for the demands to become a little harder to fulfil.

Much of the book focuses on the strange entity known as Nerosi, and the links between her appearance and strange events that took place in the town decades earlier. Finch and her new friends start to grow wary of exactly what is being asked of them and we soon see something evil has been unleashed…again.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in advance of publication. Some of the background characters felt undeveloped, and Finch’s questioning of her sexuality felt like a means to shift the plot forward. However, it was an intriguing idea and I enjoyed the links between the respective storylines.

 

‘Gallant’ – V.E. Schwab

Our main character, Olivia, has always felt herself to be something different. An orphan, with no voice, Olivia is used to feeling unwanted and mocked…but she has always been able to console herself with the spirits she senses around her. This marks her out as an object of ridicule for the other students at Merilance School for Girls, but it clearly signifies there is more to Olivia than we might think.

Just as plans are being made for her to leave the school, a letter appears from her Uncle and Olivia is taken back to Gallant. She knows nothing of her family, but feels drawn to this place though her cousin seems resentful of her presence.

As Olivia settles into Gallant she learns a little more of the Prior curse and gets to learn a little more about her mother. While these questions make sense for anyone in Olivia’s position, it becomes clear quite early one that someone in particular has a vested interest in winning Olivia over.

Not knowing the secrets of Gallant places Olivia in a difficult situation. She is, without realising it, in danger and we can only watch as she throws herself headlong into her investigations without truly understanding their significance.

While the book itself reads very much like a middle grade/children’s story, the themes of loss and the paranormal setting mean there is much for older readers. The open-ended nature of the ending might frustrate some readers, but I liked the fact that Olivia was given a choice for the first time in her life.

 

‘Felix Ever After’ – Kacen Callender

I admit to picking this up because I fell in love with the cover…sprayed edges made this a joy to look at. The content felt as if it might be an awkward read – I wondered if I could honestly sit through something where a character who is trying to be themselves gets such awful abuse. How would the author tackle some pretty hard-hitting issues?

I needn’t have worried. From start to finish, I was in safe hands.

Callender creates a very real character in Felix. Trans, black and gay…he worries he will never fit in anywhere and wants nothing more than to fall in love. He is a talented artist, but his feelings around his identity seem to be preventing him from really expressing himself. He gets angry, he messes up, on occasion he does some really hurtful things and yet there’s a searing honesty to him that I found touching.

The story focuses on Felix coming to terms with some questions about his identity, developing relationships and coming of age. There’s romance, though not quite in the way I expected it to go.

There’s no escaping the fact that the incident that is at the heart of much of the book – another student’s disgusting gallery show of old pictures and public deadnaming of Felix – was stomach-churning. The response from Felix and his friends was not, perhaps, the most sensible…but it was done with the right intentions. I loved the strength and support shown to Felix by those who he didn’t always recognise as allies.

While the love triangle was necessary to help Felix start to realise what/who mattered to him, I found myself most impacted by the scenes involving Declan’s grandfather and Felix’s dad. It was nice to see someone else’s view of things, and it was encouraging to see that people in such a situation will react differently.

There’s no guidebook to how to manage such a scenario, but this book will certainly offer support and encouragement. Highly recommended (and the cover is so beautiful that I’m tempted to put it on my bookshelf the wrong way round just so I can see the edges!)