Young Adult – Page 55 – My Good Reads

‘Shadow Kiss’ – Richelle Mead

Shadow Kiss

Third in the series, we begin the novel seeing the impact that Mason’s death has had on Rose and her peers. Everyone seemed to have lost their way, but with the Strigoi attacking in ways that nobody has seen before it was evident that something unusual would have to happen.

Watching Rose suffer the guilt she feels at surviving the attack was uncomfortable reading. Her flashbacks and visions suggests dark times are ahead. The only ‘fun’ that was apparent in this part of the series was the moments describing the field experience, where Rose is placed in charge of keeping Christian safe. There were some genuine laugh-out-loud moments here.

Of course, I was keen to see what would come of Rose’s crush on Dimitri. We already know that they fancy each other, but Dimitri is determined to show control and do the right thing. All I can say is I spent most of the novel hoping he would change his mind!

A number of characters were introduced, and it was interesting to see Rose’s relationship with her mother develop. While I understand the necessity of what happens towards the end of the novel, it did not make me happy…at all!

Part of me feels that as an adult I should know better than to get so caught up in a series such as this. However, it was a belter of a novel and Mead certainly delivers plenty to keep you interested and make you want to keep reading.

‘Gilt Hollow’ – Lorie Langdon

Gilt Hollow

Thanks to Blink and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in advance of its publication (expected late September 2016) in exchange for an honest review.

The cover immediately draws you in and hints at the mystery that we are told surrounds the events that took place in Gilt Hollow some years previously. We are told that Willow has always maintained the innocence of her friend Ashton – sentenced to a period in juvenile detention for killing one of his peers – but when he is released she begins to wonder if she is mistaken.

Initially, the opening to the novel was slow. However, the setting of Gilt Hollow and the characters who inhabit it were strangely reminiscent of Twin Peaks. Everyone seemed to be hiding something, and the stench of corruption was hard to avoid. It made for a very intriguing puzzle, as Willow tried to determine exactly what happened on the night Daniel fell from the cliff.

Of course, things do not happen in a straightforward fashion. Where would the fun be in that? For those who like mystery with a hint of menace, I think you’ll be impressed.

‘Silence is Goldfish’ – Annabel Pitcher

Silence is Goldfish

Not long before this novel was published in October 2015 I was lucky enough to get a sneak glimpse at three chapters. I’d loved My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece and Ketchup Clouds so was excited to see what this novel was like. Pitcher has always struck me as a writer who is adept at creating character and getting you to feel sympathetic towards characters who don’t always have something obviously appealing about them.

Tess Turner has always felt like she doesn’t fit in. She says and does things to please people, but the sense of isolation she gives off is pervasive. When the novel opens we see Tess reeling with the realisation that she is not who she thinks she is. After reading a blog entry that her father wrote, Tess learns that ‘dad’ is not her biological father.

While this news would be upsetting, I was struck by the fact that Tess’s relationship with her parents is so bad that she can’t talk to them about what she has seen. Her reaction was, to me, a little odd. Stopping talking and withdrawing from all social interaction was the kind of coping mechanism that I can’t imagine occurring for long.

I’m pleased that I got the opportunity to read this via NetGalley, but it was not one of those novels that I’d urge people to read.

‘The Fixes’ – Owen Matthews

Published at the end of August 2016, I was fortunate to receive a copy of this novel from Edelweiss and HarperTeen in exchange for an honest review. Described as Gossip Girl meets Heathers this novel is one that will definitely not appeal to everyone.

The Fixes tells the story of a group of high-school students determined to fix the things that they see as being wrong in their town. Unfortunately, their methods for fixing these issues are not always particularly acceptable – and some are highly illegal. Eric Connelly – destined for great things in his father’s eyes – is not used to going against expectations. However, when he meets spoiled rich kid Jordan Grant it is clear that Eric has been looking for the opportunity to break out of his pre-defined role.

My views on this varied as I was reading. Initially I liked the tone of voice that had Eric talking directly to us, and telling us what was coming (it reminded me of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). During the novel I felt more than a little irritated watching spoiled rich kids swanning round town and doing silly things for entertainment, and then I found myself desperate to found out just how we were going to arrive at the point we’d been told to expect.

For me this was a novel where the writer was trying very hard to be clever – and had to forcibly remind us just how clever he was being. However, this did not detract too much from what was actually a refreshing idea and an interesting exploration of contemporary ideas.

‘The Truth About Alice’ – Jennifer Mathieu

This debut novel deals with a number of highly relevant issues, and is written in a very easy-to-read style that will appeal to those teenagers who want to read something topical but don’t necessarily want to have to read a lot.

In Mathieu’s book we are told about Alice Franklin, a young lady who has always been a little different to her peers. Rumours circulate that she had sex with two boys in the same night at a recent party, and so begins a rather inevitable process of name-calling. The conflict between how male and female behaviour is regarded is important, but the real story comes from the fact that not long afterwards one of the boys – a local football hero – is killed in a road crash and it seems Alice was sending sexually explicit messages to him just before he died.

While the exploration of attitudes to teenage sexuality and reputation is pertinent, I found the novel itself quite hard to like as much as others I’ve read on similar topics. We are told about Alice and what happens through the eyes of everyone else, so I think it’s difficult to feel any real empathy with this character. A lot of the other characters who feature in the story are fairly unpleasant, and the hypocrisy of their attitudes annoyed me (I’m sure this was intentional).

‘Misty Falls’ – Joss Stirling

Misty Falls

I chose to read this as part of a Reading Challenge, and didn’t realise that it was part of a series. I feel I may have been more invested in some of the characters if I’d read the earlier books, but it does still work as a stand-alone novel.

As a Savant, Misty is incapable of lying. This, inevitably, causes some issues – but her biggest problem at the start of the novel is the revelation that a serial killer is hunting down young Savants and murdering them.

There’s the somewhat inevitable romance between Misty and Alex, though his appearance is important for what comes later.

During the story I definitely felt that certain events were overly manipulated, but I think this would appeal to younger teenage readers.

‘A Step Toward Falling’ – Cammie McGovern

A Step Toward Falling

Published in October 2015, thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

When Emily is at one of her school football games she sees someone being attacked and does nothing. Convincing herself that Lucas, one of the football team who comes onto the scene just after her, will do the right thing and call the police she leaves. Neither student says anything, and it is down to Belinda – a student with a learning disability – to save herself.

As a consequence for Emily and Lucas’s lack of action they are instructed to volunteer in a class for students with learning disabilities. Not that this really does anything to help Belinda deal with what happened to her, but it allows the writer to get her message across that we need to look beneath the surface of people and see what they’re really like rather than judge them on appearance/reputation.

Initially, it looked like the focus would be on the attack and its consequences but the writer seemed to skirt around this issue. It was never explicitly discussed and it seemed to be more of a device to get Emily and Lucas – who would never have ended up in the same room – together. For this reason I wonder if it was necessary.

We jump viewpoints and this is a little confusing at first, but it does allow us a clear insight into the minds of Emily and Belinda. Though their lives are very different, we come to see how similar they are.

The story itself is quite slow. There’s not a great plot here, but it is a thoughtful attempt to encourage people to consider others and how we often miss out on opportunities due to our tendency to prejudge others. Unfortunately, it all felt too earnest to really make me want to tell others to read it.

‘All These Perfect Strangers’ – Aoife Clifford

All These Perfect Strangers

You don’t have to believe in ghosts for the dead to haunt you.

You don’t have to be a murderer to be guilty.

Within six months of Pen Sheppard starting university, three of her new friends are dead. Only Pen knows the reason why.

With a sell like that, it was always inevitable that I’d read this and I’m just grateful to NetGalley for sending me a digital copy in advance of publication in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

In this debut novel we meet Pen as she is heading to university to start a law degree. She is on a scholarship, and we know her background is quite different to that of many of her peers. University offers the perfect opportunity to start anew and reinvent yourself. This is important for Pen as we know she has a secret, one that she doesn’t want anyone to know. We don’t know what that secret is, but we’re told it involved murder.

Pen Sheppard is one of those narrators that you simply cannot trust. She manipulates the truth to suit whoever she is talking to, and there’s a definite sense that she is also lying to herself. Her voice is intimate, and draws us in before spitting us out at the moment it suits her to!

Clifford recreates the heady excitement of first year university life in detail, and we watch as Pen befriends a number of characters. Some become friends; others seem to fulfil a function in Pen’s story (though quite what this is doesn’t become clear until Pen chooses for it to).

Knowing from quite early on that Pen is recounting these events to her psychiatrist made me quite mistrusting of her. Learning that Pen has been questioned by the police as a 15 year old for her involvement in the shooting of a policeman, and that she got off though many in her hometown are still convinced of her guilt, means we are never entirely sure what truth we are being told.
This novel twists and turns, and I found myself gripped by the unfolding events.

As Pen’s friends are injured and killed I was second-guessing exactly what had happened. Just as I thought I’d made a link, Clifford had Pen drop in another detail that alters our interpretation of events yet again.

I loved the moment when Frank, her psychiatrist, talks of how convenient it is for Pen that she has ‘all these perfect strangers’ come into her life at just the right moment. The comment encapsulated Pen’s attitude to people, and her detachment.

This is a book that will stay with me, and I’m certain that on reading it again there will be details I’ll notice that will alter my response. Highly recommended.

‘Detached’ – Christina Kilbourne

I think the first thing that I have to say is that any book that gets teenagers to think about mental health issues is a good thing, particularly one that is so unflinching in the way it explores one of the things that scares adults most – suicide.

Sixteen-year-old Anna is a talented artist but since her grandparents died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver she feels detached from those around her. On the surface she seems to be coping, but inwardly her thoughts increasingly turn to suicide.

I found it hard to believe that someone of Anna’s age would attempt suicide five times and nobody would actually recognise there was anything wrong. That aside, I did find myself keen to keep reading and see whether Anna would get the help she so obviously needed.

As well as watching Anna research how to kill herself, we watch how she fails time after time. Her survival instinct is strong, and it’s fairly apparent that she is living with depression. The experience of her Grandmother didn’t come as much as a surprise. We also see Anna coping with a period in treatment/therapy, and feeling fairly positive about the future at the end of the novel.

Ultimately, I felt that the book suffered from trying to cover too many aspects of the issue. I think this is a good starting point, but the issue is far more complex than we are led to believe here.

‘Frostbite’ – Richelle Mead

The second in the Vampire Academy series, I think this is one of those novels that you’ll either love or hate.

In some ways it reminded me of the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast. You have a tightly-knit group of students struggling to get on with their peers, a rather strong-minded female ‘leader’ and more than one or two males that she is interested in, vampires and problems with those in authority.

Ignoring the obvious similarities with other YA novels I have to say that I found the first in the series quite entertaining.

‘Frostbite’ picks up quite soon after the events of the first novel. Rose is still struggling to deal with her feelings for Dimitri, and she remains worried about Lissa. There are some nasty attacks by Strigori and the Moroi are worried – but nobody is quite sure what the best course of action will be.

Rose spends a large amount of the book sulking and being a bit of a bratty teenager. She resents her mother and the focus she has shown for her work. She dilsikes the fact that Dimitri seems immune to her charms and is talking about getting close to someone else. She is jealous of the closeness between Lissa and Christian, and she spends far too much time toying with the emotions of those around her.

However, once Rose gets to actually do something she is much more appealing. Not an awful lot actually happens in this novel, but there is a very real sense of lots of small pieces of a puzzle being put in place ready for what comes later. Rose gets the opportunity to show her potential towards the end of the novel, and you start to get a sense of how she will grow and develop over the course of the series. It also helped that Dimitri admitted to having feelings for her (which would definitely keep the majority of teen readers happy).