Young Adult – Page 59 – My Good Reads

‘The Last Star’ – Rick Yancey

Described by publishers as the final thrilling instalment in The 5th Wave series, but I was left feeling unsatisfied and found it quite a frustrating experience.

I’m so pleased that I had only recently read The Infinite Sea or it would have made even less sense to me.

In this novel, we are told that this is the final push to stop the Others ending humankind. While there were passages that I thought were really well written, and moments of real beauty, there was just so much that seemed to conflict with what had come before or that was simply confusing.

The survivors seemed to spend the novel playing a cat and mouse game that nobody really seemed to know the rules to. Random characters appeared, simply to develop the story, and this was so frustrating.

From some way off I had a feeling about what might happen. Full credit to Rick Yancey for not taking that option – which is where it is clearly signposted as heading – but the actual ending just didn’t work for me. Maybe it’s designed to offer a comment on humanity and our need to trust…but it just was not satisfying.

‘Wrecked’ – Maria Padian

It is so frustrating that this isn’t out until October 2016, as I want to tell so many people I know to read this. A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for granting me access to an ARC.

‘Wrecked’ tells a common enough story. This is a timely novel that explores attitudes to sexuality on American college campuses.

While the story itself might seem to follow a definite publishing theme of the moment – it is skilfully narrated. We are told the story of what happened to Jenny through the eyes of her roommate, Hayley, and Richard, a friend of the boy who raped her.

I found this an absorbing story, which I think should appeal to so many readers. There are one or two stereotypical characters, but the writer plays with these and this means they serve a definite role.

A fuller review to follow closer to publication.

‘How Hard Can Love Be?’ – Holly Bourne

Another hard-hitting novel by Holly Bourne that comes disguised as fluffy fun.

This time around we focus on Amber, starting as she heads off to America to see her mother for the first time in two years. Amber is excited at the prospect of working at a summer camp and spending time with her mother, but she also worries that her mother is not interested in her.

The voice is distinctive. From the moment we see Amber boarding the plane with a hangover to the very dramatic journey she makes out of camp, this is crammed full of conundrums, advice and humour.

Personally I would have liked more Lottie and Evie, but there’s plenty here to keep readers interested.

‘The Infinite Sea’ – Rick Yancey

The second book of The 5th Wave trilogy, and I have to say that I was expecting to see more of Cassie’s story. I was thrown a little by how much to the fore other characters were. The varying perspectives meant, at times, I felt it difficult to keep track of exactly what was happening and how everything linked. However, this doesn’t stop it from being a great read.

In spite of my personal desire to have certain elements given more importance, there was plenty of action to keep me reading.

Ringer was a character that I never felt we knew enough about in the first instalment, though I don’t think she was interesting enough to focus on her to the extent that we are forced to. Perhaps it’s part of a bigger plan, but I must admit to feeling somewhat uncertain about how certain characters fit into the grand scheme. The hints of what is to come do, however, make it sound like we’re in for an explosive finale. Now I just need to wait for my eldest son to finish the book before I can find out what will happen!

‘When We Collided’ – Emery Lord

If it weren’t for my involvement with the YA Buddy Readers’ Corner group on GoodReads, I might not have stumbled across this book.

The love story of Jonah and Vivi on one hand, but it was so much more than that.

Jonah and his older siblings have virtually taken over the care of their younger siblings as their mother is experiencing depression after the sudden death of her husband. Understandably, this is a challenging situation. It allowed the writer to explore a range of relationships, but it seemed to weaken the story for me ever so slightly. I completely understand that grief will impact in many different ways, but I didn’t get enough to explain how the Daniels family have allowed this situation to develop.

Anyway, when Jonah and Vivi meet it really is a collision. They are both fragile and needy in their own ways, but they find each other at the time they’re needed.

There were so many lovely moments described in this book. While I thought Jonah and Vivi were really cute together, I couldn’t help but feel the story could have been more powerful without the romantic bond between them.

I enjoyed the split narrative, and felt the portrayal of how Vivi lives with bipolar disorder was searingly honest. A funny but unflinching story exploring how people can hurt but also save each other.

‘The Modern Faerie Tales Trilogy’ – Holly Black

As a fan of Holly Black I was keen to read these, though reviews are definitely mixed.

Tithe, the first book in the series, was not off to a good start if I’m being truthful. Kaye didn’t seem to be very well-drawn at first, and I can’t believe that nobody seemed to find it weird that this girl spent her early years claiming to see fairies. Of course, when, at sixteen, she discovers she is actually a pixie things start to make a little more sense – but not much! The whole thing felt quite disjointed for me as a reader, and I don’t think I really got my head around who played what role/how the world was set up.

‘Valiant’, the second book in the series, is the one that most reviews seem to be quite negative about. I’m not sure what it says about me that this novel was, in my view, a more appealing read. Though it was a little off-putting initially to have a new cast of characters, I found Val and her friends much better developed. The way in which they band together to try and puzzle out the plotting taking place in the faerie world was engaging. There was a clear sense of things being drawn together for the final part of the trilogy.

In ‘Ironside’ it is time for Roibin’s coronation, and Kaye risks telling him how she feels. When she is sent on a seemingly impossible quest to find a faerie who will lie, Kaye tells her mother the truth about who she is. I loved Corny and Luis in this, and this was a fitting end to the trilogy. Some parts were really creepy, but this was a definite hint of the great writing to come.

‘April Raintree’ – Beatrice Culleton Mosionier

A revised version of the novel In Search of April Raintree, written specifically for students in grades 9 through 12. Through her characterization of two young sisters who are removed from their family, the author poignantly illustrates the difficulties that many Aboriginal people face in maintaining a positive self-identity.

I knew nothing of this story before I received a digital copy from NetGalley.

This is a fictionalised exploration of some of the issues faced by the writer, her family and other Aboriginal people.

Perhaps this will have more resonance with readers who are aware of the Métis people, but I was fascinated by this story. We see the two sisters taken into foster care and, in their own way, dealing with prejudice and fear. April gets married and spends a lot of her life avoiding her cultural background. Her sister, who spent her younger years proudly announcing her heritage, becomes trapped by a lot of her own prejudices and fears.

Certain scenes within this novel were unflinching in their honesty and violence, yet they are vital for readers to gain any sense of understanding. This novel raises so many points for discussion and was an absorbing read. I think I will have to try and track down the original version.

‘Six of Crows’ – Leigh Bardugo

It’s been a while since I read the Grisha trilogy, but it was a series I thoroughly enjoyed and I was looking forward to this.

Although we return to the land of the Grisha, we are introduced to a new cast of characters. One of our main protagonists is Kaz Brekker, a young criminal who is determined to carry out a seemingly impossible heist.

As I was reading, it did take a while to get accustomed once more to the world/names, but this was a book that was full of action. The slow build-up to the attack on the Ice Court could have been a little less detailed, but once things got going they got going quickly.

I liked the fact that a lot of the novel focused on the relationships between some of the key characters. Watching their relationships shift and develop was entertaining, and there is definite potential for further visits to these characters to get some answers to the questions we are left with at the end of the novel.

‘Elementals 1:Prophecy of Shadows’ – Michelle Madow

When Nicole starts at her new school she thinks there’s a mistake with her schedule as she’s enrolled in special honours classes. Then she learns she’s a witch (as are all the other students in her class). Talk about getting straight into it!

Nicole and her friends are witches, they can do magic and there’s a dastardly plan to foil. There’s the token hot boy – complete with the token bitchy girlfriend -that Nicole develops a thing for. And before we know it there’s some Greek mythology thrown in for good measure, and we learn Nicole might actually be a demigod.

In that brief summary I’m aware I sound critical. There’s lots to remind you of countless other teen novels and this is off-putting. However, from the opening pages we are thrown into a relentless action-packed ride that does leave you wanting more.

I can imagine teenage readers will lap it up as there’s something for everyone and it will feel like stuff they’re comfortable with. It felt like the kind of thing I’ll see on Netflix soon.

‘Forbidden’ – Tabitha Suzuma

Published in 2011, Suzuma’s novel ‘Forbidden’ is definitely not one that you want to go into without knowing a little of the subject matter. As with many of Suzuma’s stories, love and family are at the heart of it…in this case, they form an uncomfortable alliance.

‘Forbidden’ takes a controversial subject, the incestuous relationship between seventeen year-old Lachan and his younger sister, Maya, and urges us to explore our feelings and responses to this taboo. Suzuma writes about the topic sensitively, and alternating the viewpoints of our two main characters means that we can clearly see just how each of them responds to their feelings and what they think they should do about them.

As with other stories by Suzuma, dysfunctional family relationships are a recurring theme. In this story, we are surrounded by them! Lachan and Maya are, essentially, teenage parents to their younger siblings as they cover for their alcoholic mother when she abandons them. Their closeness seems to make sense as they have, for years, depended on each other. When they finally make the decision to cross that line of social acceptability, we are asked to question whether what they are doing is really that wrong.

The angst felt by both characters stops this feeling like a doomed love story cliché. Unfortunately, Maya was a character that I often found irritating. Sometimes she seemed very naive, yet she also seems to be the one pushing for more and I felt that her reactions at key moments were not wholly credible. I also found it hard to accept that this situation would ever have gone on as long as it did without some adult intervention.

The ending, when it inevitably all goes wrong, was hard to take. By the time we get to the, quite frankly, stunning final moments, we are caught up entirely in the relationship between all the siblings. What we got was not what I expected and I’m not sure I can say I enjoyed this book, but it certainly got me thinking.