Latest Posts – Page 118

Anna Dressed in Blood – Kendare Blake

A beautiful cover and one that I wanted to love as soon as I read the description. I wasn’t disappointed.

Cas Lowood is a ghost-hunter with something to prove. When he moves to a new home he expects this latest kill to be the same as all the others. It isn’t.

I don’t want to give too much away, but this was what a good friend of mine referred to as “a cracking good read”. Witty, romantic and very well-written I can see this appealing to a wide range of readers.

The minute I’d finished it, I went and reserved a copy of part two – Girl of Nightmares – and wondered how I’d managed to not spot this series when it was first published.

‘Are You Still There’ – Sarah Lynn Scheerger

I received this as a digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The novel begins strongly. You’re thrown right into the heart of the action, with our narrator – Gabriella – stuck in a toilet cubicle as her school is on lock-down due to a bomb threat. I had high hopes for this…unfortunately, they weren’t met.

As the novel progresses we learn more about Gabriella and her story is interspersed with comments from the Stranger’s manifesto (comments from the potential bomber). The excitement I felt from the blurb and the opening weren’t, however, maintained.

While I enjoyed elements of this story as I was reading, I can’t help but feel that this could have had more of an impact. It was a reasonable read, but some time after reading there is very little that sticks with me. Perhaps this is one that will speak more to its intended audience.

‘Only Ever Yours’ – Louise O’Neill

This was recommended by a colleague, and I am so glad she thought to pass it on.

The social structure of O’Neill’s novel is a witty satire on contemporary society. ‘Eves’ – as the girls are known – have one main function in life: to do whatever it takes to follow ‘The Rules’ and secure themselves a partner for life so they can procreate and bear children. If this fails, they become concubines. The worst thing that will happen is the failed ‘Eves’ return to The School as teachers to the next generation.

As I read this, my heart was in my mouth. The idea that we could live in a society where women are only valued for their looks and ability to keep men happy was horrifying…oh, hang on, could I have just missed the point?

The obvious parallels between so many of the ideas/views given to teenagers now made me want to scream as I was reading this. I found myself shaking my head at regular intervals as I read. Not least because I know of so many teenagers I teach who would not see any harm in the views expressed during the majority of the novel.

My only criticism of this stems from the relationship between Frieda – our narrator – and her friend, Isobel. The relationship between these two characters never really seemed to ring true, and I wasn’t given enough of an insight into the character of Isobel to feel as I think I was meant to at the end of the novel.

It is clear that this novel has hit a nerve, and it is certainly a novel I would recommend.

‘A Game for all the Family – Sophie Hannah

Justine Merrison is a TV executive who has escaped her high-presssured life in London to move to rural Devon. This was meant to be a new start for the family, but then Justine starts to receive mysterious phone-calls from someone who seems to know more about her than Justine is prepared to tell us.

These calls come at the same time as her daughter, Ellen, is experiencing problems at school after her best friend, George, is excluded. When Justine goes to school to investigate matters, she learns there is no pupil called George. Her concerns for Ellen’s wellbeing are heightened when she reads a chilling story – written by her daughter – about a series of murders committed in their new home.

After losing my interest in Sophie Hannah’s recent novels I felt this was back on form in many ways. It made me doubt my own sanity at times, but it gripped me from the start and I was desperate to know exactly what was going on.

The Spooks Series – Joseph Delaney

I came late to this party, and it took an element of persuasion to convince me to start this series.

The Spooks Series tells the story of the seventh son of the seventh son, Thomas, who becomes apprentice to a Spook. Through these books we learn what the job of a Spook entails, have a richly imagined world full of truly terrifying characters and also get caught up in the age-old battle between good and evil.

There is a part of me that regrets not reading these books as they were published – trying to read them as one series meant, at times, that it felt a little repetitive. However, I feel this is a minor gripe and certainly not a concern that seems to be shared by the many teenage readers I’ve recommended this series to.

There are many things I loved about this series. Not least the evident love Delaney feels for some of the more unsavoury characters – Grimalkin and Alice – and his steadfast refusal to play safe with vocabulary and ‘dumb down’ to get his readers. Yes, there’s a formula, but it’s one that works.

I’m already looking forward the the new series, though I hope there’s not so many in this one!

‘The Rest of Us Just Live Here’ – Patrick Ness

Before I start this review, I have to confess to having a bit of a soft spot for this writer and this, coupled with a love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, made me highly intrigued by this new release.

You can get a precis of the novel on-line easily enough, and reviews seem to be mixed. I guess this just has to be one you will either love or loathe.

Personally, I loved the idea that this was a novel about the ordinary kids; the ones who are not chosen to spend their lives fighting demons and saving the world. Mikey and his friends, however, appear to lead far from ordinary lives…they have issues aplenty, without needing to worry about the impending apocalypse that seems to be threatening their town.

I loved the clever chapter starts that keep us abreast of the lives of the Indie kids that are going to save us. There are lots of knowing nods, and the characters are quirky without being irritating. Sly humour and some touching moments. My only gripe (now I’ve finished the novel) is the resolution for Jared, Mikey’s friend, who happens to be God of Cats. It seems to go against everything we’ve been fed through the story, and I wonder whether there’s some deep philosophical idea that I’m missing.

I have heard Patrick Ness referred to – fondly, I hasten to add – as the Dark Lord. Based on this, I think his power is growing…

‘Elizabeth is Missing’ – Emma Healey

I cannot help but feel that losing one’s memory, and having your sense of self eroded, must be one of the worst things imaginable.

I felt the utmost sympathy for Maud, who writes endless notes to herself but cannot remember when she wrote them. She knows her friend Elizabeth is missing, but seems to have no recollection of why she believes this to be the case. However, she seems to experience a sense of clarity when recalling the facts surrounding the disappearance of her sister, Sukey, many years previously. Unfortunately, as an unreliable narrator we are never quite clear what Maud is remembering and what she thinks she remembers.

This is a book that crosses a number of genres. It was not a comfortable read by any means because of the nature of the illness Maud has, but I did enjoy this story because of the controlled way in which we see the pieces coming together.

‘Everything, Everything’ – Nicola Yoon

I’d read a number of reviews of this before I started reading, and they didn’t fill me with optimism. I fully expected to be annoyed by this, and maybe not even finish it – how wrong!

From the outset, the world that Maddie inhabits is claustrophobic. Her whole life has been lived in a sterile bubble and her contact with the outside world is limited to interaction with her mother, nurse and the occasional tutor. Even when I am feeling at my most anti-social there is no better feeling than to go outside and feel the wind on your skin and to smell the air. i cannot even begin to imagine how it would feel to have to remain inside in order to live. Is it really living?

With the setting clearly established, Yoon quite quickly introduces Olly, the character who is going to turn Maddy’s assumptions about the world on their head. Olly is the teenage son of the newly-arrived couple next door. Of course, they strike up a bond and Maddy ends up falling in love. Some reviews have commented on the implausibility of this relationship, but both are damaged in their own way and they each offer something that the other needs. Their conversations are witty and endearing, and I was firmly rooting for them throughout.

We are given little clues that there is more to Maddy’s illness than initially shared, so the ending doesn’t really come as any surprise. Maddy is one of the most intriguing characters I’ve come across in recent YA fiction, and I will certainly be recommending it to many of my students.

Once again I have to thank NetGalley for a free digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

‘One’ – Sarah Crossan

Sarah Crossan is the author of ‘Apple and Rain’, one of the 2015 Carnegie Award nominees that all the students who read it thoroughly enjoyed. When I saw this book available for request on Netgalley I couldn’t resist.

Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins. Though they are many other things, this fact is what seems to define them in the eyes of others.

Through the eyes of Grace, the quieter twin, we see the girls starting school as their family cannot afford to home-school them any longer. We view their family going about their daily lives, and the impact that the girls’ condition has on those around them. We gain some insight into the practicalities of living so closely intertwined with another person. This all sounds very worthy, but that is not the impression that you get as you’re reading this.

The free verse of the novel makes this a very easy read, but it keeps you firmly in its grasp. The emotional pull of our narrator Grace really kicks in as we watch the twins and their family dealing with the very real impact of their failing health. This was a beautifully-told story that had me in tears, and it is one that I will strongly recommend to those who enjoyed ‘Apple and Rain’.

I had to update this entry, as ‘One’ was the winner of the 2016 Carnegie Award. All the students that were involved in the Shadowing process rated this highly, and anything that helps readers see that poetry is not something to fear is to be applauded.

‘The Tea Planter’s Wife’ – Dinah Jeffries

Due to be released in September 2015, this book tells the story of 19-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper. When she leaves England she is full of hope for her new life as the second wife of tea plantation owner, Laurence. Upon her arrival it is clear that her new home and family harbour many secrets, some of which will have far-reaching consequences for Gwen.

The opening of the novel had a languid feel to it, with beautiful and evocative descriptions of another land. Seeing this new land through Gwen’s eyes means we also focus on the issues surrounding race and colonialism that would have been prevalent in Ceylon at this time.

The novel was not what I expected at all. The bitter choice that Gwen makes early on has far-reaching consequences, the effects of which are only fully revealed later. The cast of characters kept me intrigued, and I think this is a novel that would warrant a re-read (if I could bear to put myself through the emotional wringer again!)

One of my unexpected pleasures of my summer holiday reading, and I thank Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this in exchange for an honest review.