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‘Seed’ – Lisa Heathfield

A deeply upsetting story.

Pearl has known no place other than Seed, the place she lives with her family. The cult is terrifying in the way it operates, and I found it highly effective that Heathfield chose to write about events from Pearl’s perspective. Her naïveté is concerning, but it offers a compelling insight into some of the methods used to keep people within such an environment.

It’s tempting to think nothing would have changed were it not for the arrival of Ellis and his family, but there are signs that Pearl was beginning to question what happened around her home.

I was pleased that we were not given graphic descriptions of what we assume was happening at this place. What we were told was enough. Much of my time reading this was spent feeling anger at the people who perpetuate such regimes.
While the ending did not resolve everything, it gave us opportunity to digest the events and dream about what might come next.

‘Olivia Twist’ – Lorie Langdon

This re-imagining of the classic is a clever twist on a familiar tale.

In the opening pages we are introduced to the orphan born in the workhouse. Only in this book, our orphan is female and gets given the name ‘Oliver’ as a means to try and prevent awful things happening to her as she grows up in the workhouse. Thankfully, Langdon doesn’t follow the story of the Dickens’ tale, but she moves the action to eighteen years later when Olivia Brownlow is part of Victorian polite society.

At the point our story really starts, Olivia is trying hard to fit into polite society but she has a soft heart and cannot quite give up her past. When she crosses paths with a familiar face from her childhood on the streets, Olivia is plunged into a terrible situation: should she do what is expected of her, or follow her heart?

From the beginning this is a book that had me admiring the structure and plotting. I loved the knowing nods to the source material while providing us with a story that was entertaining in its own right.

‘The Last to Let Go’ – Amber Smith

 

The Way I Used To Be was a book recommended to me that I read in equal parts horror and amazement. The Last To Let Go takes a similarly tough topic – though less talked about – and is equally challenging to read.

The explosive first chapter introduces us to our main character, Brooke, returning home to find police swarming her neighbourhood. Her mother has stabbed her father, with her little sister the only witness.

Suddenly everything Brooke thought she knew has been turned upside down. Nobody wants to acknowledge the hidden abusive side to her father, and the impact his behaviour had on the rest of the family. Her mother is in prison, and the three children are all struggling to live with what has happened.

What I found intriguing about this was Smith’s focus on Brooke and her life after this event. We see her coming to terms with her sexuality, developing her relationship with her siblings and taking tentative steps to develop her sense of identity.

‘Wicked Deep’ – Shea Earnshaw

A slow-build which thoughtfully explores love and relationships in a magical setting.

Over two hundred years ago the Swan sisters were accused of witchcraft and killed. In the modern day the town of Sparrow has little going for it, until the start of Swan season when the locals brace themselves for the annual attempt by these spirits to get revenge against the town that killed them.

Each year the spirits of the three wronged sisters take a life. Each year the tourists flock to Sparrow to witness these macabre events. Each year the locals brace themselves for the unease they feel necessary to atone for their ancestor’s past choices.

This year is different. Penny Thompson is determined that things need to change. When mysterious Bo arrives in Sparrow she has a difficult decision to make…save him, or save herself.

This was a magical read, and the interweaving of past and present kept me hooked in the events and keen to see how they would resolve themselves.

‘Boy Meets Hamster’ – Birdie Milano

A quirky story, that will have you laughing out loud and (probably) falling in love with a giant orange hamster.

Dylan is used to being dragged on rubbish holidays with his parents and younger brother. This summer he’s taken to a caravan park in Cornwall, and the only consolation is he can take his best friend Kayla. Nothing much happens at this park, but in his quest to have the holiday of a lifetime Dylan ends up causing chaos.

Upon arriving at their holiday home, Dylan develops an enormous crush on the boy in the van next-door. Unfortunately, this crush causes him untold pain…not helped by the fact that everywhere he goes he’s accosted by the park mascot, hamster Nibbles.

Of course, things don’t quite go to plan. There’s enough awful things happen to Dylan to leave him traumatised for life, but he bounces back from them all. He even ends up finding the boy of his dreams-though not where he was expecting!

Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance of publication.

‘Ringer’ – Lauren Oliver

Bestselling author Lauren Oliver digs deep into questions of how to be a human being in a world where humanity cannot be taken for granted.

In Ringer we catch up with Lyra after she has escaped from the Haven. She and Caelum are on the run, trying to work out who can help them.

Again, we have the flip book format. You can read alternate chapters or the stories in turn. For this one I read Lyra’s story before Gemma’s and, having got to the end of the story, I confess to feeling rather perplexed.

I loved the idea behind this story, and it was good to see a little more into the minds of those who have created the replicas. It posed interesting questions about mankind and what it means to be human.

While the idea is exciting, there were sections where I found my attention wandering. Splitting the focus between the characters meant I never felt fully engaged by either.

‘The Impossible Vastness of Us’ – Samantha Young

India Maxwell hasn’t just moved across the country—she’s plummeted to the bottom rung of the social ladder. It’s taken years to cover the mess of her home life with a veneer of popularity. Now she’s living in one of Boston’s wealthiest neighborhoods with her mom’s fiancé and his daughter, Eloise. Thanks to her soon-to-be stepsister’s clique of friends, including Eloise’s gorgeous, arrogant boyfriend Finn, India feels like the one thing she hoped never to be seen as again: trash.

But India’s not alone in struggling to control the secrets of her past. Eloise and Finn, the school’s golden couple, aren’t all they seem to be. In fact, everyone’s life is infinitely more complex than it first appears. And as India grows closer to Finn and befriends Eloise, threatening the facades that hold them together, what’s left are truths that are brutal, beautiful, and big enough to change them forever…

I love it when a book delivers more than you’re expecting.

When India’s mother drops her bombshell, she’s unsure how to feel. With one action she’s gone from being a popular girl to a nobody on the social rung of her new school. India’s new stepfather has money, lots of it, and lives in an environment where your name and reputation is everything.

India’s journey in this novel is an interesting one. She slowly learns there’s more to people than they always want to present to the public, and gradually learns to trust herself.

There’s a lot in here that you need to discover as you read. The characters India meets are not without their flaws, but combined it makes for a pretty explosive read. There are some views expressed here that are never going to be okay – and they are necessary for the credibility of the characters/plot but it doesn’t make them any easier to read.

‘The Dollmaker of Krakow’ – R.M. Romero

Karolina is a very special doll. Once a seamstress in the Land of Dolls she had to leave her country behind when rats invaded and started to destroy the once peaceful land simply because they could. She and her friend, Fritz, journey across their land to a place where they have been told a spirit resides who can send them to a place where their heart will be safe. A dangerous journey, but one they feel compelled to make.

We first meet Karolina when she awakens in the toy shop owned by Cyril Brzezick, the Dollmaker of Krakow. A private man, Cyril is shocked to discover that he has brought this doll to life. Slowly, they learn to trust each other.

Set against the backdrop of events in Poland in 1940 it is inevitable that we have to read about intense hatred and prejudice. We watch as Cyril befriends Josef and his daughter, Rena, only to have their friendship taken away because they are Jews. Throughout these events Karolina is by Cyril’s side…right until the end.

For readers of 9 upwards I think this will be a great book to introduce some of the issues linked to WWII. Inevitably, it’s upsetting to see the hatred experienced by Josef and Cyril because of their religion or refusal to follow Nazi orders. I think the blending of historical and magical is a perfect mix. What happens to these characters is awful, but there’s glimpses of humanity that reduced me to tears.

A beautifully presented book, with wonderfully depicted characters (even the nasty ones) and I can’t wait to see how others feel about it.

‘The Start of Me and You’ – Emery Lord

This is one of those feel-good romances that is just sweet enough.

Paige Hancock is pretty well-versed in The Look. She is used to everyone around her – apart from her friends – giving it to her when they realise Paige was the one whose boyfriend died a year ago.

I felt rather awful when I started reading this, because Paige had only been going out with Aaron for a couple of months before he died. I couldn’t understand how you’d let such an event define you in the way Paige does.

That minor gripe aside, Paige is determined to plan a way to move her life on. So, at the start of the new academic year she comes up with a plan to push herself to try new experiences.

I couldn’t help but think the activities she resolves to try were rather formulaic, but – of course – things wouldn’t be good to read about if they went exactly to plan.

We watch Paige grow in confidence, and her group of friends – old and new alike – were fun to watch. They had a close bond and seemed so mature in their approach, particularly with regard to support offered.

I spotted the romance a mile off and it was more about watching how Paige and her new love interest finally get to this stage. Books featured highly in the novel so it had definite appeal.

‘Clean’ – Juno Dawson

Clean. To be clean involves removing dirt. And, in this, there’s A LOT of dirt.

Due for release in April 2018, I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this latest release from Juno Dawson. It brought back memories of the first time I read ‘Junk’ by Melvin Burgess, and I sincerely hope that this does not get ignored because people think teen readers can’t handle such topics.

We first meet our main character, Lexi, as she is passed out in her brother’s car on her way to a rehabilitation centre for heroin addiction. I’d read the opening some time ago, but it was just as disorientating and confusing this time around. Watching Lexi go through the first steps in her seventy day treatment is hard to read.

Dawson packs a serious punch here and we get a warts-and-all account of not just Lexi’s addiction but those with her in the centre. We relive some of the experiences that bring Lexi to this point and, though there were some alarming situations, there was no scare-mongering ‘just say no’ preaching.

What this novel conveyed so well was the deception that someone who is addicted might practise. Particularly on their sense of self. If you surround yourself with enablers, it’s easy to deny you have a problem.

Initially I did not think Lexi would be a character I felt much for. But, thankfully, she is not simply a shallow spoilt little rich girl. She, like a lot of the other characters we meet, is lost and needs help finding her place. As we learn more about Lexi it becomes easier to see beyond the persona she presents to the world.

There was a sense of knowingness to ‘Clean’. Sometimes the first attempt at rehabilitation is unsuccessful, but it doesn’t mean you should stop trying. There were moments of humour within this – which I wasn’t really expecting – and I found myself wanting to know more about some of the other characters Lexi meets. I also found myself really irritated by Lexi’s so-called friends and the ‘rich absent’ parents who seemed to be being held more than accountable for their childrens’ issues.

While it doesn’t give us all the answers, it certainly raises some interesting questions.