She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book about coincidence. Coincidentally, I went to Hay-On-Wye literary festival, and met the author and bought this book. (Actually, I’m not really sure if that was a coincidence since the trip was planned…) Anyways this book certainly got me addicted. I went to the campsite, and read it for the majority of the afternoon in my tent (when there is rain in Wales, you read.) Then, I came home, and finished the final few chapters. Then, it dawned on me. I really, really loved this book.

I’ve not really been very interested in coincidence. It happens to me, and I say ‘wow’ and I’ll be amazed for a little while, and then forget it ever happened by tea-time. Deja-vu however, has the ability to freaks me out more than coincidence, and I find a Deja-vu incident a lot harder to explain to other people. However, I felt that ‘She Is Not Invisible’, dealt with this aspect really well and explored coincidences and chance in a very clever way. I liked how the number 354 cropped up a few times, and the book itself was full of coincidences, the last page of the book is 354.

I loved Laureth, the main character. She was such a strong young woman, it’s her choice to go across the Atlantic to try and find her father, she’s strong-willed and really cares about the people that she loves. She trekked across New York with only a seven year old brother and a stuffed raven named Stan. And Laureth is blind. She does not let her disability to stop her. She was an excellent character, definitely a role model, and I applaud Marcus Sedgwick for giving me a small insight about what it is like to be a blind teenager.

This book is refreshingly different from his Gothic historical novels, it was less serious. I loved that aspect, I found that there were many humorous points, such as Benjamin’s conversations with his stuffed raven toy. However, this didn’t stop the serious and clever points of the book such as Laureth and Benjamin’s father’s Black Book.

Marcus Sedgwick is one of the best YA authors out there. It is such a shame he is so underrated, as each one of his books I have read have been a gem.


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Blood Family by Anne Fine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eddie is rescued from an abusive home from a young age. Anne Fine’s Blood Family discusses the Nature Vs Nurture debate.

I really enjoyed this book. I personally felt that Eddie and Alice were the best characters in the book. Eddie was relatable (and you just wanted to give him a hug), while Alice seemed to be the sensible one, and I loved her for always trying to help Eddie and Lucy. I really liked the split narrative, I thought it really gave dimension to this story, and the different voices were done quite well. However, Fine’s writing in this book was somewhat lacking. I struggled to imagine what Eddie looked like. There was literally no description of him whatsoever. I tried to picture him as an older version of the boy on the front cover with curly blond hair, blue eyes and, for some reason, plaid shirts. However, this image of a quite a cute yet studious boy jarred awfully with the fact that he looked like Harris. Come to think of it, I barely knew what Harris looked like. I felt a little odd after reading this as I couldn’t really picture the main character.

Despite the writing being somewhat lacking, I really enjoyed this book and I read it in one day. I would recommend it.


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Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Perhaps reading a Christmas book in the middle of May wasn’t such a good idea… but it was on offer in the Works, what can you do? This book was a speedy read and I thought these two writers wrote well together, but…

The characters in this book were pretty annoying. First we had Dash who was very pretentious and quite annoying. Although, I did find Lily more annoying, with her naivety and her childishness.

I also got pretty annoyed with an undertone of ‘book superiority’. I believe every book has some worth, and in this book, both characters tossed both romances and YA books aside and they both felt that these classics were better. Fair enough, although it was somewhat paradoxical as this book is a YA novel.


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Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I’m in the mood for anything quick, delightful, realistic and fun, I go for Sarah Dessen. Her writing is like milk chocolate digestive biscuits (my go to snack food). After the brilliant ‘Along for the Ride’, I sought out, ‘Just Listen’. This book is a true gem. The characters are believable, and unlike other Dessen books I’ve read there was this suspense of what happened last summer. I found Annabel surprisingly relate-able for the ‘girl who has it all’ (guess what? She doesn’t!) However, I think the hero of the show had to be Owen. With his obscure music taste and his honest, and sometimes angry, personality – he was perfectly lovable. I would probably recommend this to anyone, it was a perfect break from my revision and I really enjoyed it.

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All the Truth That's In Me by Julie Gardner Berry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When you write a really long review then lose it:



The rewritten version!!!

‘All the Truth that’s in me’ is about a young woman named Judith. Four years ago, she went missing with her best friend. Two years ago she came back with half a tongue, and her best friend was dead.

Sounds like a contemporary, yes? The photographed tree on the cover, the modern coral typography all seem to point towards a contemporary novel. But no, ‘All the Truth that’s in me’ is a historical novel and (I think), set in the newly discovered lands of America. This was where the confusion all began for me. It was definitely this kind of feeling:



I definitely have mixed feelings about this book. I found the first part confusing, disjointed and I didn’t like the main character, Judith. However, from about 150 pages on I really enjoyed it. Judith became a more likable character, and I got used to the disjointed style. It even was less confusing. This gif sums it all up:



The Not-so-good first half

This part of the novel is pretty disjointed, the paragraph short chapters lent themselves to that. Also, Judith’s story flipped from before she was captured, to being captured, to now and the time switches were pretty hard to keep up with.

Judith

I really didn’t like this girl in the beginning. Why? You ask. Her constant addresses to ‘you’, (which sometimes read as Darrel) were to Lucas. I didn’t have a feeling that I really knew Lucas so this felt at best desperation and at worse stalker-like behaviour.

A bit like this:



But in the second half, she became her own self. She was more confident and had more courage. I even liked her relationship with Lucas more, as I felt I got to know his character better.

The Fabulous Second half

This was the real gem of the book. Here, the plot and the writing ran seamlessly together. The plot became fast-paced, and really enjoyable. As said before, Judith was a much better character towards the end. Despite the mystery of the book having a bit of an obvious ending, I felt the cutesy ‘NOW’ bit was a really nice way to end.

It was this at the end:






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The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Linus is a 16 year old living on the streets when he is kidnapped. Put in a bunker with six others, they hope for a way out.

I enjoyed this book, as I usually do with quite ‘gritty’ reads, and I found Linus’ voice intriguing. I liked the mystery of the bunker, and the mystery of the kidnapper. However, despite my love for the plot and Linus, I don’t think the ending was constructed very well. I don’t cope well with endings that just leave me hanging. There was no hope, nor answers.

I enjoyed this Lord of the Flies-esque story, but for me, the ending was bleak and fell flat.


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Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I picked up this book I didn’t expect anything. I didn’t expect a story so real and genuine that it’d swallow me down. Neither did I expect a boy with a voice honest that I now believe that there is a twelve year old living in Brooklyn named Georges.
Liar and Spy is a book about Georges who is quite an average twelve year old, although, he has just moved into a new apartment. In that apartment he meets Safer – another twelve-year old who is a self appointed spy. Together they spy on the elusive Mr X. But as cracks start appearing on the surface; is Safer a real friend or is it just a tangle of lies?

Being a ‘Carnegie connoisseur’ (I jest!), I’ve noticed a pattern. Each year I have participated in this award, the Carnegie would usually have mostly older teenage books and then one or two books aimed at twelve and younger. Usually I disliked or didn’t read those, as I found with ‘The Death-Defying Pepper Roux’, (Carnegie nominee 2011), I found it a bit ‘meh’. But, thankfully, not with Liar & Spy. Rebecca Stead’s book is brilliant for all ages, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I love the real sense of mystery in this book, as many questions are slowly answered throughout the course of the novel. I suppose this is what really enchanted me; a book which is set mostly in one square mile in Brooklyn that had so much mystery and so much appeal. Even the spy undertones had quite a magical vibe. I thought Stead’s writing was very realistic and I especially loved being in Georges head – the thoughts and conversations he had were so engrossing.

This book is a definite 5/5 for me. So grab a copy and read ‘Liar & Spy!’


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Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Do you like dragons? Yes I like dragons!
Do you like super awesome realistic fantasy worlds? Yes! Bring it on!
Do you like mysteries? Yeah I like mysteries!
Do you like political intrigue? Yeah I like political intrigue!
Do you like some romance? Yeah I like some romance!
Do you like really beautiful descriptions? Yeah I like really beautiful descriptions!
Do you like a fast-paced plot? Yeah I like fast-paced plots!

If yes to all above, you will LOVE Seraphina.



By Lucy who was far too lazy to write a proper review.


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Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So, Lucy, what’s you’re opinion on this book?... ‘Ngh nghg nghg’ I groan. I do admit, I either sound like a five year old or an aged cat or a monster. But this is how I feel about ‘Clockwork Angel,’ – it’s just so ‘meh’ (or ‘ngh ngh’).

The ‘Clockwork Angel,’ was pleasingly a lot better than TMI (which, by book 3, I struggled to finish). Its plot was pleasingly fast-paced, the characters slightly more likeable and the Victorian London world an interesting concept.

BUT OTHERWISE. No. I didn’t hate this book; I just have a strong disregard for it.

Reason 1 (of many reasons)

The world. It’s a brilliant concept. A fantastic concept. THE BEST CONCEPT. But alas, it didn’t work very well, despite the brilliant idea of a Steampunk Victorian England, it didn’t work. Most of the language felt very modern, and there was little description that made you really fall into the world. I think perhaps Ms Clare could follow Linda Newberry’s style, (Set in Stone), whose work reads and feels very Victorian–like. I really hoped ‘Clockwork Angel’ would read different from TMI series, so that Ms Clare could have a chance to show us that she knew how to write books in different styles.

This brings us on to reason 1’s sub-point. Accents.

Accents well written excite me like a child waiting for Christmas. Britain has a lot of accents. You’ve got Welsh, Cockney, Cornish, Scottish, Brummie, Yorkshire and many more. Especially in a place like London you’ll get so many accents everywhere. So why didn’t Clare use this to her advantage? She described accents, but she didn’t incorporate much of this into their speech. Another opportunity lost! IIf Will is Welsh (he is Welsh, right?), yet he speaks in Proper English. WHYYYY.

Reason Number Two - Characters

Will. Is that guy meant to be attractive?



He’s a git. Seriously, one minute he’s fawning over Tessa – next minute he ‘offers’ that they can ‘use her room’. Steady on mate! I just found the ‘I’m such a cad, but underneath I’m loveable’ character a bit used.

Tessa. She cried. She screamed. She looked blankly. Etcetera. I just found her a bit dull, a bit annoying.


Jessamine = a Shame. She could've been a really good character, if she wasn't a jealous bitch.

However, I really did like the character of Jem. HE WAS A REAL GENTLEMAN! I liked his backstory, his personality. He was ‘the boy next door’, but however he’s probably going to get completely disregarded in the love triangle for this very reason.

Reason Number Three (the final reason).

Love Triangles are boring. I really don’t need to go into this one, do I?

I did like reading this book, I found the plot to be generally quite good, and it was something I needed at the time, light with a lot of adventure.


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Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

‘Etiquette and Espionage’ is a fun story about a young Victorian girl sent away to finishing school. Except, this school flies. Its teachers include vampires and werewolves. And, you learn how to spy sufficiently.

I really enjoyed this novel; it was fun, light and interesting. It wasn’t blow my mind amazing but it was a nice read. Would recommend


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