Shine - Lauren Myracle

“When Tuttle pulled up to the store’s single pump at seven thirty, he found Truman slumped on the pavement, bound to the guardrail of the fuel dispenser. The gasoline nozzle protruded from his mouth, held in place with duct tape. Across the teen’s bare chest, scrawled in blood were the words Suck this, faggot.”

Cat lost her friends three years ago. After a terrifying encounter with her brother’s friend she hid herself away in books and stopped talking to everyone, including her best friend Patrick. But she never stopped loving him; he would always be her best friend. So when Patrick is brutally attacked, Cat is convinced that that the attacker is from their tiny middle of nowhere town and she takes it upon herself to find out who it was before the sheriff blames it on out of town-ers.

While Cat uncovers the truth about Patricks attack she realises exactly what she’s been missing out on over the past 3 years, including truth about the people she thought she knew and how nothing is as it seems.

Shine gives us an amazing storyline; we are introduced to events through a newspaper cutting at the beginning of the book, explaining what had happened to Patrick before we meet Cat. We then start getting Cat’s perspective of who Patrick was and what their town is like, with little teasing bits of Cat’s life thrown in. It’s pretty obvious that Cat’s town is one where everything is smoothed over, events are talked about but if anyone so much as suggests that the other people in town aren’t nice, clean citizens then it’s brushed away as idle gossip. The religious elements of the town really threw me, the way that everyone was asking God to watch over Patrick then saying that the attack was as much his fault as anyone’s because of his sexuality! That really didn’t flow well with my beliefs but it kind of drew me more into the story.

I’m not going to lie, there were a few elements of Shine that I didn’t like. It was a bit slow for me to get into at first, I couldn’t understand why what was being said was relevant, but obviously this came through towards the end and I really got into it around about the time Jason came into the book. I liked Jason, he seemed like a genuine and lovely guy even though he didn’t come across this way at first! Once Jason came into it and Cat started talking to people more like they were on her level I really got into it and I couldn’t seem to put the second half of the book down!

Another element was that I really didn’t take well to Cat's detective side, I liked her at first but then when she started snooping I kinda couldn’t make the two sides of Cat match up, you are introduced to a quiet girl who doesn't want any trouble, just wants to be buried into her books and forget her past, then all of a sudden she’s going round town like shes a cop. I just didn’t get why people didn’t just tell her to mind her own business! It was only in the parts of the book where she was outwardly asking questions like a detective would that I thought this though, the rest of the time she was a really interesting character, battling with her own past to bring herself out into the present.

I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and all that but the copy I had (ebook from publisher) was beautiful and the theme on the front carried on throughout, splitting the book into parts, marking the days with an image of the kind of landscape Black Creak would have and also the branch images on each chapter really added to the feel of the book.  I really liked that it was split into the days; it really made you focus on exactly how much time had passed since Patrick’s accident and intensified the need to find his attacker.

I’d only read one of Lauren Myracle’s books before – Kissing Kate – and I was expecting something very similar to that, but Shine wasn’t at all similar, it worked really well once I got into it and the storyline, as I said, was really gripping and exciting. I was even gasping out loud in the really exciting places and usually I’m quite quiet when reading, no matter how much I’m loving it!

I would really recommend this book to anyone who has a thing for detective stories, you really are just thinking “was it him? Or her? Or maybe even them?!” pretty much all the way through and it does keep you guessing!

Shine is due for a release in May, I’d like to thank the publishers, Amulet Books, for allowing me to read, and provide an honest review, of this title. 

30 Day Book Challenge: Week 2

Day 8: Book that scares you - The Fall of the House Of Usher -Edgar Allen Poe 



Goodreads Summary: 

"The eerie tales of Edgar Allan Poe remain among the most brilliant and influential works in American literature. Some of the celebrated tales contained in this unique volume include: the world's first two detective stories--"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter; " and three stories sure to make readers' hair stand on end--"The Cask of Amontillado", "The Tell-Tale Heart", and "The Masque of the Red Death"."

Anything by Edgar Allen Poe, but lets face it, no matter how scared you'll get from it you wont wanna stop reading cos his stories are amazing! 

Day 9: Book that makes you sick - Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh

For some reason the goodreads summary for this book is in a foreign language so here is the amazon product description, not that you'll need it!:

"Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye've produced. Choose life." 

I love this book, I really, really do. However I was almost physically sick whilst reading it. You will understand if you have or if you do read it yourself! 

Day 10: Book that changed your life - Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Goodreads Summary:

"Annie loves Duncan — or thinks she does. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn't. Duncan really loves Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanish singer-songwriter who stopped making music ten years ago. Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life.

In doing so, she initiates an e-mail correspondence with Tucker, and a connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they've got. Tucker's been languishing (and he's unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional and artistic ruin-his young son, Jackson. But then there's also the new material he's about to release to the world: an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album,Juliet — entitled, Juliet, Naked.

What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one's promise"

This book changed my life because it was the first one I blogged about on my Tumblr blog.. I know that sounds like a stupid thing to say but when you're as shy as me then it took a lot to post!! 

Day 11: Book from your favorite author - About A Boy by Nick Hornby 

Goodreads Summary: 

"Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bit nerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age."

I know I just mentioned a Nick Hornby book, but I love them all! He is amazing! :D I unfortunately saw the movie before the book so obviously I had Will as Hugh Grant and Marcus as the kid who grew up to be in skins (weird!) but it didn't stop me from loving the book!! :

Day 12: Book that is most like your life - 

This one is really hard. I don't think I've ever read anything that is like my life... Anyone have any suggestions? 

Day 13: Book whose main character is most like you - Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle

Goodreads Summary:

"Kate was Lissa's best friend. They've shared everything for four years. Then one night at a drunken party, Kate leaned in to kiss Lissa, and Lissa kissed her back. And now Kate is pretending Lissa doesn't exist. Confused and alone, Lissa's left questioning everything she thought she knew about herself, and about life. But with the help of a free-spirit new friend, Lissa's beginning to find the strength to realize that sometimes falling in love with the wrong person is the only way to find your footing"

Lissa is very much what I was like when I was a teenager... even if I didnt get off with my best friend... I dont think! lol 

Day 14: Book whose main character you want to marry - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Goodreads Summary: 

"Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything"

Ethan is an awesome guy... though I'd want him to be my husband more from this book than the second.. and obviously before he meets Lena cos you wouldn't want a guy who is obsessed with another woman as your hubby!! ;) 

In My Mailbox (#2)

In my mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren as a way of letting people know what books you picked up this week, either from publishers or in the shop/library yourself. You can find more out about it here.

My IMM this week is presented to you by the lovely Tony T-rex... Ain't he a cutie?! hehe  

So this week I got a couple of books through the post and today I went into town. This means I was naughty and not only did I visit the library but I also bought a couple of books from a charity shop! (I couldn't resist, 99p for a Holly Black book!!!) 
First of all I have to mention that I got Rockoholic by CeeJay Skuse this week! (cue me bouncing up and down going "YAYYYY") I won this from the awesome Mostly Reading YA blog and I cant believe I won, its signed to me and everything argh! Its my first signed book too so I will cherish it forever! :D Thank you!!! 

The wonderful, amazing being that is Michelle from Fluttering Butterflies is a saint and so nicely sent me Choker by Elizabeth Woods. This book has been on my wish list for a while and I'm so glad I'm finally gunna get chance to read it!


Then on my trip to the library today I got Eighth Grade Bites (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod #1) by Heather Brewer and the second in The Midnighters series, Touching Darkness, by Scott Westerfeld. I loved the first of the Midnighters that much that I had to actually get my library to get this book in for me otherwise I was gunna go crazy! I cannot wait to read this one either. So many good books and so little time!!


Unfortunately for me, my library is just opposite the Oxfam bookshop in my town. This is a problem because every time I go past that place I have to go check what they have in! I went in today and was shocked to see Tithe by Holly Black for only 99p.... I couldn't let that gem go so I had to get it!
As I was quickly scanning the shelves (T so didn't even wanna come into the shop with me so I thought I best be quick!) my eyes rested upon a book I've never thought I'd heard about, I didn't recognise the author or the book but I did kinda recognise the title. This book is beautiful. It is hardback and it has like a elasticated binding round it like a diary or notebook sometimes has. Its called The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. I picked it up and couldn't put it back down, flipping through the pages there are some amazing images and the feel of the book is gorgeous... I just had to buy it!


Anyway that's everything from me. I cant wait to get reading these books, in fact I don't know which to read first!! 

Tyme's End - B R Collins

“There are footsteps downstairs.
I sit up as quietly as I can, and a shiver goes down my back. I pray that I’ve imagined the sound, or that it’s my heartbeat. But it isn’t.
Maybe it’s just someone who’s come in to get out of the rain – a tramp, or a kid, or a tourist. But the local kids don’t come her. No one comes here. Even tramps only come here in the winter, when they’re desperate.
I’m cold all over. I’m on my feet but I don’t remember standing up. Oh, god. There is someone downstairs. The light has gone grey-blue, shadowy, like dusk.
I stand very still, praying for the noise to stop, praying that I’ve imagined it – like before, like all those times before – but it carries on. Deliberate, slow footsteps. I shut my eyes to imagine somebody walking like that, then wish I hadn't”

Bibi is a loner, struggling to fit in with her own life, constantly reminding herself and her parents that they aren’t her real parents. She only finds comfort in Tyme’s End, an old mansion house in her town that has been left to rot since historian H.J. Martin died 70 years earlier. However after one huge argument with her parents Bibi finds herself face to face with the current owner, Oliver. Taking an instant dislike to her Oliver soon realises she’s just someone who needs to realise that not everything is so black and white, and sometimes where you feel most safe is the place you are in the most danger.

Spread over 70 years Tyme’s End is written in three parts, from Bibi, in 2006, to Oliver in 1996 and then Oliver’s Granddad in 1936. We see the history of Tyme’s End, and the reasoning for its present state is uncovered by looking towards the past.

For me Tyme’s End was brilliantly written, the descriptions of the house, its presence, how it felt like a place of belonging, that was all evident from the way BR Collins wrote it. However I was majorly disappointed by the end, and by the story. It felt like it dragged so much once you got into 1936, I really didn’t like the characters in this part of the book and the ending was pretty anti-climactic.

There were some amazing bits of this book, like I say, the descriptions; wow! I felt like I was walking through the house myself and bloody hell I was terrified, especially when Oliver finds himself in the house during a storm. It’s rare that a book scares me, I haven’t really read any scary books for years and I honestly didn’t expect even 'scary' books to scare me! I don’t know why but I really didn’t. However Tyme’s End terrified me, I even had my t-shirt pulled up towards my eyes at one point trying to hide! These bits of the book were amazing; I just wish the whole book was!

I liked that a lot of the time the past reflected the present; Bibi felt a belonging, the same as Oliver and his Granddad had, when she was in Tyme’s End. The lack of “real” parents was something that all of them shared and that came across so well in places but quite a lot of the time I was left thinking that Bibi was being pretty damn unreasonable! I liked that Oliver was the way he was too, though I kinda was a bit worried in a few places about what was gunna happen…

I think the best part of the book had to be the middle section, Oliver’s story. I was drawn to him as a character more than anyone else in the story and I think this bit was the more gripping of the whole book; I loved it, the relationship with his father, and his granddad and his time in the house. I felt for him so much at the end of his part of the story and if it stuck with him I would have enjoyed the book more, I think.

All in all, Tyme’s End was ok, it was a fast –paced descriptive book that had me pretty scared, but the scariness of it was all that was worth it in my opinion, the storyline was a bit off and I wouldn’t bother reading it again. However I will read more of BR Collins’ books to see what they are like, before I judge her for this one, as I say her writing is incredible! 

Beautiful Darkness - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

“This town owned us, that was the good and the bad of it. It knew every inch of us, every sin, every secret, every scab. Which was why most people never bothered to leave, and why the ones who did never came back. Before I met Lena that would have been me, five minutes after I graduated from Jackson High. Gone.

Then I fell in love with a Caster girl.

She showed me there was another world within the cracks of our uneven sidewalks. One that had been there all along, hidden in plain sight. Lena’s Gatlin was a place where things happened – impossible, supernatural, life-altering things.

Sometimes life-ending.”

**This book is the second in the Caster Chronicles. This means that the review may contain spoilers from the previous book. Whilst I try not to spoilt anything for anyone it is very difficult not to talk about certain aspects of the previous book. If you haven't read Beautiful Creatures I suggest you do not read further.** 

Lena’s been acting strange since Uncle Macon died. She seems to be moving further and further away from Ethan and nothing he does can fix it. He can see she’s falling apart at the seams but doesn’t understand the severity of it. He had to overcome the same misery and grief just a year ago when his own mother died. But then again, he doesn’t know the whole story; he doesn’t know why Lena thinks she was the reason for Macon’s death. He doesn’t know that he might have been in the same position if it weren’t for Lena.

There are many things that Ethan doesn’t know. Including exactly how much of Lena’s Caster family has something to do with his mortal family, and how well Macon actually knew his mother. He is battling with his own questions whilst he tries to help Lena with hers, but unknowingly brings his best friend Link, and the new girl Liv, into this supernatural world with him when everything falls apart. 

I Loved Beautiful creatures so much and I couldn’t wait to read Beautiful Darkness so I got it as soon as I could! I had to know what happened after Lena’s birthday. I had to know what the seventeenth moon had in store for them. I had to know if they were going to live happily ever after! (I’m a romantic at heart!) What I didn’t realise was how much everything I wanted so badly would totally not be what happened at all and that this book would be even better than what I thought it would be!

I kinda thought for some reason that this would be all about Ethan and Lena trying to work out how they were going to be together and stuff and I did think that could maybe get a bit boring but how wrong was I! I hated new guy, John Breed, from the second I saw him at Uncle Macon’s funeral and with good reason! I won’t go further but I don’t think he’s a very nice character at all!

With Lena acting all strange and being distant, it’s really no wonder that Ethan doesn’t know how to react when Liv comes onto the scene. I liked Liv, she is such a cool character and I was happy that there was at least one girl in the series who was awesome without being a supernatural (with the exception of Mirian of course!) I wasn’t really that surprised with Ethan’s reaction though, hes a 16 year old guy, but I’m happy about the way things panned out between them.

The thing I loved about BC was the descriptions and how even though the book was so long there weren’t any parts of it that I thought were overdone. Beautiful Darkness is very similar, in that the descriptions were so powerful and you really get a feel for the characters but I think the only bad thing I have to say about BD is that repeats stuff a little bit too much, not over the top, but just a little too much. I understand that sometimes in a series you have to cover what happened in the previous books but I think it was a little over done in BD!

Anyway, away from the negative! I loved the way that BD really made you feel what Ethan was going through. Obviously I knew what had happened on Lena’s birthday but it was pretty obvious that Ethan didn’t have the full story from quite early on in the book. It was obvious that Ethan was also grieving for Macon while Lena was but also grieving for Lena because she was so different. I loved that Ethan never gave up on her though, even when he was faced with a pretty English girl like Liv, his feelings were a bit strange but he didn’t give up on Lena.

I think the thing I like most about this series is the characters, the way that even though you are told the story through Ethan, you get such a feel for the others. Link is just awesome! He is totally the friend you want there with you through thick and thin, and still making jokes when the times are tough.  I was so glad there was more of Link in this book than the first, and I really hope theres more of him in the next!

A lot of this book was learning to cope with the things the world throws at you and even though it is a supernatural series the issues there are so real and human. Lena has to face the consequences of Darkness and Light, which impact on her family severely but let’s face it, who doesn’t have to face tough choices when they are 16, even if the consequences aren’t quite so terrible!

Lena’s battle is a very strange one and for that her feelings are all twisted up. She doesn’t know who she is, so how can she choose what is the right decision? It’s no wonder that after what happened on her birthday she is so confused and thinks she is something she’s not.

As I said, the description in this book is incredible. I love the power you feel seeping through the pages when Ethan and Lena kiss. I love the way you can hear the branches fall in the wood and see the water at the lake early on in the book, I love the magical way Lena’s hair is described when she’s about to cast, and I love that some of the things that happen later were terrifying even though in essence they were just words on a piece of paper!

I have a really bad memory and usually when I read, I take in the book as a whole, I take in what happened as a whole story and I find it really hard to pick out little bits that mean something to me on their own, without the rest of the book. That’s ok because a book is a whole piece of work and it makes sense that certain parts won’t make sense without others. However In Beautiful Darkness I found one of my favourite quotes ever, that summed up the world perfectly, which I shared with you guys yesterday on my blog, and I found just one scene that has stuck in my head and I can’t seem to get it out. It is the dream that Ethan has, on page 273, it is so vivid and beautiful I think it’s something that will stick with me for a long time.

I really would encourage anyone to read these books. I love them both and I can’t wait for Beautiful Chaos to come out! I wanna be first in line for that one! :D 

really random post

I feel so bad about not blogging yet this week. I'm reading Beautiful Darkness at the minute and while I love these books they are so long! Its taken me since Saturday night to read 370 pages!!

Anyway I thought I would share with you an amazing quote from Beautiful Darkness that I read the other day and thought was perfect and something I could totally relate too; "There's something about sitting alone in the dark that reminds you how big the world really is, and how far apart we all are."
Beautiful indeed!

Also I would love to alert some of you guys about Dear Mr Potter. I have mentioned this project before on my blog but it was back when I was blogging on tumblr. Dear Mr Potter is an awesome project in which collections of letters, images, drawings, memories etc, ill be put together in a book and sold to raise money for the Harry Potter Alliance. I have helped collect the letters etc and choose what goes in and stuff, but Lily Zalon was the creator. She is only 17 and an awesome girl! She's done so much work for this project. The book will be going out for pre-sale soon (more information later) and will be coming out in July! I would love it if you let people know about this and if you visit dearmrpotter.org too!

30 Day Book Challenge: Week 1

Day 1: Favorite book: A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

Goodreads Summary: "Four strangers, who moments before were convinced that they were alone and going to end it all that way, share out the pizza and begin to talk ... Only to find that they have even less in common than first suspected." Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down is a novel that asks some of the big questions: about life and death, strangers and friendship, love and pain, and whether a group of losers, and pizza, can really see you through a long, dark night of the soul." 

My Favourite book was actually a really difficult thing to share. There is obviously more than one so I didn't know which one to choose! I finally settled on this one though because the majority of my favourites are series' and this one is a stand alone book. A Long Way Down makes you look at suicide in a completely different way, and as always Nick Hornby makes you laugh along the way.

Day 2: Least favourite book:  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Goodreads Summary: "'Wuthering Heights', Emily Bronte's only novel, is one of the pinnacles of 19th-century English literature. It's the story of Heathcliff, an orphan who falls in love with a girl above his class, loses her, and devotes the rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family." 

I'm pretty certain that this book is one of those where you either love it or you hate it. I have been forced to read it twice now for university and I hated it more the second time. And let me tell you, having to do an essay on a book you cant stand is SO not good! 

Day 3: Book that makes you laugh out loud: Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

Goodreads Summary: "In this wildly funny journal of a year in the life of Georgia Nicolson, British author Louise Rennison has perfectly captured the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager. In the spirit of Bridget Jones's Diary, this fresh, irreverent, and simply hilarious book will leave you laughing out loud. As Georgia would say, it's "Fabbity fab fab!""

This book was like, amazingly perfect and the funniest book I had ever come across when I was 13! I loved every page and my life seemed so boring in comparison to Georgia's! Although I haven't read it for years I think I laughed so hard I cried throughout most of Louise Rennison's books that I did read so it has to be on the list! 

Day 4: Book that makes you cry: The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman

Goodreads Summary: "The Story Sisters, charts the lives of three sisters–Elv, Claire, and Meg. Each has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination. Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbour who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart’s desire, and a demon who will not let go.

What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep can love go, and how far can it take you? "

I LOVED The Story Sisters. It was absolutely fantastic and I cried like a baby through most of it. I even had to stop myself reading it because I knew I was about to cry whilst reading it at work on my lunch break! I would seriously recommend this book. It is fantastic!

Day 5: Book you wish you could live in: Any Harry Potter Book, but for now I'll go with The Half Blood Prince

Goodreads Summary: "The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Hermione scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet,looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.

And yet... 

As in all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate -- and lose a few eyebrows in the process. The Weasley twins expand their business. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, though Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. 

So it's the home front that takes centre stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability"

The Half Blood Prince is the last book before, well you know what, and that's why I chose it. I love the world of Harry Potter, I never fail to become transfixed by it. I would love to walk the streets of Diagon Alley and get lost in the corridors of Hogwarts, but then, who wouldnt?! 

Day 6: Favorite young adult book: Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Goodreads summary: "Two young people are forced to make a stand in this thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternate society.

Sephy is a Cross -- a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a Nought -- a “colourless” member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood, but that’s as far as it can go. In their world, Noughts and Crosses simply don’t mix. Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum -- a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger. Can they possibly find a way to be together?

In this gripping, stimulating and totally absorbing novel, black and white are right and wrong."

Noughts and Crosses was quite possibly the longest book I'd ever read when I read it, it was one of the books that made me fall in love with reading (along with the Harry Potters and the Georgia Nicolsons!) And it will stay with me for a lifetime. 

Day 7: Book that you can quote/recite: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Goodreads summary: "Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour’s dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher’s mind."

This is another book which I was urged to read during college and I'm so glad I did! The narration is just wow! in this book. The strangeness of the narrator and his oddities really bring this book to life and you really end up loving Christopher. The reason I can quote from this book is because I have written about it in like two or three essays over my years of education and I will always love it.  

30 Day Book Challenge

Ok so I saw one of my friends (Hey Vicky!) on Facebook posting about books as a "30 day challenge" thing and asked her what it was all about. She kindly directed me to this page. I liked what I saw and thought that it would be fun to post my 30 day book challenge on the blog as I very rarely post anything on Facebook.
Upon looking at what you had to do I kinda thought that it might get a little repetitive for you to see something posted on here for 30 days straight which is just a picture. So... I'm going to change it a little bit. I will be posting 1-7 tomorrow. Then next Monday and for the next two Mondays after I will post the relevant "days" books. I hope you enjoy the feature, it's the first thing I've really posted that's not a review, eeek!

These are the "rules" for the challenge (even if I bent them a bit!) and if you wanna join in either via Facebook, Twitter or your blog then feel free!

Create a photo album and use Photobucket, Amazon, or Shelfari (or some other sight with pictures of books) to share pictures of the books on this list day by day. 

Day 1: Favorite book
Day 2: Least favorite book
Day 3: Book that makes you laugh out loud
Day 4: Book that makes you cry
Day 5: Book you wish you could live in
Day 6: Favorite young adult book
Day 7: Book that you can quote/recite
Day 8: Book that scares you
Day 9: Book that makes you sick
Day 10: Book that changed your life
Day 11: Book from your favorite author
Day 12: Book that is most like your life
Day 13: Book whose main character is most like you
Day 14: Book whose main character you want to marry
Day 15: First “chapter book” you can remember reading as a child
Day 16: Longest book you’ve read
Day 17: Shortest book you’ve read
Day 18: Book you’re most embarrassed to say you like
Day 19: Book that turned you on
Day 20: Book you’ve read the most number of times
Day 21: Favorite picture book from childhood
Day 22: Book you plan to read next
Day 23: Book you tell people you’ve read, but haven’t (or haven’t actually finished)
Day 24: Book that contains your favorite scene
Day 25: Favorite book you read in school
Day 26: Favorite nonfiction book
Day 27: Favorite fiction book
Day 28: Last book you read
Day 29: Book you’re currently reading
Day 30: Favorite coffee table book

What Can(t) Wait- Ashley Hope Perez

“’You expect me to skip school so I can babysit for you? Don’t say another word unless you’re actually planning to do something. I want to know where divorce comes in.’
‘Cállate! Somebody’s going to hear!’
It’s odd that Cecilia doesn’t mind going outside looking the way she doesn’t, but she’s suddenly paranoid about neighbours with superhuman hearing. The only person out besides us is somebody’s abuelita rolling her trash can back up the driveway across the street, and I’m pretty sure she can’t hear us over the racket the wheels make over the asphalt.
‘Fine,’ I start walking away.
‘Hang on’ Cecilia says. She grabs the sleeve of my shirt. ‘Mira, the whole reason I’m asking you is because I don’t want Ma to know yet. But I’m serious about it this time, te prometo.’”

What do you do when your family is so far removed from your aspirations in life they won’t back you up when you try and get there? Marisa is 17, the same age her sister was when she got pregnant and married her good-for-nothing ass of a boyfriend. Over the years there has been rarely anything but an A on her report card but her father can’t read and her mother doesn’t want to look at them. She is expected to graduate from school, get married, have a baby, and work at the local store for the rest of her life. But there are a couple of people in her life that understand she’s more than that.

When thinking about university at the beginning of her senior year, Marisa’s calc teacher, Mrs F, mentions the Engineering course at the University of Texas. Not knowing much about her personal life Mrs F convinces Marisa she’s good enough to go and makes her apply. What follows is a highly emotional year for Marisa; her sister’s husband is involved in an accident making him unable to walk so her sister has to be the main breadwinner. Her family haven’t got much money so she is forced to give up half of her wages to help them out, even when she cuts her hours to look after her niece. The only thing Marisa wants to do is make life better for herself so she can help the family out more but with her dad refusing to even acknowledge school it is going to be very difficult.

When I read the summary of What Can(t) Wait I knew that there would be parts of this book that infuriated me. Obviously being a Caucasian English girl growing up in the middle of a little village in North East England the story is quite far away from anything I have experienced first-hand. My parents were always supportive of anything I did, especially school, so knowing that Marisa’s father didn’t want her to carry on her education and he just wanted her to get married and bring up her husband and family really bugged me.

I know very little about Mexican families, I know they are very family orientated and as far as I’m aware they are very religious too. This book was all about Mexican families (I think there were two white characters within the whole thing!), Mexican ideals and the things that were there but no-one spoke about. Even though I don’t know much about the type of life Marisa leads the way the book was written made me understand fully about the expectations of her family and how completely normal these were. I guess one thing that definitely put this across was how normal it was for Marisa’s sister to be on the couch after a bust-up with Jose, and how the news about a 14 year old character getting pregnant was taken.

I liked that you had Marisa’s sister, Ceci, around to show exactly what was expected of Marisa because I don’t think I would have gotten as much out of the story if it wasn’t for her. I found myself thinking “man if that’s what they want for Marisa, it’s no wonder she wants out!” I also like how much of a feel you got for Marisa’s Mami too, she was obviously the dutiful wife she was meant to be yet at the same time you could tell how much she wanted Marisa to be happy and to do what she wanted to do, especially towards the end. I felt betrayed by Mami part way through but at the same time I know she was just worried.

I loved the relationship that Marisa has with Alan too, he is such a sweetie and I do think he is the perfect guy for her! I love the descriptions of his drawings too, I felt like I could see them. That’s said for a lot of this book actually, I felt like I could see it, like a movie, in my head.

I really couldn’t stand Marisa’s father, you could see what he thought quite clearly and I really didn’t like the way he states that girls and maths don’t mix. I don’t think he was meant to be a nice character but he really, really frustrated me. I just kept thinking that yeah, he had a bad childhood but surely he wants better for his kids than he had, surely he wants everything they want. Maybe he was jealous, maybe he was old-fashioned, or maybe I just didn’t understand that part of the culture. I don’t know what it was but he was definitely the only thing I didn’t like about this book.

I think What Can(t) Wait is an amazing story about finding out what you want your life to be like and fighting to get it that way. The story was a bit predictable but it had a fair few twists within it to keep you on your toes. Whilst reading it I could tell that the author was either in the same kind of situation or knew plenty of people who had to deal with the issues Marisa had to deal with. It was like she just seemed to “know” teenagers and how they thought and acted, the story was really well done and I look forward to seeing more by Ashley Hope Perez. 

I would like to thank Learner Publishing Group for sending me What Can(t) Wait, for an honest review via netgalley.  The book has recently been released in the UK and can be found here 

The Midnighters : The Secret Hour - Scott Westerfeld

"He put his head down and edged toward class.

then he saw the new girl. 

She was his age, maybe a year younger. Her hair was deep red, and she was carrying a green book bag over on shoulder. Rex had never seen her before, and in a school as small as Bixby High, that was unusual enough. But novelty wasn't the strangest thing about her. 

She was out of focus. 

A faint blur clung to her face and hands, as if she were standing behind thick glass. The other faces in the crowded hall were clear in the bright sunlight, but hers wouldn't resolve no matter how hard he stared. She seemed to exist just out of the reach of focus, like music played from a copy of a copy of an old cassette tape."

When Jessica Day starts her new school, Bixby High, she expects everything to be pretty much what it was in Chicago; boring, dull, everyday high school. She soon learns that although Bixby High is the same as any high school the town itself isn't. She's the first "new kid" in years and everyone wants to know her, and share the weird things about Bixby with her. She feels strange being the new kid but other than that everythings normal. However when she catches the eye of Rex Greene, one of the schools "weirdos" he soon figures that she's not like every other student at Bixby; even before she realizes it herself.

When Jessica awakes one night and finds that the world has stopped around her she thinks shes having a beautiful dream, walking through raindrops that have stopped mid fall. The next night though she finds her parents and sister pale and cold lying in their beds, follows a kitten into the street and is chased by a panther, and she thinks its a terrible nightmare. That is until Rex, Dess and Melissa turn up and explain that she's a Midnighter, and while her family is actually safe, she seems to have attracted trouble that doesn't seem keen to leave her.


I'd not read anything other than the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld before I picked up The Secret Hour so I was kinda expecting it to be very similar (authors tend to stick to the same kinda thing) so when I started reading I realised straight away that I was wrong and this book was completely different to Uglies. I would love to delve into the mind of Scott Westerfeld because he has obviously got an AMAZING imagination.

The story is based around Jess, but because of the use of external narration you get stuff from the point of view of a few of the other characters. The first character we even meet is Rex, albeit when he first notices Jess but never mind, and although he gets a bit, well, bossy later in the book, he is my second favourite character. He has depth and focus and I would love to know more about him.

My favourite character has to be Dess though. She is awesome, I love her talents, the way the brain just picks up on calculations and stuff to do with numbers instantly. I'm in awe of Dess. The descriptions of her working things out are incredible, they really jumped out at me. I felt like I could really feel the calculations winding down to the equation and I loved the combinations and relationships that the numbers had with the words, that fascinated me. Dess really had something going on, she was alive as a character and I loved her for it.

The descriptions were really what grabbed me throughout a lot of the book if I'm honest. I love the way Scott Westerfeld writes and the flow his words seem to have. While Jess walks through the raindrops the first night she awakes the way its described is magical. I love the thought of her walking through them and creating a tunnel between them. I want to be able to do that!

The story kept you guessing for a long time, I wasn't certain what the Midnighters were, how they got their talents or even if they were the "goodies" or "baddies" until near the middle of the book really. That's not to say it was dragged out though, it really wasn't, it kept my attention grabbed and my excitement growing all the way through to the end.

The mythology behind The Midnighters was very clearly thought out, there were elements of other supernatural "creatures of the night" types going on but I had never seen it done in this was before. The Midnighters are exactly what their names imply and they don't come from a long line of "seers," "mind-casters" or "acrobats," they were just themselves.

As expected with the first book of a series there were plenty of questions left open - I was going to mention a few of the ones I picked up on but I don't want to spoil any of the plot for you! - but I guess for the answers I will just have to read on, and I plan to do this as soon as possible! Scott Westerfeld really does grab, and pulls you right into the world he creates, and it is truly magical, beautiful, and quite scary, in The Secret Hour. 

Della says: OMG! - Keris Stainton

"Dan?' I whisper. I can feel my face heating up.

'Didn't I tell you he was coming?' Maddy says brightly, as she starts tugging my shirt off me. 

'You know you didn't,' I say. I pull the shirt off and throw it back into the bottom of my wardrobe, then pull the vest over my head and drop it on the floor. 

'You should take better care of your clothes,' Maddy says. She glances down at my chest. ' Have you got a Wonderbra?'"

With a mum who’s an ex-model and a big sister who is out-going, crazy and beautiful too it’s easy to feel below par. Della has been putting up with “omg is that your mum?!” for as long as she can remember and sometimes gets it about her sister too. So when her sister has a going-away party Della can’t believe that the cute boy she’s been crushing on since her first day of primary school not only flirts with her but ends up in her bedroom kissing her!

In a state of shock at the party’s events she awakes the next day to find her diary missing. She has a range of suspects, including cute boy, Dan. She thinks of anyone who could have gone in her room and taken it and she’s sure its Dan or his friend, who hates her, Gemima. As the summer goes on however Della finds herself getting closer to Dan and quickly works out that he didn’t take the diary. When certain, very hugely embarrassing diary entries start turning up in people’s pockets, via emails and text messages and even on her parents car Della starts getting really scared. With Dan and her best friend Maddy around to calm her down the piece together the clues and a theory is formed, but Della just can’t understand why.

Ok first of all I loved this book. It was hilarious and so amazingly pure to character. I loved Della, so much; she was just, well, a 17 year old!! I am certain that’s what I was like at 17 and I really do think if I’d read this book back then it would have been my bible! Let’s see, Della likes cute boy, cute boy likes Della, first reaction: HE MUST BE UP TO SOMETHING! That is totally how I would have reacted back then, I would have thought he was just after sex or it was a joke or a bet or something too! I, like Della, had severe lack of confidence… However at 16/17 I was a mega goth so it probably would have been a wind up if a nice cute boy came to ask me out!

The humour elements running through Della says OMG! is brilliant, I loved Della’s parents! They are exactly how I wanna be when I have kids and although Della thought they were embarrassing sometimes you could really tell that she loved them, and thought herself lucky to have such awesome parents, at the same time! I was cringing when her dad was on about condoms though, that was totally wrong but I was howling at the same time. I think some people might be a bit, sceptical about parents like these, thinking that those sorts of parents don’t exist but to be honest, my parents were a very toned down version of this and I know for a fact that one of my friends had parents just like Della’s when I was at college, so they do exist!

Della says is quite obviously a coming of age book, although it is hilarious it deals with such serious issues, but in the same way that 16/17 year olds do, through humour, sarcasm and avoidance! There’s one very serious part of the book where Della refuses to do something, avoids it because she’s scared and I really don’t blame her, I probably would have done the same! I loved that the book tackles things that I have never read about anywhere else, especially female masturbation. I remember that was just something at my school that no one ever talked about and if someone mentioned it all the girls would just be like “ewwww that’s minging!!!” this was evident even in college too, the girls would talk about Ann Summers parties and going in the shops and stuff but we would never discuss the vibrators. I’m happy that that’s gone away with age! I will happily sit and discuss things like that now but I do have one or two friends who are not as open and honest about the whole scene!

The whole first time thing was big in Della says too, and I liked the way it was handled. You see Della experiencing her first kiss, her first date, her first fumble and eventually another big first! I love that the humour was still evident here, making the whole thing a bit more light-hearted, you could tell Della was scared but sure and the humour was there to smooth over the nerves!

The relationships came across as strong the whole way through the book too, Della’s parents quite obviously had a great relationship and Maddy was exactly what every girl needs at that age; a best friend who was there as soon as you needed her, who you were there for and who you know, no matter what, will always be around. I loved that Maddy was Della’s push, the “let’s just go for it” attitude that radiated from her was awesome! But even Maddy, as a kinda background character had her own thing going on and I really enjoyed that, too often you get friends who just have no character of their own but you could tell Maddy was going through some things behind the scenes!

The whole mystery thing of the Diary was a good plot running through the book too. I nearly choked when I realised who had it and I just know that I would have been freaking out if someone had stolen my diary at 16 (and cringing all the way to my room, where I would lock myself in and never come out knowing the things that I wrote in there!) I guess that as the whole story moved on you could tell that Della was gaining life experience and, with the help of Dan, trying to get over the fact that someone had it. I had a hard time working out how old Della was in parts of the book and as it turns out she's 17 but I think that she's a young 17 and this book shows her becoming more mature. I was expecting more of the whole internet thing going on but it wasn't a problem that it wasn't a huge theme of the book. I really enjoyed the part that the internet and facebook played in, teenagers spend half their lives on their computers (trust me, they really do) so it was good to know that the author obviously knew what teenagers were like and featured the dangers of having profiles such as facebook and stuff (i.e. Della talking about hackers and only having friends she knew) I thought that really brought the book into the present.

I gotta add that, after my small rant on Saturday about Rachel Hawkins’ Hex Hall not having any swearing in it, Della says totally makes up for it! It had swearing in all the right places, especially Dan; boys always swear when they don’t know what else to say and this was put across brilliantly by Dan, his response to Della’s diary going missing; “Shit.” – just the right reaction from a guy!

I could totally relate to this book, Della’s crazy thoughts about why Dan wanted to go out with her, her embarrassment of her parents, Maddy’s dilemmas and Della’s worries about her diary being somewhere for all to see. I think the serious issues tackled were so totally in line with the humour and they worked in sync with each other so well. I really loved this book and as I say, if I was 16 again it would totally be my bible! 

Della says OMG! was recently shortlisted for the Lancashire Book Of The Year award 2011 and is available to buy here.Keris' next book is due out on July 7th and is entitled Jessie <3's NYC. 

The Last Little Blue Envelope - Maureen Johnson

**This review will contain spoilers of the previous book; 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Unfortunately as this is the second of the two books it is hard to defer from this. If you have not read the previous book and do not want it to be spoilt please do not carry on.**
"How exactly was she supposed to explain what happened over the summer? One day, thirteen little blue envelopes containing strange and very specific instructions from her aunt showed up, and then Ginny - who had never been anywhere or done anything - was suddenly on a plane to London. From there she went to Paris, to Rome, to Amsterdam and Edinburgh and Copenhagen and across Germany in a train and all the way to Greece on a slow ferry. Along the way, she had met a collection of stone virgins, broken into a graveyard, chased someone down Brick Lane, been temporarily adopted by a strange family, been fully adopted by a group of Australians, made her stage debut singing Abba in Copenhagen, been drawn on by a famous artist... 
... It was a bit hard to summarize in one thousand admissions-committee-ready words."

Life has been slightly unusual for Ginny since returning from a summer adventure which had her travelling all over Europe. After receiving letters of instruction from her Aunt she found out she had an uncle, visited Paris, London and Rome, and was (kinda) skinny dipping in Greece when her backpack was finally stolen. The envelopes were in the backpack, and as she was opening them in order the final, 13^th, little blue envelope was unopened and she never found out what it said.

Ginny is trying desperately to put her summer experience into words for her college application, when she receives an email, from a guy in London. This guy bought her backpack, and ultimately has possession of the letters. She goes to London to get the letters but soon learns that Oliver, who has the envelopes, isn’t as nice as she first thought and he had conditions for her to follow to get the final letter. In her second trip she learns far more than how to buy train tickets and finding a nice hostel, she experiences more than she had ever done before and learns that not everything is handed to you on a plate.

I only read 13 Little Blue Envelopes (known as 13LBE here) a few weeks ago and I was a bit jealous the whole way through, my one flaw of it was that the story was just off with plot, it didn’t really kick in until right to the end, you were left wondering why Ginny’s Aunt Peg wanted her to jet off around the world. In The Last Little Blue Envelope though the plot was right there from the beginning, it was quicker to develop then spread out over just the right pace throughout the book. I liked that this trip was more like a mission, and had more of a purpose from the word go. It was the ending to what had happened in 13LBE and it worked.

The book seemed less rushed than the previous one too, it might have had something to do with the amount of places Ginny had to visit, I thought that everything was a bit rushed in 13LBE; she got to one place, looked at something and left. In the Last Little Blue Envelope though it felt like Ginny was “seeing” more, which is, I imagine, what her Aunt Peg would have wanted. Because of this I felt that the descriptions were more focussed in this book, especially of the Cityscapes. I felt like Ginny was properly taking it in and pondering her life as she was taking it in too. I really loved Johnson’s description of the Christmas lights in London, especially the snowmen!

I liked the characters in this book too, Ginny felt less lonely, you got to know Keith more and you were introduced to a few extra characters. The thoughts and feelings of the characters really came out too; they are very typical emotions for eighteen year olds, even though Keith was quite childish! There was huge amount of jealousy flying through the group and confusion and anger and that came out so well. I was angry at Keith throughout a lot of the book! Ellis was an awesome character too, I didn’t want to love her but I did, and you could tell that Ginny was having a hard time too, not wanting to like her but liking her anyway because of how lovely she was! Oliver’s character seemed very rehearsed to me, like he was putting on a show, but that becomes understandable, I know he wasn’t meant to be a nice character but Keith was far too harsh on him!!

I believe that Maureen Johnson wasn’t planning on writing a sequel to 13LBE; she was going to leave it as it ended but following letters from fans she decided to write The Last Little Blue Envelope, this is explained in the author’s notes of the book. I’m so glad she did because I didn’t feel like Ginny got enough closure in the first book; I loved the book as it was but it did long for a sequel! I think this book really does let Ginny get the closure she needed, especially when Ginny is in Ireland, this book could have finished at that point and I really wouldn’t have minded because I thought that scene was perfect.

As a sequel, perfect is how this book has to be described. I'm not saying that its perfect as a book as, you know, nothing can be perfect! But as the second half of the Envelopes series it lets you get more of an idea of Ginny as a character, as I think was the point. Before her trips she didn’t really have much of a character, she needed the trips to give herself something, even if it was just something to write in her college application! I didn’t get Ginny from the first book, I was jealous that she got to go on a trip like she did and she didn’t really seem to want to, but after this one she’s grown up, matured and she’s become something. I think Aunt Peg’s letters and Ginny’s experiences of the places Peg had been to meant that some of Peg’s “so what” attitude rubbed off on Ginny by the end of The Little Blue Envelope, and that made me warm to Ginny more. I’m a free spirit so I love Aunt Peg so much, she sounds like an awesome role model to me!  

I would seriously recommend these two books. I think reading the first knowing there was a sequel coming helped so much so I would recommend reading the two together! I said in my review of 13LBE that it would have been better to read the book a few years ago for me, and that’s something I still think. I did relate to the characters well but I think I would have done more had I read the book at 15 or 16, maybe even earlier. So I would totally recommend this to any teenager looking for a good coming of age book that’s a good easy read with an exciting storyline. 

I would like to thank Harpercollins for allowing me to review this book via Net Galley. The Last Little Blue Envelope is due out on April 26th in the UK and can be pre-ordered now from Amazon here.