The City’s Son (The Skyscraper Throne #1) - Tom Pollock

“I’m hunting. The sun sits low over Battersea, its rays streaking the brickwork like warpaint as I pad through the railway tunnels. My prey can’t be far ahead now: there’s a bitter, burnt stench in the air, and every few yards I find another charred bundle that used to be a rat.”

Beth Bradley is in trouble. Having been caught doing graffiti on her school she is expelled. Her father doesn’t bat an eyelid and sits reading in the armchair just as he has done for the past three years since her mother died. Leaving the house she decides the streets are a better place for her and her drawings. There she finds Filius Viae, son of the streets and even though he doesn’t want her, she is pulled into the hidden world of London, a world she didn’t know existed, with stampeding train spirits and dancing glass girls who give light. Worst of all this world is dangerous, with an emery currently towering over ST Paul’s Cathedral, Filius needs help to save the streets that flow within his body and that hold Beth’s heart. 

***

I really didn’t know what to expect from The City’s Son. It was sent to me as an unsolicited review copy and I hadn’t even heard of it before I opened the package. When I googled it I got very intrigued and thanked in my head whoever it was that sent it. It sounded really good, but very strange and now I’ve read it, I can tell you it was both! 

This hidden London that Tom Pollock has created is amazing, with speeding train spirits and people trapped within statues, a walking trash person and dancing lamp people! it was incredible but also so so scary. The war that Filius is involved with is against Reach who sounds terrifying, truly terrifying! I was warned on Twitter that I wouldn’t be able to look at cranes in the same way again and I really wont, a bit of a problem when you work for a construction magazine! But anyway, the story... It was immense, I was confused for the first 50 pages or so, I swear, but it was that kind of intriguing confusion, I needed answers to what the hell these things are and why they were going around London! You get those answers once Fil and Beth get closer and I liked the way that even then the answers weren’t just simple, they weren’t handed to you on a plate. There’s a serious underlying message in this book I think, and it really makes you  think about society and the way things are, even though its all fantasy! 

The characters were amazing and I really enjoyed taking this journey with them. They were all messed up, especially Beth. Her father has been pretty much mute since her mum died and she gets her feelings out through pictures not words. Its amazing to read about her pictures and I could envisage them throughout the book, they were beautiful. Filius is again brilliant and is waging a war that’s not even his to wage, it’s his mothers, so you know, he has a reason to be messed up. I loved how sweet he was and how much he cared about the people close to him, he wanted to do right by everyone but knew he couldn’t always do that. Pen, Beth’s best friend was the most realistic character ever, I swear she could be anyones best friend and I loved her for that, she was messed up in a completely different way and I loved her storyline throughout the book, it was separate from Beth and Fil’s and it made the book have so much more depth. I adored the sections of the book that explored what would happen next for Pen and thought that they were what made her the strong character she was in the end. I want to know more about Pen and what does happen next for her and really hope she is in the next book. Beth’s father was a bit of a waste of space at the beginning of the book but by the end I had so much room in my heart for him, I can understand why he was how he was and thought it was beautiful the way he changes for his daughter. It’s awful that it had to get the those extremities before he did anything but he did do something, that’s what matters. 

I am trying so hard not to give a lot of the story away but seriously, there are so many creatures and characters that I could talk about in this book and they are all amazing in their own way, Lec, Glas, the wolves, the priests. I couldn’t get enough of any of them and I want the railwraith that Beth meets at the beginning of the story as a pet, seriously! 

The world that Pollock has created sparkles with beauty, even in its war torn state. I couldn’t get enough of the writing, which chopped and changed perspectives and even voice in some places; but worked so well. I will be recommending this book for years to come and think that adults and teens alike will love it. 

The City's Son is the first in the Skyscraper Throne series and was published on August 2nd by Jo Fletcher Books, a Quercus imprint. My copy was sent in exchange for an honest review form the publisher. 

For more information please visit:

Amazon | Goodreads 

Dark Eyes - William Richter

“Valentina stirred awake and found Mrs Ivanova leaning over here bed, gently squeezing her shoulder. 

‘Shh, little one,’ Mrs Ivanova said in her most quiet whisper. Valentina could smeel sweet tea on the old woman’s breath. ‘Come along.’ 

Valentina smiled, sitll half-asleep, and slid out from beneath the covers as quietly as she could, careful not to wake the other children with the sound of her squeaky bed. With Mrs. Ivanova’s help, Valentina put on her robe and slippers and padded silently out of the room.”

Born in Russia and raised in an orphanage for five years, Wallis Stoneman can’t remember much of her life before Claire and Jason adopted her. Now 11 years on she resents them for things they can’t fix, including their marriage. Jason is married to another woman, Claire is overbearing and Wally has decided that street life is better than living the lie that Claire set up for them. Things take a serious turn for the worse when Wally uncovers some information left for her by her birth mother, she decides to start the search for her mother but soon learns that she’s not the only one looking. Her father, a Russian mobster is on the lookout too and he will stop at nothing to find what he’s looking for. 

***

The premise of Dark Eyes sounded brilliant when I read about it, and the fact it was likened to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo really made me really want to read it. Whilst it was a good read which I enjoyed, it didn’t really live up to my expectations. 

I enjoyed the story, you are pretty much thrown straight into it as a girl is found dead on the streets within the first few pages. I wanted to know instantly who she was, was she Wally, a friend, an enemy, how was Wally involved if it wasn’t her? I loved that aspect of the story and I seriously didn’t think it dropped pace anywhere from then on. Once things developed and it was obvious that the girl wasn’t Wally, Wally starts on finding out more about her life and it was brilliant. I loved that you got to see a bit of Wally before she starts looking and how it changes her. I also enjoyed the narrative and the way that the reader was focussed on more than just Wally and there were others involved like Atley Greer.

The characters added a lot to the story and I loved the family unit that Wally and her friends had built up. Tevin was adorable and Ella and Jake were such a wonderful couple, but always leaving enough room for Wally and Tevin. I would have liked to know more about their background but this wasn’t their story and we are told enough about them. Waly was a tough character with a lot of guts, she messed up a lot in the beginning but as the book went on she developed well and I loved her by the end of the book. Claire was odd and I knew there was something a little off about her but I think it was the detachment to Wally that I was sensing more than anything else. There were a lot of characters which had bit parts who were very integral to the plot but you don’t really connect with them. I really liked the Doctor and Atley but you didn’t get much of the doctor and Atley only became someone more than a detective searching for Wally towards the end of the book. 

The writing was the thing that really let this book down for me. It was written as adult crime fiction, or at least thats what I gathered from it; I haven’t read much adult crime-fic. I felt that it was however a dumbed-down version almost, with a lot of the clues put out there for all to see easily. I worked out a lot of things very early on and although there were twists and turns put in the wayI still worked things out that should have been a lot harder to work out. The book was really descriptive which was good in some senses but I think that was the reason I worked things out too quickly and also something which bugged me a lot. It seems petty but I didn’t like the use of ‘youths’ and ‘teens’ to describe the characters within Wally’s unit, it made sense in some places, like when the focus was on Atley but when it was on Wally it completely threw me off the story. Also the use of ‘emo’ and ‘scene kid’ to describe Wally and Ella was a bit jarring, this was only twice I think but at both points it was when the narrative focus was on Wally and it didn’t work for me. 

I don’t want to say this book wasn’t good, it was really good. I don’t want to make it sound like I hated it, because I didn’t. I really did enjoy it, and I think it reads quite well for the most part. I just thought it was a little more obvious that it should have been. I think, and hope, that a lot of people will enjoy it, especially those who are interested in crime fiction but aren’t sure of where to start. 

Dark Eyes was published on August 2nd by Razorbill/Penguin. My copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

For more information please visit:

Amazon | Goodreads 

Arabesque - Colin Mulhern

“Be the best. 

It was a philosophy her dad had taught her. Her mother might have been content that amy was healthy, happy, comfortable and doing well, but there were occasions when her dad would check that they were alone and quietly say, ‘Sometimes, Amy, there’s no prize for second place. Do you know what I mean?’”

Mia and Amy are gymnastics partners; in training together for many years, the two have become best friends. Amy's on the road to Olympic glory but missed out by a few months for the most recent competition. She has always been told to be the best by her father, who loves her but is never home. So when a botched kidnapping goes wrong and the girls are thrust into the arms of a local arms dealer Amy knows that she has to do what her father taught her. She has to be the best and get her and her best friend out of the criminal underworld they have found themselves involved in. 

***

Wow! Arabesque... where do I begin?! A brilliant book that gives a fascinating and terrifying look at the world in which we live. It after the initial build up it is hard to put this book down, because trust me, you'll worry about what will happen if you do! 

Amy has found herself trapped; from a morning at the gym training, her life has been turned upside down for simply being in the papers that day. Her and Mia have some serious bad luck that gets the notice of head gangster, Mr Galloway. He soon realises that there's more to Amy than just being a rich gymnast and figures she's might have had some training in more advanced combat than what is average for a 15 year old girl. After moving Mia to the house of hell he threatens Amy, using Mia, and forces her to join him in his criminal activities. 

I loved each and every aspect of this criminal underworld and just how right Colin Mulhern sounded in his descriptions of it. The place where Amy is kept is like a palace and she was fine but in sharp contrast the place where Mia is pretty much locked up is awful and made my skin crawl. I could really see this being how a major player in the criminal underworld conducts his businesses; if they do exist! I can seriously see this book being part of a TV series or a film about gangsters and a criminal underworld and think it would make a brilliant watch! 

I liked the characters, even though there wasn’t much depth to a lot of them. Amy and Mia were close and you could tell the connection they had to each other was strong. Mr Galloway was interesting and I liked having a little bit of background to him, knowing his military connections and the reasoning behind what he does, even if they aren’t good reasons. Michelle was kinda annoying, I got the feeling that she was kinda put there to act as a deterrent, the reader is meant to assume something about her that’s not true and if it wasn’t for this she wouldn’t really be there, but I guess she was also needed to settle Amy in to life at the mansion. There were a lot of other characters but some I can’t really go into because it will ruin the story, others were just there. I do think there needed to be a little more knowledge given, like for example with Kyle, I wanted to know why he was doing what he was doing, how he got to where he did. 

Arabesque is a fast, action packed crime book but it only gets that way about half way through, the first half of the book is slower and gives quite a bit of background, which is all needed to understand why the characters act in the way they do. The third person voice gives a little more distance to the characters and makes it so you feel like you are watching them and I really enjoyed what it added to the book. I would definitely recommend it, especially if you are a reader who enjoys contemporary books and doesn’t necessarily want there to be romance involved. 

Arabesque will be published on September 1st by Catnip Publishing. My copy was received in exchange for an honest review from the publisher. 

For more information on this book please visit:

Amazon | Goodreads 

Maggot Moon - Sally Gardner

“I’m wondering what if. 

What if the football hadn’t gone over the wall. 

What if Hector had never gone looking for it. 

What if he hadn’t kept the dark secret to himself. 

What if...

Then I suppose I would be telling myself another story. You see, the what if’s are as boundless as the stars.”

Standish Treadwell’s best friend Hector went to retrieve a ball from the other side of the wall. The next day, Hector and his family were gone. Standish’s life changed when Hector came into it and now he’s gone it’s going to change again, for the worse. The Motherland is oppressing everyone in Standish’s world and he thinks there should be something done about it, not just for himself but for his best friend too. 

***

I loved Maggot Moon, I had a feeling I would because I love a good conspiracy theory but blend conspiracy with friendship, family and a lovable 15 year old boy who can’t even read or write and you get an amazing story. 

Standish is a sweet guy, he cant read or write and everyone thinks he’s stupid because of that, but really he’s not, he just cant do those things, he is actually very smart and is able to understand languages he doesn’t even speak just by taking in voices and body language. He knows when to keep quiet and when to stand out from the crowd, and he understands that some things are out of his control. The story is not linear and chops and changes between different events that Standish has been through, his parents disappearing, Hector and his family moving in, things like that. This is a little jarring at first but everything is needed so that you understand Standish and his feelings. 

The language used in Maggot Moon made the book very easy to read, it is told in first person perspective from Standish’s point of view and the language he uses is simple, but effective. In places he will use longer words but they fit in well with what he’s saying and I really felt like his voice was real, true. I was a bit thrown by the use of swearing in this book as I had originally thought it was intended for a younger audience. I didn’t mind the swearing and it wasn’t over the top, Standish uses “frick-fracking hell” instead of swearing most the time but the guards, officers and teachers swear a little. 

The book really is a journey and it shows a lot about people standing up for what they believe in and trying to make a difference. It does makes you really think about life and those in charge, how they got there and their motives. There isn’t a lot to be happy about in Standish’s world and its not a nice story but I enjoyed it all the same and think many teenagers will, especially older reluctant readers.  

Maggot Moon will be published on 30th August 2012 by Hot Key Books. My copy was received in exchange for an honest review via LoveReading.com

For more information please visit: 

Amazon | Goodreads | Love Reading

Letterbox Love (#17)

Hey! Welcome to Letterbox Love, this is a UK meme, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and inspired by The Story Sirens In My Mailbox, where we highlight the books we got in the post and beyond!!

Can you spy my dinosaur? hehe, he's only small but still loved! 

For Review:

Sammy Feral's Diaries of Weird - Eleanor Hawken

This was an unsolicited review copy form Quercus, however it sounds really fun and although its a little young I might still give it a read, if not I'm sure my stepsons school library will happily take it off my hands. Thank you Quercus.

Bought: 

Truckers (Bromeliad trilogy #1) - Terry Pratchett 

Diggers (Bromeliad trilogy #2) - Terry Prachett 

Kick Ass - Mark Millar & John Romita Jr

I went into my local Tesco for some bread and noticed that they had packs of two Terry Pratchett books (and Malorie Blackman books too!) and obviously couldn't resist buying some, they had two packs so I may go back and buy the other soon! Kick Ass is one of the graphic novels I've been after for a while so I used the last of my my birthday voucher money to buy it! 

Gifted:

Calvin and Hobbes: Thereby Hangs a Tale - Bill Watterson 

Calvin and Hobbes: One Day the Wind Will Change - Bill Watterson 

The awesomely amazing Laura AKA Sisterspooky has been catching up on these characters and kindly sent me two of the books she'd read as I will love them, I know me and Laura have a lot in common so it's likely that I will, Thank you Laura!! 

Laura also sent me a copy of the top 100 UKYA lists, you can see the full list and vote for your top ten by checking out the UKYA website site here! 

Foyles Summer Scream Event August 4th 2012 - 2nd panel

Ok so last week I shared my experience of the first panel at the Summer Scream event at Foyles, which was awesome. A fair few people had to leave after the first panel but as my train wasn’t for a while I thought I’d stick around and wait to met Laura Powell, Ruth Warburton (again but she’s lovely so I don’t mind chatting away to her!) and Thomas Taylor. 

Now to start off with I didn’t know who Thomas Taylor was so I googled him before the event and didn’t recognise any of his stuff, that’s because he’s mostly an Illustrator but his new book is YA and sounds awesome, I didn’t think I’d pick it up at the event but once I heard him talk about it and the ideas behind it I knew I needed to read it and bought a copy. 

Ruth talked a little about the behind the scenes stuff for her books and I really enjoyed hearing all about them, she’s mentioned a couple of times about a mythology behind the series and I have an inkling but I can’t wait for the third book to find out if I’m right. I had actually finished the second book, A Witch in Love, this time and things mentioned made a lot of sense, I really love the passion with which Ruth talks about writing and her books and it makes me love the books even more! 

Laura talked about Burn Mark and the way its different from other witch books, I loved Burn Mark and loved hearing Larua talk about her ideas for the book and how she wrote it. I also enjoyed hearing about the differences in editing for the UK editions and the US editions. Burn Mark and The Winter series of Ruth’s are both about Witches but they are very different books and I liked hearing about them side to side and listening to Ruth and Laura compare them. 

After the authors talked about their books and the writing process there was a Q&A session which was actually pretty lengthy this time, there were fewer people in the crowd which made it more lad back and some questions that were asked were really interesting. I liked hearing about the research that all the authors had to put in and how they balance their writing life's with their personal ones. There was a question about naming characters and I really liked that because I’m always interested in where names come from, the authors had a little giggle about some of their names becuase the love interest in the Winter series has Ruth’s cousins name, which she didn’t do intentionally, and in Thomas’ book theres a German girl who has the same name as an ex and he was accused of naming her after the ex! 

After the Q&A we got books signed and I had a chat to Laura about my name and where it comes from, Laura even knew my blog when I said my name which made my day and she thanked me for my review of Burn Mark! I felt honored! Then I bought Thomas’ book and talked to him a little bit about his illustration work... Mainly because he was only the bloody illustrator for the first HARRY POTTER book!! I asked him how he got that gig and he told me that he happened to be at the Bloomsbury offices at the right time and it was his first job out of art school, how awesome is that! 

I had a lot of fun at the event and it was really cool to meet these lovely guys, I’m so glad I stuck around for the second panel and I can’t wait to read Haunters by Thomas, the second Burn Mark (when it comes out!!) and finish the Winter series by Ruth. I'm so upset that my phone started to run down on battery so I couldn't take any pictures of this event to share with you ut I was sat right at the front, which was awesome. 

Thank you so much to Foyles for putting these events on! 

Before I Die (Now is Good) - Jenny Downham

“I wish I had a boyfriend, I wish he lived in the wardrobe on a coat hanger. Whenever I wanted, I could get him out an he’d look at me the way boys do in films, as if I’m beautiful. He wouldn’t speak much, but he’d be breathing hard as he took off his leather jacket and unbuckled his jeans.”

Tessa has cancer. She is dying, choosing to stop the treatment that was causing her so much more pain than she could bear. But before she goes, she has a list, and every thing on that list has to be done. Number one on the list is sex, and that’s getting ticked off tonight. after that there’s a variety of things including drugs, doing something illegal and falling in love. But can she get through it before the end and can the list really stick to ten?

***

I thought I understood what I would get with Before I Die. The summary says a lot and I expected sadness, anger and grief, which I got, but I also got so much more and it was utterly fantastic, even if it was awful and made me cry, to read. 

As a reader you are thrown straight in at the deep end. I expected to get to know Tessa then read the point where she makes the decision to stop treatment and is told she will not survive. But no, once we meet her she has made that choice and is thinking about the end of her life and the list she has made. The list was pretty heavy stuff but I fully understood why Tessa wanted to do the things she did. A bucket list isn’t exactly something new but Tessa’s was different, and I loved that. 

As Tessa makes her way slowly through the list you find out a lot the list you find out a lot about her and her family and friends. I loved Tessa but also found her quite unbearable at times, I guess it can be forgiven but she came cross as selfish and harsh and very very angry a lot. Her dad was amazing and so patient with her and so strong. I felt awful for him for what he was going through but he managed to keep everything together quite well under the circumstances and look out for Cal as well as Tessa. Cal was adorable, mainly because he still had an element of innocence about him and bless him he made me laugh so much. You can tell that he and Tessa had the typical brother sister relationship that a lot of siblings have and thankfully they kept it all the way through. Tessa’s friend Zoey was a bit of a meh point for me, I really didn’t like her at all. In certain parts of the book you can understand why she was so selfish and bitchy but I didn’t like her before or after those parts either I’m afraid. Adam on the other hand, awwww, he was so lovely and sweet and the way he looked after both Tessa and his mum was amazing, he was such an angel! 

Tessa’s mum was unusual and the only thing about the book I didn’t like was her. I thought there was too little known about her, why she left, when she left and things like that. She didn’t have much of a presence and it bugged me as the story developed with her because I didn’t know the background. 

The other thing I wasn’t too impressed with was more personal to me and shouldn’t be a blimp on the book really. I’ve left it too late to read Before I Die and therefore read the movie tie-in version, Now is Good, after I’ve seen the trailer for the movie. This meant that I had the actor’s images in my head throughout the book and this particularly annoyed me because of Adam. Throughout the book Adam is described as being ugly and I’m sorry but I could only see him as Jeremy Irvine, who is not ugly! This is a personal grievance but as the book doesn’t really tell you anything about the characters appearance (other than that Adam is ugly) I couldn’t help but picture Dakota Fanning as Tessa etc. 

The writing style is amazing and I could really hear Tessa’s voice as I read the book. I think the thing that really stood out was the relaity and the anger, even though it’s not pleasent to read you realise that it is probably how a 16 year old would feel in that situation. I loved the format of the writing and how it changed as you go through the book, the chapters get shorter and towards the end they pretty much disappear completely as the illness takes its effect. The story goes in the obvious direction but its how it gets there thats the important part of the book. 

Before I Die is a very personal, emotional journey and its one that’s hard to put down. Tessa is trying to be true to herself and do what she wants but its hard. It’s a heavy hitter and I cried a lot. It’s definitely worth the read and I can’t wait to see the movie and see how close they have kept things to the book! 

Before I Die was published in 2010 by David Fickling Books, my copy was titled Now is Good and is the movie tie-in version which will be published on August 30th. I received the book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher. 

Goodreads | Amazon

Revived - Cat Patrick

“I’m flattened and thrashing on the sun-warmed track next to the football field, lying on what looks like asphalt but what I realise, now that I’m down here, is actually that fake spongy stuff. It reeks like it was just installed/ There’s a woman kneeling beside my right shoulder, shouting into a cellphone.”

Daisy has died, five times, each time she has died she has been Revived. Revive is a drug, currently in its testing phase, which brings people back after they have died. It has its imitations and every time Daisy dies her and her guardians have to move away and start a new life. When the latest Revive moves them off to Omaha Daisy finds herself getting attached to the place, not wanting to move again she knows that she has to be careful, but Omaha has other things in plan for Daisy and despite her making a real life for herself and falling in love, bad luck follows her everywhere. 

***

I adored Cat Patrick’s first book, so much so that I was worried about Revived, what if it didn’t live up to Forgotten, what if I didn’t enjoy it? I knew that these questions wouldn’t be answered if I didn’t read the book and I’m so glad I did because I seriously needn’t have worried, Revived was a beautiful and brilliant story. 

Thankfully the science behind Revive wasn’t explained in a lot of detail so that didn’t put me off at all, there’s just one little bit where Daisy describes it as a kind of electric shock coming at you from the inside instead of the outside. Instead the theories behind the drug and its use were explored in more detail, about its limitations and what it can do for people who have had it happen to them. In so many cases if made the children’s lives, who were in the bus crash that were revived when Daisy was four, so much better, but did it really? Daisy is still in contact with so many of them and it appeared so but they were constantly worrying and constantly being watched by the agents involved in the program. The matters of life and death and the problems associated with the drug worked so well and although it was awful I am so glad that the storyline with Daisy’s friend was included, but that’s all I’ll tell you about that. 

The characters were beautifully developed and I felt that I understood and loved them all. Daisy was a bit flaky at first but it was understandable and I loved her once we got to know her better, she questioned things that she didn’t think settled properly and she was very mature for her age, she wasn’t an angry teen who was miffed at being pulled away from every life she had started each time something bad happened to her and that really helped. Megan was an awesome character and I loved the relationship that Daisy and Megan had, especially the blog that the had together, that was great. I also loved that Megan was transgender but nothing major came out of it, and it wasn’t made a big deal of, it was just one of those things. Matt and Audrey were amazing characters and I loved how friendly and lovable both of them were. I think Audrey kinda used Daisy a little at first but I know why and I loved the relationship that Daisy built up with the siblings. Matt was swoon worthy and I couldn’t bear to live without him so I’m glad Daisy didn’t really have to. Mason also deserves a mention as one of Daisy’s guardians, you could always tell that her cared a lot for Daisy and I’m glad you got to find out more about him towards the end which made a few things more prominent and make more sense. I loved that he treated Daisy as an adult and was straight with her about everything as I think he helped shape her into a better character.

The romance aspect of this book is heartwarming but also heartbreaking. Matt and Daisy go through so much together that I just wanted the world to stop for them and let them just be. Things like that don’t always happen though and life rarely has an ultimate happy ending, I did love the way the relationship developed and its outcome though, it made me all sappy! 

The book isn’t all fantastical but it really was high up there on my favourites of this year. It did dip a little in the middle and I saw one thing coming a mile off but it didn’t make me enjoy the book less and I liked the fact I was right so I hope it wont put others off too.

If you are looking for a great love story with friendship, family and a bit of crazy government covert work then Revived is for you. It makes you think about a lot of things and I think it opened my eyes to the way that testing and scientific research works. I enjoyed that aspect of it just as much as I loved the romance and the characters and the friendships within the book and think that its well worth a read. 

Revived was published on July 2nd by Electric Monkey. My copy was kindly sent in exchange for an honest review by the publisher. 

For more information please visit:

Amazon | Goodreads 

Torn - David Massey

“Five a.m. I’m woken by yapping dogs and the first distant call to prayer, carried to me on a light breeze. My first morning in Afghanistan. 

Private Elinor Nielson, recently qualified medic, first tour of active duty. That’s what I keep telling myself - over and over like a demented idiot - to calm my nerves. I’m just a normal nineteen year old English girl... of the kick-ass, life-saving variety that is.”

Ellie is on her first tour of active service in Afghanistan. On her first Patrol she saves a new friend from an IED but before doing that she sees a girl wander right into the firing line, and walk away again. That patrol brings two causalities, the next day brings another and the girl is there again. This time Ellie sees her get shot at and follows her blood trace to a room where the girls brother is dying. As Ellie treats the girls brother, the girl disappears again. Whilst she finds answers to the girls identity and whereabouts, more questions pop up and everything Ellie thought she knew about life in Afghanistan is blown apart. 

***

I was aware of peoples feelings towards Torn before I started it. I knew it was meant to be a brilliant story and I had a feeling it would be one that would open my eyes to a world that I know very little about. I was right on both counts and found myself unable to put Torn down, even at its most gruesome points. 

The story was brilliant, it really was. I think it gave a very realistic portrayal of what is going on over in Afghanistan, even as I type. I cant say for sure that that is the case but it was believable to me, even if it was awful as well. I can see the troops acting in the way they did and the way the characters dealt with the events of the book seemed real. I was impressed with the story and where it went and how it made you question things that happened.

The characters were interesting enough but you didn’t get to know too much about them and nothing went into great detail. I think I must have missed something important at some point because I really didn’t understand Heidi’s hatred of Ellie... I understood her problem with the Americans but not Ellie... it was a bit glossed over. I loved the relationship between Ellie and Husna and really liked the character Husna, he had been through so much so young tha tI felt for him a lot but I liked his strength of character and in the right place and focussed on the right things a kid like that could go far, its just a shame about where he ended up until Ellie’s group found him. The guys in the patrol with Ellie were ok but again, not much depth, you got a bit of their personalities but not enough to really love them as characters. Yugi was my favourite though and I love how he got his nickname. The Americans were again a little glossed over with the reader only really getting to know Carlos and Ben but I really liked both of those characters, Carlos probably more so. 

I think the nickname thing from the soldiers was one of my favourite things about the book, it seems to me something that would actually happen and I liked the way it helped Ellie connect with the guys when she first joined them. They go through a lot and to have personal nicknames like that was a sing of them going through it together. 

I think the scariest thing about Torn is how you can see it all happening in reality and yet it takes place over such a short amount of time. Time isn’t really referenced after the first few days but I believe that the events of the book take place over two weeks... maybe a little more, but thats it and a lot happens. It is scary but makes the book very fast paced, or at least it is after the Americans turn up and a great read, even if the reader has to deal with death, serious injuries and other aspects of war. I will warn anyone who wasn't to read this though that the pace before the Americans come into camp is a lot slower and quite detailed.  

I would recommend this book for any school library, it shows a lot about war and what those involved in war - both soldiers and the civilians - have to go through. It really opened my eyes to certain things that I think are important, especially every day lives of those who live in the Helmand Provence. 

Torn was published on August 2nd by Chicken House. My copy was obtained from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

For more information about Torn visit: 

Amazon | Goodreads 

The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness

“‘Your noise reveals you, Todd Hewitt.’

A voice - 

In the darkness -

I blink open my eyes. Everything it shadows and blur and it feels like the world’s spinning and my blood is too hot and my brain is clogged and I can’t think and it’s dark -

I blink again. 

Wait - 

No, wait - 

just now, just now we were in the square -

Just now she was in my arms - 

She was dying in my arms -”

Todd and Viola were being chased by a vicious madman. They believe they had outrun him, but they hadn’t. They killed him but it wasn’t enough, for as soon as they killed him they came across another, one that wanted to kill them. Carrying Viola into Haven Todd thinks he has found safety. But all there is in Haven is yet another madman, and this time he’s in charge. Separated the pair know nothing about each others whereabouts - or even if one another is still alive. They have to take the word of their worst enemy - Mayor Prentiss; who has declared himself President. One day when the bombs start falling things get even crazier than before. The two of them must remember that they are the choices they make.

***

Ok so I’m going to try and refrain from gushing nonsense in this review... if I had it my way this entire page would be full of “ghautpauoebrfals vjkla” but I can’t do that can I? I mean I have to be a little comprehensible at least! 

I adored The Knife of Never Letting Go, it was amazing but I put off going straight onto The Ask and the Answer just incase the sequel didn’t measure up! I shouldn’t have been worried and I’m gunna really try not to put myself off the third book because The Ask and the Answer was incredible, if not sick and twisted of course! 

The story picks up pretty much where we left off. I was glad that there was a bit of a recap but not an overly obvious one, as I had forgotten a bit about what happened and needed that. I picked up the story quite quickly and even quicker it went into the new one... I loved where this book took the overall trilogy and the way it makes you question things. There’s an overall theme about things not being as black and white as you may think which works brilliantly and at times you find yourself questioning the methods and actions of the worst - and the best - characters. 

The sci-fi element of the book is what hits me the most about this book. I don’t do sci-fi very well but I love it in this trilogy, I feel like I understand it all and I love learning new little about the New World. One thing that really stands out in New World is the hatred of women and their lack of ‘the Noise.’ This was picked up on in TKoNLG but it was expanded and made me seethe with hatred in TAatA. The Mayor was particularly evil when it came to women and I found myself on more than one occasion having to stop reading and remind myself that he’s not a real person, I can’t actually throttle him! 

I loved the way that the story puts pressure onto the characters in this book and how Todd and Viola both find themselves doing things that they don’t necessarily want to do but believe they have to to do the right thing by each other and the people of New Prentisstown. I also loved Davy’s character in this book even though he was awful, I felt sorry for him a lot towards the end especially and I think his weakness was also his strength in places. 

I love it when book titles relate well to the content, without it being overly obviously without reading the book. The idea of the Ask and the Answer was incredible and what it all stood for was something which really made me think, especially when it came to the Asking. I can understand why the characters get dragged up into it all in the way they do and it makes for an amazing story. 

I don’t want to give too much away but like its predecessor The Ask and the Answer is full of surprises and heartbreak. I didn’t actually cry this time but I was overcome with emotion and I cant wait to see where the series goes next. Its one that I would recommend to every older teen and adult because it teams a great story with an amazing theme, good characters and fantastic writing. 

The Ask and the Answer is the second book in the Chaos Walking series. It was published in September 2009 by Walker. My copy was purchased within a gift set of the trilogy. 

For more information visit: 

Amazon

Goodreads 

The Punk Ethic - Timothy Decker

“April 2

My alarm clock went off at 7:00 I stared at it. ‘April is the cruelest month,’ what horrible crap. Boring ass Monday is the cruelest days, that’s more accurate. Despite being completely exhausted, I started cramming stuff into my gig bag by order of importance.”

Back to music, what are songs anyway? They’re crappy little stories. And there are two kinds: the whiny confession. Which suck. And the fictional story. Which suck. All this strumming and singing is a waste. I’m tired of wasting time. I don’t want to tell anybody anything about me. That’s stupid. I don’t want to invent some story. I don’t want to be entertaining. That’s stupid.

I have to do something. Wake up, Martin. Go start something. Go!

If you want to rock, you come out swinging. Well, Martin Henry just made a fist.

Challenged by a teacher to actually “do” something, Martin walks a minefield of idiot friends, an unfathomable Dream Girl, high school, and relative pennilessness to prove that he can change the world.

The funny thing about change, it screws up everything.

Whatever… (taken from Amazon)

***

I picked this one up ages ago on NetGalley. It sounded quite interesting and I thought it would be a great quick read for my train journey down to London a few weeks ago. Needless to say in the hour there and three hours back I got it finished easily as its only 200 pages long and had time to think about it and what it meant... honestly, I wish I hadn’t bothered. 

The writing of the book is pretty good, its average, its not going to blow you away but its readable and I enjoyed the voice. Its a little mismatched with random inclusions of Martin’s essays dotted here and there but that kinda works and I enjoyed that. Its written in short snappy sentences and paragraphs which is exactly how I’d expect a 17 year old boy to think if it was written down (maybe not in fully formed sentences but you know what I mean).

Each new day begins a new chapter and the whole book is set in April. With each new chapter there are illustrations and those are what I enjoyed about the book the most. They were really well drawn and I really like the art style, but they would have worked better on a hard copy than on the kindle copy. I liked waht they added to the story and how they followed Martin in his day to day life. 

I wish I could tell you about the characters but in all honesty I don;t know anything about them. Not much anyway, I know Martin is obsessed with music and Jeff is a bit of a prick but is Martin’s best mate. I know Holly was a nice punk rock kinda girl but had some serious issues but even those weren’t very clear and I know that Mr Sanden asked for the most random English essays I’ve ever seen. That’s about it.

The story isn’t much either, Martin writes about Landmies for one of his English papers and is spurred on to do something about them and the kids in poor countries who are blown up by them. So he stages a benefit gig at the end of April. I think the story was about that... but it was so vague and bland that I didn’t really pick anything up about it. It happens and goes ok but thats the end of it. I don’t know, I guess it might be trying to put across that to change the world you have to work a little bit at a time but it was just all lost on me and I didn’t really like it. 

The Punk Ethic was just a book about following Martin around for a month while he sets up this gig. There was no passion and very little effort to be honest. I didn’t like it and I probably wont be looking into much more by the author if this book is anything to go by. 

The trailer, just in case you wanted to see it! 

The Punk Ethic was published in May 2012 by Namelos in the US but can be purchased from Amazon. My copy was obtained through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 


Amazon
Goodreads

Letterbox Love (#16): The so-much more than books edition

Hey! Welcome to Letterbox Love, this is a UK meme, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and inspired by The Story Sirens In My Mailbox, where we highlight the books we got in the post and beyond!!

Just a few books this week but awesome ones none the less! As always links go to Goodreads. 

For Review: 

The Wolf Princess - Cathryn Constable 

Unfed - Kirsty McKay 

Thank you so much to Chicken House for these books. I loved the first in the Undead series and can't wait to get round to reading Unfed. I haven't heard much about The Wolf Princess but it definitely sounds amazing.

Bought: 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling (hardback)

I bought this with birthday money and am still waiting on a few more books comign that I bought with gift vouchers and the like.. again this has a story behind it that I will tell you one day... 

Also:

Freaky Fact or Fiction: Dinosaurs 

Tris the Triceratops! 

These were presents from my sister, she's a nutter... but I hope you like the name I've picked for my new Triceratops!  

And finally:

Top Cat bag & Harry Potter house posters! 
Presents from my friends which I got this week, how cool are these!! 

Foyles Summer Scream Event August 4th 2012 - 1st panel

Ok, so yet again I went to an event and didn’t take notes, I know right, I’m useless! I think I was in ‘argh’ mode over finally meeting the amazingly awesome Zoe Marriott, the gorgeous Michelle Harrison (seriously she looks like a star!), the lovely Karen Mahoney and wonderful LA (Lee) Weatherly. In addition to these four lovely ladies there was another panel of authors later which included Laura Powell, Ruth Warburton and Thomas Taylor, but more of that in another post! 

So I got to London and met up with some lovely blogging types including Caroline from Big Book Little Book, Prue from The Library Mouse, Kerrie from Read and Repeat and Lily from The Whispering of the pages. We made our way to Foyles and found Viv, Casey and Hannah already there in the front row, naturally! After a little chat we were quietened down by Neil, the event organiser, while the first four authors came out. 

So LA Weatherly kicked it off by reading a little bit from Angel Fire, I haven’t read either of the books in the Angel series and I felt really bad about it as I’ve had the first for over a year! After hearing a snippet it really pushed me to want to read the book as it sounds awesome. Next up Karen Mahoney read us a little bit of her new book which comes out next month Falling to Ash. I’m not a big faerie fan so Karens first book, whilst being really good, didn’t click with me and I didn’t read the second. However Falling to Ash is about a female vampire and a guy who’s hunting her and seriously, from what Karen read out, it sounds hilarious and brilliant. I can’t wait to get my hands on it at all, Karen also shared with us that she believes there will be a comic web series for Falling to Ash closer to its release. 

Following Karens hilarious extract Zoe Marriott read a bit of Frostfire and discussed getting her contact for her first book with Walker. Now to be honest with you Zoe was the main reason for me going all the way to London, the other authors were great and I really like some of their stuff and would have been happy with an event of theirs but Zoe was the icing on the cake for me. Seeing how animated Zoe is when talking about her work and how much passion you can tell she has for writing was brilliant. I loved the story of how she got her publishing deal, admitting that she believes she might have talked the ear off the editor at Walker so much that he just said yes to shut her up! haha

Next up was Michelle Harrison, author of the 13 series and Unrest. I loved hearing Michelle talk about Unrest as I’d heard some stuff about it but wasn’t too clued up on its contents. It sounded so good that I bought a copy there and then. I enjoyed the first two of Michelle’s 13 series which is a fairy story for younger readers but Unrest definitely sounds more like my kind of thing. I really loved Michelle’s story about how her niece pushed her for more in the story when she was writing The 13 Treasures, it sounded so cute that her niece was desperate to hear more of the story each time she visited. 

After the panel there was a Q&A session but not many people ask questions. We got a bit of insight to the film rights of Angel and Lee told us how she’s not actually told about anything thats going on, which would really scare me, knowing that someone is tearing apart my book writing a screenplay on it and I have no input!? wow! Zoe was asked about fairytale retellings which she does so well and her answers were pretty cool, and you can pretty much get her answers from this interview she did a few weeks ago on SugarScope. 

The Q&A was then pulled to a stop and the guys went over to the signing table. Having only Zoe’s and Michelle’s books I only actually went to chat to these guys but Zoe jumped on me and pulled me into a massive hug when she saw me which was awesome and then she signed my books and even drew me a dino in The Daughter of The Flames! Then when Michelle went to sign my book, I told her my name and she was like ‘Raimy-rawr from twitter?’ I nearly squealed! I couldn’t believe she knew who I was, I’m such a fan-girl at times!! 

Anyway, it was a great event and I had some serious fun. I met up with lots of wonderful bloggers and chatted with them and some lovely authors, including the wonderful James Dawson! Come back next week when I chat about the second half of the event, which I'll try and keep a bit shorter, I promise! 

Northanger Alibi review and Jane Austen Tour Post

So you may have heard about the Classics Carnival that the wonderful Emma is running over at Book Angels Booktopia? If not its a month dedicated to the Classics and re-tellings of the classics, how awesome is that, head on over to read reviews of classic re-tellings, author interviews, guest posts and more!  

Now a month is a long time to do a theme for and Emma asked for people to review books and/or do guest posts for her and loving a good classic I decided to join in! You can head over to her blog and read my Dream Bookish Destination Jane Austen tour in which I virtually tour the places Austen mentioned within her books or visited when she was alive and well. 

Also, again sticking with the Jane Austen theme, I read and reviewed the lovely Northanger Alibi by Jenni James. I've included the blurb and book cover below and you can read my review by following this link! 

Northanger Alibi - Jenni James 

The Russo family and Seattle, WA are no match for Claire Hart and her savvy knowledge of all things vampire related. Thanks to her obsession with the Twilight series, if there is anyone who would know a vampire when she saw one, it's Claire. And she's positive totally hot Tony Russo is a vampire--she just has to prove it. 

In this modern retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, follow Claire's hilarious journey on her first summer adventure away from home, where she learns everything isn't what it seems, and that in some instances, reality is way better than anything she'd ever find in a book. (taken from goodreads)

Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry

“‘My father is a control freak, I hate my stepmother, my brother is dead and my mother has... well... issues. How do you think I’m doing?’

That’s how I would have loved to respond to Mrs. Collins’s question, but my father placed too much importance on appearance for me to answer honestly. Instead, I blinked three times and said, ‘Fine.’

Mrs. Collins, Eastwick High’s new clinical social worker, acted as if I hadn’t spoken. She shoved a stack of files to the side of her already cluttered desk and flipped through various papers. My new therapist hummed when she found my three-inch-think file and rewarded herself with a sip of coffee, leaving bright red lipstick on the curve of the mug.”

Straight-A student Echo is a mess. Two years ago her borther died. Then another incident left her scarred for life, literally. Her arms are covered in thick red scars and she cannot remember anything of that night. Her father wants her to move on, be normal, and forget but until she graduates she is in therapy and Mrs. Collins, her new clinical social worker seems to think she can help. 

Bad boy Noah is angry. Two and a half year ago a fire ripped his family apart, killing his parents and putting him and his brothers into foster care. Not allowed to see his little brothers because of an incident involving him and his first foster father Noah can’t wait to graduate so he can fight to get his family back together again. Due to his ‘instability’ and violent past he is assigned to Mrs. Collins watch, he’s cutting classes and going down grades, and she wants it to stop. 

In the hope of motivating Noah and helping Echo regain some of her life Mrs. Collins pushes them together. Echo starts tutoring Noah and the two of them become friends. It’s breaking all the rules but feelings start to gather and maybe, just maybe, they can help each other get what they really want. 

***

I’d heard amazing things about Pushing the Limits and I knew I’d have to read it myself to fully understand why people believed it was so good. It sounded ok but a bit too focused on romance from the blurb on the back of the book, once I started reading though I realised that there was a lot more to Pushing the Limits than meets the eye, and it was absolutely wonderful! 

The story was so much more than romance. Echo has problems with what happened to her and she cant remember anything. On top of that her father is putting pressure on her to graduate with top marks and go to business school, even though all she wants to do is paint. Her stepmother, and old babysitter, keeps making things all about her, her mother is not allowed to see her due to a restraining order and her brother, Aries, is dead. All she wants to do is paint and sketch and fix her brother’s car. It’s a lot for any girl to take and to top it off she is covered in ugly scars that she tries her hardest to hide whenever anyone is around.  You don’t find out what happened to Echo until very late on in the book and that was part of what made the story so good, seeing her overcome some of these issues was just amazing. Noah is a good boy at heart but gave up everything when he was deemed unsuitable to be around his brothers. In his first foster family the father was beating the biological son so Noah turned on him. Trouble was no one believed Noah and so he was branded with a violent streak. He is angry at the world and takes it out on himself by sleeping around, skipping classes and getting high. The story about what happened to his parents was heartbreaking and it explained quite a lot about why Noah acted in the way he did.

As you can tell I really loved the story, I loved how much depth there was and how some small things could make a difference to the characters lives. The characters were awesome and I fell in love with them. Others were really amazing too and I loved beth, Isaiah, Lila and Mrs. Collins. But the book has its fair share of awful characters and I couldn’t stand Ashley, Mr Emerson, Grace and Luke. Feelings changed as the book went on but Luke really wound me up and I found myself swearing at the book in places just because of him! 

The writing was incredible, flowing so well and pulling you in so that you don’t realise that you’ve been reading for an hour and must go to work soon! Told in split perspective you get both Echo and Noah’s perspective on each other and their lives. I loved how Echos chapters were a bit longer at the front because of how much notice she took of everything around her. I preferred Echo because I thought her voice was more realistic, Noah’s seemed a little forced at odd times but I still enjoyed it. 

I really would recommend Pushing the Limits to any teen, it handles so many issues including self image, sex, virginity, parental pressure, peer pressure, mental health, grief and family problems. All this with an amazing romance means that Pushing the Limits is a must read! 

Pushing the Limits was published on August 3rd by MiraInk. My copy was sent from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads | Amazon