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The Lie Tree – Frances Hardinge
The leaves were cold and slightly clammy. There was no mistaking them. She had seen their likeness painstakingly sketched in her father’s journal. This was his greatest secret, his treasure and his undoing. The Tree of Lies. Now it was hers, and the journey he had never finished stretched out before her.When Faith’s father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she is determined to untangle the truth from the lies. Searching through his belongings for clues, she discovers a strange tree. A tree that feeds off whispered lies and bears fruit that reveals hidden secrets.But as Faith’s untruths spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter……
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Out of the Blue – Sophie Cameron
When angels start falling from the sky, it seems like the world is ending. Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single one has survived.As the world goes wild for angels, Jaya’s father uproots the family to Edinburgh intent on catching one alive. But Jaya can’t stand this obsession and, still reeling from her mother’s recent death and the sudden disappearance of her ex-girlfriend, she’s determined to stay out of it.Then something incredible happens: an angel lands right at Jaya’s feet – and it’s alive… *** Its taken me a while to write this book review. I don’t really know where to begin. I…
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This Careless Life – Rachel McIntyre
Four best friends with perfect lives. A once in a lifetime opportunity. Who can resist the call of fame and fortune?Liv, Hetty, Jez and Duffy are auditioning for a new reality TV show. Producer Cassandra has warned them the process might be tough, but they are excited and keen to get on with things, confident that they can handle anything.But when Cass produces a photo of a body, everyone realises that they may have something to hide after all… *** I wasn’t sure about This Careless Life when I started reading. Liv seemed self-absorbed and something felt a little odd. But as soon as Liv’s interview started, I was hooked.…
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Poisoned – Jennifer Donnelly
Once upon a time, a girl named Sophie rode into the forest with the queen’s huntsman. Her lips were the color of ripe cherries, her skin as soft as new-fallen snow, her hair as dark as midnight. When they stopped to rest, the huntsman took out his knife … and took Sophie’s heart. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Sophie had heard the rumors, the whispers. They said she was too kind and foolish to rule — a waste of a princess. A disaster of a future queen. And Sophie believed them. She believed everything she’d heard about herself, the poisonous words people use to keep girls like Sophie…
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How Hard Can Love Be? – Holly Bourne
All Amber wants is a little bit of love. Her mum has never been the caring type, even before she moved to California, got remarried and had a personality transplant. But Amber’s hoping that spending the summer with her can change all that. And then there’s prom king Kyle, the guy all the girls want. Can he really be interested in anti-cheerleader Amber? Even with best friends Evie and Lottie’s advice, there’s no escaping the fact: love is hard. After reading The Places I’ve Cried in Public I knew that I needed to get more Holly Bourne books in my life. I’ve had this one sat on my bookshelf for…
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The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein
When her mother is killed in the Blitz, and her father’s ship goes down, Louisa Adair feels she has lost everything. The country she has called home since her family left Jamaica is not a friendly place for an orphaned girl with brown skin, and she badly needs money and a roof over her head. Finally she finds work looking after an old lady at a pub near an airfield in Scotland. There she meets Ellen, a driver for the RAF, and Jamie, a pilot – two other young people just as exhausted by the toll the war has taken on their loved ones, and just as desperate for a…
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I’ll be Home For Christmas – a YA Anthology
Supporting homeless charity Crisis, this collection of short stories explores the lives of a number of young adults as they venture into very different Christmases. I have enjoyed reading short stories more and more since having Spike. I don’t have the time to commit to a book in full anymore and short stories give me the ideal reason to pick up a book for 10 minutes. This is why I thought I’ll be Home for Christmas was the ideal thing to read over the Christmas period last year. It features a number my favourite authors; Cat Clarke, Non Pratt and Juno Dawson. As well as a couple I’ve been meaning…
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Monster – CJ Skuse
“That last week at school before the Christmas Holidays, death was in everything. Im Geography, the sea was saying away at the coasts. In English, Juliet was stabbing herself with Romeo’s dagger. Even the school gerbil, Rafferty, was found stiff in his water bowl on Tuesday lunchtime. The skies above us bore a foreboding grey gloom, telling us snow was on its way to suffocate the land.” Nash believed that the hardest thing she would have to do this school year was convince the head that she was the right girl for the Head Girl job. That was, however, before Bathory Girls for School became the place she feared most…
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Read Me Like A Book – Liz Kessler
“Where’s your best friend when you need her? I mean, seriously. It’s Saturday night and here I am in Luke’s front room with his sister, Zoe, and a bunch of his mates, listening to a rock band blaring about how we’re all going to die, and watching a couple of lads do something that I think is intended to be dancing but looks more like they’re being slowly electrocuted. Oh, and did I mention? It’s my birthday.” Ash’s 17th year is meant to be full of fun and laughter before she has to think about what the future holds and what to do with her life. But nothing is ever…
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The Art of Being Normal – Lisa Williamson
“One afternoon, when I was eight years old, my class was told to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Miss Box went round the class, asking each one of us to stand up and share what we had written. Zachary Olsen wanted to play for the premier league. Lexi Taylor wants to be an Actress. Harry Beaumont planned on being Prime Minister. Simon Allen wanted to be Harry Potter, so badly that the previous term he had scratched a lightening bolt on to his forehead with a pair of craft scissors. But I didn’t want to be any of these things.” When rumoured bad boy…
