By James Dashner, published by Chicken House

By R. J. Palacio, published by Corgi

“My name is August. I wont describe what i look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

August Pullman is an intelligent boy who has an obsession with Star Wars. There’s only one thing that seems to separate him from everybody else: He was born with disfigurements to his face, so he looks different to the other kids of the neighborhood.

Upon turning the age for grade five, August makes the brave decision to begin middle school. The story follows this brave young boy travel through his first year of going to a real school. What will happen?

I picked up this book after seeing all of the good reviews and seeing it be on the ‘book of the month’ table at the bookstore. I couldn’t wait to read this debut from a new author! I absolutely loved the whole thing. It has such emotion packed into the pages. It made me laugh at points, and cry at some too-August is a truly unique, and special character. He made a great and unforgettable protagonist, His narration especially was powerful, thought-provoking and emotional.

I really liked the format of the story, and how the narratives changed. I wasn’t expecting that; but I found it a really clever technique. It really explores the friends and relatives backgrounds and plots in depth, but keeps to Augusts’ story at the same time.

All in all, this really is a stunning debut from a really great new author, not to be missed by anybody.  I really can’t wait to read more from R. J. Palacio!

By Marcus Sedgwick, published by Orion.

“Supposing you wanted to prove something important. Supposing you wanted to prove, for arguments sake, that there is life after death.”

It’s 1798. A strange doctor called Dr. Barrieux becomes obsessed with the question, ‘is there life after death?’. With the help of an innocent person he tries to unveil the truth.

In 2010, a strange girl called Ferelith becomes obsessed with the same question. She lives in the same house that the doctor did, and discovers his work.

A new girl called Rebecca arrives in the small village of Winterfold, and meets Ferelith. As they become friends, they discover each others secrets. But Ferelith’s obsession with the ‘life after death’ question takes over, and so begins some shocking events that will change the girls’ lives forever…

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a modern, horrific, Gothic tale told in three narratives: One in diary entries/letters from the doctors assistant in the 1700’s, one from Fereliths’ perspective and the other following Rebecca version of events. Although it was quite confusing at first, I totally loved this way of Sedgwicks’ writing. The stories came together quite well at the end. I also liked how there was the main story of the doctor in the 1700’s experimenting on people to find out the truth of the afterlife and Ferelith walking in his footsteps, but also a sub-story following the reasons why Rebecca had come to Winterfold. I  think her story of her father and the murdered girl was lost a bit in the last chapters, and I would have liked to know the full story of it, but otherwise I really loved this book. It’s a brilliant modern horror story from an equally brilliant author. I would recommend it to YA’s and adults alike!

By S.D. Crockett, published by Macmillan

“Everyone got taken away cos i seen tracks in the snow. They all gone.”

Willo is a straggler: he lives in the forest in a cabin with his family, away from the city. One day Willo is outside and hears the screams of Magda, his stepmother. He rushes back home to find that everyone is gone. The twins, his dad, and Magda have all disappeared without a trace. With the help of the dog spirit of the dog skull on his hat, Willo begins a gripping adventure into the city with lost girl Mary to find out what happened to his family. He discovers secrets that have been buried for a long time… but will his knowledge of them cost him his life?

I really loved this! The book has a brilliant dystopian setting of a supposedly never-ending winter, and a poor version of England: It was all too believable  I loved the unique character and voice of Willo: his words are really powerful and packed with emotion. The whole story was totally unpredictable and had me guessing all of the way through. There was a lot of adventure in it- and I loved every second. After the snow is a great book for YA Dystopia fans and adventure seekers.

I can’t wait for ‘One crow alone’, the tale of Magda, out soon!

By Darren Shan, published by Simon and Schuster

Where can you turn when you’re trapped in a living nightmare?

B Smith is back, but this time as a zombie! Due to the events of the last book, B was turned into one of the living dead. Now she has woken up in a lab, as a zombie with a human consciousness  She can talk, and act like a human, but there is one problem- she has no heart! The gaping hole where it used to be is the sign that she is a brain-craving zombie. Soon she finds out that there are more like her in this lab, but what are they doing with them? And what happens when there is a massive attack on the lab? 

I couldn’t wait to read this book; I had enjoyed the first one so much. There’s blood, gore, and violence: everything I love in a good horror story! It’s a brilliant zombie series- in the class of Charlie Higsons’ ‘The Enemy’ series.This book was a lot different to any zombie stories I’ve read before though- Darren Shan had the unique idea of giving some zombies live B Smith the gift (Or curse!) of human emotions and abilities despite being dead. It made the story really unique!

There was so much violence, gore, horror and emotion packed into the pages, and Darren Shan has painted such realistic visions of a zombie apocalypse. Some parts, (especially the clown part) frightened the life out of me, other parts made me laugh, and others cry. It’s a really great read for anybody with a love for gore and horror. And although I can’t wait for the next installment, I’m a little worried that the next books may get dragged out a little (there are going to be twelve books in total for this series!). However, I’m confident Darren Shan will have lots of exciting plot twists up his sleeve- I mean, didn’t he write a bestselling vampire series (Cirque Du Freak) that was twelve books long?

Look out for the next book, Zom-B: City, coming soon!

By Sophie McKenzie, published by Simon and Schuster

It’s been six whole years since the events of the previous book, ‘Sister, missing’ and Madison is now a teenager. Lauren is in her early twenties, pregnant, and living a happy life with her boyfriend Jam. The day that Lauren announces that she is pregnant, Madison overhears a conversation with her mum and Lauren, her life is changed forever. Sam, the dad that she had loved and cherished right until the day he died, was not her actual father. Despite being told not to go searching for her biological father, Madison tracks him down and meets him. But soon she is tangled up in his mission, and is plunged into a world of missing girl conspiracies and evil deeds. Can she solve a mystery whilst getting to know her father, and keeping her family safe?

I read the first book in this gripping series years ago, and I absolutely loved it. It was the book that really got me into crime and suspense fiction. I was so excited to read this third, (and probably final) book and had high expectations of it… and all of those expectations were met! I love how this book is told  from Madison’s perspective: she was a really love-able and one of my favorite characters in the second story. Madison’s character developed into a strong, great main character.

I love how Sophie McKenzie has  kept in the whole ‘missing members of the family’ story-line, whilst blending it with a totally different, new story of missing girls and trafficking in order to make the last one in this awesome trilogy different. There is constant suspense throughout the book and i really couldn’t stop reading. I can’t wait to read more from Sophie McKenzie!