Book Review: Paperweight by Meg Haston

Published 2nd July 2015 by Hot Key Books.

24917415 Goodreads Synopsis: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Struggling to deal with her brother’s death and a past she refuses to confront, Stevie knows she has problems. But she’s still furious about the fact that she’s been packed off to a health clinic, in the middle of nowhere, where mobile phones are banned and communication with the outside world is strictly by permission only. The regimented and obtrusive nature of the clinic and its staff is torture to the deeply private, obstinate Stevie – and don’t even get her started on the other ‘inmates’. All she wants is to be left alone…
But as Stevie is about to find out, life is full of surprises. And she will prove herself stronger than she knows – even when her past finally catches her up in the most shocking and brutal way possible.

My Review: I’ll have to admit that I didn’t know much about the plot of this one – I quite largely was interested in it because of that beauuutifullll cover – but once I’d started Paperweight, I couldn’t put it down. I meant for it to be a quick read for a train journey – and it turned out to be one of my favourite reads of the year so far!

Paperweight starts with Stevie’s induction at a clinic for people with eating disorders. As the story progresses, with every day spent there, we get to look inside Stevie’s head to see her memories of what’s ultimately brought her there, and how she is dealing with it – because it’s a heartbreaking and harrowing story of love, loss, rivalry and secrecy.

The plot was unpredictable, a little hard to read at points because it became so sad – but, in all, a truly unique story. It was paced well and I raced through the book, as there was never a dull moment or a point in which I didn’t feel invested in the story. The realistic themes of anorexia, bulimia and death are treated well in the novel I think – though I’m not sure this is everyone’s cup of tea.

I connected with Stevie straight away. She had such a strong and believable voice; a personality driven by her eating habits that felt very painfully real. As the story progresses, Stevie lets the reader in on the reasons why she is where she is now; and it’s a complicated, unexpected tangle of secrets and drama. What I really liked about Stevie was that I never quite knew what direction Meg Haston was going to take her character in – I wasn’t expecting the romance side that became apparent but I loved the fact that Stevie’s identity was never labelled or questioned!

I have never read anything by Haston before (According to Goodreads she has written a few seemingly YA titles before!) but I would jump at the chance to read similar YA from her in the future. Her writing is brilliant; a talent I hope doesn’t go unnoticed when this is released. Writing about topics like she has here can be tough, but she has done so admirably. On top of the heavy themes, she’s written such unforgettable characters, the chemistries between which are well developed and raw-feeling.

Overall, I highly recommend Paperweight – I know that because of a lot of sensitive scenes it won’t be for everyone but it is an incredibly poignant read by a writer I hope to see more from. Stevie’s story has stayed with me long after I closed the pages – it ends on the perfect note. I’m so glad I picked this book up!

My Rating:

I received a copy of Paperweight from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

BLOG TOUR: Jessica Cole, Model Spy #1, Code Red Lipstick review

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Today I’m taking part in the review tour for the Jessica Cole, Model Spy books! This is a series I’ve heard a lot about so I was really excited when I was asked if I’d be interested in reviewing book one.

Published 5th June 2014 by Scholastic.

21385579 Goodreads Synopsis: Models, spies and lipstick gadgets… When Jessica’s father, a former spy, vanishes mysteriously, Jessica takes matters into her own hands. She’s not just a daddy’s girl who’s good at striking a pose; she’s a trained spook who knows how to take on MI6 and beat them at their own game.

My Review: I wasn’t too sure this would be my ‘thing’ when it first came out – but it received so much love on the internet that when I was asked if I’d liked to join a review tour a little while ago, I accepted straight away!

Jessica Cole is a teenager juggling a school life with her growing modelling career, with an ex-MI6 father. When she comes home to find him missing and her home ransacked, however, she has to find a way to get to the bottom of the mystery. She uses her modelling career as a cover-up for an investigation, and finds herself stuck in the middle of a complex crime.

Code Red Lipstick is a brilliant read that appeals to readers of lots of genres – whether you’re into fashion, contemporary stories or espionage – and, well, if you like all three, it’s perfect! Piecing together the mystery was so fun. Despite the plot seeming quite dark, it felt like a very upbeat story.

I think the main character, Jessica, is going to become a familiar and loved YA character. She’s got the qualities of a great heroine – leading a dangerous double life, putting her life on the line to save others, and having fearless determination – but she feels so different to many leading female YA roles. Maybe I don’t read widely enough… but I’ve found it quite rare to see a female character heading a thriller/mystery/dystopia/fantasy etc., who is hugely feminine-presenting, so this made for a refreshing change. I’m not sure if I worded that right, but I hope it makes some sense!

My Rating:

I received a copy of Code Red Lipstick from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

Book Review: Lorali by Laura Dockrill

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Published 2nd July 2015 by Hot Key Books.

24910026 Goodreads Synopsis: Looking after a naked girl he found washed up under Hastings pier isn’t exactly how Rory had imagined spending his sixteenth birthday. But more surprising than finding her in the first place is discovering where she has come from.
Lorali is running not just from the sea, not just from her position as princess, but her entire destiny. Lorali has rejected life as a mermaid, and become human.
But along with Lorali’s arrival, and the freak weather suddenly battering the coast, more strange visitors begin appearing in Rory’s bemused Sussex town. With beautifully coiffed hair, sharp-collared shirts and a pirate ship shaped like a Tudor house, the Abelgare boys are a mystery all of their own. What are they really up to? Can Rory protect Lorali? And who from? And where does she really belong, anyway?

My Review: Mermaid books have never really been my ‘thing’ so I can’t say I’ve read many of them. Lorali had been on my radar for a while, but it wasn’t until I listened in person to Laura Dockrill brilliantly pitch it that I’d really wanted to read it! It was refreshing to delve into a new genre – and the writing of an author I’ve never read before. Needless to say, I’d love to read more YA from Laura in the future.

I didn’t realise the book was from multiple perspectives but it was maybe my favourite part of the book – especially the perspective of the sea, which was interesting and a really good way to tell parts of the story.

Lorali is not a typical princess and although I wish more of the book had consisted of it, I adored her narrative; written in a tentative, explorative style that reflects the surfaced mermaid’s confusion and discovery of a new world.

Rory, the boy who finds Lorali on the beach and soon becomes a love interest, was also very likeable, as he was so selfless and simultaneously very vulnerable-feeling. I’ve never read a character quite like him. Lorali and Rory’s love is a driving theme of the plot and I did quite like their chemistry.

The pacing was great and I raced through the book, always wanting to know what happened next. Though I haven’t read many similar books, this is undoubtedly a much grittier mermaid tale than many will anticipate. The world building was fantastic – it felt almost gothic in places, always richly imagined. There are a couple of ‘media clippings’ in the book too by the public about mermaids which made me giggle a bit, too.

Overall, Lorali was an unexpectedly very gripping and enjoyable read. I’m really glad I picked it up. The story was darker than I had anticipated and the ending was shocking; an outcome I definitely didn’t see coming! Lorali is definitely worth seeking out if you’re interested in a darkly fantastical read.

My Rating:

I received a copy of Lorali from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

THE CURIOUS TALE OF THE LADY CARABOO BLOG TOUR: Catherine Johnson’s Diverse Book Recs

Book Review: Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas

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Published 2nd July 2015 by Bloomsbury.

20649195 Goodreads Synopsis: Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity. Contact with it causes debilitating seizures. Moritz’s weak heart is kept pumping by an electronic pacemaker. If they ever did meet, Ollie would seize. But Moritz would die without his pacemaker. Both hermits from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times—as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him.
A story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances, this début is powerful, dark and humorous in equal measure. These extraordinary voices bring readers into the hearts and minds of two special boys who, like many teens, are just waiting for their moment to shine.

My Review: This book came just as I had started exam revision – so after reading the blurb that had me really tempted to dive straight in, I had to wait a while to get around to it! It was the first book I picked back up after exams and the wait was definitely worth it. Because You’ll Never Meet Me was an extraordinary début.

The concept of the story is very individual and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It centres around one boy who cannot go near electricity – and another who depends on it for his heart to beat. The two can never meet, because one of them would die, so from opposite sides of the globe they exchange letters which will eventually lead to a shared discovery. It’s simultaneously a heart-warming-and-heart-breaking contemporary, though with an almost sci-fi-feeling to it.

I guessed the ‘reveal’ quite a short way in so it didn’t come as a surprise to me, but it was interesting to read how both boys discovered the truths and developed over time.

The two characters, Ollie and Moritz, are very contrasting; from their health conditions to their distinctive writing styles and voices. Ollie has epilepsy and lives in a cabin far away from the dangers of the city – whilst Moritz depends on his pacemaker for his life and lives in Germany.

I warmed to Ollie first and foremost because of his narrative – though by the end I was really invested in both their stories. I loved reading their sometimes witty, sometimes tear-jerking responses to one another. Both sides to the whole story were brilliantly crafted and flowed well alongside each other. Parts were a bit predictable – but there were a lot of points I couldn’t have guessed!

Overall, I really enjoyed Because You’ll Never Meet Me – it was a really awe-inspiring, unputdownable début novel. I’m excited to see what Leah Thomas will write in the future! The characters were truly unforgettable; their unique bond even more so. Definitely recommended to those who like contemporary books with a twist.

My Rating:

I received a copy of Because You’ll Never Meet Me from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

COVER REVEAL: Vendetta #2 by Catherine Doyle

Book Review: THE BIG LIE by Julie Mayhew

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This review’s going up a bit early – this isn’t published for a while – but I wanted to get the word out about The Big Lie asap!

Published August 2015 by Hot Key Books.

25259482 Goodreads Synopsis: A startling coming-of-age novel set in a contemporary Nazi England.
Jessika Keller is a good girl: she obeys her father, does her best to impress Herr Fisher at the Bund Deutscher Mädel meetings and is set to be a world champion ice skater. Her neighbour Clementine is not so submissive. Outspoken and radical, Clem is delectably dangerous and rebellious. And the regime has noticed. Jess cannot keep both her perfect life and her dearest friend. But which can she live without?

My Review: I’ve been a fan of Julie Mayhew’s writing since I read Red Ink in 2013, her YA début (I also recently listened to her radio drama for teens which was awesome) – and was lucky enough to meet her again at a Hot Key Books lunch recently, to find out about her new title.

I was so excited about it! Not only because I like Mayhew’s work but also because the concept of the story grabbed my attention straight away. An alternate history, in which Nazi Germany won the war – England in the present day is under strict Nazi rule. Jessika is just like any other rule-abiding teenager girl in the country – it’s her best friend, Clementine, who everybody is starting to notice is a free-thinker – and things begin to spiral out of the ordinary.

I expected Jess to be the more outspoken one, being the protagonist – I narrow-mindedly assumed she would be the character to lead a revolt against the Nazi regime. But she is not an openly rebellious teen. At the beginning of the story, she doesn’t particularly object to anything the regime has told her to do – because no one has ever suggested otherwise.

She isn’t a revolutionary drive unlike Clementine; but I loved her so much. Jess felt like a real person; like me in places. I definitely would have made the choices she did. Also, Jess isn’t straight (Hurrah! Diverse characters!) Her identity plays a big part in The Big Lie (I’ve always been shocked at how Nazis treated similar people in WW2 and it’s chilling to read about) but it isn’t central to the plot.

I would comment on the world building of the novel but it is literally modern world in a Nazi rule – there is not much Mayhew left to the imagination, as her quote says on the back of my copy. The fact that the book is so true to all the things that happened under Nazi reigns makes it incredibly unsettling and chilling – from the way women are seen and treated to the harshly controlled media. The Big Lie is written with brutal honesty and it’s scary to think that’s pretty much exactly how we’d be living today if the World Wars had ended differently.

Overall, The Big Lie was another stunning novel from Julie Mayhew and I can’t wait to read more from her! The plot progressed in a way I couldn’t have imagined – and the ending left me pretty lost for words; a surprising cliffhanger but one I think really fitted the unpredictable nature of the book. I wish there were more protagonists like Jess in YA. She definitely stood out to me from all the characters I’ve read about recently. Highly recommended, no matter what your reading tastes are – whether you enjoy historical fiction or books with a dystopia feel. Also, revolution and LGBT* and feminism issues!! It ticks all those boxes and more.

Book Review: Remix by Non Pratt

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Published 4th June 2015 by Walker Books.

21472663 Goodreads Synopsis: From the author of Trouble comes a new novel about boys, bands and best mates.

Kaz is still reeling from being dumped by the love of her life… Ruby is bored of hearing about it. Time to change the record.

Three days. Two best mates. One music festival. Zero chance of everything working out.

My Review: Non Pratt’s début novel, Trouble, was undoubtedly one of the best UKYA novels of last year. I was really looking forward to reading more from Non – and a book set at a music festival sounded pretty awesome!

Remix is quite a quick read which was great for me, but the story was so complex and well written. It centres around two best friends, Ruby and Kaz, who tag along with Ruby’s brother and his boyfriend to a music festival – mainly to see their favourite band, Goldentone. From the first night, issues start to unfold. Unexpected people join them at the venue, and some pretty insane things happen – all over the course of a three-day camp.

I really loved the protagonists – They were are well written as Non’s characters in Trouble were. Ruby and Kaz are both flawed and relatable characters who were just really fun to read about.

That said, it did take me almost half of the book to actually understand the network of people – there isn’t a huge cast, but the dual narrative switches so quickly (literally every few paragraphs at some points) that I couldn’t keep track! The narratives of Kaz and Ruby were both well crafted, and I could really feel both girls’ voices – but they changed so quickly that I lost track of who-had-drama-with-who at points.

The final pages of Remix will leave you in a bit of a daze – everything spirals into quite a shocking conclusion that completely stunned me. It feels like quite an abrupt ending – though it’s the kind of resolution that keeps the book in your head for days.

Overall, Remix was another great title from Non Pratt and I’m looking forward to her next book. It’s a perfect read if you’re looking for something short-ish – but one that is very eventful and emotional. I can’t stop thinking about the two best friends!

My Rating:

I received a copy of Remix from the publisher, via LoveReading4Kids, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

My Remix quote on LoveReading4Kids here!

Book Review: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

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Published 4th June 2015 by Penguin Random House.

23305614 Goodreads Synopsis: An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

My Review: I recognised Kinsella’s name on the email I’d received about this – my first thought was I’ll pass on this; her books aren’t my thing. But, out of curiosity, I read on in the email to see her latest was to be a YA novel – and not only that, but one about a girl coping with social anxiety. Needless to say, I couldn’t have been more eager to read it!

Finding Audrey is told brilliantly through the perspective of the main character, who is suffering from depressive episodes and social anxiety disorder. She feels trapped in her house, behind her sunglasses: And everything starts to take a different turn when she meets her brother’s friend Linus and her therapist asks her to start a film project.

I connected with Audrey straight away. She’s a very relatable and believable protagonist. There’s an event that caused her severe anxiety, and it’s suggested that there was some harsh bullying – though nothing is fully revealed. That irked me slightly at first, though I grew to get along with that – because (this might sound weird) but the reader can kind of apply their own experience to it.

Her relationship with Linus that evolves from a few awkward meetings fast became one of my favourite love stories of this year. I’m always very cynical of love interests (Just me being fussy) but Linus was so likeable and I loved the chemistry he had with Audrey – not to mention his encouragement for her.

Audrey’s family is hilarious and I loved them form the first chapter – in which her mum goes a little crazy and tries to throw her gamer brother’s PC out of the window. Audrey’s family’s antics were just so funny – I rarely laugh out loud at books but this book made me, on multiple occasions.

Overall, Finding Audrey was a really stunning YA début – I would love to read more YA fiction from Kinsella in the future! The characters were so well developed and despite the book only being just under 300 pages, I really felt like I knew all of them by the end. (Did I mention that I stayed up until two in the morning to finish this? Yep, that happened. Nope, I have never done that with a book before. I was engrossed.) Highly recommended, if you’re looking for a heart-warming tale; a perfect blend of humour and hope.

My Rating:

I received a copy of Finding Audrey from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

Book Review: Phoenix Rising by Bryony Pearce

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Published 1st June 2015 by Stripes Publishing.

Goodreads Synopsis: In a future world where fossil fuels have run out and democracy has collapsed, an outlawed pirate crew fight for survival on their ship, the Phoenix, kept afloat by whatever they can salvage or scavenge on the debris-filled seas. Toby has never known anything other than life onboard the Phoenix and he’s desperate for adventure. But when trouble comes hunting the Phoenix down, Toby realizes that what you wish for isn’t always what you want. He meets beautiful Ayla from the Banshee, a rival pirate ship and sworn enemy of the Phoenix, and his world is thrown into disorder. How can he know who to trust and what to believe? The future rests on him making an impossible choice…A gripping novel, perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Eoin Colfer and Suzanne Collins.

My Review: My inner geography nerd squealed when I heard about this upcoming title. Studying climate change and fossil fuels have always been a favourite part of geography for me. So when I read the synopsis for Phoenix Rising, a book set in a quite plausible future where fossil fuels are run dry and the world’s environment is suffering, I was really excited. Add two rivalling teams of PIRATES to the mix, and you have a seriously awesome sounding book. I couldn’t wait!

Bryony Pearce doesn’t wait around with slow introduction: the book jumps straight into the action of a sunken ship salvage. The plot is full of explosive action and is brilliantly fast paced, which I loved – though the mixture of rapid pace and occasional technical ship jargon meant I struggled to keep up at points.

I really enjoyed reading about the characters and am interested to see what direction they’ll go in, when book two is released. Toby is a selfless, courageous protagonist, and is the son of the captain of the Phoenix crew. Nearby, Ayla is the stubborn & independent daughter of the Banshee’s captain. They meet under unlikely circumstances and their relationship is very complicated, as they’re from rivalling ships both eager to kill one another. Both characters had great chemistry and I detected a Romeo and Juliet-esqe element to the story – with the two young almost-allies being of warring sides.

One thing I would have liked more of in Phoenix Rising was details about the world’s situation. It’s clear that there’s no oil, and desperate searches for solar panels now the ash has cleared from the Yellowstone eruption – also the pirate ships are sailing seas full of discarded junk. It’s an imaginative vision of the future and one that’s all too possible. I hope the effects on the Earth are explored even further in the next books!

Overall, Phoenix Rising was a riveting read, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series and hopefully checking out Bryony Pearce’s other titles. I adored the concept for the story – which is so frighteningly realistic that I didn’t want to stop reading. The pace was incredibly fast and it did take me a while to get into it because of that – but I definitely recommend it to fans of action and thriller books.

My Rating:

I received a copy of Phoenix Rising from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.