Comic-book recommendation: Runaways

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From now on, I’ll also be reviewing some graphic novels on this blog! I read a lot of them, and decided I should start reviewing those, as well as teen fiction. This post is about a series I have recently discovered, called Runaways.

Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy

Goodreads synopsis: All young people believe their parents are evil … but what if they really are? Meet Alex, Karolina, Gert, Chase, Molly and Nico – whose lives are about to take an unexpected turn. When these six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains, the shocked teens find strength in one another. Together, they run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives – vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy.

My thoughts: Runaways was an absolutely amazing comic seires, and I’m so glad to have discovered it I totally fell in love with the plot, because it’s so original. The characters were very relatable. They had very real, common problems in teenage and young adult life. Although it was a little overwhelming to be introduced to so many teenage protagonists, they were cleverly introduced at the beginning. It was so cool to see them discover their powers! The artwork, secondly, was so amazing. For a debut artist, it was seriously professional. I loved the illustrations so much!

This graphic novel contains the ‘original’ issues, as this was meant to be published as just a short, seven issue series. But nope! More were written! So far as I know, you can get up to volume eight, but there might be more. Since my birthday, when I discovered these -a month ago- I have read Runaways collectives volumes, from one to four. I’ve got the fifth one and am really looking forward to reading it! Here’s pictures of volumes two, three and four, below:

Runaways, Vol. 2: Teenage Wasteland Runaways, Volume 3: The Good Die Young Runaways, Volume 4: True Believers

The Double-Life of Cora Parry

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By Angela McAllister, published by Orion books.

The Double Life of Cora Parry

Goodreads synopsis: Seduced by crime, troubled by conscience, Cora Parry creates a double life as she is drawn deep into Victorian London’s seething underworld…
Abandoned to the workhouse after the death of her guardians, Cora Parry refuses to accept her fate.
Under the tuition of persuasive street-rat Fletch, Cora finds herself reluctantly drawn deep into the Victorian underworld. As she is gradually seduced into a life of crime, Cora creates a persona for herself – Carrie – allowing her to separate her uneasy conscience from her actions.
But soon things are spiralling out of control. Carrie is committing acts of crime that Cora knows she can’t possibly have done. Where does Carrie end and Cora begin? Who is really in control, and where will it end?

My review: I couldn’t wait to start reading this, as the synopsis had made it sound so good! Honestly, it did really impress me, despite a short length at about 220 pages. The Double-Life of Cora Parry was about a girl whose guardians had died, and found she had nowhere to go after being kicked out of her inherited house. She was sent back to the workhouse by a horrible distant step-uncle, but is drawn into a life of crime in the Victorian underworld. I really loved the idea, because I’m starting to get really interested in Victorian historical fiction… so this was a perfect read for me! This ‘underworld’ is a whole new, imaginative side to Victorian London which explored the lives of those forced into a life of crime, more specifically stealing to survive. It was a really riveting read, because of a supporting character named Fetch I found it really shocking to find what she was forcing Cora (or should I say Carrie?) to do- breaking into houses and stealing rich people’s treasure. It really pumped up the adrenaline in the story, although I was a little disappointed when she disappeared! I would have liked Carrie/Cora to go and save her, or something, despite her selfishness.

Onto Cora/Carrie now! she was a really great protagonist. I admired her courage and determination to not give up and find a job, even when face with possible starvation. Her character, overall, was really enjoyable. I really liked the change that occurred in her, which led to an epic adventure of self-discovery. Just past the halfway point in the book, snippets of chapters were written in italics, and was the Carrie side (the thieving side) of Cora. Then, after a few paragraphs, it would switch to Cora and her waking up, forgetting what she’d done and not realising that she’d just been out, committing crime all night. I loved the way the author wrote this, and it was pulled off really well.

Another character I really liked was Joe, who worked in a pawnbroker’s shop that Carrie came across. I loved the developing relationship through Carrie teaching Joe how to read. It was really sweet. There was also quite a large focus on Joe’s father’s background, and I liked that, but I think it took up a bit too much of the ending.

Overall, I found The Double-Life of Cora Parry to be a really enjoyable read. The crime-infested setting was scarily realistic, and the author did a really good job on bringing the story to life. The character were three-dimensional and just brilliant, in total. The story of Cora discovering a whole new side to her was totally addictive and I really couldn’t stop reading. I’d love to read more from Angela McAllister in the future!

I received The Double-Life of Cora Parry from the publisher, in exchange for a review.

Ink

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By Amanda Sun, published by Mira Ink.

Ink (Paper Gods, #1)

Goodreads synopsis: On the heels of a family tragedy, Katie Greene must move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.
When Katie meets aloof but gorgeous Tomohiro, the star of the school’s kendo team, she is intrigued by him…and a little scared. His tough attitude seems meant to keep her at a distance, and when they’re near each other, strange things happen. Pens explode. Ink drips from nowhere. And unless Katie is seeing things, drawings come to life.
Somehow Tomo is connected to the Kami, powerful ancient beings who once ruled Japan-and as feelings develop between Katie and Tomo, things begin to spiral out of control. The wrong people are starting to ask questions, and if they discover the truth, no one will be safe.

My Review: I’d been so looking forward to this book, and had pretty high expectations. I was so happy to receive and read this, and the book was absolutely brilliant! The plot had a really original idea, and I liked the tie-in with Japanese culture. Amanda Sun has invented this believable type of Japanese Heavenly descendant, called a Kami, whose drawings can come to life. I really loved reading about it- the idea was really interesting. Right from the start I was totally sucked into this imaginative, fast-paced and fantastical world.

I also really enjoyed reading about Katie, an American girl, and her experiences living in Japan- a country totally out of her comfort zone with way different cultures and activities and rules. It was funny to see her accidentally forgetting to take of her shoes, etc., but was also great to see her settle in to this new country and lifestyle.

Katie was a really great protagonist because of the above sentence. I loved reading her journey. I felt a lot of empathy for her about her family situation, and was rooting for her throughout as she went through many complicated events. Her relationship with Tomohiro was predictable from the start, but really fun to see develop. Whilst Katie Greene was a pretty straight-forward, easy to understand character through the narrative, Tomohiro was much more complex and it was intriguing to figure him out. He was quite a mystery-man from the start, and even though Katie discovered his ancestry involving the Kami God, he was still a little secretive- but I liked that element of suspicion very much. He was described really well, and I loved his growing relationship with Katie and how he would give up anything for her towards the ending.

Overall, I enjoyed Ink so much, and couldn’t believe it was a debut novel, really. The snippets of the Japanese language thrown in were a tiny bit hard to grip at first, but I got the hang of it and really enjoyed the informative side of the Japanese culture, too. I could tell that the author has packed in her own experiences (as in the lifestyle and culture, not the drawings coming to life- obviously!), and I think that gave this book a really realistic touch. I also liked the gang references too, as they carried some very strong messages about getting involved with the wrong people. The writing was beautiful, and I also really loved the accompanying illustrations. Highly recommended for Urban Fantasy fans, and I can’t wait for a sequel!

I received Ink via the publisher on Netgalley, in exchange for a review.

New theme?

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I like this blog theme at the moment, but I came across a really cool one on the WordPress site; and I’m thinking about changing it to this. Here’s a dummy pic:

Crafty Theme

What do you guys think- should I change it to this? It looks a bit girly, but I can fiddle with the colours 🙂

Embracing My Inner Geek- Blog meme

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A big online apology to Lucy@ Queen Of Contemporary– I said I would write a meme for her as part of her blogoversary, but I was so busy yesterday! So, HERE IT IS, and I hope you all enjoy it!

Recent-things-I’ve-been-fangirling-over:

2013 has been a MASSIVE year for Geeks! In this post, I’m going over the movies I’ve loved/going-to-love that have come from books to box office hits.

So, in chronological order…

Beautiful Creatures: Sadly, I’ve not actually read this book or seen the film yet, but I’m sure both are amazing, judging by the fanbase for them. Have you read/watched it? How did you find it? I’ll probably buy the DVD when it’s released, as a lot of my friends really enjoyed it. It looks really cool, and has witchcraft and everything, so I’m eagerly awaiting it.

Warm Bodies: I’ve read the book, liked the book, fangirled over the book, fangirled over the many movie posters, but NOT SEEN THE MOVIE YET *sniff*. I will soon though, and Nicholas Holt is an awesome actor so I’m sure he did a good job as R!

The Host: A sci-fi story from the author of Twilight. I’ve read some of the Twilight series, and didn’t like it as much as The Host, which I’m currently reading. I also saw the film, which was good, but a bit too romantic. However, it was really enjoyable and I quite liked it, because it has ALIENS!!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Not out until November, but anyone who knows me well enough will know that I can literally talk for hours upon hours over the books and movie franchise, because they are AMAZING. I read the first gore-fest when I was eight. That is what I put the blame on for my love of scary teen books. There is no week I got without fangirling over THG! I lovelovelove it but I’ll shut up now.

Divergent: The movie production began a few weeks ago, if I’m correct, and I’m so glad! I absolutely adored Divergent and Insurgent, and took part in the blog tour and stuff. I can’t get enough of this series, and even though I’m gutted because they’re cutting Uriah out, I’m impatiently waiting on the edge of my seat for this movie!

TiFOS: For those of you who don’t know, this stands for The Fault In Our Stars, John Green’s bestseller. Also, I’m not sure if the movie has been completely confirmed but hopefully it will! On a vlogbrothers video a while ago, John mentioned the casting of Shailene Woodley as Hazel. I’m so glad! She’s playing Tris in Divergent too! If it does make it onto the big screen, I’ll be bringing about seventeen-gazillion boxes of tissues.

In the words of Lucy, Don’t forget to wear your geekery like a badge!

Imposter

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By Jill Hathaway, published by Harper Collins.

Impostor (Slide #2)

Goodreads synopsis: Be afraid of your shadow…Vee Bell has witnessed murder. She nearly died trying to track down the killer, all because of her secret condition. She’d tell her best friend Rollins but lately he seems more interested in his colleague Anna than her. Maybe she should confide in her long-lost aunt who’s turned up out of the blue? All of a sudden life is happening in reverse: Vee is waking up in weird places not knowing what she’s done. The only thing she’s sure of is that someone is messing with her. And when a prank goes horribly wrong, this time the hands with blood on them might be hers.

My review: After really enjoying Slide, (Review HERE!), I couldn’t wait to start this sequel! I had no idea what could happen in this book, as all of the loose ends from the murders in Slide had been wrapped up at its ending. However, Imposter went down an entirely new, unexpected route, and I really loved it. Vee’s never-met-before Aunt, who betrayed Vee’s mum and ran away, not even coming back for her funeral, turns up at her doorstep. Whilst Vee thinks that she is experiencing somebody taking over her body (what she usually does to other people), she begins to suspect her aunt Lydia, as maybe the Sliding is a family thing. I really enjoyed that element of suspicion, because it made me think that the new Slider was Lydia, too, but then all was revealed with a very unexpected plot twist!

I also really enjoyed the growing relationship between Vee and Rollins (her best friend). In the first book, I was practically yelling “YOU TWO ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!” And I was so happy that they formed a relationship in this book. Rollins is a really great supporting character, but I would have liked him to have some more involvement in Vee’s secret plan with Mattie, Samantha and Regina (not saying what it is, I’ll spoil it :))!

Vee developed a lot more confidence, and investigated under even more pressure than in the previous installment. Through the first person narrative, I got a real understanding of her emotions towards all of the other characters in the story- especially I understood her hatred towards her aunt Lydia. I was rooting for her throughout, even when she was suspected of murder by her friends (I’m not saying whose murder!). As I’ve already mentioned, I loved her growing relationship with Rollins.

Overall, Imposter was a seriously awesome read. It was around the same meagre amount of pages as the previous title, Slide, but I still loved it anyway. It had such a clever plot, which kept me guessing at who-dunnit? the whole way through. I’ve grown to love the main characters even more, and really enjoyed reading their second psychological adventure. I really hope there’s a third book, or something, because I want to read more about Vee Bell’s life!

Drummer Girl

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By Bridget Tyler, published by Templar Books.

Goodreads synopsis: It was supposed to be the summer of her life. Instead, 17-year-old Lucy finds her best friend Harper shot dead in an LA swimming pool. How did it come to this? Lucy Gosling is the drummer in Crush, a rock band formed by five London schoolgirls that has just won the UK semi-final of an international talent contest. But when the band lands in Hollywood for the big final, things are not quite as they seem. The band’s lead singer, Harper, has just one thing on her mind- to win back her bad-news ex-boyfriend. Lucy must decide whether she’s playing to Harper’s tune, or setting the rhythm for the rest of the band…

My review: Since I had found out about this read, at a bloggers lunch, I had been itching to read it. Thanks to the lovely people at Templar, I got the chance to! I already loved it from the synopsis, and was totally sucked into the story from the first page. I really loved how it began with the scene of Harper’s murder, because that added an element of suspense, before the first real chapter had even begun. I think the beginning was a bit too quick for me, though. The five girls formed a band, then about twenty pages later they were already on their way to L.A. I would’ve liked it if the pace could’ve slowed down a little then, because I was pretty interested in the reality show the band Crush were in, and wanted to know more about it. Apart from that, the plot was absolutely brilliant. Many characters were introduced when the girls arrived in L.A., which was a bit overwhelming at first, but then that really made me think. It got me guessing throughout at who the murder could possibly be- most people had reasons to dislike Harper, so the outcome was totally unpredictable!

The plot and story also dealt with some very serious, and common themes in teenage life- such as self-image issues and love. They were dealt with very well in the book, and there was definitely a clear message about one band member’s self-image problems, which was, I think, very important to the story and added some very realistic drama.

I really liked the protagonist, Lucy- the Drummer Girl of the band. You could tell she was trying to keep everything together in the band whose members were growing apart, and I adored her determination and the fact that she never gave up. I also really loved the sudden rebel growing inside her- as she ran off to L.A. without permission from her parents, to try to win Project Next– the band show. It was interesting to see how she developed and grew apart from her parents throughout the novel, and then to join back up with them at the end, after the murder.

Speaking of the murder, HARPER! She was such an intriguing character. I didn’t really like her at all. She had her good things, but the bad points about her covered up those. It really added a conflict between her and Lucy during the story, as certain reasons behind Harper’s sudden interest in going on Project Next came to light. I only really grew to like her a bit more just before her murder, unfortunately! It was very interesting to see her true emotions come through right before her death. It made her tragic death even sadder and much more tear-jerking.

Overall, Drummer Girl was a really thrilling read. It was dramatic, fast paced, and had an constant element of suspicion throughout which kept me guessing at the murderer. Although the murder did not actually take place until very near the end, unlike I had expected, the story was still very action-packed and unpredictable. I loved all of it- what an amazing debut! he author really has a great talent, and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future!

I received Drummer Girl from the publisher, in exchange for a review.

Code Name Verity

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By Elizabeth Wein, published by Electric Monkey.

Code Name Verity

“I have told the truth…”

Goodreads synopsis: I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.
That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.
He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

My review: Wow. Just wow.

I plunged into this story knowing that it was set during World War Two, and was very good, according to many bloggers and authors. I was excited to start it, and found that I just couldn’t put it down. Verity’s (that’s the protagonist’s code name, if you hadn’t already guessed) voice totally captured me right from the beginning, and I loved her narration. The author has developed this three-dimensional, realistic character who I found myself rooting for throughout. She wrote shockingly truthfully, as her writing was actually a confession to give information to an enemy interrogator who was holding her captive. I was so intrigued by her story of adventure and friendship, and loved how Verity would write also about the cruelty of her captivity and the things she was going through currently, as well as the information. I believed her story so much, and was totally shocked to find that some of the most vital things there were false at the ending. What an intelligent girl, lying to the enemy but making it sound so real! It even had me fooled.

I wasn’t actually expecting two narratives, until I read a book review of this before starting. It took me a good few pages to get to grips with a whole different setting and narrative, after reading about 300 pages worth of Verity’s story (her narrative took over half of the book up, then after about two thirds it switched to Code Name Kittyhawk/Maddie). However, I fell in love with Maddie’s story too, and loved how the two girls, who had been dramatically separated by war, discovered each other towards the ending, even though that had such a shocking and heart-breaking outcome.

The plot was absolutely amazing, and blew me away. It was written really well through the diary like entries of the two female protagonists. There was so much drama, and rebellion packed into the pages- I was totally hooked in! I enjoyed the informative side to the story as well, about the airplanes used in the war. That was pretty interesting, and not something I would usually read about. It was so scarily realistic, being set in the World War, and the author definitely captured the grittiness of the war-torn countries really effectively. The torture endured by Verity, and the prison, and everything else shocked me, terrified me- it was just so real- especially the outcome of Maddie and Verity meeting under the most scary of circumstances. Although that was so sad and made my eyes well up, the story still had a really satisfying ending.

Overall, Code Name Verity was an utterly amazing read. The characters were unforgettable, as were the scary backdrops for the book. The thrilling plot sucked me in and I was totally absorbed by the action-packed, emotional thrill-ride and didn’t want to stop reading, even at the last page. I can’t wait to read more from Elizabeth Wein, her writing is unique, refreshing, and brilliant!

I Received Code Name Verity from my school, via our book club, as we are reviewing the whole Carnegie shortlist.

Everything is Fine (and other lies I tell myself)

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By Cathy Brett, published by Headline.

Goodreads Synopsis: Things haven’t been going so well for fifteen-year-old Esther Armstrong. With her brother Max – her closest ally – absent, she’s forced to face everything alone, not least her parents’ heated arguments. As the summer holidays stretch endlessly ahead, she’s desperate for something, anything, to divert her attention.

Then she finds some letters hidden in the walls of her family home, sent by a soldier to his sweetheart from the trenches of WWI. Esther is consumed by the mystery of these lovers – not very much older than herself – and what became of them. Perhaps in piecing together the jigsaw of someone else’s life, Esther can work out how to reassemble her own, and how to make everything fine again…

My review: Having previously enjoyed Cathy Brett’s past books so much, I couldn’t wait to start on this one! I read this in two sittings. It was amazing and seriously unputdownable. The story started off really well, and the pace was great throughout the novel. I really liked the idea of finding love letters from world war one in your bedroom wall, coincidentally as a film crew are shooting a WW1 film in your house. Cathy Brett played out the story really well, and I especially liked that she drew out the suspense a little by revealing the content of the letters every couple of chapters- that really made me want to keep reading on, and also left me wondering what was in the last, unopened, letter at the ending.

as well as the two World War One-based stories in this book, Everything is Fine outlined some thought-provoking issues of grief and loss and how a family can deal with it. Although this read was pretty uplifting, and funny at parts, it maintained some serious notes throughout that really got the whole message of the story across to me.

Esther was a really great protagonist. She was unique and really caring, overall. I fell in love with her personality right away because she was so determined to make sure that both lover’s from the WW1 letters had been okay, and survived the war, even though they had no connection to her and weren’t even in her generation. I could see those caring thoughts again through her emails to her brother Max. I could tell there was a really special bond between them and loved that element of unconditional love. it absolutely broke my heart at the ending, when you find out hat has really happened to Esther’s family. Although there was a lot of great description about Esther’s feelings, I feel that I would’ve gotten closer to the character a bit more is the story was in a first-person narrative.

Overall, Everything is Fine was an absolutely brilliant read, with a strong plot and really special characters. I loved it so much! It was very different to Cathy’s dark-humored previous books, but still so enjoyable. It was really brought to life in a unique way, unlike any other book, with the beautiful watercolor illustrations and the drawings; also by the author. I can’t wait to her more from Cathy in the future!

I received Everything Is Fine from the publisher, for review.

Kite Spirit

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By Sita Brahmachari, published by Macmillan.

Kite Spirit

Kite and Dawn are best friends, and totally inseparable. Kite and Dawn share everything with each other… or so Kite thought. On the eve of their first GCSE exam, Dawn takes her own life, and Kite’s world shatters. Kite’s dad, Seth, takes Kite to the Lake District to give Kite space to grieve and cry for her lost friend, whilst he delves into his family history. Soon, Kite meets a boy, who seems to understand her pain. Can Kite get help from Garth, this understanding, kind boy, and learn how to say goodbye to Dawn?

I absolutely loved Kite Spirit! It was emotional, heartbreaking and truthful and I couldn’t stop reading it. The plot was really great, and beautifully written. I loved the main backdrop for the book, the Lake District- I really enjoyed the authors vivid descriptions. There was a tie-in with the afterlife while Kite was in the Lake District, a little, with the Owls (I won’t explain anymore, because I might drop some spoilers!), and I really liked reading about that and how it drew Kite closer to Garth and his grandmother.

I really loved the character of Kite- Sit Brahmachari has managed to convey so much of her emotions, through a third-person narrative. I really understood Kite, and loved her unique personality so much. She was a really strong protagonist, overall. Her ending to the story was just perfect! It really showed how Kite had changed after the events of the book and that she had said goodbye to Dawn.

I liked how Kite and Dawn’s relationship with each other in the past was clearly illustrated for the reader with frequent flashbacks, and memories. The really showed me what Dawn was like, and gave me clues as to why Dawn might have committed suicide. Dawn’s situation pre-death was very understandable, and the outcome very shocking.

Overall, Kite Spirit was totally amazing, and flawless, in my opinion. It brought tears to my eyes multiple times, but that just shows what an emotional ride this book was. The characters were three-dimensional and realistic, and the setting was really great. I think this book was a great introduction for me to Sita Brahmachari’s award-winning writing- I can’t wait to soon read Artichoke Hearts, Jasmine Skies, and any more from Sita in the future!