New books! #7

Here’s the books I’ve received this week, and the review of them will be up A.S.A.P.!

Kite Spirit

Kite Spirit (By Sita Brahmachari)– Currently reading!

Goodreads synopsis: During the summer of her GCSEs Kite’s world falls apart. Her best friend, Dawn, commits suicide after a long struggle with feeling under pressure to achieve. Kite’s dad takes her to the Lake District, to give her time and space to grieve. In London Kite is a confident girl, at home in the noisy, bustling city, but in the countryside she feels vulnerable and disorientated. Kite senses Dawn’s spirit around her and is consumed by powerful, confusing emotions – anger, guilt, sadness and frustration, all of which are locked inside. It’s not until she meets local boy, Garth, that Kite begins to open up – talking to a stranger is easier somehow. Kite deeply misses her friend and would do anything to speak to Dawn just once more, to understand why . . . Otherwise how can she ever say goodbye? A potent story about grief, friendship, acceptance and making your heart whole again.

Theodore Boone (By John Grisham)

Goodreads synopsis: Though he’s only thirteen, Theodore Boone has spent more time in the courtroom than almost anywhere else, and there’s always a new adventure waiting. After being falsely accused of vandalism and theft, Theo is happy to finally be out of the hot seat, once more dispensing legal advice to friends and community members, when an exciting new case demands his urgent attention.

Everything is fine (and other lies I tell myself) (By Cathy Brett)

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…

Ink (Paper Gods, #1)

Ink (By Amanda Sun)

Goodreads synopsis: On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is 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.
Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they’ll both be targets.
Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive…

All three of these books look absolutely amazing, and so a very big thanks to Mira Ink, Hodder, Headline and Macmillan for copies!

Monument 14

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By Emmy Laybourne, published by Hatchette Children’s Books.

Monument 14 (Monument 14 #1)

In the town of Monument, Colorado the day begins as normal- Dean gets on his school-bus and the journey to school begins… Then suddenly, disaster strikes in the form of a freak hailstorm which sends down hail the size of footballs.

Soon, Dean finds himself trapped inside of a superstore with 13 others, including his brother, as the world outside turns to ruin with more hailstorms, giant tsunamis and toxic air that could turn you into a crazy, mindless monster. Dean is with thirteen other children, mostly scared kindergartners. Can he help take care of them as the world around them crumbles?

From the cover, this looked pretty amazing. From the synopsis, this looked pretty amazing. From the first page, it wasn’t that amazing. I didn’t really like the writing at the beginning- it didn’t really pull me in at all- but I kept on reading because I was sure the pace would pick up some more. It did, thankfully. I liked the plot idea so much- fourteen kids trapped inside a store and they can only watch on an old TV the emergency broadcasts of the tsunami’s wrecking the coasts. It was absolutely terrifying, and scarily realistic because all of these problems were natural disasters. I would’ve liked the author to highlight reasons why the air had become toxic, because that wasn’t really explained at all and I think and evil lab’s spill or something would’ve livened the story up more. I really did like the plot overall, as all of it left the outside world to your imagination because it was all set in the Greenway superstore, but it did get a bit frustrating at parts where the boys seemed to be more interested in dating Sahalia than worrying about how they were going to live. Why would anyone do that?

Where the plot was slightly lacking in terms of action, the characters definitely made up for it. All fourteen major characters were three-dimensional and realistic, especially the kindergartners. It just broke my heart as so many little innocent children were thrown into a world full of chaos and a struggle for survival. I really felt a lot of empathy for them- the author has definitely written this so you feel totally heart-broken for them. My only problem with all of the characters was Dean, the protagonist. He kind o annoyed me, because he really just sat on the sidelines and cooked the dinners for the kids. I would have liked him to get in on the action a bit more; maybe turn crazy due outside air and riot or something to add a plot twist.

Overall, Monument 14 was an okay read. I think the plot could have been filled with much more action in the middle- there was definitely some shocking parts towards the ending, though, so I liked that. I also think the main character could have been slightly more exciting and revealing about his past. Apart from those issues, Monument 14 made for a pretty emotional and gritty read, for teenagers. If you like apocalypse books particularly you’ll probably enjoy this, and the sequel Sky on Fire out soon. I will probably read the sequel though, as the snippet of it at the ending of this book made it sound a lot more action packed than Monument 14!

An Abundance of Katherines

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By John Green, published by Penguin.

An Abundance of Katherines

Anagram-loving, child prodigy Colin Singleton has a slightly different taste compared to any other boy when it comes to girls. In fact, he does not judge on looks or personality. He only dates Katherine’s. In fact, he’s dated nineteen of them to date.

After Colin is dumped for the nineteenth time, he grabs his joker of a friend Hussan and sets off on a road-trip. The two boys find themselves in a lesser-known town called Gutshot, where they start whole new lives for the summer. Whilst staying there, Colin begins to work out a theorem to predict his future relationships. Will he ever get the right formula, and save himself from being dumped a twentieth time?

An Abundance of Katherines (Which I will from now on refer to as AAOK, because the title is long) was such a fun read. I absolutely fell in love with Colin’s personality right from the beginning, and loved his story so much. AAOK contained so much, in such a short amount of pages (213)- a rather hilarious teenage love story, and themes of friendship and hope. I didn’t really know where the plot was going to go at first, but it played out really well and I liked the outcome.

Colin was one of the coolest protagonists In have ever read about, because of his nerdiness. He was a child prodigy who was reading at two, what’s not to love? I loved the way he would geek out and correct grammar or state random facts. It just made me smile, and I don’t quite know why. His background was really well explained thanks to the frequent flashbacks to important scenes with certain Katherines. I really liked those, as they provided a real insight into his Katherine-relationships- as he did not actually date a Katherine in the events of AAOK. My favourite supporting character has to be Hassan. He just made me laugh so much, with his joking personality. I also quite liked the character of Lindsey, because she was so kind to Colin and I really enjoyed their developing relationship throughout the book.

Overall, AAOK was really fun and entertaining read. It didn’t have the best beginning ever- I didn’t quite understand why Colin and Hassan had to go on a sudden road-trip out of the blue- but I think the characters were some of the most three-dimensional I have ever seen. John Greens writing was totally amazing: It conveyed emotion and humor really well. I can’t wait to read more from John, starting with Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which I bought a few days ago!

Clockwork Prince

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By Cassandra Clare, published by Walker.

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)

**To read my review of the first in The Infernal Devices, click HERE**

After the events of Clockwork Angel, Tessa has finally found safety in the sanctuary of the Shadowhunter Institute of London. As training commences for Tessa , rogue forces inside of the Clave are plotting to kick Charlotte out of the Institute, which she is the head of. This would leave Tessa on the streets with nowhere to go, so an adventure begins for her and her new Shadowhunter friends, to find the enemy and stop them. But this enemy has connections to the Magister- which amps up the danger levels. As Tessa works with Will and Jem on a terrifying and perilous journey full of lies and betrayal, she begins to fall for Jem, who fears he has little time before death. As she becomes closer to him, Tessa begins to feel tension between her and Will. Who will she choose?

After seriously enjoying Clockwork Angel, and waiting for about a month to read the next instalment, I was so excited to start reading this. It didn’t let me down at all, in fact, it was even more amazing than the first book in the series.

I loved the plot so much. It was layered with a different and detailed story for every major character, and full of so many plot twists that kept me constantly reading. I absolutely loved the twist involving Jessamine (I’m trying to write a spoiler-free review, so I won’t say what she does!) shocked me so much. She was the last person I would expect to change the course of the story entirely, and I loved her sudden, major involvement! As always, Cassandra Clare has astounded me again with her writing. It was so complex, with switching paragraphs to different characters, but stayed understandable and enjoyable. I just love how she has about five different sub-plots going at once, and then entwines them all together in such a clever and intriguing way.

Tessa was awesome. She really came out of her shell a lot more, emotionally, in Clockwork Prince. I think she gained a whole new level of confidence too. I absolutely loved seeing her develop throughout the course of events of this book. I think she got in on the action a bit more, because she went all undercover and used her abilities for the first time since the Dark (pardon the pun, which you’ll only get if you’ve read the books (; ) events of Clockwork Angel. I also liked her developing relationship with Jem. I had felt so sympathetic for Jem in the end of the last book, and when they became a kind-of-secret item in Clockwork Prince, I did a little dance for joy. I loved Jem’s development in confidence and emotion in the book, and I loved to see that also in Will. Both of them made serious competitors for Tessa’s love in this book, and it was such a hard decision for Tessa, and I was heartbroken and overjoyed at the same time- does that make sense?- at the outcome.

Overall, Clockwork Prince was absolutely breathtaking, with a captivating plot that gripped me from the start and didn’t let me go until the last page. I fell in love with all of the character and can’t wait to read more about them! And, as this ended on such a cliffhanger, I now can’t wait to read Clockwork Princess, the last in the Infernal Devices trilogy!

Paper Aeroplanes

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By Dawn O’Porter, published by Hot Key Books.

Paper Aeroplanes

Fifteen year olds Flo and Renée, high-school girls on Guernsey Island, were never really meant to cross paths. They’re totally different, and come from equally sad and harsh, but very different backgrounds. Flo lives with her mum who has separated from her father, and ends up looking after her baby sister instead of socializing all of the time, whereas Renée lives with her overly-strict grandparents and thirteen year old sister following her mother’s death years before. When they do meet,things will change for the both of them forever, as they form a friendship whilst experiencing the ups and downs of beings fifteen in 1994.

I was very curious about this debut, and didn’t really know what the events in it would be like. But, right from the first page, I was totally absorbed by this book and read pretty much all of it in one car journey. Renée and Flo’s voices both captured me from the start, and I really felt for them as the both went through some pretty traumatic times together. I really enjoyed the switching narratives between the protagonists- as it gave me a real insight into what one thought about the other. I though Paper Aeroplanes would be told from only one narrative, so that really surprised me… and it was pulled off really well, too. I loved both of the characters very much- their backgrounds were realistic and well-developed; as were their unique personalities. They were loveable, and easy to understand. I really loved reading their story and finding out how these two girls, Renée and Flo, form such a beautiful yet unlikely friendship, and also how they dealt with bullies like Sally!

The plot was really great; the events played out really well. there was always something really exciting happening in at least one of the girls’ lives, which made this book such a page-turning thrill ride. The story dealt with some really common themes in teenage life, not just in the nineties but today as well: exam stress, love, rebellion, peer pressure and home-life struggles. All of the events were realistic and understandable through the brilliant narratives. It was really sad, but at the same time the author has added in clever pinches of humor that liven it up.

Overall, this book was a totally stunning debut. It was powerful, thought provoking and emotional to me as a reader, and I think it will be like that to anyone who picks it up. Dawn O’Porter has captured teenage life expertly, and I wouldn’t have had this book any other way. It was a totally thrilling story, with so much emotion and drama packed into the pages- I didn’t believe it was a debut! A must for older teenagers and adults.

Delirium

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By Lauren Oliver, published by Hodder.

Delirium

Seventeen year old Lena lives in a dark vision of the future where love has been diagnosed as a deadly disease. Once you turn eighteen in this love-less version of America, you must under go The Procedure, which removes the part of the brain the ‘loves’- so that you can live a life without affection. Lena has always played by the rules, and never put her foot out of line in her strict society, but then she meets Alex. Alex has many dark secrets, and is strikingly beautiful. What will Lena do- run away into the wilds with him, or stay and have her mind swiped of love, which will wipe Alex from her memory?

I loved Delirium so much! It had a very original idea and was written beautifully. I thought that the world that Lauren Oliver has created was absolutely brilliant: a kind-of Big Brother Society (which is becoming pretty common and popular in teen fiction), but was still so much different from anything I have ever read before. The governments actions on events in the book totally shocked me- it was ruthless! Also, there was a ‘Matching’ procedure- very much like in the book Matched– which shook up the ending, a little, and I liked its effect on the characters and the plot. The whole idea of removing the love from a human being was really shocking and made me want to read on to find out why the government decided on doing it. It also interested me, scientifically. I would’ve liked to see a bit more scientific details as to how exactly the procedure worked, as it was pretty vague.

I loved the character Lena, the protagonist, so much. She developed a lot throughout the course of the book- from becoming the rule-abiding, good girl to to the rule-breaking, rebellious one. The gradual changes in her emotions and feelings towards her society were shown really well through the author’s writing. I really liked her relationship with her best friend Hana: this story was not only about breaking out of a strict, love-less society, but it was also about testing friendships, too. The decision the Hana made at the end broke my heart. I also really liked Alex, the love interest, right from his introduction to the story- when Lena found him during a (rather hilarious) protest against the procedure. He was a love-able character throughout, probably mostly because of the things her did for Lena and his life-long rebelliousness towards the American government. I loved how he stuck with Lena through thick and thin… especially at the ending (Oh, gosh, the ending! It was on such a cliffhanger. Now I need to hurry up and read the sequel!!).

My only problem with the story, in total, was the romance. As much as I liked the character’s secret, forbidden and undying love for each-other, I think that there could’ve been some more great plot twists if one was to accidentally betray the other, or something along those lines.

Overall, Delirium was a really fun read. I loved everything about it- from the genius and unique idea, to the well structured plot and the unforgettable characters- who were really realistic. Definitely recommended for YA’s- and I can’t wait to start the sequel- Pandemonium!

Paper Towns

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By John Green, published by Bloomsbury.

Paper Towns

Quentin (Q) Jacobson is the soon-to-graduate boy who has always loved his neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman from a distance. One night, she enters his room through the window and summons him to join her on a well planned night where Margo’ll take revenge on uninteresting classmates. Head over heels in love, and in shock, Q follows willingly.

After their all-night revenge-fest, Q makes his way to school and finds that Margo is not there. She’s been known to run off before, but Q knows this is different. He soon picks up on a trail of vague clues, and determined to track down the girl he loves, he follows them… but where will they lead?

**Review contains tiny spoilers about Margo in the ending of the book, in the second paragraph!**

I picked Paper Towns up this morning- just because it was a small paperback that I could read on the train today. I ended up becoming totally hooked on the story, impatient to find the outcome of the unique events. At first, it seemed strikingly similar to Looking For Alaska, another novel by John Green- popular girl and unlikely, somewhat geeky accomplice pranking students of their class, then something happening to the popular girl. However, I carried on reading. The pranks were witty and ingenious and made me laugh out loud, and the characters brimming with unique and well developed personalities. The similarities between Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska stopped there as this whole new adventure began after Q and Margo’s all-nighter, and the searches for the clues were totally captivating. I loved every second of it. Also, I found it interesting how one poem was the answer to all of the questions Q was searching for, if he looked hard enough. The references were very clever.

Q was an enjoyable protagonist, and I enjoyed his narration a lot. I really admired his courage to find out what had happened to Margo, as she had disappeared without a trace, despite his fears about a possible suicide. I mean, in the end, he traveled all of the way across America to find Margo who could or could not have been in the location he suspected. Margo, on the other hand, I thought was kind of selfish. Who just leaves for no apparent reason, after committing a few acts of vandalism as revenge? I honestly didn’t understand her at all throughout the book, although I did like her personality from the beginning part she was in. However, when Q found her at the end and she explained everything, I understood her and came to like her a lot more for the last few pages. It was interesting to see how her fourth-grade magical story drove her to running away, and how it linked to a dead body (Q and Margo discovered a dead body in a park when they were little), Q, and her home life. She was, overall, unique, just like the other protagonists I’ve read about in john Green’s other books.

In all, Paper Towns was a really great read. It had that classic essence of mystery solving to it, with some really memorable characters. I also liked the supporting characters , who were just as brilliantly developed as the protagonists. The plot was pretty captivating, and kept me guessing about the outcome throughout. It was witty and thought-provoking- recommended to YA’s!

Zom-B: City

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By Darren Shan, published by Simon & Schuster.

Zom-B City (Zom-B, #3)

After the events of Zom-B: Underground, B Smith has emerged into the zombie–infested city of London. She discovers the mass effects of the zombie infection breakout, and that hardly anybody survived and remained humans. She explores this new, gruesome and blood-coated London, only to find that the evil zombie clown who broke into her old underground home, Mr. Dowling, is at large in the capital of England. What will he do when he finds B?

After waiting so long to buy a copy of City after reading Underground, I was so excited to start this one… and it totally lived up to my expectations. In the last two books, there had been not as much action as I had expected, but in this book, there was constant action throughout: in the form of brain eating and lots of gore. I think the backdrop for the story was great- never before have I read in a zombie book so much description, and so much detail into the setting. I really loved it.

Mr Dowling, the evil zombie clown who has a human eyeball on his nose, entrails wrapped around his limbs, and severed ears stapled to his trousers, terrified me! He was a totally horrific, yet brilliant antagonist, who did so many evil and heartless actions that chilled me to the bone. Darren Shan has still not yet revealed what the intentions of Mr. Dowling and the Mutants are, but that left me with questions in my head after reading the last page, so I’m already eagerly awaiting the publication of the fourth epic, gory installment. There was much development in the personality of B Smith, in my opinion, in Zom-B: City. I thought she’d begin to crave brains more and become less conscious of her actions, but she still maintained a level head and was trying to save people, even though they were trying to kill her. I really loved that courage in her; she’s a really great protagonist because of that.

Overall, Zom-B: City was a very enjoyable read. Even at only 210 pages, it packed a real punch. I read it pretty quickly and was left craving for more (not brains, books. Don’t worry!). I can’t wait for the next book!

New books! #6

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Lots of books today, being my Birthday- yay!

Zom-B City (Zom-B, #3)

Zom-B City (By Darren Shan) I’ve waited so long to read this! You can read my review of the first one HERE and the second one HERE.

Delirium

Delirium (By Lauren Oliver) I have always wanted to start this series!

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2) Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3) City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5)

CLockwork Prince, Clockwork Angel, and City of Lost Souls (By Cassandra Clare) After reading Clockwork angel, I’ve wanted to finish the trilogy. With City of Lost souls– I just want to see what happens to Jace now he’s under evil power!

Evercrossed (Kissed by an Angel, #4) Raising Demons (Hex Hall, #2) The Replacement Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1)

Evercrossed, Raising Demons, The Replacement and Hush, Hush (By Elizabeth Chandler, Rachel Hawkins, Brenna Yovanoff, and Becca Fitzpatrick) These came as a paranormal romance box set. Can’t wait to start them!

If You Find Me

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by Emily Murdoch, published by Indigo (Orion).

If You Find Me

Fifteen year old Carey and six year old Jenessa can only ever remember living in the woods, in a broken down camper van with their mentally ill mother. The girl’s mother leaves them for weeks at a time, going into the town and leaving them with only some canned foods and a shotgun. One day, whilst their mother is out, two strange people arrive, claiming that Carey’s mum sent a letter to them asking them to look after them, because she can’t cope anymore. Everything changes for Carey and Jenessa, forever…

I received this book yesterday from the lovely Nina at Orion, and I picked it up just to read the first chapter before finishing some other books. Well, that plan failed. I couldn’t put it down, and devoured it in a couple of hours. If You Find Me was so amazing and I just couldn’t bring myself to stop reading it! The whole idea of two girls and their broken mother living in the forest, away from civilization just had me hooked- it was so different from anything else I’ve read. They had been rescued from possible starvation not even fifty pages in, and had moved into their long-lost father’s new home along with his new family not even halfway through the book, so I wasn’t very sure where the rest of the story would go. However, the rest of the plot was strong and didn’t disappoint, with lots of clever links in Carey’s new life back that go back to her old one- like the boy she meets in her new high school.

I absolutely loved the protagonist Carey, as her narration was fantastic and full of heart. Her voice totally captured me from the minute I read the first page, and I enjoyed reading her terrifying, unique story. I felt her emotions and was rooting for her throughout the book. I also liked the character of her sister, Jenessa- she was just so loveable and I just wanted to hug her because she’d been through so much. The reasons behind her muteness and personality were really shocking, and I felt so much sympathy towards her because of not only that, but what her mum did to her. Despite the fact that their mum isn’t actually in the book (She’s only mentioned by characters, or shown in Carey’s flashbacks), I felt I knew a lot about her by the end of the book, and her actions shocked me so much. As you can probably already tell, If You Find Me dealt with a lot of very serious themes that brought tears to my eyes frequently… Things like the abuse from Carey’s mum, the emotional blackmailing from Carey’s new stepsister Delaney, and more. Carey’s frequent flashbacks made her past events so much more real and scary.

It’s an extremely emotional roller coaster of a book, and I bet more than one point will make you cry, but it’s full of hope and free will too, which makes you smile. Definitely recommended for thirteen/fourteen and up, this is a must read which I’m sure will capture the hearts of so many people. The characters and the tear-jerking story will stay with you long after you close the book after reading the last page- I know they did with me.