Tag Archives: thriller

More Than This

By Patrick Ness, published by Walker Books.

Apologies to Walker Books UK for such a late review! This was due to school and also the fact that it took me a few days to actually form coherent sentences about this book.

Goodreads Synopsis: A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . . .

My Review: more Than This, quite simply, just blew me away. It’s taken me a while to get round to writing a review, mostly because I really don’t know how to review such an amazing book! Firstly, can I just say: this book is the best book I’ve read this year. No doubt. It’s quite hard to review this not just because of its amazingness. How do I write a review without spoiling this?! More Than This is the kind of book where, if one thing is spoiled, the whole thing is! I’m going to try anyway…

Firstly, Seth. I read the first chapter, then put the book down, and stared at it for a while. The main character dies in the first chapter? What? How does the book go on? Then, in chapter two, Seth’s woken up in a place that looks freakily similar to his childhood home in England. How is he here? Why’s everyone upped and left? The book follows Seth as he tries to figure out how he got to this place. I loved Seth for a lot of reasons. Firstly, I connected with him not entirely because of his personality, but mainly because he’d appeared, lost and confused, in this unexplained world. It was exactly what the author had done to me, really!

As the book progresses, (and I don’t think I can really say how it progresses) I got to know Seth from his ‘original life’ much better, as when he goes to sleep in this empty world, painful memories for him surface. This book is very emotional, mostly at these points. Argh! I’ll spoil it if I say much more. But his early childhood, involving a kidnapping, was terrifying, and I felt like hugging him when his love life was ruined after a friend betrayed him, and his parents discovered he was gay and disapproved. The love life aspect leads to Seth’s death, and Patrick Ness can really play with the reader’s emotions, I can say that. Bring Kleenex.

The plot was just immaculate. I originally guessed that the whole book was Seth, figuring out how he got here and possibly unlocking the reason he came here. While that technically does happen, it most certainly didn’t happen it the way I had guessed! Patrick Ness split this book into three roughly equal parts, and I think I loved the first one the most because it was mainly getting to know Seth’s background, and was very raw and brutally honest. Not that the other parts weren’t. The rest was just as emotional, really, but the first part focuses on Seth more than the others (as some new THINGS- not saying what exactly- enter the story). Each plot twist made me gasp, or put a blank expression on my face and made me go “Whoa, what?!”. More Than This was entirely unpredictable!

The idea behind this book is just genius. It’s original, thought-provoking, questions reality, and I’ve never read anything like it before. Patrick Ness, why?! I really can’t go into this for fear of ruining things. But, the idea is centrally themed around the question, What’s Real and What’s Not? This book made me wonder if what had happened to Seth could possibly happen to me; that I could wake up in a barren landscape due to a mystery behind reality. As much as I thought about things whilst reading the book, after I’d put it down (at stared at a wall for a while wondering what else to do with my life after that ending) I found myself picking it up, hours; days later, just to read parts again because I’d loved this so much!

Overall, More Than This was a really unique book that is absolutely nothing like anything on the YA market at the moment. It stands out from the current dystopia craze at the moment- while, I guess, it is a bit dystopian, it’s nothing like any other in the genre. It’s probably the most original- and my favourite- book that I’ve read this year! More Than This is packed with shocks, emotion, a couple of laughs, thrills, horror, mystery… the lot. It ticked all of the boxes and more, for me. I honestly can’t recommend it enough! I was tempted to make a six hearts on my rating system, reserved for this book. Simply amazing!

My Rating:

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

The Fallen

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By Charlie Higson, published by Puffin (Penguin).

The Fallen (The Enemy #5) Goodreads Synopsis: First the sickness rotted the adults’ minds. Then their bodies. Now they stalk the streets, hunting human flesh.
The Holloway crew are survivors. They’ve fought their way across London and made it to the Natural History Museum alive – just. But the fight will never end while the Enemy lives, unless there’s another way. . .
The kids at the museum are looking for a cure. All they need are medical supplies. To get them means a journey down unknown roads. Roads where not only crazed, hungry sickos hide in the shadows.
SUDDENLY IT’S NOT SO CLEAR WHO – OR WHAT – THEY’RE FIGHTING.

My Review: about a week before I read this, I read The Sacrifice (the previous book) and I was blown away by its sheer gory amazingness. I thought to myself “Nope. There is no way that The Fallen could top it.”
And then it did. So I was wrong.
Firstly, I was a bit worried because this book revisits Maxie, Blue, and the Holloway crew. They’re my favourite characters of the series! However, they’ve been pretty absent in the last couple of titles. I was a little worried it’d take me too long to get use to reading about them again.
Again, I was so wrong!

Despite Higson’s series having so many gangs, so many main characters, it was surprising how quickly I adjusted to the change (In The Sacrifice, it was about completely different people!). That was great, because I then got really absorbed into this story.
The Fallen has, probably, the best story line in the series so far! It was brilliant… And genius, in terms of how things all connected from The Sacrifice to The Fallen. If you’ve been reading this series so far, you’ll know that Sam and Ella are brother and sister, searching for each other, but both secretly think the other is dead. Well… The Fallen’s ending, including those two people, will make you cry and want to throw the book at at wall. CHARLIE HIGSON, YOU JUST DEMOLISHED MY HOPES AND DREAMS. I will say no more.

Whilst some of the Holloway crew and some of the Natural History Museum gang search to find equipment to make a cure, they encounter lots of bloody zombies on the way. As that’s going on, back at the museum two kids have gone missing and something-or someone- is murdering children slowly and building up to something big. The whole plot was very unpredictable, and it was possibly twice as gruesome as the rest of the series. Yay! Also, the origin of the disease that zombified the world was revealed in this book- and… Just… wow. honestly, I was not excepting that, and it was revealed in a very clever-and twisted- way.

Maxie was my favourite character from the first book. I think I loved her even more in this one, even though the focus on her wasn’t entirely huge. Another character I adored was Lettis. Eccentric name, loveable new character. She was a scribe who recorded the journey that she and the other people looking for a cure made. A chunk of the novel was of her diary entries of the journey and… They were just heartbreaking and extremely emotional. All of the characters, who I won’t go further into, we’re really relatable: one of Higson’s series’ strong points is that the character are so realistic that you can really relate to any of them.

Overall, The Fallen was an absolutely brilliant instalment of The Enemy series. It delved into the previously unanswered mysteries of the disease with shocking plot twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. It revisited some of my favourite (who I thought had been abandoned) characters, which I loved! The plot was extremely terrifying and so if you thought the previous books were bad, then think again. If you love gore, though, read on! This story was much darker! Every horror fan needs to read this series. It is just amazing. Enough said- go grab a copy!

My Rating:

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I received a copy of The Fallen from the publisher via an agency. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

An Interview with… Gina Blaxill!

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I’m so lucky to have interviewed one of my favourite crime authors, Gina Blaxill! I’ve been a fan of her books for about a year-ish, now, having read her first two crime thrillers for teens last October and absolutely loving them. I didn’t know until a couple of weeks ago that Gina had a new title out- and I was so glad I got to read a copy. I really wanted to interview Gina on her newest book, Saving Silence, which I reviewed yesterday on my blog, and she was kind enough to agree to answer a few questions! So, here’s a little bit about this author, and an interview with some really great answers about her new thriller for teens (complete with pictures- of the setting and Gina’s awesome writing shed):

Gina Blaxill is 27 and lives in North London. She has an English degree from Cambridge University and now works in schools liaison, helping teenagers puzzle out the mysteries of higher education. Between the ages of 11 and 15 she wrote an epic 36 part story featuring over 1,000 characters – she still remembers most of their names! Apart from Saving Silence she has two other novels published with Macmillan, Forget Me Never and Pretty Twisted, which is an e-book bestseller.

Your newest novel is based in an area with a lot of crime. particularly gang crime (The McAllister twins): why did you decide to write a novel with themes of London gang culture?

I wanted to write something that genuinely felt real, like it could actually happen. I also wanted to write about something that might affect teenagers, rather than about teenagers getting accidentally caught up in adult crime. Gang crime is a huge issue that affects lots of teenagers with loads of really interesting themes – identity and belonging and friendship to name a few, themes I think relate to teenagers in particular. I was lucky that I didn’t grow up with gang culture around me but for many of the young people I’ve met across London it’s something they have to deal with every day to a lesser or greater extent.

Did you always want, since wanting to become an author, to write crime/thrillers, and for teenagers?

I definitely always wanted to write for teenagers.I love teenage fiction and I just don’t have anything interesting to say to adults! My teenage years were not at all dramatic but I think it’s a really interesting period of life, when people are discovering exciting new things and figuring out who they want to be.

I actually ended up falling into writing crime thrillers. When I wrote my first book Pretty Twisted I didn’t realise I had written a crime novel! However it makes a lot of sense because I’ve always loved crime novels and crime dramas.

What was your main inspiration for Saving Silence?

My starting point was the idea that someone might do a good deed that had bad consequences. I wanted something really dramatic at the beginning too, so both those ideas turned into Imogen saving Sam’s life. Obviously I then needed an explanation for why someone would want to try to kill Sam and that became the rest of the book. I also really wanted to write something set in a part of London where kids have to be tougher and more streetwise – somewhere that felt claustrophobic and potentially dangerous.

Do you base any of your characters on yourself or other people that you know?

I usually don’t – not consciously, anyway! It’s not that I’m a boring person but I think characters like me would be a bit rubbish in a crime book because they would be sensible and just go to the police ! I do try and give all my important characters a little something of me – like Imogen I like to get things done without fuss and like Sam I enjoy baking. However, I did base Nadina strongly on a lovely girl I met through my day job at a college in Hammersmith – I gave her the same name, appearance and from what I could tell a similar personality. I hope the real life Nadina doesn’t mind being put in a book! I also based some of Ollie’s background, loosely, on a kid in an episode of World’s Strictest Parents, so character inspiration can strike from odd places.

There’s a bit of a romantic twist, especially at the ending, to Saving Silence. Were you always going to include it?

This is a good question! Originally there was less romance in Saving Silence . I think I got so caught up with
plotting and atmosphere that I forgot about it a little – my bad! Both my editors, very wisely, pushed me to up the

romance a little and I’m glad I did. The development of the characters’ relationships and the ending just feel right, and a lot of the romantic twists and turns just ended up happening naturally – I never really planned to end up with a love triangle, for instance.

Finally, do you have any ideas for a fourth book, that you can share with us?

Nothing’s set in stone for the fourth book and I might change my mind and go with a different idea! However the idea I’m working with at the moment is about a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, and revolves around one of them having been abducted.

Ooh, can’t wait to hear more about this idea if it goes forward! Also, I would write this in a picture caption, but stupid WordPress won’t let me caption things for some reason… So can we just take a moment to admire this writing shed/author habitat above. I WANT ONE.

Finally, thanks so much to Gina Blaxill for answering my questions with some really great answers- I really enjoyed reading them and hope everyone else will too. You can check out my review of SAVING SILENCE by clicking HERE, and you can also hear Gina read the first chapter HERE!

Saving Silence

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By Gina Blaxill, published by Macmillan.

Goodreads Synopsis: A high-octane, intricately plotted teen thriller, by an exciting voice in YA fiction.
Sam is the new kid at school – he keeps himself to himself and people don’t take much notice of him. Imogen is little miss perfect – she’s popular, clever, good at sports and has the dream boyfriend – and yet for some reason, she’s drawn to Sam. One day Imogen is with her friends and Sam rushes up – he needs to tell her something urgently. Before he can, a car drives towards him and tries to knock him down – Imogen pushes him out of the way and saves his life. After that, Sam avoids Imogen, but she can’t stop thinking about him. What was it he wanted to tell her? Why would someone want to kill him? Why won’t he speak to her now?

As Imogen and Sam get pulled deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld of East London, they have to rely on each other. Suddenly there’s nothing perfect about Imogen’s life, and people will never ignore Sam again…

My Review: Saving Silence was, quite simply, a brilliant crime book. I was so excited to start it, as not only did it arrive in the post as a surprise, but I’ve also read and absolutely loved Gina Blaxill’s other two teen thrillers! I had really high hopes for this… and it definitely delivered. While I still prefer Gina’s debut, Pretty Twisted, Saving Silence was a very close contender to that, for me.

I dived into this, knowing only what the pretty short and very mysterious blurb told me. I was hooked, straight from the start, with that gripping first line! I was really interested to see how the author used switching narratives in a plot where if too much was told, the story would be spoiled. However, it was done brilliantly! The story’s chapters alternated from Sam’s perspective to Imogen’s, and I really enjoyed seeing what they thought of each other, both their perspectives on the crime, as well as seeing both of them develop really well throughout the book. Gina Blaxill kept her writing detailed, and suspenseful- I loved it!

The idea for this story was brilliant. It was very original, and with its gang culture references and setting of a London crime hot spot, it was frighteningly realistic (and, of course, possible). I guess this story carries an important moral about getting involved in gangs, and committing crimes. That’s one of the reasons that I’d strongly recommend it to all people, teens and up, regardless of gender or age. Most of it was really unpredictable, and when I though everything had been resolved, a new dilemma would shock both me and the characters!

I liked the main character, Imogen, for a lot of reasons. One being that she was described to look exactly like me. That was awesome. Also, because she was a really great lead role; inquisitive, a good detective, determined, and I loved her relationship with Sam… she just ticked all the boxes for me! She was also tackling problems more common in lives of sixth formers like her; like managing studying and her relationship. A very relatable character for some teens, I think! I also really loved Sam, as the other main character. He was the kind of character that you couldn’t not like. I found his involvement in the crime, and the reason why he was being hunted down, really interesting- it’s a thing that could easily happen to anyone. He had a really great back-story, too, that I enjoyed reading about!

Overall, Saving Silence was a great crime book that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a thrilling read, or who wants a book that captures the lives of London teenagers, especially those caught up in gang crime, perfectly. It was a really unpredictable, exhilarating read from start to finish! The main characters were unforgettable, and very realistic teenagers. I think that the plot was pulled off so well, too! There were loads of twists and turns in the book that kept me reading- if you’re planning on grabbing a copy of this (which I highly recommend doing ASAP), I’m very sure you’ll get hooked like I did.

Also, I have interviewed the amazing Gina! Hopefully, unless I’m bombarded with homework tomorrow at school, Gina Blaxill’s brilliant answers will be up tomorrow. Be sure to stop be here tomorrow! 🙂

My Rating:

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

Cruel Summer

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By James Dawson, published by Indigo (Orion).

Cruel Summer Goodreads Synopsis: A year after Janey’s suicide, her friends reunite at a remote Spanish villa, desperate to put the past behind them. However, an unwelcome guest arrives claiming to have evidence that Jane was murdered. When she is found floating in the pool, it becomes clear one of them is a killer. Only one thing is for certain, surviving this holiday is going to be murder…

A compelling and psychological thriller – with a dash of romance.

My Review: Cruel Summer is a fast paced thriller, that’s an essential read for the summer holidays! Set in a sunny paradise in Spain, the story follows a group of teenagers re-uniting for a holiday after a year of growing apart. They know it’s going to be tense- after all, this is one year on from the supposed suicide of their friend, Janey. Little did they know at the start of the holiday that one of them is a killer, with connections to Janey’s death and who is intent on a bloody revenge. Brilliant idea? I think so! After having a read of the synopsis I most definitely had high hopes for this. And, thankfully, I wasn’t let down!

The whole who-dunnit? plot was really complex, and every plot twist was unexpected. There is absolutely no way that I could’ve guessed the shocking outcome to the novel! James Dawson visibly has a lot of talent for creating suspenseful stories. He’s written this tale brilliantly, packing in tension and suspense, and the drama was so effective that I found it difficult to put the book down. A lot of reviews have said this before- but I’ll say it again- Cruel Summer really had that teen horror movie or point horror novel feel to it! It truly was quite terrifying at points (like the body floating in the pool or the writing on the wall in blood, later in the book… *shiver*). The plot was paced a little too fast for me in places, though in all, it was simply genius, in terms of the reveal of the killer and their motives!

On to the characters- all of which are probably the most well-developed characters I’ve read about this year! Each and every one of the teenage gang had relatable backgrounds; there’s at least one person that any reader will be able to connect with, I’m sure. James Dawson has taken all of the classic, stereotypical suspects- like the jock and the quite girl and the brat nobody likes (though this one’s called worse in the book!), and yet the book didn’t seem too cliched or unoriginal at all! Aside from Roxanne Dent (Oh, how I wanted to punch her! No worries- that’s not me saying she’s the murderer! She’s the one with the evidence from the synopsis! 😛 ) Dawson gave the characters attributes that made me like all of them in one way or another- which made it so difficult for me to decide who the killer was! No matter how many times I settled on a suspect- about three- I was entirely wrong. So extra points to the author for leading me off the path there.

Ryan narrates the book. He was probably the most loveable character of the story- as he seemed to be bottling up his emotions- and his love life was thrown upside down in the story. There were points when you just wanted to hug him! The only thing that I didn’t like about him was that he though everything was a scene in a TV drama. Don’t get me wrong- that made it quite fun- but at the deaths, it was kinda twisted too… You start to wish he’d snap out of his TV obsession at those points in the book.

Overall, Cruel Summer is the perfect crime read- and if you read it by the beach on holiday, like I did, it’s extra awesome (and extra scary. Gulp.). Highly recommended if you’re a fan of Crime Fiction in general, horror, or if you fancy a teen drama that gets a big messy. Cruel Summer has some great characters, and a plot so unpredictable you’ll find yourself shouting WHAT?! at pages, and not wanting to put it down.

My Rating:

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

Also, LOOK! 😀 I (very briefly) got to see James Dawson at a book signing the other week. So thanks to James for signing my copy!

Mini Reviews!

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Over the last couple of months, I’ve forgotten to review a few books I’ve bought, on my blog! As I probably can’t write a whole review on them now, as I haven’t got the details fresh in my head anymore, I’ve decided to do a couple of mini reviews. Summaries on my thoughts, basically. There might be a few more mini reviews coming up soon! 🙂
Here are two horror/sci-fi/dystopia books! They both have the same genres, though they’re remarkably different. Both, however, are utterly terrifying.

172 HOURS ON THE MOON: (Johan Harstad, Tara Chase-translator)
This was a brilliant read. I loved the idea of a lottery run by NASA for three teens to go up to the moon! I borrowed this from a friend. I thought ooh, interesting! This looks very sciencey. He told me DO NOT READ IT IN THE DARK. NEVER. For the first half of the book, I though he was joking. It was good, well paced with great characters. It seemed a bit contemporary, and I was kind of enjoying it. Then they arrive on the moon as spooky things begin to happen. The horror kicks in. Pace quickens… As does pulse. Stupid me, I read this before going to sleep. I should really listen to my friends better.
172 HOURS was truly quite terrifying. The horror concept was random, a bit, but really thrilling. The last quarter of the book was a bit too fast for me (or was I just scared and reading quickly?). The ending? Wow.
If you’re looking for a good fright, and a real shock, this is the book!

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1) ANGELFALL (Susan Ee)
This has been on my to-look-out-for mental list for some time. Spotting it in Sainsbury’s, I grabbed a copy! Honestly, I though it was a paranormal romance thing: apocalypse caused by angels. Wounded angel is tended to by girl looking for answers about her sister. Girl falls in love with angel. Love/action story for rest of book.
While it was a tiny bit like that, I had no idea how much of the horror element was in this book. It started as great as any other dystopia book I’d read… And then it took a dark and sinister turn. The last… Seventy five pages or so were terrifying, and most definitely not what I was expecting! It’s pretty gory and twisted- think Darren Shan’s ZOM B, with elements of sister-love thrown in. Totally gripping, though after such an interesting, dystopia read, I felt the horror oriented ending didn’t quite match up with the rest of the book. Despite that… A brilliant, determined protagonist!

My Ratings: It’s quite hard for me to rate these books… Both were great but there were aspects I didn’t enjoy.

Overall…

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To Angelfall

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To 172 Hours On The Moon

I borrowed a copy of 172 Hours from a friend, and bought a copy of Angelfall in a local store.

THE RIG

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By Joe Ducie, published by Hot Key Books.

The Rig Goodreads synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Will Drake has made a career of breaking out from high-security prisons. His talents have landed him at The Rig, a specialist juvenile holding facility in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. No one can escape from The Rig. No one except for Drake…

After making some escape plans and meeting the first real friends of his life, Drake quickly realises that all is not as it seems on The Rig. The Warden is obsessed with the mysterious Crystal-X – a blue, glowing substance that appears to give superpowers to the teens exposed to it. Drake, Tristan and Irene are banking on a bid for freedom – but can they survive long enough to make it?

My Review: THE RIG was an absolutely brilliant story from start to finish- and most definitely deserved to win the Guardian/Hot Key young Writers Prize! The whole idea was both chilling and gripping, and I was given an utterly original tale that I don’t think I’ll be forgetting.

The setting was so vivid, and seemed terrifyingly real: an old Oil Rig, secluded from the public eye, that now houses juvenile offenders and is run by the pretty brutal Alliance. Think of the relentless police force that control Britain in ACID by Emma Pass: but their power on a global scale! It made the whole book pretty scary! The remote oil rig was also probably the most genius backdrop for an escape/mystery novel. It made the final escape plan devised by Drake and his new accomplices very unpredictable.

The plot was just, in one word, immaculate. It’s got to be one of the most thrilling that I’ve read this year! It was full of unexpected events and twists, and I honestly couldn’t stop reading. Things were complicated very quickly, thanks to Drake’s cockiness towards the Guards and, most especially, minor antagonist Grey and his thuggish gang; also prisoners of the Rig, and they hold grudges. The story was paced really well as Drake searched for a way out, got into scraps with Grey, and made relationships with characters whose parts in the book shook up the story (especially Irene, and Drakes psychiatrist!).

I really couldn’t ask for a better character to lead this story! Drake was a brilliant protagonist- he was extremely bright, always on an adventure, trying to escape from high security prisons (To Joe Ducie- Was the front door of one REALLY unlocked?) , and was cocky and funny, brightening up an otherwise quite dismal situation. He’s quite a relatable character, as parts of his past (like his family background) were really well explained- though a lot of it was shrouded in a cloud of mystery, which was interesting. I felt really sympathetic for him throughout the book, as he was scared to make friends in case he lost them like previous people in his life. It was really great to see him slowly grow closer to two certain prisoners.

As for the writing? Gripping! It was rich with imagery, and I could imagine the setting and characters so well through Joe Ducie’s writing. I mentioned before that Drake was really relatable- and I’ve only ever found that I’ve been able to connect with characters in first person books. However, this book’s in third person, but I really felt like I was Drake. The author definitely has writing talent, and he left some cliffhangers that made this book unputdownable. And the cliffhanger at the end. *refrains from putting on Caps Lock* I need a sequel, now!!

Overall, The RIG is an unmissable read for Young Teens and up. It’s entirely original, and I’ve never read an action/mystery novel like it before. There’s no wonder it won the Young Writers Prize! The characters were realistic and I either fell in love with their personalities or learned to hate their guts (*cough* Grey *Cough* The whole Alliance *cough*). Also with a brilliant, thrilling setting and well written chapters, what’s not to love?

My Rating:

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

The Testing

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By Joelle Carbonnaeu, published by Templar.

The Testing (The Testing, #1) Goodreads synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Cia Vale is honoured to be chosen for The Testing – a series of exams set by the United Commonwealth that selects the brightest young adults to become leaders of their war- stricken world. But when candidates start disappearing and Cia witnesses unimaginable horrors done in the United Commonwealth’s name it becomes clear that these are no ordinary exams, and Cia is forced to realise the truth: this is no longer about winning, but surviving.

My review: The Testing was a really enjoyable read, great for dystopia fans, though there were a few points that I think brought the book down. I’ll get those points out of the way, before I go onto the best things!

I started this book, really excited to see what would happen. I’ve never read anything by Joelle before so I was quite interested to see what her writing would be like. I was really hooked onto the story from the beginning, curious about this mysterious Testing that was taking place in a mostly destroyed future world. Then, as the story progressed, I got a little bit annoyed about certain aspects.

Anyone who knows me well enough will know that I am a huge obsessive about The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is my all time favourite book. And so while I was reading this, I noticed a lot of things that seemed to just have been copied from THG. For example: Teens are being selected from district-like colonies, and there’s a city much like the Capitol that they travel to. Then, they have a feast before The Testing… a little like they do before the tributes go into the arena in THG. Then, in one stage of The Testing, the teenagers are left in a wild, abandoned place and it turns into a game of survival where people start getting killed. All of this just made it seem like this book had been built on the foundations of another book, which was a bit disappointing for me because I had such high hopes for this, and it looked pretty original. But, bad stuff aside now. Onto the good points!

Despite the beginning which I didn’t enjoy as I kept noticing Hunger-Gamesy things, I really grew to love this book after about half of it. I enjoyed reading about these tests that Cia had to undertake, and the book got pretty pulse quickening as some of the tests were revealed as deathly! The plot was gripping, especially during the final, lethal test of survival. There were definitely lots of surprises hidden away, making the story unpredictable. I ended up reading the whole thing in a matter of hours, because I wanted to know what would happen to Cia.

Cia was a really great character, though I didn’t really connect with her at first. She seemed a bit emotionless, until she was selected for The Testing. Then, I started to really feel what she was feeling. She was portrayed as a typical teenager, really- with the best friend who she has a crush on, who’s got the good grades. There wasn’t that much development on her background, though there really was on her father’s, which was really interesting as his past linked to her fate, in a way. She was quite realistic after I’d gotten used to her character, brave, intelligent, and above all, I really loved seeing her relationship with her friend grow throughout the Test of survival.

The world building was effective in this book. The destroyed, but re-building world the story was set in was brought to life well through the writing. I liked the narration, and the vivid descriptions of some horrific things!

Overall, The Testing was a great read. It annoyed me that the first half of the book seemed to be based on The Hunger Games, but the story definitely picked up halfway through and I came to enjoy it more. It was really fun to see Cia travel through her terrifying journey to winning The Testing, and the world it was set in was imaginative and scarily possible! I read it in quite a short space in time; this is a great book to curl up with. The ending has really made me want to read the sequel, which I’m really hoping doesn’t have other book’s aspects in, though. A fun read for dystopia fans!

My Rating: I was really torn as to what to give this book, because of so many good and bad things. This rating is going to seem quite low, but it’s actually a good rating for a book. Check out my rating system page to get the details!

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

Hold Your Breath

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By Caroline Green, published by Piccadilly Press.

Hold Your Breath

Goodreads synopsis: Tara has the power to find missing things and people, but it’s only been a source of trouble for her so far and she’s relieved when her family move house so she can make a fresh start and try to forget about the odd images in her head.

Making friends at her new school hasn’t been easy, especially with mean girls like Melodie Stone running the show. Then Melodie disappears. Tara’s not too sorry, but she starts to see strange images of a captive girl who she gradually realises must be Melodie. Tara tries but fails to ignore the pictures in her head and finally goes in search of Melodie, with the help of Melodie’s attractive half-brother. She finds herself trapped with her former enemy, and Tara and Melodie must work together to get free, with the help of Tara’s gift.

My review: Hold Your Breath was such a brilliant thriller! From the blurb on the back, it seemed a little too confusing, but as soon as I began the story, I couldn’t stop. The writing was brilliant, and the author clearly has a knack for keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. As the story began, I was instantly immersed in the world of Tara, and hints were frequently dropped that something terrible had happened to her in the past involving a child. The hints were cleverly dispersed, and left me itching to read on so that I could find out the full story. In fact, it was a little like By Any Other Name by Laura Jarratt- because that’s a story where the girl slowly reveals her shocking past, too. So, as that dark past slowly unravelled, so did a tense, eerie story line involving a suspected kidnapping. I loved the build up to the outcome of both events- and how both past and present wound together, to help Tara rescue Melodie Stone.

There was also, soon after Melodie disappeared, a kind of vague love triangle involving Tara, Melodie’s half brother, and Melodie’s boyfriend. Though love triangles are getting a little too common in YA fiction, I was so excited to see the outcome for this one. As Tara played detective, she started getting closer to both characters. However, and I won’t reveal which love interest, is part of a shocking event that basically kicks him out of the whole story, I got a little disappointed. Although that definitely shook things up, Tara didn’t seem to feel much sympathy. Instead of going to visit this person in the hospital, she went down to the Lido for more answers, and made it seem like she was going to go and see him later. But she never did. Apart from the slight mention of this love interest at the ending to Melodie, there was no other mention of him after the said shocking event. Where was Tara’s sadness, her anger, her sympathy? Where was everyone else’s? It just seemed like he was forgotten about- when he was quite a central character before. This, I think, was the only fault in the story for me.

Tara was a really great protagonist, straight from the start. I doubt any other teenage girl would go out looking for the girl that she originally hated and was picked on by. That’s what I admired in her, and it made her a good role model, in terms of forgiving. I loved her investigative side. She seemed a bit like the teenage, female, modern Sherlock Holmes, hunting for clues to solve a crime. I really enjoyed reading her action-packed, dramatic adventure. Her background was really well illustrated, both through the flashbacks to the past, and through her family. It was explained all really well. Tara’s supernatural gift was really cool- who wouldn’t want to find whatever they’ve lost? Though, obviously, I got kind of put off from wanting to be able to do that when Tara’s ‘fault’ affected a life massively in her past.

Overall, Hold Your Breath was a brilliant read, from an author that’s new to me and that I’d love to read more from. I’ve heard lots of praise about her previous novels, and I hope they’ll be as brilliant as this read! Fast paced, thrilling and with a supernatural twist, I’m sure that Hold Your Breath will be thoroughly enjoyed by teenagers. It has elements of crime and ransom in it, as well as reflections on teenage life and love. It was very well written, and the author clearly has a real talent for storytelling. Keep on writing, Caroline Green!

My Rating:

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

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