Tag Archives: thriller

NOBLE CONFLICT

By Malorie Blackman, published by Random House.

The Noble Conflict

Goodreads synopsis: Years after a violent war destroyed much of the world, Kaspar has grown up in a society based on peace and harmony. But beyond the city walls, a vicious band of rebels are plotting to tear this peace apart. It is up to the Guardians – an elite peacekeeping force – to protect the city, without ever resorting to the brutal methods of their enemy.

When Kaspar joins the Guardians, he has a chance encounter with a rebel – a beautiful girl named Rhea. Haunted from that moment on by strange visions and memories – memories that could only belong to Rhea – he realises he hasn’t been told the truth about what the rebels really want, and what he’s really fighting for.

My review: What a brilliant, dystopian read! If you’re a fan of Dan Wells, Suzanne Collins, or Lauren Oliver, I’m pretty sure that you will love this book. The setting was really great, and was really well developed and imaginative. A world half destroyed by war… and a ‘peaceful’ society in which people now grow up in… It was just so great. Plunging straight into the Guardian graduations at the beginning, I immediately got really interested in the society these people in the future are living in. Then, when not even fifty pages in, a terrorist attack took place, I literally went “WHOA!”, and realised that this book was going to be very action packed. And, to my delight, it was. Throughout the (seriously brilliant, well structured and unpredictable) plot, there was so much nail-biting suspense and action that kept me on the edge of my seat. This is definitely one of the most thrilling dystopians that I have ever read. And I’ve read a lot.

The plot was so great. the first, rather unexpected terrorist attack set off a chain of events that would affect Kaspar’s friends and future. There were so many shocking moments that I had to keep re-reading (that’s a good thing, because they felt so realistic!). Also, I really loved Malorie Blackman’s writing. I really liked how she added, every few chapters, a segment from a piece of writing containing information about the war that has destroyed so much of the Earth and formed a terrorist group. Those pieces were much enjoyed by myself, but seemed to get forgotten about around the middle section of the book, though, and then were shown towards the end. I would have liked to have read a few more, really, because they were really interesting.

Kaspar was a really great character and I loved reading about him. From the start, I could see his raw determination to become a Guardian of the city and help fight back at the violent terrorists. I think he was such a likeable and clever character, and he developed really well in terms of confidence throughout the story. I was supporting him all the way through, and totally respected his choices, especially the heart-breaking one about Rhea towards the ending. He also got closer and closer to Mac, a supporting character, through the course of events, and I really enjoyed seeing Kaspar start to find feelings for Mac, and how their story ended. My only problem with him was that after A Certain Somebody I Won’t Mention The Name Of died near the middle, he seemed angry at first… and then seemed to just forget about him. If there was one thing I could change about this book, I would have enjoyed it even more than I already did if he felt a bit more affected by A Certain Somebody’s death, and maybe did it justice by getting back at the terrorists somehow.

Overall, NOBLE CONFLICT was a really, really awesome read. If you’re looking to read what I’m very sure is going to be The Next Big Dystopian, go buy this now! This book was full of action, drama and adventure, in a layered and well-written plot, and was led by a very strong character who I’d love to read more about. I’d so want a sequel, Malorie Blackman- this brilliant world you’ve created is absolutely amazing!

My Rating: (check out my new rating system on the third page of the menu, above.)
ratingsystem1

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

Friday Brown

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By Vikki Wakefield, published by Hot Key Books.

Goodreads synopsis: ‘I am Friday Brown. I buried my mother. My grandfather buried a swimming pool. A boy who can’t speak has adopted me. A girl kissed me. I broke and entered. Now I’m fantasising about a guy who’s a victim of crime and I am the criminal. I’m going nowhere and every minute I’m not moving, I’m being tail-gated by a curse that may or may not be real. They call me Friday. It has been foretold that on a Saturday I will drown…’

Seventeen-year-old Friday Brown is on the run—running to escape memories of her mother and of the family curse. And of a grandfather who’d like her to stay. She’s lost, alone and afraid.

Silence, a street kid, finds Friday and she joins him in a gang led by beautiful, charismatic Arden. When Silence is involved in a crime, the gang escapes to a ghost town in the outback. In Murungal Creek, the town of never leaving, Friday must face the ghosts of her past. She will learn that sometimes you have to stay to finish what you started—and often, before you can find out who you are, you have to become someone you were never meant to be.

My review: Friday Brown was such a brilliant book! As soon as I started it, I go so engrossed in the unique story. At the beginning, with the superstitious mother, it felt a bit like If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. Of course, if was so different, but in a good way. By the ending of the prologue tears had already sprung to me eyes (This book is SAD. Do not read it if you get as emotional over books as me. Or you will cry. At multiple points.)- that’s how powerful the authors words are.

The whole plot was totally unpredictable. I had no idea what the story was about, honestly, when I picked it up- and the whole thing was so unpredictable that I never knew what was around the next corner. After Friday leaves her grandfather’s home, she runs away and is picked up by a ragtag gang of homeless teenagers like her. But things start going terribly wrong when one character turns sour. I really wasn’t expecting the event that happened about two thirds of the way in! In total, the plot covered some really sad and really shocking issues, through an exhilarating and, at points, terrifying story.

Friday Brown was such a brilliant character. I loved her from the beginning, right when she lost everything and had the courage to set out into the Australian city by herself. I really enjoyed the way that she met Silence and his fellow gang, because not only did that open up her chances of survival, but that crucial night also came back to her at the end for a different, and clever reason. She was a really likeable person, and realistic too. Her background was pretty much all shown in the prologue, which was great, so I knew all about her, why she had that name, and even about her ancestors, before the story had even begun! I think that the decisions she made in the book were really great, and full of courage, especially towards the ending.

Overall, Friday Brown was such a brilliant read. The character were all great, the plot well written, and the story sad. This story will move you to tears, pull you in, make you gasp in shock, thanks to such brilliant, detailed and fluent writing by an amazing author. I really recommend it to Young Adults, and Adults too, if you’re looking for an emotional, yet also uplifting read. Watch out John Green- you have a contemporary fiction contender here, who’s bound to win awards too for this masterpiece! There was only one aspect of the book that I didn’t like, which I’ve put below.

**KINDA SPOILERISH ALERT**

My only problem with this book was that she never got in touch with her dad! I thought that he might come in at the end, to make the ending even happier than it already was. I mean, the reason she set out alone was to go and find him- and I still don’t understand why she didn’t make a bigger effort to go and find him. So her primary goal was never fulfilled. Which I didn’t like. But I don’t suppose it really matters- I guess the dad-less plot shows how goals and lives can change in an instant.

My Goodreads Rating: 4.5/5!

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

Half Lives

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By Sara Grant, published by Indigo (Orion).

Goodreads synopsis: Present day: Icie is a typical high school teenager – until disaster strikes and her parents send her to find shelter inside a mountain near Las Vegas.
The future: Beckett lives on The Mountain – a sacred place devoted to the Great I AM. He must soon become the leader of his people. But Beckett is forced to break one of the sacred laws, and when the Great I AM does not strike him down, Beckett finds himself starting to question his beliefs.
As Beckett investigates The Mountain’s history, Icie’s story is revealed – along with the terrifying truth of what lies at the heart of The Mountain.
Sara Grant’s HALF LIVES is a dystopian chronicle of the journeys of two unlikely heroes in their race against time to save future generations.

My review: Half Lives is, possibly, the most emotional and brilliant book I have read all year! I was really looking forward to reading it, seeing as I’d seriously enjoyed Sara’s Dark Parties. It started off really well- I was immediately absorbed into the life of Icie, and everyday teenager, and was curious to see how Icie’s world was going to change forever and why. Then, the narrative switched to that of Beckett, who worships ‘The Great I AM’ on the same mountain Icie is travelling to take refuge on. I was really confused at how that related to Icie’s tale, but after a few chapters in the different perspectives, both hundreds of years apart, I got the hang of it and it really was quite clever.

Icie’s story was a brilliant mix of dystopia and hope and survival. After this disease (Which I would’ve liked a bit more explanation of) was released and the general chaos in America began, this heart-stopping adventure ensued for Icie, and she picked up three very different people on the way. I liked the constant conflicts between the four unlikely survival group as they tried to start over a new life in a cave with limited food supplies. Just past the middle, things in Icie’s apocalyptic world began to fall apart and spiral out of control as the disease began to claim the mountain. I can’t really say anything more about it, because I’ll end up revealing the plot twists towards the end! What I will say, though, is that it gets heart-breaking and terrifying, with some real knuckle-biting moments, but then the ending for Icie’s tale is actually really sweet and brought a happy tear to my eye.

Icie was such a brilliant protagonist. She went through so much throughout the book and there was a lot of visible development in her character. Her relationship with Chaske was a little predictable- of course she’d win him!- and I really liked her friendships with Marissa and Tate, the other survivors. She adapted to her whole new, changed and broken world like any human would- which is what I loved about her. Her emotions and actions were really realistic and believable. I really felt like she was a real person, and that I was with her during her terrifying tale. I was so happy for her at her happy ending to a sad story!

Beckett’s world was so much different from Icie’s. He lives on the mountain Icie did hundreds of years before him, and is a heavy worshipper of ‘The Great I AM’ who generations before him- you’ve probably guessed who that really is. I actually found a lot of the worships and prayers quite funny, because Beckett and his ‘cheerleaders’ (You’ll get why they’re called that a while into the book) kept referencing to ‘The Great Facebook’ and things like that, from The Old World. The now sacred mountain made a really great setting for his story, and so was the surrounding town of Vega. Well, it’s based on Vegas, but I’m guessing it’s named Vega in the future because the S fell off the sign or something. Sara Grant has created such a horrifying, dystopic vision of the future, and it really was quite scary.

Beckett’s half of the book, told between Icie’s chapters, was differently written. Icie’s stuff was told in first person perspective, but Beckett’s was portrayed from the third person, and focused on the people around him too. That difference was a good thing, though, because I got to see was the other members of his religious tribe thought about him. I really liked the protagonist Beckett because he was so passionate and willing to do and sacrifice anything for his religion. Her was a very strong character. The plot for his story was so different to Icie’s plot, but it was still really brilliant and teaches lessons about love, hope, and betrayal. His ending, too, was really great. I loved the discovery he made and how that affected his whole personality and beliefs. His last chapter was the last one in the book, and it finished off the story ever so brilliantly.

Overall, Half Lives is possibly the best book I have read this year. Honestly. It was so riveting and I really couldn’t stop reading. The backdrop was scary and dystopic, with a unique and original twist. The characters of Icie and Beckett were totally unforgettable, and I’m still thinking about them now- a day after I put the book down. I can’t recommend this enough to YA’s, fans of dystopia, and fans of stories with unique formats. It’s just so great, go get a copy now!

My Goodreads rating: 5/5!

I received Half Lives from the publisher, in exchange for a review.

Murder on the Orient Express

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By Agatha Christie, published by Harper Collins.

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)

Goodreads synopsis: “The murderer is with us – on the train now…”
Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer.
Isolated by the storm and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer amongst a dozen of the dead man’s enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again…

My review: This was the first title I’ve ever read by Agatha Christie- and a brilliant introduction to her writing! I can definitely see, even just from reading one of her books, why she is one of the bestselling authors of all time. Right from the start, I was totally hooked into the story. The murder didn’t happen right away, or course, and there was a brilliant build-up to it. All of the many passengers were introduced really well, and I also really loved the backdrop. A train stuck in a snowdrift was a brilliant setting, because it made it scary- nobody could get in or out, and they would be stuck for days. It really added an eerie essence to the story.

The murder itself was gory and terrifying, and as it happened, certain things came to light that connected almost every passenger to the murdered man, Ratchett. Although it was ridiculously coincidental that most of the train had close connections to Ratchett and had grown to hate him, it was still very fun to read how Poirot worked out the mystery.

There were lots of clues dropped along the way throughout the story, that kept me wondering who-did-it every time I put the book down (-reluctantly!). Many things I thought connected to the murder were really just decoys, that made the outcome really unpredictable and the mystery hard for the reader to solve. They’re the things that pulled me into the book and made it utterly page-turning- my need to discover the criminal by working out the layered mystery!

Not very much was revealed about Poirot, in terms of background information. This is the tenth book in his detective series, so I can’t really say Agatha Christie doesn’t show much about him- she probably has in previous Poirot titles. He didn’t seem emotional in any way about the brutal stabbing, nor did he seem to express any emotion about the girl Ratchett had kidnapped a while before his death. He was quite like a robot, in my opinion!

However, I really did adore the way he went about working out the crime. He managed it expertly and was able to extract important evidence from the most undecipherable of things like a pipe cleaner or the place of a knife wound. He could even leak the truth out of the most stubborn passengers. I really liked his determination and patience too. He had the intelligence and personality of Sherlock Holmes, I think.

Overall, Murder on the Orient Express was a really brilliant read. The plot was clever and complex, with each character detailed and three-dimensional. It’s a must for crime fans and mystery lovers. It is packed full of suspense and action throughout, with the essence of mystery that keeps you guessing all of the way up to the reveal at the end. Although the outcome, explained by Poirot, was pretty long-winded, it was still understandable and genius. I love Agatha Christie’s writing, and will definitely be reading more from her when I can!

My Goodreads rating: 4/5!

I borrowed Murder on the Orient Express from my Dad’s seemingly-endless bookshelves.

Imposter

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.

Zom-B: City

Maggot Moon

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By Sally Gardner, published by Hot Key Books.

Maggot Moon

“What if the football hadn’t gone over the wall? What if Hector hadn’t gone looking for it? What if he hadn’t kept the dark secret to himself? What if…?

Then I suppose I would be telling myself another story. You see, the ‘What if’s’ are as boundless as the stars…”

Standish Treadwell is a dyslexic boy living in the Motherland, in the 1950’s. He’s the outcast at school; by teachers and students, and then HEctor moves in next door, who believes in Standish’s imaginary world, and loves him for who he is. One day, the two are kicking a football around, and when it goes over the wall, neither of them realises how much that is about to change their lives. They discover an astronaut- one who is meant to be in a rocket, flying to the moon, but actually, he’s run away. A dark secret is being kept by the Motherland… Their moon mission is a hoax.

When Hector and his parents are kidnapped and taken away because they know too much, Standish is determined to get them back, and show the world that the Motherland are lying, and putting scientists like Hector’s dad into slavery to win the race to the moon. Can Standish do both, and what will it cost?

After seeing this shortlisted for this year’s Carnegie Medal, I wanted to read it again, and relive the brilliant, and special story. I think I enjoyed it much more the second time around! Sally Gardner has executed this story perfectly, and I could see through Standish’s eyes so well. She has created such a wonderful, witty, and brave protagonist who has a very unique voice that is really thought-provoking. His narration was excellent, and, above all- so believable. He was such a well developed character and I was rooting for him throughout the book; when he was getting beaten up, when he snuck himself into the Palace to get Hector back- I have never wanted a character to win so much before! His rich imagination gave him such a determination throughout the book, and when he finally made it to the ‘Land of the Croca-Colas’ at the end, it brought a tear of happiness to my eye, despite the ending being heart-wrenchingly sad.

The plot was very thought-provoking. The whole tie-in with the moon landing being a hoax really drew me in: I’m really interested in that subject, so I became totally engrossed in this book! It had a really dystopian essence to it too, and I loved that so much. As for the setting- it was great. The Motherland is a figment of the author’s imagination, but it was scarily realistic. It mainly felt like America, with the whole moon-landing idea, but a lot of the names sounded kind of Russian, and it had that eerie strictness of Germany under the Nazi rule. The setting was shown really well through the writing.

So overall, this book was totally amazing. The writing style was very fun to read, with slight mix-ups of words by Standish, but I think that made it all the more believable and three-dimensional. With an extremely clever plot, shocking and scary scenes, and so much more packed into it, I’m sure Maggot Moon will win the Carnegie Medal!

Slide

1 Reply

By Jill Hathaway, published by Harper Collins.

Slide

“I see through the eyes of a killer…”

Vee Bell hates being labelled as the ‘Narcoleptic freak’. Everyone thinks she just collapses because of her diagnosed Narcolepsy, but Vee knows differently. She collapses because she slides- every time she touches an object that somebody has had and felt a strong emotion with, she slips into them, and witnesses what they’re currently doing not matter how far away. One night, she slides into an unknown body, and witnesses that body commit the murder of her cheerleader-little-sister’s best friend: Sophie. Determined to track down the killer of such a lovely little girl, Vee begins an terrifying investigation.

Then another cheerleader is murdered. The stakes are getting higher now, and Vee has little time to solve the murders, because her little sister Mattie is next…

After seeing the sequel to this and reading the synopsis for it, I just had to start Slide! I devoured the whole thing in about a day- It was quite short at 250 pages, but had one heck of a plot. I’ve never read anything quite like it before. The psychological roots of this story made it pretty eerie, but also extremely interesting. The first murder was absolutely terrifying and on the minor character which was the last person I thought would be the first to die. The murder conspiracies were totally riveting and unpredictable, and I loved the genius way that the author connected Vee’s father to the murderer.

Vee was a really unique protagonist. I could tell she was the outcast right from the start- and not just because of her Narcolepsy condition, but because the bullying inflicted on her in the past. It made her a really three-dimensional and realistic character. Also, she was brave and strong and never gave up, despite the terrors and the unidentified murderer she was facing. I really liked her and can’t wait to read more about her in the sequel! I also enjoyed reading about the characters of Zane and Rollins. Rollins was her best friend who began to get distant with her throughout the events of Slide, but I was so happy their friendship became whole again at the end of the book, and that he didn’t leave her alone. Zane was a very complex love interest. As he had ties to the murderer and I don’t want to spoil the story, I won’t go into depth here- but I’ll just say he was very unpredictable. The author went in-depth with his character, making him just as three dimensional as the protagonist, but not arousing suspicion with his character. That made the resolution to the murder so unexpected!

In all, Slide was amazing. IT was a very complex but riveting and fast-paced crime story, with a lot packed into it. Despite supernatural, psychological themes, the book was realistic and had a really important, embedded messages about peer pressure and bullying. I loved it so much! I can’t wait for the sequel, IMPOSTER, published in later in April!

How to Fall

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By Jane Casey, published by Corgi.

How To Fall

“Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes it kills…”

Sixteen year old Jess Tennant moves to a holiday home by the sea with her mum, to escape London for the summer. It’s Jess’s mother’s old hometown, where her side of the family still lives… except for one member.

Freya is Jess Tennant’s never-met-before cousin, and she died under mysterious circumstances a year before, plunging to her doom on the rocks after falling from a clifftop. When Jess begins her summer, she’s already turning heads in the town- she looks exactly identical to her cousin. Confused at the dismissal of her cousins death as ‘accidental’ she delves into an investigation, forming a list of suspects and determined to discover whether the death was suicide, murder, or if it really was an accident. Suspects include the mean queen of the town Natasha, and even the boy next door, Will. Along the way she’ll get tangled up in other situations too, one involving falling in love with Will.

How did Freya really die? And what lengths will Jess go to in order to find out?

I picked this book up this morning, and as soon as I began reading I couldn’t stop. Despite the huge amount of pages (just over 400) I read this book pretty quickly, and loved every second of it! Jess was a really great character; and I loved her from the start. She made a great narrator… She’s the twenty-first century, female version of Sherlock Holmes- inquisitive, determined, adventurous; the perfect detective! The other characters were absolutely brilliant too.

I loved the plot; it was a classic whodunit? story line with a twist of love thrown into the mix. There were lots of plot twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. I found myself guessing ahead, trying to work out who was the killer, and in the end I had gotten it totally wrong! The ending was really shocking, yet satisfying. The hint of secret love and teenage rivalry made the story more exciting than it already was, as the reasons behind Freya’s death all came down to the dating side of things. The story was realistic; with a strong essence of the extreme consequences of bullying.

Overall, I seriously enjoyed it and recommend it to any young adults, and of course to crime fans in general. It’s brilliantly written, and a really great, thrilling read!