Category Archives: Teenage Fiction

Review: Sarah Mlynowski – Think Twice

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Think Twice
Sarah Mlynowski

After a homeroom goes for flu shots, they develop a group mind, capable of reading people’s minds in just a glance at their unprotected eyes. When the first one of them loses their talent, there is a panic to maintain those that are left. Some people are happy to be free, while others dread it.

28241823This novel’s perspective can be a little off-putting before you get used to it. It’s written as ‘we’, which progressively gets to be a smaller ‘we’ as the book goes on and more of them lose their powers.

I didn’t read the first book in the series, but I think I would have really enjoyed it. ESP? Yes please! This one is as humorous as I would expect the first one to be. Basically they start trying to keep their abilities, and in doing so develop a whole range of side effects!

This is light teenage fiction, and I’d probably recommend it for girls, simply because to me the male characters’ voices seemed to be drowned out by others, particularly Tess and Polly/Pi.

This is another novel I left for too long without reviewing. Luckily I put how many stars I thought it was worth when I originally made this draft, so I must have thought it had some really good points then to give it 4 stars!

4star

 

Review: Wendy Orr – Dragonfly Song

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Dragonfly Song
Wendy Orr

A little girl is left under a bush with no voice after raiders take her adoptive family. She is the only one to survive – and so she is relegated to the bottom of society and bullied mercilessly. Her one chance at escape is to take part in the Bull Dancing – but it is a perilous task that no one seems to know how to prepare for.

29866071Nooo! Past me, why did you not write notes on what you enjoyed about this novel? I could have sworn I had some notes sitting in my draft folder. Ah well. I can tell you that this was an excellent example of teenage fiction, and I really enjoyed it.

I snatched this novel from the top of a new pile of bookies that came in, and devoured it. I wanted something light and easy to read and this fit the bill. I curled up on a warm couch and read it in one breathless sitting. I didn’t know what would happen next, and what horrific things would be justified in speaking to a ‘cursed one’.

Something I didn’t enjoy about this novel were the poetry sections. I’m never a fan of poetry anyway, and here, the poetry tried to be good (in fact, it might have been good poetry, I’m not a connoisseur) but for me it distracted from the otherwise beautiful prose of the story.

I’ll be keeping this novel for future generations. I felt that it had real potential as both a teaching tool (bullying is bad), but also a great storyline that didn’t turn out how I expected it to. I’ll be giving this 4 stars, not 5, only because I probably won’t reread it.

4star

Allen & Unwin | 22nd June 2016 | AU$16.99 | Paperback

Review: Randa Abdel-Fattah – When Michael met Mina

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When Michael met Mina
Randa Abdel-Fattah

The first time Michael sees Mina, they’re on opposing sides of a march against refugees coming into Australia. The second time, they’re in class together, and Mina is using her strong wit in defence of herself and her people.

29753111Considering that there are some situations that could potentially be huge, the writing is sensitive, nuanced, and realistic. It’s just as good as, and perhaps better than, this author’s other novels (I have reviewed 10 Things I Hate About Me).

I love the depiction of Michael and his parents. Things that would have blown up out of proportion in some other fictional families were simply dealt with here. It’s a novel of middle-ground, and realising what it is you stand for.

This is where what people look like doesn’t even enter into the readers head. I couldn’t have cared less what the two protagonists looked like, I wanted to know about everything that was going on inside their head.

Early into reading this novel, I took note of the cute little way that the headings within the book telling you which character was speaking matched the ones on the front cover. So cute! So teenage appropriate! Something to get those reluctant teenage readers in and caring about good things.

The more I think about this novel, the more convinced I am of its awesomeness. I’m not going to reread it, but I think it’s fantastic enough to deserve 5 stars anyway.

5star

Review: Kathleen Jowitt – Speak Its Name

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Speak Its Name
Kathleen Jowitt

Lydia is part of the Christian Fellowship, the strictest and least forgiving of the Christian societies on her college campus. While she enjoys leading others into the words of God, Lydia is often left feeling like she has missed something from her own readings of the scripture – how can she be feeling these things towards other people if the Bible says it is wrong? This is a novel of how Lydia finds herself, and in doing so, can help others too.

29850310I’m having a problem with some of these honeymoon romance periods novels at the moment. The sad truth is that many relationships won’t survive past the 2 year biological imperative. This novel is more important than that though, it’s about coming out in a place where you think everyone will be hostile.

For me, the ending didn’t entirely ring true. I’m not sure how dependant she was on her parents and other people, but noone seemed to have job. Oh wait, I’ve just realised this is set in the UK, so that means that the college rules are different. Anyway, aren’t jobs essential to university students?

I appreciated the reference to bisexuals not being really recognised in the queer community. Jowitt puts it nicely when she says that Colette could have fallen off one side of the fence or the other!

Surprisingly I’m going to be releasing this 4 star novel into the wild. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I think it offers a unique entry into being queer in a Christian community, and I think it can help many people in their journey towards being comfortable with themselves.

4star

Review: Danielle Rollins – Burning

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Burning
Danielle Rollins

Angela has served her time in Brunesfield Correctional Facility and is due for release in three months. When a new girl arrives and strange things start happening, Angela’s release might be in question unless she does exactly what the new Director wants her to do.

27280428This novel is basically built on the idea that monsters are more interesting than heroes. Isn’t that true? Monsters always get to have more fun! I’m not sure that’s exactly true for the entirety of the novel, but true feelings come out towards the end.

You’re going to want to pick up this novel for its very attractive cover which hints at the story to come, and then keep reading because its really fantastic and the plot keeps turning over quickly. There isn’t a moment to get bored or doubt yourself. You just have to keep reading!

The characters in this were neatly filled out, but at the same time I could have known more about them. I was interested in the crimes committed by each of Angela’s friends, and Angela herself, and I felt like I never got full answers.

I want to see a sequel for this. At the same time, I was perfectly happy with the very surprising ending! I now couldn’t picture it ending any other way. 5 stars from me. Go pick it up right now!

5star
Bloomsbury | July 2016 | AU$17.99 | Paperback

Review: Sophie Hardcastle – Breathing Under Water

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Breathing Under Water
Sophie Hardcastle

The twinship Grace and Ben share means that they have always had each other, yet Grace stands in the shadow of her brother’s glory – both on the surf and away from the beach. Grace’s life will be tipped on its head, and there will be more things to think about than simply kissing the cute boy who has returned to her life.

30151298This book greeted me on my front doorstep, and I responded by reading it straight away despite my current efforts to catch up on reading novels again. Boy was it worth it.

What I loved about this novel was that it didn’t give away all the plot in the blurb. Things still had to happen! In fact, having thought about what this author had written about previously (her experiences with Bipolar I in her memoir Running like China) I completely misled myself!

You would think that I would have hated the prose of the novel, particularly the way it led in in quite a poetic way. But instead, I found myself skimming over the top, buoyed by the characters’ personalities and beach scenes. And I don’t even like the beach, and usually Australian novels are just not that fantastic from my perspective (Tim Winton comes to mind)!

The poignancy of Grace and Jake falling apart and the way other people react when big things change are tangible for the reader. It does include sex and drug scenes, gritty and painful and not in a good light. I loved the way Harley behaved believably and so much more sensibly than many other boys in other novels. Hardcastle pushed boundaries and got away with it.

This novel is one I think I’m going to read again and again. I held my breath while I was reading it, and I couldn’t put it down. 5 stars from me. Go and buy yourself a copy, and prepare to hold back tears. I can’t wait to read another of this author’s novels when they come.

5star

Quercus Children’s Books / Hachette | June 2016 | AU$26.99 | Paperback

Review: Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski – Dormia

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Dormia
Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski

Alfonso is Dormian. Not that he knows what that means yet. All he knows is that while he is apparently sleeping, he can do fantabulous feats – which his Pappy refers to as ‘tomfoolery’. When an uncle and a blind man turn up, it turns out that Alfonso might have more than he bargained for with his beautiful plant.

5877213This is action driven. Alfonso hardly seems to get a rest between being attacked by plants and swords. Hehe, while I’m talking about it, every time I write Alfonso, I find it pretty funny. It reminds me of Houdini perhaps? Anyway, there’s no chances to get bored, and the storyline trots along – right until you get tipped on your head!

Some nice little riddles here that were logical enough for a reader to follow along with, even if I didn’t get the riddle in the fancy woods either. I’m not exactly sure why that’s a Dormian thing though,

This concluded very nicely, but also left room for a sequel. Low and behold, when I looked on GoodReads, it turned out that this is the first book in a trilogy. My chances of getting my hands on copies of the later books are slim though.

Ah yes! Humour! Deaths! This is what I was hoping The Crystal Run would give me, yet it failed to deliver. I’m giving this one 4 stars – I picked it up for 50c when my library was selling old books and it was well worth it.

4star

Review: Kasper Beaumont – Elven Jewel

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Elven Jewel
Kasper Beaumont

The halflings live a life of peace until their lives are endangered by cruel invaders. What starts off as a quest to warn the protectors, becomes a quest to rescue the Elven Jewel and save Reloria.

21769082I put off reading this novel because the cover didn’t fill me with confidence (I have included the updated image here). Lo and behold, setting off into it I remained nervous. By about half-way through, I was already committed, even if I didn’t feel particularly pushed to finish it.

You know, despite pretty much knowing what was going to happen, and the rather stilted storytelling, I enjoyed it. This is basically a remake of Lord of the Rings, for a younger set of readers. To an extent, I was confused as to why there was a lot made of the growing romance between two of the characters when the rest of the novel felt quite childish. But combine that with some of the somewhat graphic violence, and it became an early teenage novel where I would expect more character depth.

While Fendi (who I considered the main character) apparently is developing a silver tongue, I really didn’t see that role of him developing, despite the other characters commenting on it. I wanted to see more! Saying ‘no’ to killing someone does not make you a negotiator. Equally, you’ve got to do a bit more explaining to the new allies about the dangers.

Some of the names of things, I wasn’t sure that although they were deliberate choices, they could have been less, obvious? The author went to the trouble of renaming his characters depending on what their race was, I felt like it would have been better to also rename all the animals rather than leaving some as recognisable.

This novel has now gone through a complete renovation (sorry, it’s called editing when you aren’t updating a house!), which I haven’t actually read. I would expect that with that editing, it could be a candidate for 4 stars for the right audience. As it stands, 3 stars.

3star

Review: Michael Gerard Bauer – The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy & Me

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The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy & Me
Michael Gerard Bauer

Maggie has three realistic goals for the year. Unfortunately, her past seems to be halting any sort of progression – she’s going to need to step outside what she thinks, and think about other people too.

28931578This novel takes both its name and its conversational writing style In the ‘tradition’ of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Now, if you’ll remember my review, I didn’t particularly like that novel, I preferred The Haters. Instead of sex and penis jokes, this novel is filled with puns. If you love puns, you might love the way the novel is written. For me, I could have done with less humour and more substance.

Although the different chapters purport to reveal and hide things in equal measure to how Maggie’s life goes positive to negative, I found the progression of the novel slow and the storyline typical. There are better novels out there that will give teenage readers more to bite into.

I have faith from other reviews that this author’s other offerings are better – maybe I will pick up The Running Man in my spare time if it crosses my path. I’m not going to seek it out though, enough teenage fiction for me.

No outlasting love for me here. Maggie is a self-absorbed brat that although her character develops throughout the novel, for me she never became more likeable. For that, I’m going to give it 3 stars. The main reason I read it was so that I could leave it for my niece to read and I didn’t have to bring it home with me! BCID – 352–14075986.

3star

 

Review: Sheila O’Flanagan – The Crystal Run

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The Crystal Run
Sheila O’Flanagan

While running from bullies, Joe finds himself thrown into a new world where he is likely to actually be killed. Joe’s hearing isn’t so good normally, and his ability to understand the new language is even worse. What he does work out is that the Carcassians are mislead from top to toe, but there isn’t much he can do about it.

29078428I’m not sure what I was expecting from this novel. I wanted something fantasy because I was sick of teenage drama. No fear here – a scrap of ‘isn’t she pretty’, but otherwise fantasy running wild. Very satisfying and light to read.

What I liked about this novel was that the main character was flawed in a way that younger readers are going to be able empathise with. There is nothing like a protagonist that could be a regular person, and really isn’t anything special. It makes people feel like they will be travelling with them.

It has been a while since I read a true teenage or early tween novel and I had forgotten that they are usually plot driven. That being said, I didn’t put this novel down. I was intrigued by the things that were going wrong, and honestly, pretty mad at the Carcassians. Sticking your head in the sand isn’t going to solve anything!

I’m going to compare this to The Dragon of the Month Club, and suggest that the latter has more to offer in terms of character development. However, it no doubt could be difficult to source in Australia.

I’m going to err on the side of niceness here and give it 4 stars, even though I tossed up giving it 3. I don’t want to short change a nice new offering that thinks about power solutions in a way that tweens are going to understand. The environment matters!