Category Archives: Young Adult

Review: Maggie Stiefvater – The Dream Thieves

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The Dream Thieves
Maggie Stiefvater

Ronan Lynch is the typical bad boy who doesn’t get along with anyone. His friends barely manage to keep him in check, and he spends more time arguing with Gansey than making a difference to the adventures of his buddies. That all changes in this novel… It’s Ronan calling the shots, and taking the shots, and being shot at.

17347389At the end of the first novel, there is a hint about what will happen in this one. I didn’t get the hint, even with this novel sitting on my shelf. This time we see the evolution of the Raven Boys into young men who are slightly more decent people. It helps that the perspectives are now changing between them and Blue, as her views are coloured by her family.

It seems like my review is filled with things comparing it to the other novels in the series, but I can’t help it! It’s so easy to spoiler this novel. World building? Check. Engaging storyline? Check. Evolving characters? Check. I think you’ll enjoy this one, but don’t expect anything too spectacular.

Years ago I received this novel for review, but didn’t own the first one to get started on the series. After the third novel (Blue Lily, Lily Blue) came into my mailbox I thought I should really get a start on reading them… But it wasn’t until Christmas last year that I received the novel (hardbacks are expensive!).

I just can’t think straight about these novels. I put them down and almost immediately forget what the story was about and whether I enjoyed it. Is it that the story wasn’t that engaging or that each ending feels satisfying or maybe even that my concentration is shot?

4star

 

Review: Will McIntosh – Burning Midnight

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Burning Midnight
Will McIntosh

David Sully is a usual teenage boy. In his modern world, the economy rides on spheres. Spheres can make you smarter, or taller, or have nice teeth, or give you supersonic hearing. He’s been successful before, but having been burnt once by the resident sphere millionaire buyer, he’s reluctant to trust anyone. When Hunter comes along, the whole spectrum of spheres is going to shift…

25489041This innovative magic system – I could have had more! The basis was spheres – burn a Ruby Red one, have straight teeth, or Aqua ones so that you can sleep whenever you need. The price point is all you need to worry about to do. In the manner of Brandon Sanderson, I wished there had been an index at the end of the novel to remind me what each of the spheres burned did to each person. Then I could have flipped back and forth as I wanted.

They have to be super sneaky and smart to survive, but sometimes they are just plain stupid! Hunter was the highlight for me, because she was so pigheaded all the time, and seems to still get there in the end. Unlike Sully, who once burnt, becomes a suspicious bastard. The Spheres had been around for around 5 years, and hunting them is what makes a living for Sully and Hunter. Sully has created a second wave, and the new ones are something special again. And that makes the whole premise of this novel.

Yes, yes, there’s romance in this novel. It was inevitable. You can’t have teenage fiction without it it seems. Hunter did the usual ‘I’m not girlfriend material speech’, and Sully did his ‘I don’t care, you’re so hot, mighty sphere hunter’. And didn’t everything work out very interestingly, and not so straight forward and good? Yes, yes it did.

Burning midnight drove me absolutely up the wall with really wanting to read it. Worst of all, I had to stop about 10 pages from the end and do some other things in the mean time, and that was just cruel! I’d recommend this novel without reservation to any teenager who enjoys an action packed time.

The ending could have frustrated me, but actually I thought it left me feeling quite satisfied, despite it ending a little abruptly. Some other reviews I have read suggest it needs a sequel, but it’s not at all clear where that would go. For me, it was very satisfying and I think it’s going to give you a couple of really good hours of reading. 

4star

Review: Maggie Stiefvater – The Raven Boys

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The Raven Boys
Maggie Stiefvater

Blue is able to amplify psychic powers. She also knows that if she kisses her true love, she’s going to kill him. When a quartet of Raven boys walk into her life, all of them have a strange attraction that could kill her or them… or endanger others.

17675462I’m not really sure how I feel about this novel. I didn’t really get into the psyche of the characters. I couldn’t keep the boys straight at all to start off with, and although I liked Blue, I just didn’t get along with her. I couldn’t feel anything with her – no fear, no nothing. If anything, they were all too cool. Even when they were in danger, they hardly seemed to care. I didn’t care if they were going to die or not, which isn’t a good sign.

I could see the world around the characters really clearly, and feel the palpable tension in the air. I could see the aunts bustling around in the house, and it reminded me of The Wild Ways which I also loved for giving me a vivid picture of what goes on in a witchy household.

I can’t imagine what will come in the next novel, it felt like this one would be a standalone, but the set up in the beginning with Blue’s fate doesn’t play out how you might expect it to. So there’s plenty of room for the second, which I received originally from Scholasitic and didn’t read because I didn’t own this one! Thanks girlfriend for buying me this one for Christmas 2015.

How sexy is the cover on this bad boy? In fact, I took off my dust jacket and got an even more impressive book to my mind. Check out my Instagram to see those! I’m going to display them on my wall without the dust jackets. Any ideas on where to keep them safe?

I don’t know how I felt about this novel overall. I’ve read other novels by Stiefvater, and felt equally divided.  I think I enjoyed it, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression in my mind. I wanted to read it while I was in the middle of it, but then when I finished I only had a slight inclination to read the second. I’m going to be generous and give it 4 stars, simply because I loved the cover so much.

4star

Review: Kyra Davis – Just One Lie

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Just One Lie
Kyra Davis

Mercy/Melody is the lead singer in a band that’s just gotten a new drummer. When she sees an old one-night stand in the audience she feels like things have come full circle. The jobs and friendships she has to hold down next could be her undoing.

23492689This is the sequel to Just One Night. But I didn’t know that when I picked it up to read it (or otherwise I probably wouldn’t have started it at all). It reads perfectly well as a stand-alone, which is good enough for me with the waiting-line of other novels I want to read!

I can’t say I was particularly interested in it to start off with, just another tale of a poor band that has a lead singer that gets recognition. But then I was hooked in, with plenty of action and variety to keep me there.

I didn’t see this as a love-triangle, otherwise I would have put it down immediately. Often in those situations the guys end up as caricatures, and here they are fleshed out (haha) and actually have their own roles to play. Yes, Mercy feels drawn apart between them, but it doesn’t feel set-up.

There was sex scenes in this. Now, that’s not in the least a bad thing. They’re well-written, not particularly ‘porny’ and add to the sexual and emotional frustration of the characters.

This is quite an emotional novel, or perhaps I was just feeling particularly emotional already when I read it. The things that happen to Melody/Mercy are cruel, dangerous and tempting all at once. I felt myself inhabiting her character, both her triumphs and her falls.

What I would have liked to see more of was the period of her solitude/recovery. I didn’t get a whole story there, and I felt like it could have been a novel all on its own. So many juicy details missed out on!

For a mainstream novel that seems to be way too popular with the heartthrob romance loving crowd, I actually really enjoyed it. It had a spark to get me, and some grit to pull me along. 4 stars from me.

4star

Review: Ann Morgan – Beside Myself

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Beside Myself
Anne Morgan

Ellie and Helen swap places. Helen was the leader and Ellie was the follower. But Ellie refuses to swap back. Let with a host of behavioural problems, delinquency and chronic instability, Helen drops into madness, while Ellie lives a life of fame.

The twists and turns in this novel, both in time and perspective, made my head spin. Helen holds onto herself with difficulty, and you can really feel that happening. It’s nicely balanced between inaudible ramblings inside her mind, and outer thoughts that she can’t keep in. Not to mention how she interacts with other people.

Mental illness often runs in families, and this novel reflects that. It’s an interesting expose of how different people cope with being dubbed crazy, or just feeling crazy, or acting crazy because it suits them.

I couldn’t believe the twins’ mother! What a disgusting woman. Not to mention the rest of the family. No one says sorry about anything. Only Nick tries, and even then he is acting for his own purposes. Only the twins are really true to themselves, and even then things are skewed.

I felt completely confused by the ending. Why wasn’t she taking medication? How could things ever remain stable for her? Even with her studio. I can’t say too much here, but I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts. What did you feel about it? Were you satisfied? I was satisfied, yet confused all at the same time.

I got really trapped inside this novel and couldn’t put it down. I’m going to give it 4 stars, although perhaps it should be a generous 3.

4star

Review: Ken Kroes – 2022 (Percipience #1)

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2022
Ken Kroes

Hope performs a cunning murder to cover the slip that could destroy the organisation she works for. Olivia tries to finalise a virus. Richard sees the bigger picture. Together they will bring about distruction, both intentional and unintentional.

26870332Ah! The twists! Ah! The turns! Ah! The betrayal! Ah! The suspense! Loved it. I really can’t tell you more about the plot without ruining some things that go one, but please go and get a copy to find out for yourself.

The author worried about me taking apart the science, but it was actually very doable. Some of the things they talked about, such as engineering a virus or breeding humans in a particular way, are doable now. Not that we geneticists would ever admit to it 😉 It also talks about missions to Mars, which are happening now (I think?).

The book promised me romance, but there wasn’t too much of it. It wasn’t enough to stop things from happening, and there wasn’t really any lovey-dovey business to detract from the storyline. Instead it was used as a hold on all of the people, nothing was sacred.

The thing that stopped me giving this book 5 stars was the usual ‘telling, not showing’. Despite the sentences being crafted carefully and being dramatically correct, I felt like they were too dry. I could never really immerse myself in the world, because it was so dry. I’m not sure how better to describe it.

I must say that the world building here was beautiful. I could see Sue’s office, experience the RV lifestyle, and get my mind inside the colonies. Amazing. This is eco-terrorism as a plot device, more well thought out than in the Alex Rider series.

The author warned me that there would be a ‘serving of broccoli’, which is to say it addresses some worrying trends in the current environmental climate (haha, see what I did there?). But that’s not a big issue at all. The main text is used to forward the story, and the notes at the end give us more details if needed. It’s a wakeup that many people need to have.

I can’t wait to read the second and third novels in this series, as they are likely to be a huge change from this one. I fortunately have them sitting on my shelf, so stay tuned for a review.

4star

 

Review: Brandon Sanderson – Mitosis

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Mitosis
Brandon Sanderson

This tiny (#1.5) short story occurred in between the first and second novels of the Reckoner’s series (Steelheart and Fireflight respectively).

18966322I remind astounded by the sheer number of convincing magic systems Sanderson can create. There are so many interesting novels about superheroes, it’s hard to stand out.

It’s almost too short to write a review, you don’t really get that much story. It is where David first gets his insights into how the epics work, so it’s valuable in that way.

Since it is a Brandon Sanderson, I’ll give it five stars by default , but it’s just too hard to come up with that much of an opinion. I wasn’t that excited about the extra material in the novel (having read the second one already), but it would be worth it if you’re just starting and reading the novels in series.

5star

Review: Leah Raeder – Cam Girl

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Cam Girl
Leah Raeder

A car accident can change everything – your future, your past and your work. Vada is a talented artist before it is taken from her. And she loses her best friend and partner at the same time. Broke, facing eviction, she will face anything to get her life back.

23430483Ellis is a tortured soul who is only trumped by Vada’s nightmares. Vada is the protagonist, and we see everything from her perspective. What wasn’t obvious to me was why Ellis pulled away after the accident. The blurb is misleading for sure. Just ignore the comments there, and jump into the novel.

This is a properly gritty novel about being one of the LGBT*. It came into my inbox and I ummed and ahhed about whether to request a copy. I had previously read Black Iris, and I hated it. The characters were unrealistic, it was filled with violence and just generally bad. This one is far better, even if it still has some violent scenes and tumultuous sex acts.

I appreciated the positive portrayal of the sex work industry. Time and time again I run into feminists who complain that sex work isn’t treated like a real job. Here it’s no worse than any other job, and it’s a particularly well paid job! Cam girls probably have one of the safer sex work jobs.

The ending didn’t creep up on me too much, and it left me feeling quite satisfied and as if I had just run a long race. Phew. I’d been ripped apart, put back together again, and I was happy-sad.

I’m going to give it 4 stars, which is a complete change from my opinions on her writing before.

4star

Review: Andrew Mayne – Angel Killer (Jessica Blackwood #1)

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Angel Killer (Jessica Blackwood #1)
Andrew Mayne

This is a Jessica Blackwood novel. Jessica is a motivated and skilled FBI agent – who also happens to have been a magician in the past. Not one that uses fantasy magic, but one who can do impossible tricks on stage like Houdini. When some unbelievable crimes begin happening, it’s up to Jessica to see through the illusions.

28487147This is a thriller, and it’s a bloody good one! I absolutely loved this book. Jessica is a really engaging character and through her the author makes things that always seemed pretty fantastical realistic. There were little hints of humour that helped keep your mind off the impossibly amazing deadly feats carried out by the Warlock.

What intrigued me the most about this novel was Damien. Enough said, or I’ll give too much away. Or perhaps there isn’t actually anything to give away…. It’s nice to have a male protagonist that is only a sort-of love interest – because the novel is focussed on Jessica’s skills, not her sexual finesse.

I’m looking forward to the next, hopefully something equally awesome will happen. I don’t doubt it, this author has a lot of potential. My one quibble was that it was a little bit aimed at the US public, who would be familiar with the usual roles of the FBI. I just figured that they were the usual ‘Men in Black’, and kept reading!  Also, I don’t know all of the places that are in the novel, and so I couldn’t get a good grip on the distances of things.

After I finished this novel I quickly looked on Goodreads and lo and behold there’s a second book and I really wanted to get my hands on it straight away but it doesn’t appear to have been released in Australia. (Phew, that was a long excited sentence).

Go get this book. I’m going give it five stars because it’s got that bit of thriller behind it and enough clues that I want to go back and read began to see whether I picked up everything the first time.

5star

Review: Isobelle Carmody – The Red Queen

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The Red Queen
Isobelle Carmody

Elspeth is reaching the end of her quest. She has travelled across the land, but suddenly been halted – for no reason that she can work out. Not to mention she seems to be destined for death sooner rather than later. The question is, will she be able to work out the remaining clues before everyone dies?

Article Lead - narrow1002356196gkwzavimage.related.articleLeadNarrow.353x0.gkryzo.png1447991145658.jpg-300x0This is the finale of The Obernewtyn Chronicles. It was originally intended to be 5 books, it extended to 6, and then 7. The 7th book in particular was delayed several times. I expected it to be polished and beautiful, and for the most part it was. Having just read the other 6 books though, I could see plot holes and unfinished business. Also Elspeth spent a lot of time ‘gnawing’, relaxing, ‘gnawing’, relaxing. It got a bit repetitive.

I don’t know whether I felt disappointed in this novel or not. In the end, the very end was a bit of a let down after all the trials of coming there. I wanted to know more about the future. Ah, Rushton and Elspeth. What will happen? What about the other characters? How many of them will survive?

I made the mistake of looking at a couple of other reviews after having finished reading it, because I felt confused about how I felt. Other people complained about the section in Habitat, but I personally enjoyed that. The repetition did drive me pretty nuts though.

I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea that machines would come back. Sentinal and Ines were too aware. Even if the law is not to harm humans, I would always feel nervous trusting a machine. A future teller can’t see everything after all. But is that really what the ending suggests?

I will reread it – eventually. Even with its unanswered questions, I’ve invested too much in the series, and enjoyed the first 4 books so much that it’s not a question of if, but when.

4star