Category Archives: Young Adult

Review: Robyn Schneider – Extraordinary Means

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Extraordinary Means
Robyn Schneider

Lane has been shipped off to boarding school with very little warning. He’s in the middle of preparing for college, and now is stuck in enforced rest – for who knows how long? When he runs into an old acquaintance, who knows what the future will hold for them?

25443389You don’t immediately realise what is wrong with Lane, and I felt myself impatiently waiting for the reveal. The interaction between what I consider the two main characters was shy and tentative, just how I like my romance to be in a young adult novel.

The two perspectives of the novel didn’t feel clearly defined. Most of the time I could tell who was narrating, but at some points I would have been confused if not for the signposting. It’s something that an author can always improve on, and I think we’re going to see more good things from Schneider.

One of the key points to take away from this novel is that being busy to prove yourself sometimes means that you miss out on the finer points of life. Even if you think you’re doing what you want to do, sometimes it’s just nice to sit down – even if it takes awhile for you to get used to it.

The ending of this was bittersweet. Honestly, I couldn’t have seen it ending any other way, but it was still shocking and painful. I found myself reminiscing about the last chapter for a while after I had read it, which is always a good sign.

This novel made me make a new category of fiction. I wouldn’t consider it ‘Dystopian’ because the entire would hasn’t fallen apart. And equally, it doesn’t contain travel into other worlds with other creatures, so I wouldn’t call it ‘Science Fiction’. Instead, I’m thinking that I’ll call it ‘Future Fiction’.

I was sent this novel for review, which always surprises me when it’s a novel with over 200 reviews already on GoodReads. Is this perhaps a new cover? I’m happy to add some more talk about it to the internet – I think anything bringing highlights to antibiotics and infectious diseases deserves some time in the spotlight.

It’s something a little bit different from other things out there at the moment, and that makes me give it 4 stars. I won’t be rereading it any time soon though – I have way too many books on my plate, and I don’t think this one has enough to offer for a second reading.

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Review: Leah Raeder – Black Iris

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Black Iris
Leah Raeder

I’m not even sure I can write a blurb for this novel, it was so unsatisfying. Complex relationships and a F/F/M love-triangle combined with copious amounts of drugs and a couple of mental illnesses thrown in does not make a good book.

9781476786421This book was raw, rough and sometimes hard to follow. I am a serial ignorer of chapter titles and headings, particularly when reading an e-book. It took me a couple of chapters before I realised that yes, it was all from one perspective, but no, the time wasn’t proceeding in a linear fashion, and yes, some of those were flashbacks, and no, I couldn’t work out from Laney’s unreliable narrating whether things actually happened. It all came across with the same level of importance and the same amount of crudity.

I feel like I am betraying the queer community for saying this, but I don’t think it’s a supportive book for those going through acceptance issues. I appreciate what this novel is doing in terms of trying to expose sexualities and gender balances to a wider community of readers. However, I felt that the execution of this was too extreme for most people to relate to. The important messages were drowned by the characters’ sex and drugs.

There was sex and drugs and sex and abuse left, right and centre. I’ve read other novels with those things in it, and it hasn’t bothered me. Some of the best books I have read manage to make those things available to the reader, by not scaring them off. If anything, this novel seemed to enjoy disquieting the reader for no purpose,

Something that I didn’t agree with at all was the treatment of serious mental illnesses. Two of the characters had bipolar disorder, and the other had borderline personality disorder. No-one made an effort to medication professionally, instead they abused the medications they had and combined it with as many drugs as possible. If it was just them affecting themselves, I’d be ok with that – it’s their business. But when they are affecting close family members and causing deaths, there’s something seriously wrong.

I felt entirely confused and turned around by the time I got to the end. And I never felt any satisfaction. Laney seemed happy ripping holes in as many other people’s lives as possible, but I wasn’t happy with the way things turned out. The things she gets away with, the forgiveness she demands from other people, everything was wrong.

I had to let the book sit for a while before I could review it. Even now, I can feel the rotten taste of it in my mouth. I literally felt dirty once I had read it. I didn’t walk away from it feeling like I had gotten positive out of it – all I’d seen was what the worst of the world had to offer.

Yes, I kept reading it to the end. Yes, I didn’t want to walk away from it. But no, I shouldn’t have started reading it in the first place. Stay far, far away and shop for something with similar themes but a more satisfying ending (I’d suggest Scars, The Burn Journals, The Admirer and Keeping You a Secret). In fact, even the worst of the queer/mental illness novels that I have reviewed on this blog so far are better than this one.

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Review: Jessica Shirvington – Corruption

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Corruption
Jessica Shirvington

Maggie Stevens has lost track of time. It’s easy to do that when you have been shut in the dark with limited food and absolutely no light. Wasted away, and pining for someone that Maggie believes she has irrevocably harmed, Maggie still tries to keep her fitness up for the first chance of escape.

19035609I remember finishing the first book in this duology last year, and feeling incredibly pained at its ending. How could that happen? What chances are there for the next time? Will there be a next time? Of course there had to be another chance, otherwise Maggie would be good and gone forever!

This novel has just as many amazing cliff-hangers and scary parts as Disruption. Gods! I felt myself pulled every which way, and I wanted to keep listening and listening and listening to it. As a talking book, the narrator was excellent at captivating her audience and I felt a particular connection with Gus. Gus, I love you!

Let me say something here. Maggie inspires a loyalty that is quite frightening. It’s not surprising that her father has a similar pull on people. If Maggie ever has offspring (and I hope she does!), then I want them to be the same self-aware, self-punishing individuals that she is.

When you consider that an ‘M-band’ is likely to be produced in our near future, novels like this one are warnings of how things shouldn’t be done. If it was me, I’d want to exploit ‘Perfect Matches’. Instead of going for lust enhancers, I’d travel the world trying to find my Perfect Match. I’m not in the least surprised that this dystopian interpretation of the future also involves a society whose running is based on sex.

Something that Shirvington does extremely well is character building and maintaining characterisation. There isn’t any time where you feel like you’ve jumped into a character’s head and found that everything in there is mixed up from what you expected. What you feel, is what you get.

Tell me this is an Australian author, and I’ll try and reject your claim – it is just that good! I haven’t seen many authors lately that are inspiring and enjoyable to read as Shirvington’s works. Highly recommended. 5 stars.

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Review: Anne Cassidy – Finding Jennifer Jones

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Finding Jennifer Jones

Anne Cassidy

Jennifer Jones has been asked to relocate her life once again. Now named Kate Rickman, she seems just like any other girl, going to university and working casually. Her past is always haunting her, and when current events in her life break her reserves, she contacts the only other person who was there when Jennifer killed for the first time.

jjI listened to this as a talking book. Reading the first one sufficiently whet my interest when I received it as a review copy about a year ago. It had its downsides, but it had an unusual storyline that I enjoyed.

Kate is a rather inconsistent and selfish character. But you get used to it, and find yourself enjoying life inside her head. The other characters could have done with a bit more fleshing out, but given that it is all from Kate’s very limited perspective, it was acceptable.

As with the first, I felt frustrated by the flashbacks. I would have just preferred them here and there, but instead, as it was a talking book, I just had to try remember what was going on in the ‘real’ world the rest of the time. There was far too much recapping which also made me feel frustrated! I’d already heard all about the findings in the clearing (which were still vague) and had grasped most of what was going on in the background, even if Alice/Kate/Jennifer didn’t.

Kate frustrated me! Arg! Kate! Surely she should know better than to respond to her old names? How do the media know that it is her, apart from the fact she responds to it? If she can look enough like another person to use their passport, I’m not sure why it was easy for the media to identify her.

I wonder if there will be a third book. I don’t want to hear about the immediate future of Jennifer, I want to know what it’s like to be a fully-fledged adult with a criminal background.

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Review: Karelia Stetz-Waters – Forgive me if I’ve told you this before

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Forgive me if I’ve told you this before
Karelia Stetz-Waters

Triinu attends a boring old highschool, with what you would consider typical bullies and mean principals. But it’s more than that – Triinu is gay, and in an exceedingly conservative town, that means that pretty much everyone can get away with targeting her.

The beginning of this novel filled me with a little apprehension. I didn’t love the opening paragraphs, and didn’t immediately connect with the protagonist. A few pages in though, and I was hooked, not wanting to step away from my desk. I loved that Triinu developed as a character, entirely intertwined through the novel. There were no moments of uncertainty, where I wondered how the text had gotten to this point. This is marketed as a coming-of-age story, and I have to say it is.

The painful self-discovery of Triinu might seem unrealistic to other people, who realised they were gay early. But Triinu doesn’t have that option – she hardly knows what being gay means! She needs to find who she is (which she does, in a round about fashion that I recognised), and then come to terms with it.

It was interesting that the colleges she applied for were out of state. I understood why, but at the same time, it’s the total opposite of what people in Australia do. The demographics of these are interesting – and the fear of rejection that Triinu feels is going to be familiar with other readers.

I am not familiar with Oregon, USA, where this is set. I know nothing of the culture, or its history. It doesn’t matter very much though, because the personal issues Triinu undergoes happen every day around the world. Additionally, the author has set her novel and also filled the reader in on the details they need to know of the (real) world.

I made a very rare exception to my print-novel only rule for reviewing, and I’m glad I did. This little beauty is well worth reading, and is humbling, believable and touching all at the same time. If my review doesn’t convince you to go read it, go read it anyway. It won’t be a waste of your time.

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goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy5starReread Review Update 25-01-22: I reread this novel in pleasure. I now own a print version of it, and loved reading it. It felt almost like the first time again. I found myself wondering what Triinu was doing with her life now, that’s how real it felt to me.

Review: Mercedes Lackey – Beauty and the Werewolf

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Beauty and the Werewolf
Mercedes Lackey

As the name suggests, this is a sort of rewrite of the familiar fairytale: Beauty and the Beast. However, Lackey takes it and puts her own twist on the tale (as you would expect). Isabella has two stepsisters and a lazy step mother who you would expect to fit the story of Cinderella. Instead, Isabella finds herself bitten by a huge wolf. With a curse instead of being a true werebeast, Isabella may be saved from transforming every month, but will she be able to save the man she’s coming to respect?

10081055It’s probably not obvious from this blog yet, but I’m absolutely obsessed with Mercedes Lackey. If I had to choose a fantasy author who was my favourite ever, Lackey would be it. This book ‘Beauty and the Werewolf’ is the 6th novel in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, and I pounced on the hard copy version at my local library. It has been preordered from The Book Depository though, and I can’t wait to have my own copy on my shelf.

I found the ending of this story very predictable, and the story itself quite predictable as well. Isabella is characterised nicely, and the reader does feel some empathy with her plight. Not too much though, as she seems to have things well in hand. Eric is a semi-convincing Woodsman, and the wizard acceptable. I just wasn’t blown away like I was for the rest of the novels in the series – not enough suspense and unexpected twists I suppose.

This novel of the Five Hundred Kingdoms lacks the sexual content which some of the other novels have, so I would confidently recommend it to older teenagers, as well as adults. I don’t think it’s necessary to read the novels in the story in order, but if you get the chance, it is probably better to read ‘The Fairy Godmother’ first.

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