Book Review-Adaptation by Malinda Lo

Title: Adaptation

 Author: Malinda Lo

Series:   Adaptation #1

Published:  April 3 2014 by Hodder

Length: 432 pages

Source: publisher

Other info: Malinda Lo has also written Huntress, Ash (review here), and Inheritance.

Summary: Flocks of birds are hurling themselves at aeroplanes across America. Thousands of people die. Millions are stranded. Everyone knows the world will never be the same.
On Reese's long drive home, along a stretch of empty highway at night, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won't tell them what happened.
For Reese, though, this is just the start. She can't remember anything from the time between her accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: she's different now. Torn between longtime crush David and new girl Amber, the real question is: who can she trust?

Review: It all starts when  Reese Holloway is waiting for a plane back from debating and  birds fall out of the sky. Stranded, she and the debate team decide to head home in a rented car, and things change even more. With no idea of the events after a crash, nor the later happenings or procedures, Reese finds some anwers that will change her life, and humanity, forever.

Huntress, I didn't enjoy especially, but Ash was one of my favourite books due to the writing style and the new take on an old story. Adaptation leaves the fantasy route and goes down the scifi men-in-black route, and it does this really well.

I love the characters. Amber's probably my favourite, because she's adorable and funny and I fell in love with her. I also liked that you had to constantly question her and her loyalties. David- CHINESE MC HECK YEAH (I get excited by chinese main characters) was also really adorable and smart. Reese isn't one of my favourite characters, she seemed a bit ordinary compared to a cast full of scientists and government agents and conspiracy theory website runners and things which I want to say but that's kind of spoilery, but I did like the fact that she constantly questioned things. Oh, and love to Reese's mum. See the lawyering badass love for her daughter and reaction to her coming out as bisexual. 

Nowhere in this book is a good place to stop reading-most certainly not the end.. Every point in Adaptation was either too intriguing or too exciting or too adorable to let you even think about putting it down, and I've had the must-never-stop-reading-this-feeling for very few books before.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a book I recommend to everyone, especially mystery, scifi, thriller, romance fans.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title: We Were Liars

 Author: E. Lockhart

Series: N/A  

Published:   13 May 2014 by Hot Key Books

Length: 240 pages

Source: library

Summary : A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

Review: Cady is one of the Liars, the younger end of a family that meets every summer to spend the holiday at the summer home. At some point, she loses her memories.  Two years later, she wants to find out what happened.

I was really looking forwards to this and everyone really enjoyed it and watching somep ople's reactions during the liveread made me think it was going to be amazing. Sadly for me it wasn't.

I think I missed something at the start but I really don't get why everyone loves this. It's slow. The writing, while stripped back in places, seems boring too. The story doesn't seem to go very fast, and the forbidden love aspect is not my favourite as a trope anyway and this book didn't change my mind on it.

I didn't connect or like any of the characters. They seemed too detached from me and I didn't really care what happened to them. Cady is a bit whiny and the rich WASP background comes through and she comes off as pretentious in places, something I'd had enough of with Leo from The Go Between which I read at the same time.

I really enjoyed Gat's comments on race and racism, being Indian and surrounded by white people. The repeated retellings of fairy tales were also really good.

I also think that the style, full of metaphors and winding around, is the kind of thing that could be praised in a literary sense. It just wasn't my kind of thing.

The ending is good, I suppose. It didn't seem like a huge thing to me though, and when it was revealed, I just shrugged and read on. I think it's because I disconnected with the whole story so I didn't really care.

Overall:   Strength 2 tea to a book I didn’t get into at the start which meant I didn’t enjoy the whole thing.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Run by Gregg Olsen

Title: Run

 Author: Gregg Olsen

Series:  Vengeance #1

Published: May 2014

Length: 256 pages

Warnings: off-stage past rape and killings

Source: publishers

Summary : What if you discovered that everything you thought you knew about yourself was a lie?

Rylee is fifteen. She comes home from school one afternoon to find the most shocking thing possible - her father dead, with a knife through his heart, and a key clutched in his hand. Her mother's purse is on the counter, but she appears to be long gone. A message in blood is written on the floor... RUN.

With her brother in tow, Rylee begins a dark journey, one that will uncover horrific and chilling crimes and lead her to an unexpected and gruesome discovery about her real father and what - or who - is behind his insatiable desire to kill. By the journey's end Rylee's childhood is a long way behind her...

RUN is the first title in the new Vengeance series, following Rylee as she begins to piece together the story of her life and to avenge unpunished crimes - starting with her own. This is DEXTER with a feisty female protagonist unlike any other in contemporary young adult fiction.

Review: Rylee, having come home from school to find her father dead, her mother missing, and message that just says “RUN”, gets her brother and runs.

I was excited to read this because I’ve read bits of Olsen's Envy, and liked it, and the trailer that HKB made was quite good (music win).

It starts off very quickly, the set up from the summary happening in the first chapter, and the running happening in the second. This pace is kept up throughout, which was good, and I read this in one sitting.

The mystery as to what happened is quickly partially  revealed in favour of a thriller story, which I didn't mind. I liked the fact that we get to meet lots of characters as Rylee tries to discover how things happened to others that fits into her current situation (not very well worded in comparison to the book, but I can't explain it better without spoilers), who each brought clues to the table. The way it developed was good, but the twist at the end was predictable.

The  main reason I didn't enjoy this was Rylee. I don't know why I disliked her so much, but I just didn't care for her or her story or the way it turned out. Maybe it was her narration; there's some interjections and thoughts which are kind of obvious. Maybe it was her, she seems a little too conveniently prepared to know what to do, and I didn't think she developed. It was probably the romance; there's a short flashback and a facebook conversation with a guy in the middle of the book (and why are you even worrying about facebook when all this is happening?) and the ending just comes out of nowhere and the book could have easily done without it because it just seems like an afterthought that wasn’t properly explored.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a turny fast thriller, that I didn’t get into as much as I’d hoped.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review -The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

Title: The Killing Woods

 Author: Lucy Christopher

Series:  N/A

Published:  October 2013 by Chicken House

Length: 369 pages

Warnings:  sex, alchohol, drugs, pstd

Source: publisher

Other info: Lucy Christopher has also written Stolen.

Summary : Emily’s dad is accused of murdering a teenage girl. Emily is sure he is innocent, but what happened that night in the woods behind their house where she used to play as a child? Determined to find out, she seeks out Damon Hillary, the enigmatic boyfriend of the murdered girl. He also knows these woods. Maybe they could help each other. But he’s got secrets of his own about games that are played in the dark.

Review: Emily’s dad walks in one night with a dying girl. He is then accused of manslaughter. She’s sure he’s innocent, but how can she prove it? To try, she enlists the help of Ashlee’s (the dead girl) boyfriend, Damon, who may know something about how Ashlee died. Together, they unravel the mystery.

 I read this because 1)I got sent it for review and 2) so many people had been talking about how good it is and I had to know how good it was for myself.

The characters, I liked them to start with, but at times they were a bit dreary. I would have liked to know Emily a bit more other than the fact that her father is accused of manslaughter. I liked Damon, even though he is a bit crazy at times. I liked Emily’s father. I really like the fact that Lucy handles PSTD, drugs, and choices in what I think is a good way.  

I loved the Game. I wanted to know what that involved, and all the little hints as to what it was built up well for the reveal.

I started to guess vague details from around two thirds of the way through. I ended up guessing the reasons for Ashlee’s death, but not who had done it.

The pacing was good. I didn’t get bored with the way that the mystery was unravelled at all- I really wanted to know what happened and I read this in one day.

I liked the writing. It moved the story on along really well and really built up the setting of Darkwood really well.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a fast mystery that kept me gripped from the start.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | 

Mini-reviews- Reaper's Novice and Peregrine Harker

Title: Reaper’s Novice

 Author: Cecelia Roberts

 Series:  N/A

Warnings: non consensual kissing

Source: netgalley

Review: Anna is normal. she’s got a boyfriend, she’s doing well at school and  she’s looking forwards to a brilliant musical education. Then her family dies in a car crash, but she makes a deal with Ernst, aka Grim, aka Death. Her family gets to live, he gets her soul, and she gets to work, collecting souls for eternity. She gets used to this, but then she finds out other things about where Ernst comes from...and where she does.

I read this because I saw it on Netgalley and a book like that, with that title, pretty colours, and a girl with a violin, I couldn’t resist.

It starts off quickly. the car crash and meeting Ernst happens within the first few chapters. There’s a bit of mystery that comes up. Other things like the story to Ana’s background and the mythology of the world, which comes in later.

I really liked Ana. She’s cool. She’s a really good violinist (musical  talent always makes me love characters) and then it becomes plot relavent and this is where audiobooks come in handy. She also seems like a really good friend.

I didn’t like Zig. He’s creepy and full of himself. Ernst was cool. Rolf was kind of mediocre until about halfway through, then we get a big reveal and he becomes a lot more interesting.

The plot was good, but near the second half, the plot became quite confusing.  The writing was ok in places, good in others. The more descriptive parts were better written, such as the end bit with the violin, and  Ana seeing her first reaping of an old woman in a hospital, which was the most beautiful part in the book.

Overall:  Strength 3.5, just more a 3, tea to a fantasy novel with good writing.

Links:  Goodreads | Author website |

Title: Peregrine Harker and the Black Death

 Author: Luke Hollands

Series:  N/A

Published:  3 June 2013 by Sparkling Books

Warnings: non consensual kissing

Source: netgalley

Review: Ever since Peregrine’s parents died, he’s worked for the Evening Enquirer. As a result of his behaviour and habit of writing stories of spies and thieves and espionage into his work which is meant to be factual, he is told to write a story about rising tea prices. Begrudgingly, he sets out to do this, and unexpectedly finds himself in amongst secret organisations, smuggling, and assassinations.

The first chapter takes place on a train, the epic conclusions of a match between Doctor Crick and Peregrine. The second chapter reveals that this was just a daydream of Peregrine’s, and that he is actually being told off by his editor and commissioned to write the tea article.

The plot moves along quickly, the investigation taking us many places, such as docks, posh hotels, backstreets of London and to France.

I liked Peregrine. He’s a great investigator, likable, and smart- like a less sad version of Gavroche (from Les Mis). I really like his enthusiasm for his job-and the fact it picks up when a dead body turns up.

I quite like Louisa too-the first time we meet her, she’s got a pistol and her governess is telling her not to fire that infernal thing indoors. Fun!

The pacing is good. There’s always something new happening and you’re kept intrigued throughout. The atmosphere of adventure is ever present-through London and Paris.

 arker. The

Overall:  Strength 3.5, just more a 3, tea to a younger historical mystery that’s a lot of fun.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review-Who Framed Klaris Cliff? by Nikki Sheehan

Title: Who Framed Klaris Cliff?

 Author:  Nikki Sheehan

Series:   N/A

Published: 6 February 2014 by OUP Oxford

Length: 264 pages

Source: publisher

Summary :  People used to call them 'friends' and said how they were good for your brain. And then a day came when all that changed . . . when they became our enemy. Now, anyone found harbouring a rogue imaginary person is in for the Cosh, an operation that fries your imagination and zaps whatever's in there, out of existence. That's why I wish Klaris Cliff had never shown up. And why I know that proving her innocence is the last hope I have of saving myself.

Review: In this world, invisible friends are dangerous. Anyone found to have one is sent for the COSH, a procedure that shrinks the area of the imagination that an invisible friend will reside in. Klaris Cliff is one such invisible friend. An imaginary person who contacts Flea, and later, Joseph. As bad things go on at the Cliff household, Doctor Cliff wants Klaris gone, and it's up to Joseph to prove her innocence.

I hadn't heard of this until the OUP night for this and Storm and Stone, but upon hearing  about this, I definitely wanted  to read it. The first thing I heard about it was “What if someone can kill your imaginary friend”, which caught my attention, as it must have caught Sheehan's.

You very quickly get a feel for this world, which is slightly dystopian for the way that the COSH and its threat rules over the children. You also quickly get to know the characters, the friendship between them, and the sibling relationships seem real.

The characters all have their individual quirks that make them likable, unique and funny at times. The twins are especially cute (and a little gross in parts). Despite the fact most of them are younger than I normally read about, they're really nice to get to know.

The mystery uncovering works nicely, and I liked the way it all panned out at the end. Sheehan also wrote in less mystery, more family parts, which I found a nice touch, rounding out Joseph and giving him a bit more of a life.

I like the fact that one little detail that you think isn't going to be major, just a bit of back-story to explain where Joseph is today, is quite important, and leads to a satisfying, kind of heart-warming but also sad, conclusion.

The idea of the COSH is very very scary.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a slightly younger mystery that people of all ages should read.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Red Dragon-Thomas Harris

Title: Red Dragon

 Author: Thomas Harris

Series: Hannibal Lecter #1

Published: 1981, my edition May 1990  

Length: 454 pages 

Warnings: Everything. Gore. Sex. Not for little ones. 

Source: bought

Other info: There's lots of films and spinoffs of this series. You probably know  The Silence of the Lambs. There's also Hannibal and Hannibal Rising. 

Summary :Will Graham stands in a silent, empty house communing with a killer. An FBI instructor with a gift for hunting madmen, Graham knows what his murderer looks like, how he thinks, and what he did to his victims after they died. Now Graham must try to catch him. But to do it, he must feel the heat of a killer's brain, draw on the macabre advice of a dangerous mental patient, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and follow a trail of microscopic clues to the place where another family has already been chosen to die--and where an innocent woman has found the Dragon first.

Review: There's a killer on the loose  and Will Graham, FBI man who's good at profiling  mad people, as well as visualizing the murder, must find him. Wouldn't be so bad if last time he'd gone on a madman hunt, he'd almost been killed by Hannibal Lecter, and wanted to retire. But seeing as this guy is killing a lot of people, and

I read this because I  watched Hannibal and quite enjoyed it, and, as always with book to screen adaptations, I try and read the source material.

I like that this book is very plot focused, as opposed to the TV show (which I know is very very different because that's a prequel and Red Dragon hasn't happened yet and is a TV show and totally different) which is very character focused. I like the plot focus, especially by the end, when the plot really gets along quickly,  which is nice, especially when the start is slower.

you feel for the characters. Well, Will Graham and the killer. Guy had an awful back story.  Will Graham, you feel bad for because of the whole empathizing wholly with killers driving him insane,  and I liked him, though  I'm not sure how much Hugh Dancy looking like a kicked puppy influenced that. Hannibal Lecter, despite being the guy the series is named after, doesn't appear much in Red Dragon, but what we see of him is intriguing.

The psychology aspect is interesting to start with, but after a little while, you do want it to just speed up a bit.  Some parts of this were creepy, in both good ways and  bad ways.

 Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a good mystery thriller horror thing, that wasn't quite I was expecting.

Links: Amazon |  Goodreads |

Mini Reviews-Wool by Hugh Howey and Never the Bride by Paul Magrs

Title: Wool

 Author: Hugh Howey

Series:   Wool #1-5, Silo #1

Published:  March 2013 by Simon and Schuster

Source: library

Review:  Everyone lives  underground, every birth requires someone to die (so resources aren’t in over-demand), orders are given and followed, and those who think ideas about going outside get them, though maybe not as they wanted them. Dissenters are sent to Cleaning-the task of cleaning, with wool cloth, the cameras which give a view of the world outside of the Silo, which is a punishment because the poisonous gases in the atmosphere break down protective suits and kill the wearer. Jules is one such idea-thinker.

I loved the world of this. You’re transported instantly with the beginning following ex-sheriff Holston going out to Cleaning and starting off the events of the book. You quickly get the gist of the tightness of control, and over the first half you really get the idea of the society and the way it runs together.  

Characters-there’s a lot of them. Or at least I think there were. I got really lost in places in terms of who was who and their relationships. Jules is a really good character-strong, inquisitive, and brave.

Book 2 was quite political, which held my interest a lot less than the rest of it. The second half seemed to set up a revolution, and it was interesting to watch, especially when we get parts outside of the Silo.

Overall:  Strength 2.5 tea, more a 3, to an adult dystopian that I liked in parts but got lost in others. Excellent world building.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Title:  Never the Bride

 Author:   Paul Magrs

Series:  Brenda and Effie Mystery #1

Published:   May 2005 by Gardener Books

Source: Library 

Review: Brendan is an older lady who runs a B&B in Whitby. There’s some weird things going on, such as tv psychics, aliens, time defying beauty parlours and a hotel with people in meat lockers,  Brenda and best friend Effie have a lot to keep investigating. And then there’s Brenda and her own mysteries- all the things about her that make you wonder exactly who, or what, she is.

I got recommended this on the fact that it is a very gothy comedy thing that sounded right up my street.

It’s odd reading a book with an older person (who doesn’t have the gift of eternal youth and related perks). It makes it hard for me to connect,  but I like the fact that the main character’s age, plus the whole variety of characters, isn’t your typical horror/supernatural/mystery story.

Brenda is a very intriguing character. Who she is is really awesome, and I liked learning her story (see if you can guess who she is from the title.  I couldn’t but at the reveal, it made perfect sense). The supporting cast are very varied, but lack depth.

The plot is quite disjointed, but there are some callbacks in places I quite liked.

Writing lacks the laughoutloudness that I was promised by someone, but I liked the style.

Overall:  Strength 2.5 tea, more a 2, to a book with a nice idea that I  couldn’t get into really.

Links: | Goodreads| Author website | 

Book Review-Cruel Summer by James Dawson

Title: Cruel Summer

 Author:  James Dawson

Series:   N/A

Published:  1 August 2013 by Indigo

Length: 324 pages

Warnings: violence.

Source: bought and publisher

Other info: You can do a quiz to see which Cruel Summer character you are here. You can read my review of James’ other book, Hollow Pike, here.  

Summary : 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…

Review: Leavers’ dance night. Janey Bradshaw commits suicide. One year later. Her old group of friends Ryan, Katie, Alisha, Greg, and Ben, with the addition of Greg’s girlfriend Erin  meet for a holiday in Katie’s Spanish villa. Then Roxanne shows  up, with claims that Janey was murdered. Then someone else dies,  it comes out that someone at that villa is a killer, and soon they’re all caught up in mysteries and secrets of both the present day and the past.

Reason why I read this: I loved Hollow Pike and expected it to be just as good. It didn’t disappoint.

Ryan, I think there may be something wrong with him. He sees everything as part of a TV series that he is the star of. It’s good, a quirky character trait, to start with, but it gets weird when someone dies and he’s still stuck in that mindset. He’s a little annoying, but a really nice, funny guy too.  Most of the cast are likeable, and all are intriguing with secrets and exploration and development. I liked Alisha or Katie equally best.  They both develop the most, and they’re both strong girls who are awesome. I like the fact we got to know quite a bit about, and get kind of close to,  Janey too, considering she's dead.  

It plays out very much like a classic teen-slasher film. Everyone fits into classic stereotypes, and it’s self-aware, with genre savvy Ryan and booky girl Katie.

It is written as scenes, each following a certain character. Most of the time it’s Alisha and Ryan, but there’s some flashbacks to fill you in on backstory. Everything gets revealed after hints, and it’s unpredictable, and gripping.

Mostly there’s mystery, and  horror regarding the murders and something else that happens that I don’t think I should say, but there’s also bits of romance and coming of age/figuring out who you are.

The mystery is epic. Everyone is a suspect at some point, with motives and the writing turning on them.  The amount of twists and turns in this is amazing. I read Cruel Summer in about two hours cover to cover in one sitting, and I have never said “I was not expecting this!” so often.

There is one bit at the end, in which I think a Hamlet reference opportunity was sadly missed. The best bit about the ending is finding out why the killer does what they do and it’s so unexpected but then you think about how it was there all along  and it’s clever and you can’t stop thinking about it. And then there’s a big scene which was just. Well. Definitely unexpected, but a fitting ending that I really enjoyed.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a mystery that pulls you in from the start and doesn’t let you go. Perfect summer reading.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Mini reviews-Guy Adams

Guy Adams in an author who does many things in sci-fi/fantasy etc. He's written Torchwood novels, the Sherlock Holmes casebook, the World House series and some other things.
Today, I'm reviewing The Good, the Bad and the Infernal and Deadbeat:Makes You Stronger.

Title:  The Good, the Bad and the Infernal

 Author: Guy Adams

Series:  Heaven's Gate #1

Published:  11 April 2013 by Solaris

Source: Publisher

Review: There’s talk of a town that only appears once every hundred years, in totally different forms. But some things stay the same-it’s always called Wormwood, and  it provides a gate to the afterlife. This book follows a group of people aiming to get to it when it appears this time in the Midwest of America, and as they travel,  they face many many challenges.

I was sold this as western steampunk. Sounds awesome, right?

We start by following one character, who gets saved by an old guy, and dragged along the trip. We then meet some other people, and folilow them on their travels, and then they meet up towards the end of the book. this makes The Good, The Bad and the Infernal seem more like a collection of stories about characters, a bit less of a novel. However, this is the first of a trilogy, so maybe it’ll pick up.

The characters are an interesting lot, but I don’t remember very much about any of them. There’s a freak show lot, an old guy, a religious person, and some others.

Imaginative things happen to the characters on the way along. Snakes! It felt a bit slow and confusing to me in places, but at other times, you’re really pulled in.  The travels along America are good, and I liked the setting.

I think that it probably will pick up later on in the series, because the ending is a definite “something big happens next”.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a Western Steampunk book that’s totally different, but didn’t keep me entirely.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads |

Title: Makes You Stronger

 Author: Guy Adams

Series:  Deadbeat #1

Published:  11 June 2013 by Titan

Source: publisher

Review: Max and Tom are two good friends who are in the graveyard one night when they see a coffin being today. With a girl in it. who is breathing. Drawn into the shady world of health insurance and dealing in other things, they’ve uncovered a mystery, and they are going to try and solve it.

I quite like Adams’ other stories-works on Torchwood and he also did the Sherlock casebook. I was looking forwards to reading this.

Max and Tom have an easy friendship, with other like minds, and it’s nice seeing them work together and play off each other. I really enjoyed the random side stories.

The twist, I didn’t see coming, but it made a few things make a bit more sense. Protagonists of this nature always cheer me up, and the events surrounding it for Max are interesting.

Plotwise, there’s a lot of intrigue, with different trails and backstories regarding players.

There’s dual narration, and I liked reading from both Max and Tom’s perspectives. There’s some more perspectives too when the plot calls for it.

The antagonists were hilarious in parts, as were the situaitons that Max and Tom found themselves in.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a darkly funny mystery with a supernatural twist.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | 

Book Review- Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne

Title: Follow Me Down

 Author: Tanya Byrne

Series:  N/A

Published:  8 May 2013 by Headline

Length: 368 pages

Warnings: tw-rape, also drinking

Source: publisher

Other info: Tanya’s debut novel is called Heart-Shaped Bruise

Summary : When sixteen-year-old Adamma Okomma, a Nigerian diplomat's daughter, arrives at exclusive Crofton College in Wiltshire, she is immediately drawn to beautiful, tempestuous, unpredictable Scarlett Chiltern. Adamma and Scarlett become inseparable - until they fall for the same guy. Soon the battle lines are drawn and Adamma is shunned by Scarlett and her privileged peers. But then Scarlett goes missing and everything takes a darker turn. Adamma always knew that Scarlett had her secrets, but some secrets are too big to keep and this one will change all of their lives forever.

Review: Adamma Okomma is sent to Crofton Collage when her parents, one of which is a Nigerian diplomat, move to England. After New York, Adamma isn’t expecting much from this bording school. That all changes when she makes friends with Scarlett Chilton, who rules the school and shows her all the secrets. Some of which are very dark indeed.

I really enjoyed Heart Shaped Bruise (no review yet, might reread and review one day) and so I was really excited to read this. The blurb makes you think it’ll just be a messy love triangle and a simple disappearance. Tanya’s other book makes you think it’ll be a lot more than that. When you read it, you find that it definitely is.

From the start, you’re pulled into the mystery with the use of the “before” and “after” timelines, told in alternate chapters. Before and after what?   Also, these headings mean keeping track of time is so much easier-very useful.

All the characters are wonderfully different and unique. And so very very real. It’s the complex relationships between them with all the different, varying dynamics, that really make this book though.

It brings up a lot of things-how  friendships survive, rape culture, testing boundaries; things that teenagers have to deal with, and the varying ways that they do.

The mysterie takes a lot of twists and turns and wanders down lots of different paths. I had my suspicions about the culprit of the disappearance from about halfway, but when it was revealed, it was using a different name to the one we’d met them as, and I had to re-skim it all and make sure I’d read it right. The other mystery, who Adamma’s getting involved with, was a complete surprise.

The writing was amazing. The timeskipping was really effective, as was the fact that for all of Adamma’s romantic scenes, we just get told it’s “him”. Everything gets revealed weaves together at just the right time and it works.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to an amazingly written, intriguing thriller.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review-What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Title: What’s Left of Me

 Author: Kat Zhang

Series:  Hybrid Chronicles #1

Published:  18 September 2012 by Harper

Length: 343 pages

Other Info: Book Two should be called Once We Were. Book Three is expected.

Source: Publisher

Summary :  I should not exist. But I do.
Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . . For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

Review:  Eva shouldn’t exist, but she does. In a world where two souls get born into each body, and  one fades after time, she’s the weaker one out of her and Addie. After faking through tests, Addie is declared dominant and Eva gone, but they both know she’s not. After meeting Hally and Devon, and finding a way for Eva to take control of their body, they try to take it. But then they get shipped off to another hospital, where they’re in more danger.

Ever since I heard of this, I was really excited about this. It’s such an original idea and really interesting-sharing bodies with others,  having to live like that, not having control over what your body does, and such. Then there was the whole persecution thing, and i was very happy at the differentness, the newness of this book.

It didn’t take long to get the hang of Eva and Addie’s relationship. The whole, I love you but sometimes I dislike you, which you get from being around one person  for a long time, so it’s easy to see that it was taken further when they’re together for the entirety of their life.

I love the supporting characters. Hally and Devon are really cool. The romance between Eva and Devon and Ryan is really sweet, but a little annoying in places.

Eva really takes the stage here, despite the fact that she is the weak one in her world. I love her voice, her determination to hang onto life with everything that she’s got, and her strength to keep fighting even though it would theoretically be best for her life to not.

I’d like some more world building. There’s mentions of hybrids in other countries running around like normal, so I’d like to see why America thinks they’re a threat. I’d also like to see how they came about.             

The writing is good. It’s simple, but it gets across all the emotions really really well. There’s also little things like using me and us which show how they change their views about eachother.

The whole concept really makes you think. What if it happened to me? What if a part of me was going to disappear one day? What if I was hated and  threatened  for not letting go of it? Then you realise exactly how scary this concept is.

Finally, the amazingness of the cover. As in, there’s two girls in that one shape.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a beautifully original book. looking forwards to the next one.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review -Blackwood by Gwenda Bond

Title: Blackwood

 Author: Gwenda Bond

Series: N/A

Published:  4 September 2012 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 416 pages

Source: Publisher

Other info: This is Gwenda’s debut.

Summary : On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.
Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.

Review: Many many years ago, 114 people disappeared for no reason from Roanoke Island. Modern day Roanoake, anotoehr 114 people have gone. Miranda and Phillips are two random teenagers, both outcasts due to her connection to the island and his hearing voices of the dead, who take on the task of finding out what happened to them, both the many years ago and today.

I love books with modern takes on history and legends. Especially legeneds that I haven’t heard of. It’s set up really well. The opening scene tells both the legend and gives a quick view of Miranda. The whole opening was really exciting, and a fantasy/mystery book was starting to come along well.

Miranda, I liked. She’s determined to find out what happened, mainly because her father got killed at the same time as these new people disappeared. Phillips, I found a bit annoying and I’m not sure why. Roswell and Bane, I really didn’t get at all.

I t was all about the two thirds mark when things srarted happening that weer really weird. I liked the introduction of John Dee and the alchemists but we get told things and go in multiple ddirections that didn’t always make sense and were quite hard to  follow. The ending, I was just...what.

The writing was ok. There’s a lot of Fraks, which makes the actual F word look really out of place.  The pacing is good to begin with, but towards the end, it’s hard to understand.

I’ve read a few things with Dee and Elizabethan-era magic crossed over with contemporary things. I like this mix, both in general, and here, and the mystery and the setting works.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a book with really nice ideas that I couldn’t get into.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review-Devil's Bargain by Rachel Caine

Title: Devil’s Bargain

 Author: Rachel Caine

Series:  Red Letter Days

Published:  5 October 2012 by Mira

Length:331 pages

Source: publisher

Other info: Rachel is best known for The Morganville Vampires, and has also written Weather Warden, Outcast Season and Revivalist series.                                                                         

Summary :  Jasmine "Jazz" Callender is on the downhill slide to ruin. Once a decorated homicide detective, she's lost it all: her former partner's been convicted of murder, she's been cashiered out, and she's drinking away what little self-respect she's got left.
But Jazz has a talent for trouble, and somebody knows it. When a mysterious, sexy stranger comes looking for her with a fateful red envelope in his hand, she's about to make the deal of her life...for good or bad.
The deal requires her to enter into a partnership with a stranger and investigate cases that arrive in special red envelopes...which is odd enough, but gets weirder as she and her new partner Lucia realize that they may be working for someone with supernatural abilities.
And maybe they're not on the side of the angels anymore.

Review: Jazz Callender isn’t doing well. Having lost her job as a homicide detective when her partner gets convicted of homicide, she has nowhere to go. So, one day, James turns up. He’s a lawyer and comes with an offer- to save her Ben, she’ll have to work for a strange society which may or may not have psychic powers.

It started kind of well. There’s a lot of mystery when James shows up and you get quite intrigued as to what will be required of Jazz. The mystery builds when Jazz and her assigned partner Lucia do things which they weren’t really expecting, such as observing ordinary going ons. The action doesn’t really kick in until just over halfway, when someone gets killed.

The psychic element, in my opinion, should have been more prevalent if you were going to market it as a psychic paranormal book. It just didn’t seem like much of a threat, even when we met XXX and understood how things were playing out and why. For a romance, there wasn’t that much of it either. It did work really well as a thriller, with intriguing trails, action of realistic physical fights, and the mysterious red envelopes.

The characters are good. Jazz and Lucia are both independent, strong and intelligent, and work really well together. Manny, the tech guy, was a little bit of comic relief, as well as providing useful things.  Borden isn’t that interesting in terms of character, but in terms of what he does plotwise, I liked it. Lucia was my favourite.

The world, the society, didn’t really captivate me that much. The writing, Jazz was a good narrator but there wasn’t anything particularly special about it. The pacing, I would have liked a few more big important things to come along a bit earlier, as you wait a long time for things to happen.

Overall: Strength 3 to a mystery thriller with good characters but not so much plot.  

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Dark Eyes by William Richter

Title: Dark Eyes

 Author: William Richter

Series:  Dark Eyes #1

Published:  15 March 2012 by Penguin

Length: 383 pages

Warnings: sex, not too detailed. Quite a bit of violence. Drugs TW sexual abuse, 

Source: Spinebreakers

Summary : Wally was adopted from a Russian orphanage as a child and grew up in a wealthy New York City family. At fifteen, her obsessive need to rebel led her to life on the streets.
Now the sixteen-year-old is beautiful and hardened, and she's just stumbled across the possibility of discovering who she really is. She'll stop at nothing to find her birth mother before Klesko - her darkeyed father - finds her. Because Klesko will stop at nothing to reclaim the fortune Wally's mother stole from him long ago. Even if that means murdering his own blood. But Wally's had her own killer training, and she's hungry for justice.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for teens, this debut thriller introduces our next big series heroine!

Review: Wally is a Russian, adopted into an American family. Age 15, she moves out, onto the streets of New York. This is the story of a year later. On a visit to  Brighton Beach postal-shop-copy-place-thing, where they cater to Russian customers,  she gets given a mysterious envelope with her Russian name on it. in it-a letter from her Russian mother. From there, she learns more about her family. For example, the fact that her father is a mafia boss. And he wants to find his ex-lover/wife/whatever (I’ve forgotten). And he’s not picky about he finds her.

Being adopted, I took a bit more interested in this. I’ve never tried to, or wanted to find my birth parents (something I don’t think would be easy with a pool of a billion people) but it must be interesting when you get details of your birth family just given to you without warning.

Wally takes this fairly well, and takes lots of things in her stride.  She’s a very strong girl, who is good at finding things out after learning things that capture her interest. She’s also a great friend to Ella and Tevin and Jake. There’s such a strong sense of bond between them. However, I didn’t connect with her, or any other character. She doesn’t have as much to worry about compared to the others, so I didn’t really care for her either.

There’s a lot of action, and a fair bit of violence. The first chapter involves a murder. The mafia are involved. People die. It’s definitely a big thriller. Lost of twists and turns, many predictable. Some things do happen a bit more easily  that I’d have liked or would have been interesting. The ending was...er, ok. Not saying that in the it was mediocre way. I’m saying it in the ......*long pause* *hesitant er* Ok way. can’t find a gif to sum this up. But yeah. The ending. I liked it. this would definitely play out well as a film, what with the really fast pacing and turnabouts.

I found it quite confusing. I’m not sure why, I just didn’t get into it. The writing is ok, but there were some annoying things about it. it’s a bit too street, and it doesn’t really fit.

I like the fact that things happen suddenly. Even if you are expecting them, the very bad, very major things happen so suddenly it is realistic, and everyone has to adjust in short periods of time.

For a book market at teens, it is gritty. It’s nice not to be talked down to. Nothing’s pulled back, we get all the sad and gory details. Having never read  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I can’t comment too well on the fitting of this as a teenage version. From the little I saw of the film, this is in a similar vein, and probably does live up to its tagline.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a fast thriller, that wasn’t as good as I’d expected.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Ack Ack Macaque by Gareth L Powell

Title: Ack-Ack Macaque

 Author: Gareth L Powell

Series:  Ack-Ack Macaque #1

Published:  25 December 2012 by Solaris

Length: 416 pages

Source: publisher

Other info: There will be a sequel, called Hive Moon. Gareth has written other things.

Summary : In 1944, as waves of German ninjas parachute into Kent, Britain's best hopes for victory lie with a Spitfire pilot codenamed 'Ack-Ack Macaque'. The trouble is, Ack-Ack Macaque is a cynical, one-eyed, cigar-chomping monkey, and he's starting to doubt everything, including his own existence. A century later, in a world where France and Great Britain merged in the late 1950s and nuclear-powered Zeppelins encircle the globe, ex-journalist Victoria Valois finds herself drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man who butchered her husband and stole her electronic soul. Meanwhile, in Paris, after taking part in an illegal break-in at a research laboratory, the heir to the British throne goes on the run. And all the while, the doomsday clock ticks towards Armageddon

Review: It’s 2059. France and Britain have merged and are doing quite well, aside from the fact that King William is in hospital following injury in an explosion, Victoria Valois has bene called back to London following the brutal murder of her husband, and soon finds herself caught up in a conspiracy theroy involving a flight to Mars. Merovech, heir to the British throne, is on the run after breaking into a research lab with his girlfriend, Julie. And there is a soldier called Ack-Ack Macaque, whose job it is to fly spitfires and take down German bombers. He’s also an eye-patch-wearing, cigar-smoking, monkey. All kinds of fun!

The premise of a non-humanoid (kind of...do monkeys count as humanoid? Do human count as monkey-oid? I don’t know. Anyway.) main character got me hooked. Then I started  it, and decided it would be a good read. Probably because in this alternative timeline, the United Kingdom encompasses France, ireland, and Noraway. What did we get to get Norway? Norway is cool.Britain is cool. The global pollitics state of Ack-Ack Macaque is generally cool.

The first chapter includes Paul’s very very brutal murder. His brain was cut out. as well as this being a gruesome thing to happen to someone, it also reasises a lot of quesitons, to get Victoria investigating, and us reading. 

I like the idea of Soul catchers, but I also don’t, if you get my drift. The idea of the technology that can record every facet of your memories and your personality is interesting, but the idea of actually doing that is a bit disturbing. Without the soul catcher, we wouldn’t have Paul, or at least a version of him. With the limited view we get of him (he spends most of Ack-Ack Macaque as a program in Victoria’s head), I felt I just want to hug you.

We have a cast of excellent main characters. VIctoria is amazingly resiliant, considering what she goes through. She’s a fighter, and takes care of herself, even when she’s really really beaten and cut up, and she is a really good heroine. Merovech and Julie. Shipping so hard! They are adorable and work well together, and hugs to them. And then there’s Ack-Ack Macaque.  He is now one of my favourite characters. His cynical outlook and generaly attitude to life is one you won’t forget.

The minor characters are good as well. You get the captain of an airship, the Commodore (or variant of that name), who you get attached to in the way that Victoria did. There’s K-8, a clever young girl who works with Ack-Ack Macaque. And there’s a whole lot more  antagonists that keep the major plot rolling.

It takes a bit of time for everoyne to meet. It’s nice, as it keeps you wondering how everyhting fits together, and at the smae time, it’s annoying, because you’re wondering how it a fits together. The three threads meet fully about halfway trough the book. When they do, you realise how important what they are doing is, not only on a full scale, but also on a personal level-everyone’s got reasons to hate Celeste Technologies.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a book with an excellent setting and cast. Definitely want the sequel.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys

 Author: Maggie Steifvater

Series:  The Raven Cycle #1

Published:  18 September 2012 by Scholastic

Length: 409 pages

Source: Publisher

Other info:  Maggie has also written the Wolves of Mercy Falls and Books of Faerie series, as well as the Scorpio Races.

Summary : Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Review: Blue is the only non-psychic in a house of psychics. This is not a problem. They all tell her that if she kisses her true love, he’ll die. This is. One night, she’s with her mother, watching spirits of the dead-in-a-year-people pass by. And she sees Gansey. This means she either murders him, or he’s her true love. She decides to stay away away. Soon, Gansey shows up. He wants to know where all these leylines are, as he wants to find more about the Welsh king, Glendower, who disappeared. With Adam, Ronan and Noah, boys from Aglionby Acadamy and the titular raven boys, they investigate.

I have Shiver on audiobook, and never got through it. I have gotten Scorpio Races from the Library and I quite enjoyed it.

The Raven Boys starts quite quickly. We get the gist of Blue’s situation  the Raven Boys, their quest, and what Whelk, the antagonist, wants. Then it slows down. A lot. Not just because of all the detail, but because there was so much going on, that I didn't really care about. The first threequarters or so, I was vaguely sure of what was happening, but not so much about the direction we were going in, or when it might come to a nice end. Then there’s a big reveal at the end of chapter 28, that was a little bit predictable, where it picks up majorly, and everything comes together and things start happening.

All the characters were nice enough, apart from Whelk, who was a downright......*self censors*...... I didn't connect to any of them though. They all have rich backstories, especially Noah. Blue is a good protagonist, but not that standout. All the Raven Boys were sweet. The psychic women were all quite similar. There’s a lot of characters involved in The Raven Boys.

The plot, I didn’t really care for much of it until the reveal. It’s annoying that we don’t find out if Gansey actually is Blue’s true love, or whether she murders him, or whether she murders him because he’s her true love and they kiss. I suppose it would cut the story a bit short if either of the latter two happened, but still.    

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that I couldn’t really get into. I probably won’t read the next in the series.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Broken Illusions by Ellie James

Title: Broken Illusions

 Author: Ellie James

Series:  Midnight Dragonfly #2

Published:  8 May 2012 in America. 3 January 2013 by Quercus in the UK.

Length: 340 pages

Source: Publisher

Other info: My review of book one, Shattered Dreams, is here.

Summary : It’s Mardi Gras, but for 16 year-old psychic Trinity Monsour this is no time for celebration. Another girl is missing. Haunted by visions she doesn’t understand—of an empty street lined by crumbling old buildings, a terrified voice warning her to be careful, and a body lying motionless in the grass--Trinity embarks upon a dark odyssey she could never have imagined. She'll stop at nothing to better understand her abilities, convinced that doing so is the only way she can make sure the terrifying images she sees never actually happen. 

But it seems everyone wants to stop her. Her aunt is worried Trinity might discover secrets best left in the past. Her best friend, Victoria, is afraid Trinity is slipping away, her boyfriend, Chase, fears she’s taking too many chances, and the lead detective will barely let her out of his sight. Only one person stands by her side, and in doing so, he slips deeper and deeper into her heart--and her dreams--blurring the lines of reality and illusion. 

When the dust settles, one of them will be dead.

Review:  Once again, Trinity and her psychic powers are used to solve a mystery. This time, she gets the first clues via a Ouija board. The visions come, and Trinity knows that if she doesn’t do anything about it, then that girl might die. But there’s a lot of opposition from all sides.

I kind of enjoyed the first one, but didn’t really get into the characters. Apart from Trinity, who just about copes with all the things she sees.  The others, I found boring again. Some were intriguing, but not hugely so.

When I started this book, and Trinity and Victoria started playing with the Ouija board, I was just “oh please why?”. Ouija boards are one of the few things that I really really try to stay away from, and you’d think that in a psychic-y world with different planes they’d know better.

I like the tone of this book. there’s a lot of mystery, and a sense of threat and always being careful. Sadly I didn’t get a really really creeped out feeling like in the first half of Shattered Dreams, but I still enjoyed the air of mystery in Broken Illusions.

Chase gets a bit more interesting in this instalment, but in a negative way in parts. Chase, can’t you trust your girlfriend?. Dylan, who I didn’t really care for in the first book, was a bit more prominent in this, making me wish I had paid a bit more attention to him in the first one.

I liked Trinity’s development, the way she deals with her visions, seeing her understand it all a bit more. There’s also a bit of family history, which is nice.

The mystery was built up really well. Lots of twists and turns,very gripping, and a satisfying conclusion.

The ending was just NO DON’T DO THAT. I think that Fragile Darkness will be interesting just because you’ve lost that major person and it’ll be intriguing to see how Trinity copes.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea. Really good plot, but I’m not as into the characters as I’d like to be.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |