Book review and giveaway- Delete by Kim Curran

Today, Faber Academy and I are kicking off the blog tour for Kim Curran's DELETE! It's had a bit of trouble getting out, due to the closure of Strange Chemistry, but it's coming and it's having a blog tour! 

Title:   Delete

Author:  Kim Curran

Series:    Shift #3

Published:   31 March 2015 by Xist Publishing

Length:  230 pages

Source: Strange Chemistry ARC

Other info: I reviewed Shift and Control and really enjoyed them! I’ve also had Kim over to talk about shifting in real life, and about her other book, Glaze (which I also reviewed).

Summary : The country is at war. Beset by enemies within and without. And all because of the decisions changed by one boy, Scott Tyler. In this ravaged alternative reality, Scott hardly recognises himself. He's a war hero, a leader of a unit of Shifters and maybe the only one who can prevent the country's frail defences from crumbling.

But all Scott wants to do is find a way back to the world he knew, without losing the girl he loves. With every Shift he makes, Scott edges closer towards oblivion. With no one to trust – not even himself – how much is he willing to risk to get home?

Review: This is the end of a trilogy, so this review will contain spoilers for the first two books (and you really do need to read Shift and Control before this one). Following the end of Control, Scott finds he has shifted to a world where Britain is at war, and Scott is apparently the Commandant of ARES, or at least its present form, and  everything is completely different. However, unlike most Shifters whose realities change when they shift to accomodate for that shift and they accept that shift as being the one true reality, Scott remembers the more peaceful, less treacherous world, and he wants to get back.

I really enjoyed Shift and Control, and thus I was very excited to read this. When I did get to read Delete, I read it so quickly. I think if life didn’t get in my way, it would be a one-sit-read.

You know how I said Control put the plot on a larger scale to Shift? It’s happened again. Majorly. Again.

I loved the different sides of the characters we got to know. Frankie, Aubrey, and Katie  were all changed but also still them, and Scott...woah. in this world, Scott’s personality is rather different to the one he remembers having, and I loved seeing him struggle with what he remembers, what he thinks he is, what what he has to do in this world.  So much character development.

The plot progressed well. It’s fast, but there are also quieter moments. Especially between Aubrey and Scott as  he tries to find the differences between the past Aubrey and the one now. .

I did have mixed feelings about the end. Initially I really disliked it, but after a little time, I realised how wonderful it was because Scott has learnt things and might be able to make things better and maybe it isn’t as bad an ending as I thought.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a brilliant ending to an action packed series examining decisions and their consequences.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Also, there's a tourwide giveaway happening to win all three Shift books. Good luck!
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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 |

Blog Tour Book Review- A Dark Inheritance by Chris D'Lacey

Title: A Dark Inheritance

 Author:  Chris D’Lacey

Series:   UNICORNE Files #1

Published:  7 August 2014 by Chicken House

Length:270 pages

Source: blog tour

Other info: Chris D’Lacey has also written the Last Dragon Chronicles.

Summary : When Michael Malone discovers his supernatural ability to alter reality, he is recruited by an organization dedicated to investigating strange and paranormal phenomena. He joins in hopes of finding his father, who mysteriously vanished three years earlier. Michael's first task is to solve the mystery of a dog he rescued from a precarious clifftop -- a mystery that leads him to a strange and sickly classmate and a young girl who was killed in a devastating accident. Stakes are high as Michael learns to harness his newfound ability and uncover the deadly truth about his father's disappearance.
A bold and thrilling tale of alternate realities, paranormal mystery, and extraordinary adventure.

Review:  Michael’s going to school via a non-normal route when he senses the thoughts of a suicidal dog, and somehow manages to stop her going over a cliff. This brings him to the attention of UNICORNE, who say they can tell him what happened to his father, who disappeared. They set him on the task of finding out what the dog was doing on the cliff, and this leads him to a mystery involving a classmate, a dead girl, and his newly discovered powers.

I’ve heard great things about Chris D’Lacey’s other work (which I have never read) so I was hoping this would be good. The blurbed concept isn’t particularly original, but I really liked the idea of cellular memory and the way it played out in the book.

There’s science-fiction elements, fantasy elements, and some thrillery elements too. It could have been a good mix, but in parts it goes so quickly that things don’t get explored as much as they could have been.

I like the characters, especially Josie, Michael’s ten year old sister, Chantelle, a UNICORNE agent, and Freya, Michael’s sick classmate.

The plot twists and turns, sometimes well, and sometimes in convenient places. I like the mix of more normal things that Michael has to deal with, in between the paranormal. I think the start of it was stronger than the way the setup played out though; it started with a strong hook, but then got a bit confusing. The main mystery did get played through well looking back on it, but with side elements being created due to Michael’s powers, it is harder to follow than it needed to be.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a genremixing thriller.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Blog tour!

26th August - Book Zone For Boys

27th August - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

8th August - Death, Books, and Tea

29th August - Fiction Fascination

1st September - Booktrust

2nd September - Teen Librarian

3rd September - Book Angel Booktopia

Book Review and Giveaway - Glaze by Kim Curran

Title: Glaze

 Author: Kim Curran

Published:  12 May 2014 by Jurassic Park

Length: 293 pages

Source: author

Summary : Petri Quinn is counting down the days till she turns 16 and can get on GLAZE – the ultimate social network that is bringing the whole world together into one global family. But when a peaceful government protest turns into a full-blown riot with Petri shouldering the blame, she’s handed a ban. Her life is over before it’s even started.Desperate to be a part of the hooked-up society, Petri finds an underground hacker group and gets a black market chip fitted. But this chip has a problem: it has no filter and no off switch. Petri can see everything happening on GLAZE, all the time. Including things she was never meant to see.As her life is plunged into danger, Petri is faced with a choice. Join GLAZE… or destroy it.

Review:  Glaze-the next level of social media. A chip is inserted into your head, and you are on Glaze. You can see everyone's names and stories. You can see the history of an object. You are connected to everyone all the time. Petri is fifteen when she is charged with inciting a riot. As a punishment, she isn't allowed onto Glaze until she's twenty-one, as opposed to the standard age of sixteen. Unable to take being left out, Petri goes to some hackers to get a  chip inserted on the black market. But this illegal chip means she can't get away from Glaze even if she wants to.

I really enjoyed Shift and Control, and I'm looking forwards to Delete coming sometime soon. When I heard about this, the concept and the author made me sure i'd have to read it.

I loved the world of this. It's scary how we're progressing ever faster towards it; google glass is putting our data in front of our eyes, it's only a matter of time before we get data in our heads. And the dystopian element of a company having all the data and controlling you is something that intrigues me a lot. 

The pacing is really good. There's always something happening, and the ways the plot develops keeps you hooked. It was a little predictable as to who did –the thing-- but the reasoning behind it was harder to see, and I still enjoyed reading. 

The characters are all varied and really well done. I loved Petri, and her desire to fit in is not an unfamiliar one for anyone. I didn't really feel anything for any of the romance in this, but i'm glad that it didn't detract from the plot. I liked the characters by themselves though, from the resourceful hackers to the  friendship and to the real social dynamics of the school to the slightly crazy Mimi.

The best thing about this book is the way it connects with contemporary life, the way this kind of thing could happen if the way we’re going is taken to extremes,, and that this is a book about our reliance on the internet and what happens if we let this internet connectivity control our lives.

Overall:  Strength 4 to a fast paced dystopian with a great world and a look at what happens if technology goes too far.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Also, because I forgot on Saturday, there's a tourwide giveaway happening of one of 75 hardback copies of Glaze, plus other stuff like signed copies of Shift & Control, Glaze Bookmarks, Glaze badges and a meet with Kim Curran or Skype chat if you're not able to come to London. Enter!!


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Book Review- Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Title: Level 2

 Author: Lenore Appelhans

Series:  The Memory Chronicles #1

Published: 15 January 2013 by Usborne

Length: 330 pages

Source: Bought

Summary : Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost-family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian-a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life-comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.

Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind

Review: Felica Ward died and did not go to heaven. Instead, she is in a blindingly white afterlife known as Level 2. There, she replays memories over and over again- memories of Neil, a boy who she knew when she was alive and really wants to see more of. Then, someone else in Level 2 dies. Then, she learns about a rebellion, and has to decide what she's going to do about it.

 I liked the idea of being able to rewatch your memories  and the concept's originality  made me really excited to read Level 2.

It was fun when we started seeing the memories, with the whole set up seeming a bit like fantastical  Youtube. I also liked this way of seeing characters' backstory.

The romance, while being set up as a love triangle by the publishers,  isn’t really one, but I liked the way that it was slowly built and we get to see two sides of Felicia.

Felicia,  she doesn't accept answers without questioning them, which I liked about her. I also liked wondering about what happened while she was a live, and finding it out. I didn't really connect or care for any of the other characters. Julian is pretty much the opposite of Neil, one being badboylike and the other one being sweet and kind. 

I like the mix of computer/scifi elements, and the religion and mythology of the angels and the general world that Lenore has built up. The angels aren't the ones you often see in YA, mysterious romantic things, but they’re very good new interpretations. I would have liked to know a little more about them.

The plot, I got a little lost at points, but the ending was good.   The little ending there was. The whole rebels vs Morati thing is finished off very quickly, possibly a bit too much so.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book where I was hoping for more. I’d still like to read Level 3, though.

Links: Amazon |  Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-Transparent by Natalie Whipple

Title: Transparent

 Author: Natalie Whipple

Series:  N/A

Published:  16 May 2013 by Hot Key Books

Length: 352 pages

Source: publisher

Summary : High school is hard when you're invisible.
Fiona McClean hates her family, has had to move to a new school and seems to be completely invisible to the boy she likes. So far so normal, right? But Fiona really is invisible. She doesn't even know what colour her own hair is.
Born into a world where Cold War anti-radiation pills have caused genetic mutations, Fiona is forced to work for her mind-controlling mobster father as the world's most effective thief. When her father announces she must become a murdering assassin, Fiona and her telekinetic mother make a break for freedom. Running to a small Arizonian town, Fiona finds that playing at 'normal life' with a mother on the edge, a brother she can't trust, and a boy who drives her crazy is as impossible as escaping her father.

Review:Fiona has never seen herself. This is because in this world, people are born with differing abilities and Fiona’s is that she is invisible. Her father, a crime lord, orders her to use this for his own means, having her spy on people and steal things and such. One day, they decide they have had enough. Fiona  and her mother move to a small town, and for the first time ever, she goes to school. But then she gets sent to a tutor, a boy called Seth, whose mutation allows him to do something no-one else can. Hiding from her father on someone else’s turf, Fiona discovers how useful it is to be invisible.

 I first saw this on someone’s Waiting on Wednesday with the US cover which made it seem very urban, very contemporary and such. I then went to the Hot Key Books thing and the UK cover makes it seem so different, almost childish. In the end, I’d have covered it with a slight mixture of the two.

The idea of an invisible girl is very intriguing. It’s definitely original and I was excited to see what way it would be taken. It starts off quite quickly, and you easily get to understand the way Fiona’s life had worked for ages.

Fiona does what she can, after being used so much. She does make quick judgements about people, which can be quite wrong. My favourite character was Bea, the friend, who’s really really nice. The  broken family dynamic is clear, with Fiona and her mum sticking together and Fiona and her brother using random one time emails to communicate, while her other brother and her father are out to get them.

The world building is infodumped, explaining how the mutations came about fairly early on, and we get to know Fiona’s situation quite quickly too. I think it would be quite nice to have some more info about how the Radiasure pills did what they did.

The romance switches randomly. Seth’s a good match for Fiona and this is made clearer when he reveals his mutation.

The best  thing about the book is the opening, when you’re looking forwards to the world building and the learning about everything.

Overall: Strength 3 to a book that’s a little childish and annoying in places, totally different to what was promised, and a bit disappointing.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review-Control by Kim Curran

Title: Control

Author:Kim Curran

Series: Shift #2

Published:6 August 2013 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 352 pages

Warnings: fade to black sex scene, violence

Source: netgalley

Other info: I quite liked Shift. There will be a sequel to Control, the last in the series.

Summary : Scott Tyler is not like other teenagers. With a single thought he can alter reality around him. And he can stop anyone else from doing the same.
That's why he's so important to ARES, the secret government agency that regulates other kids like him: Shifters.They've sent him on a mission. To track down the enigmatic Frank Anderson. An ex-Shifter who runs a project for unusual kids - as if the ability to change your every decision wasn't unusual enough. But Anderson and the kids have a dark secret. One that Scott is determined to discover.
As his obsession with discovering the truth takes him further away from anyone he cares about, his grip on reality starts to weaken. Scott realises if he can't control his choices, they'll control him.

Review: After the events of Shift, ARES has to run around cleaning up the remnants of Project Ganymede. Scott and Aubrey are going round, when they witness a shift that changes things in a large large way. This leads to an investigation into Frankie Anderson and the project involving the children. In the meantime, Scott discovers there’s more to shifting abilities.

I was generally looking forwards to reading this one. It starts off slowly, being mainly setup, with events getting set up. Benjo’s back! He provides important information for the rest of the investigation. It’s instantly put on a larger scale, with global politics playing a part.

It picks up majorly a little way in, where you start getting everything going really well. The action doesn't stop after a certain point, and it's hard to put down.

Scott and Aubrey’s relationship is very real-it isn’t all perfect, which I liked. The characters themselves also get development-Scott especially. He's flawed, doesn't always do the right thing even with the use of shifting, but he learns things.

I like the fact that in among all the action and investigation, there's also a bit about Scott's family, his parents' fighting, and how it affects him and sister Katie.

With shifting, anything can happen. Many things do happen. Plot twists are very good indeed.

The ending. Woah. Big big thing. Can’t wait for the next one-it promises to be even more epic than these two.

Overall: Strength 4 tea to another great book in this series. Looking forwards to the next one.

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-The Rapture of the Nerds by Cory Doctrow and Charles Stross

Title: The Rapture of the Nerds

 Author: Cory Doctrow and Charles Stross

Series:  N/A

Published:  12 April 2013 by Titan

Length: 336 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary: Welcome to the fractured future, at the dusk of the twenty-first century.
Earth has a population of roughly a billion hominids. For the most part, they are happy with their lot, living in a preserve at the bottom of a gravity well. Those who are unhappy have emigrated, joining one or another of the swarming densethinker clades that fog the inner solar system with a dust of molecular machinery so thick that it obscures the sun.
The splintery metaconsciousness of the solar-system has largely sworn off its pre-post-human cousins dirtside, but its minds sometimes wander…and when that happens, it casually spams Earth's networks with plans for cataclysmically disruptive technologies that emulsify whole industries, cultures, and spiritual systems. A sane species would ignore these get-evolved-quick schemes, but there's always someone who'll take a bite from the forbidden apple.
So until the overminds bore of stirring Earth's anthill, there's Tech Jury Service: random humans, selected arbitrarily, charged with assessing dozens of new inventions and ruling on whether to let them loose. Young Huw, a technophobic, misanthropic Welshman, has been selected for the latest jury, a task he does his best to perform despite an itchy technovirus, the apathy of the proletariat, and a couple of truly awful moments on bathroom floors.

Review: Huw is a Welsh technophobe. In a world where most people have uploaded to the cloud, he is one of the few(ish) remaining on Earth. Called to do jury service, judging whether or not a new invention will make the civilisation happy  or not (or not essentially being will it destroy us), he goes. Also, he discovers that somewhere along the line, he got infected and something wants to use him and..i’m not sure.

I was looking forwards to this. I’ve flicked through Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and liked what I saw, and I read his contribution to Steampunked and loved it. this collaboration should be good, right?

And then I started reading.  OK, the first few pages made sense as set ups and then characters start cropping up and changing gender and I’m not sure what happened to the plot.   When I say characters cropping up, I mean Sandra being at her house, and then Huw leaving the house to go to jury service, and then Sandra showing up at the jury service with no explanation of what she’s doing there or how she got there or anything. This happens repeatedly.

Huw is a boring character who doesn’t do much. A little more interesting is the doctor whose name I forgot. The cast is very  varied in terms of beliefs and attitudes, but it doesn’t work for me and flow.

The whole cloud uploading, changing houses, products of snakes and things and such-all this futuristic technology was a bit beyond my ability to imagine.

I have absolutely nothing against genderfluid characters, but somewhere along the line Huw (who up until that point had been referred to as male and showed no signs of wanting to be referred to as female) starts getting feminine pronouns. Also, I don’t think that “acquire” is a word  best used in tandem with “gender dysphorria”.

There’s a lot of technobabble throughout. However, hardly any of it is explained and it’s hard to imagine and follow.

I’m not going to talk about the plot because as far as I could tell, I couldn’t make one out.

This book tries to be Hitchhikers, you can tell. The randomness, the futurism, the references to things like Doctor Who and other pop culturey things. but it doesn’t work becasue I can’t follow the  plot at all.

Overall:  Strength 1 tea to an impossible  book.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Cory’s website | Charles’ website |

Book Review-Stray by Monica Hesse

Title: Stray

 Author: Monica Hesse

Series:  N/A

Published:  6 June 2013 by Hot Key Books

Length: 352 pages

Source: publisher

Summary : Lona Sixteen Always is not herself - quite literally. She lives her life virtually through the experiences of Julian, a boy who was chosen as a role model for the Pathers of Quadrant 1 - troubled children who have been 'rescued' by the government and put 'on-Path'. But one day Lona finds she can think for herself. And on top of that, the face of a familiar boy appears on her screen - Fenn, who she thought had moved on to a different stage of the Path last year. But he didn't. Fenn and other rebels like him have strayed from the Path, and now Lona must stray too. But life off-Path is strange and difficult, and Lona uncovers a secret that will threaten all their lives. Can there really be life after the Path?

Review:  In this world, children who would otherwise be lost are put into the Path system, and spend 23 hours a day being Julian, a boy who lived fifty years ago and had his life deemed perfect. Lona has been on the path for sixteen years, and can’t imagine any other life. Until Fenn, a boy from her past, appears in the simulation. Deemd to have gone Off-Path, Lona is taken out of the program and thrust into a new world, uncovering secrets regarding other Off-Pathers who die before they’re nineteen, things about who she is, and where the Path will lead you.

This is an amazingly original idea. The world of the Path, the idea of it, immediately raises questions and makes you think. The system is set up well, and can we just talk about the names? On-Path, even they are simply a way of organising (Monica has an explanation here), and that’s a really intriguing idea, that leads to creative names like Ilyf and Byde and Czin.

Lona is inquisitive and believable and likable. She develops the most being the main character, and also because she goes from having no knowledge of the outside, real world to having some, and it’s fascinating to watch her gain that knowledge,  feel the intenseness of the real life in comparison to the virtual one they’d been kept on. My second favourite was Talia, a Path worker-there’s more to her than you first think. All the characters are something different.

The plot goes in a lot of different directions, and halfway through someone turns up who is a really big plot twist. Genevieve and Lona together are good at discovering things, and also the relationship between them is interesting to watch develop. The Fenn x Lona one is also good, developing naturally.

 The writing was really good at getting across the idea that these children hadn’t had their own lives. They’re all rather accepting of their situation, and the use of the pronoun We to refer to both themselves and Julian, the thinking of Julian’s birthday being their own, and the games show that despite them being Off-Path, they do still think of themselves as one with Julian.

Where  it ended made this book feel complete, but there’s a lot of room for a sequel, and I really hope, with the writing of Stray, that there will be one.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a highly original book  with mystery, friendship, and what it means to follow, or not follow, a path.

Links: Amazon | | Goodreads | Author twitter | 

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- 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- Katya's World by Jonathan L Howard

Title: Katya’s World

 Author: Jonathan L Howard

Series:  Russalka Chronicles #1

Published:   6 November by Strange Chemistry

Length: 339 pages

Source: Publisher

Other info: Jonathan has also written the Johannes Cabal series. I reviewed Johannes Cabal, Necromancer here!

Summary : The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent.
Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career.
There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet.

Review: Katya Kuriakova lives on Russalka, a distant planet submerged in stormy seas. On her first submarine journey as one of the crew, her sub gets hijacked by an official wanting a war criminal transported. After this, she gets taken on an adventure, getting involved in leftovers from a war against Earth, pirates, and a living ship threatening to kill everyone on the planet.

I went into this not realising that it was by the guy who also wrote Johannes Cabal. Anyway, this book is completely different. You can’t really call it steampunk, because of the lack of steam, but it fits into the genre of old style, futuristic technology with a really cool story to go with it.

It all starts really quickly and doesn’t really slow down throughout. The first twist/big thing happens at the end of the second chapter and then they  keep coming.

Katya is clever, resourceful and brave. She also seems a bit older than 15. Kane is a really intriguing character. You start off disliking him because of the way he gets introduced, then you learn his history and he does various things and you think he’s not so bad, and then you find him doing something and you dislike him, but then he does other stuff and your liking levels fluctuate a lot.

The supporting cast are generally awesome. My favourite character is Tasya, the She-Devil. She’s a very fierce character who is actually rather nice considering her reputation. Lukyan I really liked for some reason. Petrov and Tokarov are also really interesting, and I think that they all at parts overshadow Katya in terms of coolness.

The technology in Katya’s world is generally fantastic. The submarine setting is good, but the best thing about this book hands down is the Leviathan. Summed up in one quote: “The great warship was insane”. I love the way it was used, for thrills and excitement, and a living ship is one of the best concepts I’ve seen around.

At some point, there’s a bit where Katya and Kane have “waves crashing far below them”.  I thought the planet was underwater. I thought the whole planet was underwater? Does this mean they’re in space? This bit I didn’t really get. The ending was a bit odd in places, but I really liked tjhe chapter with Pretrov-sets it up nicely for another book.

The other thing I really liked about this: NO ROMANCE WHATSOEVER. Probably because aside from our female protagonist, everyone is over thirty, or at least late twenties and so any romance would be awkward. Katya’s World is so full of action, there’s no time plotwise for a romantic subset.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea. I didn’t really like our main character, but aside from that, awesomeness all round!

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Title: Ready Player One

 Author: Ernest Cline

Series:  N/A

Published:  5 April 2012 by Arrow

Length: 384 pages

Warnings: violence, sex references, 13+

Source: Library

Other info: Ernest has also written a set of poems about his life. Ernest is also running a similar contest onlne, for adults in the USA, but not Florida and Columbia, and the prize is a car.

Summary : It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.  Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win.  A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?

Review:  Wade is a Gunter. One of many who, since the death of Virtual Reality OASIS's CEO and founder Halliday, has been hunting for Easter eggs scattered all over the virtual galaxy. Finding them, and keys and gates before any other Gunter means that they will gain inheritance of OASIS. Many a dedicated Gunter wants this. But as well as playing against OASIS, they're playing against IOI, a company that will do anything to win-even kill.

From the start, I was pulled in. It's a premise that's different from anything I've read before, except maybe Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and that didn't take part on a computer generated universe.

The 2040s world is built up quickly, explaining what went wrong in the 10s, and how Earth went downhill from there. The concept behind the Hunt and the OASIS is also quickly explained, and is easy to pick up.

You get a large cast of characters. Wade is our protagonist, appearing in OASIS as Parzival. In addition to him is Art3mis, well known Gunter with a highly successful blog, best friend Aech(despite never meeting in real life)and Japanese duo Daito and Shoto. None of them are who you think they'd be when you meet them properly, but Aech, Art3mis and Wade are built up really well, and I got really attached to all five gunters, even though for the majority of the novel, we know four of them as online avatars.

Wade is clever, resourceful, thinks outside the box and is very likable. Once IOI make their intentions clear, he does quite well at staying one step ahead of them, and is obviously very dedicated to the hunt. He's also gone through major character development by the end, with a really cute ending. 

Although most of Ready Player One is set in OASIS, the cuts to the real world are great. They give a sense of reality, and remind you that there's a person playing this game. What I don't understand is if they're in the middle of an energy crisis, why are they, as in the whole world, stuck on a computer?

Not that I blame them. In Oasis, anything could happen. Most of what we see is connected to 80s geek culture. Dungeons and Dragons and other video games are the most prevalent, but for anyone who grew up in the 80s or who has/had an obsession with that time, this is amazing. And if you didn't, it's still amazing. Not knowing the D&D games inside out isn't a problem for the reader, because Wade does. There's so many references to so much stuff, it's unbelievable. And while it's less than 400 pages, there's so much happening (both storywise and to do with the fact the print and spacing is small) that it seems so much longer. In a good way.

And the whole scale of it all...as I said, IOI will kill for the win, a fact that's made clear once Wade gets a lead. The stakes are so high, the writing so gripping, the characters so engaging, the plot so exciting, that it's impossible to tear yourself away.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a truly epic story that everyone will find something to love in.

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

Book Review- vN by Madeline Ashby

 Title: vN

 Author: Madeline Ashby

Series:  The Machine Dynasty #1

Published:  2 Aug 2012

Length:488 pages

Source: Publishers

Other info: Madeline has been published and writes for various magazines. This is her debut novel.

Summary : Amy Peterson is a von Neumann machine- a self-replicating humanoid robot. For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of  mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother’s past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks her mother, little Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive. Now she carries her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive, and she’s learning impossible things about her family history-like the fact that he failsafe that stops all robots from harming humans has failed. Which means everyone wants a piece of her-some to use her as a weapon, some to destroy her.

Review: In this futuristic world, robots are a fast-growing demographic in the population, mainly due to vonNeumann machines, aka vNs. They’re robots that look human and do many things the same way- eat, grow, and self-reproduce. Amy is one such robot. After being brought up by an android mother and a human father, she’s been fed specially to keep her aging as per human speed. Therefore Amy spends the first twenty-something pages as a five year old. All this changes when Portia, her grandmother, shows up and attacks her daughter (Amy’s mother). Amy then eats her grandmother. Due to this sudden influx of food, Amy gets a growthspurt and becomes physically about twenty (I think). Having broken the failsafe that keeps robots from harming humans, or anyone,  With Portia’s voice  constantly nagging her, and with the help of fellow vN Javier, Amy is now on the run from lots and lots of people.

A robot eating her grandmother. Sign me up. Proper sci-fi doesn’t make up a huge bulk of my reading, but I love it when I get it. from the start, we get a really good world built up. I love the idea of major food companies making things to cater for vNs, and the way that these robots are becoming integrated properly into society. I love the smaller scale world that’s built up too- the close knit family that isn’t quite conventional but still tight and happy and loving and generally great.

I found the plot chopping and changing really quickly, which was nice because lots of things happened. However, they it all kind of chopped and changed a bit too fast, and there were some things I got confused about at various points in the novel. There’s a bit about Rory that I didn’t really get and I feel that may have been a bit significant. There were other really random things that while good on their own, were just a bit too crazy and  a  bit incoherent.

I loved Amy and Javier. Both are strong personalities that are easily likable and Amy develops a lot throughout. I suppose you have to when going through all that stuff.

A lot happens. Within the first few chapters, Amy has eaten her gran, broken out of jail and watched Javier give birth to a baby version of himself.  We then get to some other sci-fi conventions, such as robots not being meant to be able to harm others, and intelligent robots and debates around that.

The writing’s good. It effectively conveys the idea of Amy learning things from start to finish, and each character has their own  quirks and speech and such. vN has a really nice ending that round the story off well. The thing that made me just think “win” most of all was the fact that Ashby put the chapter numbers in binary. I’m easily pleased.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a fun sci-fi adventure with a lot of family and friendship and a little bit of love thrown in.

Links: Goodreads | 

Book Review- Insignia by S. J. Kincaid

Title: Insignia

 Author: S.J. Kincaid

Series:  Insignia #1

Published:  2 August 2012

Length: 444 pages

Warnings:  violence, romance, suggestive situation 12+

Source: publishers

Other info: This is S.J’s first novel.

Summary : More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible.
 Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test, and if he passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War Three. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted—friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters—but what will it cost him?

Review: Tom Raines, fourteen years old, spending life in a virtual reality parlour, trying to win a living. His life isn’t really going well...until one day, he’s picked out to join the Combatants-teen soldiers fighting World War III.  But it’s not like they’re going out getting killed-they’re safe on Earth. As WWIII is fought by robots in space. He soon fits in with friends, makes enemies, and gets by in the way that teenagers do in a stepped up boarding school. But then Tom starts finding out things about the other side. And then questions the rules.

I was expecting something good. I got even better. We skip easily through Tom’s normal VR gambling life, and soon end up at the US Military base. Action happens frequently, friendship bonding happening between that.

The school-style setting is really nice, and you get the stock characters that go with it-the couple that may or may not get together, the bully, the insane teacher. But this being Insignia, we get a technological twist on all of these. For example, one of the assignments is to use viruses on your fellow classmates.

Tom, Vik, Wyatt and Yuri make a great friendship group. Vik especially knows what to say, what to do, and the one that everyone loves. I’d love to be part of this world just so I oculd have friends like these.

I don’t normally enjoy romance, but Wyatt and Yuri make such a perfect pair. Yuri, with all the suspicion surrounding him due to his Russian background, and his misunderstanding at most things, at least in the first part, makes you feel really sorry for him, and his fail attempts at chatting Wyatt up (partially due to her romantic obliviousness) adds to this. I love romantically awkward geniuses. 

The whole idea of Tom falling for Chinese soldier Medusa was slightly predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. It’s really interesting seeing romances form when you can’t tell who you’re talking to and so on. 

The technology in this is mindblowing. Anything can happen. We start learning that all military personnel have computers implanted, meaning they can process large amounts of information quickly, and pick up on details such as names and ranks of everyone nearby.  This can also be used in a darker way, with Tom’s computer being used against him later on. Also-an entire war fought in space-how amazing is that? There were times when I wondered how S.J. Kincaid got to the conclustion that America and India would form an alliance though...

There’s so many twists and turns that further the plot and character development. The sense of competition and high stakes is prevalent, and keeps your heart racing. Action happens on many levels, from interfriendship fights to world war scale.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a great mix of action, technology, and friendship.

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

Book Review- Shift by Kim Curran

Title: Shift

 Author: Kim  Curran

Series:  N/A

Published:  4 September 2012 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 416 pages

Warnings: a lot of gore, 11+

Source: Publishers

Other info: Shift is Kim’s debut.

Summary : When your average, 16-year old loser, Scott Tyler, meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, he learns he's not so average after all. He's a 'Shifter'. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he's ever made. At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences. Shifting is going to get him killed. In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands.

Review: Scott Tyler is a Shifter. He's able to change any decision he's ever made and replace the time with a different set of event. He loves the idea, but soon realises that not all Shifters do so with the intention of winning a bet. A few Shifters have gone rogue and are trying to stop the deterioration of Shifting abilities after adolescene using really...unconventional methods.
The idea behind shifting is original and really really cool. It definitely gets you thinking, as does the prologue.
Things get going really quickly. Aubrey, ARES (the organisation that organises Shifters) and the concept of Shifting come in within the first 50 pages, and are easy to pick up.
The training/getting to grips with the powers takes up about half the book. It's definitely intriguing and nice to see him make friends with fellow Shifters and learn theory and whatnot, but there were times when I wanted the story to note on a little bit. And then it did. We get a short overview of the time, and then a the
mystery builds up with mysterious killings and Shifts to cover these up. Ooh. In terms of interest levels: high, then dip a little, then really up high until the end.
The characters are likable in various measures. Aubrey and Scott were good characters that kept you rooting for them. Benjo...I have no idea how to describe him. He's a little bit lovable, but really quite disgusting when you think about it. My favourite (collectively)has to be the group of Shifter kids. I would have liked to see a bit more
development from all of them though.
The writing was good, clearly conveying Scott's attitude to things. I love how Kim doesn't shy away from graphic descriptions. This book is not for the squeamish,especially round the halfway mark.
The ending was a bit sudden, but logical and really nice. It's sudden because everything's ramping up and you know there's only a couple of pages left but you can't see how it's going to end and then it does in a really awesome way.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a novel with a fun idea and a fast moving plot that
keeps you reading to the end.

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