Book Review-Undone by Cat Clarke

Advance warning- the review is 700 words, 250 of which are ranting. 

Title: Undone

 Author:  Cat Clarke

Series:  N/A

Published:  31 January 2013 by Quercus

Length: 502 pages

Warnings: rape, suicide, homophobia, violence.

Source: library

Other info: Cat has also written Entangled and Torn, which I reviewed here and here.

Summary : Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend. Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it.
Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online ... and he kills himself.
Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down. 

Review: Jem loves Kai. Kai doesn’t love her back, because he’s gay. She’s ok with this. Fastforward a few years, when he gets outed via internet video, and he receives a lot of hate mail. And he kills himself. A month later, Jem is ready to do the same, when she receives an envelope. It’s a year’s wotrth of letters from Kai, challenging her to do things and live life to the full. While following them, Jem decides to also find out who drove Kai to his death, and to get her revenge.

I’m going to start by saying that I didn’t cry at this *ducks from people calling me heartless* I got pretty damn close when reading Kai’s letters, which were by far the best thing about Undone. They were so raw and emotional and real and you really get a sense of Kai, even though he’s dead for the majority of the book. you can just imagine him sitting there, and what he’s going through, and how hard it is. The fact that they were handwritten, inconsistent and smudged, makes it all the more intimate and real.

The supporting characters in Undone were all seen in a really negative light to start with, but you started to like them more and more as you got to know them and form opinions of your own of them. They also developed quite nicely. Bugs, I didn’t have good or  bad feelings for, and I think he got off relatively lightly in Jem’s revenge plan.  Lucas wasn’t too bad either. Stu wasn’t that nice, but he is really badly affected by Jem. Sasha was my favourite living character, as she did seem genuinely nice and undeserving of what happened to her. Though to be honest, all the teens in Undone deserve a good slap at some point.

The characters were all well written and real. The social dynamics seemed quite real and full. I can’t say I approve of these people’s views on sex. The girls feel they’re there for the boys, and throw sex at everyone. But hey, it’s their views. Not mine. But it does say something about gender power among teens.

I love Cat. She’s a really nice person, from the one time I met her and her happenings on the interweb. And her style is beautiful, as always. So, realistic characters, beautiful but horrible set up, huge issues tackled and amazing writing. Why doesn’t this get five stars or more?

It’s Jem. To start with, I felt bad for her, what with her terrible month since her best friend killed himself and her being ready to do the same. She was trying to change herself and get on with life, and I respected her for that. She takes the plan to get revenge on whovever did what they did, showing she’s proactive and disabled. And then she changed so much. She wasn’t being true to herself, and she knew it.

I can just about deal with that. What I can’t deal with what she does around the 200 page mark. The three little words. And the spreading rumours, not little ones like with  Bugs, but big ones. And they seriously affect the person they’re about. And the subject matter. These two actions made me lose all empathy,  care and respect for Jem. And shout at her. “YOU DO NOT F**KING JOKE SLASH LIE ABOUT STUFF LIKE THAT. THAT IS DISREPECTFUL AND SERIOUS and if you can throw that around I cannot care for you.” *I'll save my thoughts on rape in culture and YA fiction for another day* 

I do love characters that develop. Jem most certainly did. I like characters that go up and down the morality scale-it did no harm for my love of Dorian Gray. But Jem did not so much slip, she was slightly wobbling and then she  fell at terminal velocity. And she changed beyond recognition. And I just cannot fully enjoy a book with a character that I hate so much. Even with an ending like that.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a beautiful emotional book, that I just couldn’t fully love due to its main character.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Tour Review- Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Title: Saving June

 Author: Hannah Harrington

Series:  N/A

Published:  1 June 2012

Length: 336 pages

Warnings: (safe) sex, smoking, drinking other things, mature 13+

Source: Publishers

Other info: This is Hannah’s debut novel.  Her second book, Speechless, should be published later on this year in the USA.

Summary : ‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’ Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why. When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going, California.  Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.  Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down again.

Review: June's the perfect one in the family. But that still doesn't stop her killing herself, leaving her family to pick up the pieces. Harper, the sister, isn't happy with the way the ashes are treated, and so she decides to take the ashes to California-where June always wanted to go. Along with musician Jake, best friend Laney and a few people they meet along the way, Harper goes on a journey for both her sister and herself.

This wasn't one I'd normally pick up. But there were many great reviews for this. So I decided to give it a try. And I'm really glad I did.

It's easy to get into the setting of this, to pick up what's happened, and the general tone of the book.

I liked Harper throughout, and she handles everything really well. Jake is a  really nice boy, with a different taste in music and generally really kind and caring for Harper. Laney was her own character, very different, and great to read about.

I really feel like I want to see more of June. Yes, she’s dead, and yes, there’s a little closure. But it would be nice to know what led her to suicide, and everything else.

The writing was full and kept you just wanting to know more. Or maybe that’s the plot. Either way, I really didn’t want to stop reading this.

The music side was a nice element. To me, music is a big part of life, and I think it is for most teenagers. The music covered in this book was different to what we normally think of when you think teenagers, but it worked for this. I’ve currently listened to the first playlist and love how it fits in with things. I definitely need to get round to the others.

This book handles death in a completely different way to the way I read the most of the time. This is one of the few books that presents it in a more realistic, calmed down way, that I still enjoy.  It’s presented through the eyes of someone who doesn’t understand why her sister killed herself, and it’s really easy to feel for her. It’s presented really maturely, and in a sensible way that fits the tone of the novel.

The other side things were handled well too. Sex, drinking, smoking. Because that’s what teens do. Everything about this book seemed natural. Jake and Harper having sex was a natural progression in their relationship, the dropping in on a gig because they were passing by, the meeting people from pasts. It all worked and fitted together nicely.  

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a powerful book that takes you on a journey on many different levels.

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