The Girl at Midnight

The Girl at Midnight – Melissa Grey

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Echo has grown up as part of the Avicen. The Avicen are a strange species that are feathered and magical, but are unfortunately at war with the Drakharin. Legend states that the ‘Firebird’ will put a stop to this war, it’s just proven impossible to find; that is, until now. Echo stumbled across the Firebird, but what happens when the Firebird isn’t a what, but rather… a who?

I wanted desperately to like this one; after reading so many good reviews on Goodreads I was excited to sit down and give it a go. Unfortunately, I was really, really disappointed. It feels wrong to disagree with all those good reviews on Goodreads, reviews from seasoned readers, but I really don’t understand the hype. I started reading this book this morning, and I knew that if I stopped, I probably wouldn’t talk myself into picking it up again so read it straight through to the end.

Plot wise, it’s like something I’ve read over, and over, and over again. Credit to the author for immensely immersive descriptive writing, I could picture the locations in my head which helped to draw me in a little. Ultimately, descriptive writing wasn’t enough to change my views.

I liked Echo. At times she was annoying and childish which helped to remind the reader that she was only seventeen despite being wise beyond her years. Sadly, she was the only character I really took to.

Finally, I found it very ‘wordy’. I like to think I have a good level of education (especially seeing as I work in the education sector!), so often lengthy words and complex language doesn’t phase me; but here, it seems unnecessarily wordy. When the authors chosen such complex names, it would have been easier to digest if the language wasn’t as complex too, because at times it felt more of a chore to read than actually enjoy.

★★

Sock Zoo

Sock zoo.

I hate wearing socks. HATE. I know it’s strange, but socks make my toes feel trapped. So by wearing animal socks… socks become more friendly for my toes. I’ve told people this before and they’ve look at me with the ‘oh my dear lord, you are a freak’ sort of look; I guess I am a freak, but at least I’m a happy-toed freak. I’ve lost count of how many pairs of animal socks I own, but my sock drawer resembles a zoo. On adventurous days, I wear odd socks; my left foot might be an owl, whilst my right foot might be a tiger. I’m twenty-five… animal socks are totally acceptable for adults, right?

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl – Paige McKenzie

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, may I apologize in advance for silly spelling or grammatical errors that may appear in this post. I had an accident involving my car wing mirror, glass, and my hand… which means I am now covered in bright blue plasters; making typing harder than usual (you know it’s bad when even spell checker has no idea what you’re trying to say!)

Sunshine has just moved to Ridgemont from Texas as her mum has been offered a new job, leaving behind her best friend (if not only friend). As if moving wasn’t stressful enough, the house she has moved in to is right up there on the creep scale. Phantom footsteps, giggling and toys that move (and not in a friendly Toy Story-esque way) plague Sunshine in her new home. She soon finds friendship in a boy at school, Nolan, and together they start an unbelievable battle to save her mothers life from the unknown.

I felt the book had a slow start. So slow that I couldn’t force myself to read more than a few pages at a time. For someone that easily reads around 100 pages a night to wind down, reading so little and not being drawn in was unusual. Eventually, I had a stern word with myself and forced myself to sit down and give the book a good go, and I’m genuinely glad I did.

Young adult novels are one my favourite genres. I’ve not dabbled much in the paranormal sub-genre so I was unsure of what to expect. Having loved Goosebumps as a child (I would happily go back and read them all again!), I thought this might be a slightly more adult choice, and I could get away with reading it in public without people giving me the ‘you are way too old to be reading that book’ look. Did I find it scary? No. There were points in the book which were so well written and thought out that it genuinely had me on the edge of my seat, but I was never scared. I think to be more successful, increasing the spookiness would have been essential. I know this is aimed at young adults and we don’t want to scare the kids, but if you’re going to market a book around the paranormal and hauntings; then some form of spookiness is expected.

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl had very few characters; but this worked very, very well. Having few characters meant that we could form almost personal relationships with them, as we grew to know and understand them as the novel progressed. I rooted for Sunshine throughout, and when Nolan was introduced I rooted that a relationship would form (everyone loves the nerdy, awkward girl getting the boy – right?).

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl is apparently based on a YouTube series, which to be honest, I’ve never heard of. After reading the book I am more inclined to maybe give them a shot and see if they give any hints of what’s to come, as I don’t know if I can wait until the next book comes out to see whether Sunshine and Nolan end up together.

★★★

Fat Girl

Fat Girl – Susan Bodiker

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I desperately wanted this to be a good read. As a former fatty (I say former, but at the rate I’m going… I will need to be rekindling my relationship with the gym and breaking up with McDonalds), I like to read about turmoils of being overweight; it’s something I can relate to, and something that genuinely touches me. Unfortunately, I really didn’t enjoy this, so much so that I very nearly forgot about my ‘never give up on a book’ rule. I wanted to stop, but my rule meant I had to carry on.

On NetGalley this book was categorized as a self help book and a teen & YA book. I thought this would mean that it would be easy for young adults to relate to, not full of lengthy words. I also thought that it would be written in a way that would appeal to a younger audience, more light-hearted and fun to read, this wasn’t the case. It felt overly structured, full of ‘tips’ that to be entirely honest – I’ve read on the internet over, and over, and over again. The book offered me nothing new, so to me, it was boring. I don’t like giving bad reviews for books, people have put a lot of time and effort in to writing them, but I just couldn’t think of good things to write about this one. My only hope is that people less aware of weight loss self-help tips than myself, may find it useful.

★

Mind Games

Mind Games – Terri Terry

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Luna lives in a world that is much more technologically advanced than what we have today. A world where you have both the real world and the virtual world. It’s possible to do pretty much anything in the virtual world such as; lessons, take part in virtual reality games, communicate with peers without ever having to leave the house – this all sounds pretty awesome, right? But what happens when this virtual world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, what happens when a technology company such as PareCo are selecting the brightest students and harnessing their brain power in the most… dangerous of ways?

First of all, the front cover I absolutely loved. I’m afraid I’m one of those annoying people who ‘judge a book by it’s cover’, and boy am I glad I did! I’m not sure I should so happily admit that I didn’t bother reading the information about this book on NetGalley before requesting to read it… but I didn’t. I requested it purely on the way it looked. Luckily, the novel lived up to the high expectations that the cover left me with.

I don’t want to go too much into the twists and turns of the plot, but in very simplistic terms; Mind Games follows ‘Luna’ who is a refuser of this new technology. This is because she has a secret, when she enters the virtual world, she is still completely aware of the real world too – something that hardly anyone else could even comprehend. This makes her a highly interesting character for the company PareCo who request that she is sent for tests. PareCo are not as friendly as they initially seem to be and the work that goes on at their headquarters is of great concern, but is Luna able to stop it?

I liked Lunas character a lot. In fact, I liked most of the characters. The detail in which Teri Terry goes in to aids to create a highly visual novel. I could literally paint the pictures in my head from the words written on the page. This gave me a deep understanding of the book, and I felt involved.

The pace of the book worked fairly well. I feel as if Teri did a marvelous job at descriptive writing and using huge amounts of detail, but this seemed to stop towards the end. To me, the ending seemed rushed. It even left some unanswered questions in my head, which I wouldn’t mind if the book was a part of a series, but I’ve read on GoodReads that it is actually a standalone book. This annoys me and leaves me with a sort of ‘book hangover’, I don’t like unanswered questions, and this just amplifies my thoughts on the rushed ending.

★★★

Love Bomb

Love Bomb – Jenny McLachlan

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Betty is an awkward fifteen year old girl. Her mother passed away when she was young, leaving her with her dad. A loving dad, but when it comes to boy issues, mums know best. A new boy at school has Betty in a muddle, she’s convinced she loves him, but maybe who she really loves is someone a lot closer to home?

This is the second book in the ladybirds series, I hadn’t read the first but I didn’t feel like I had missed out on any important information by not doing so. Love Bomb is a young adult novel focusing on the turmoils of teenage love. I managed to finish the book in a couple of hours, which was perfect for me. Sometimes I enjoy a good book that makes me think and takes time to process the text, and other times I like books where I don’t have to think at all; this was certainly the latter. Admittedly, the book was aimed at someone younger than myself, at twenty-five years old I found it quite childlike, but again, I quite liked that for a Sunday afternoon read.

Betty’s character was odd. She was quirky. Although fifteen, I would have guessed that she was a lot younger. She had dealt with the loss of a parent in her life, as someone who’s also dealt with a loss like this it was quite refreshing to read and be able to understand how she felt. I loved how Betty received letters and was able to grow up with a bit of her mum still there, this genuinely evoked a fair bit of emotion from me.

I’m fairly new to this reading business, so I haven’t read a huge amount of young adult novels to worry about predictability; but unfortunately, I guessed what was going to happen as soon as we were properly introduced to the character Bill. Ultimately, I would have much preferred that this was a surprise or a twist, but I guess ‘knowing’ didn’t take away from what was to come. I was compelled to read more to end the ‘will they, won’t they’ thoughts I had.

A cute, quick and easy read.

★★★★

Denton Little’s Deathdate

Denton Little’s Deathdate – Lance Rubin

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine a world where you knew the date that you will die, a world where you can attend your own funeral; Denton Little lives in that world. He has lived his life knowing that he will never make it past his teenage years, in fact, he’ll die on the day of his senior prom. How would you spend your final days if you knew they were going to be your last? Who would you spend it with? Could you come to terms with knowing that today will be your last?

Wow. It’s rare that I find a book that I genuinely couldn’t fault. Usually I find books have a lull, resulting in me becoming bored; this was not the case with Denton Little’s Deathdate – I could not put it down. From start to finish I was captivated by every.single.word.

Denton Little’s Deathwish is primarily a young adult novel, but it could fit in so many other categories such as science fiction, comedy and even romance. This makes it sound confusing, but it isn’t. The genre-blurring makes an interesting and captivating read, it doesn’t get boring, when you’re becoming customised to one genre, it switches to another and draws you right back in.

I liked every, single, character. Something that rarely happens. It was hard not to like Denton, sure he made mistakes, what teenage boy doesn’t? But overall, he was likable, courageous, and I genuinely felt empathy and almost a sense of pride when he tried not to ‘waste his death’ and complimented others.

Admittedly, I kind of guessed what the twist would be at the end of the book. Did this spoil it for me? Surprisingly, no. If anything, I was more excited to get to the end to ensure my theory was correct and to see how Denton would react to it. I genuinely cannot wait for the next book in this series, and it will be one that I will buying to take pride position on my bookshelf.

★★★★★

All That Glitters

Geek Girl 4 All That Glitters – Holly Smale

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Harriet Manners is back in England. She’s broken up with her model boyfriend, and has stopped receiving calls from her modelling agent herself. It’s now time to focus on school with people who are just like her; eager to learn. What could possibly go wrong?

I have never read of heard of the geek girl series. I am fairly new to the world of books, but when I received the chance to read All That Glitters I was very excited as the series gets a lot of praise on Goodreads. I had high expectations. Expectations that unfortunately, weren’t met. I just didn’t enjoy it.

I’m not the typical target audience of this book, but I love young adult reads. I like the simplicity of them, the ease of reading, and the fact that I don’t have to over-think them; but with All That Glitters, I found it painfully simple and painfully predictable. I knew exactly what was going to happen throughout the story by about quarter of the way in. This spoiled it for me. There was no element of surprise, no twist and nothing to make me stop and think ‘wow, I didn’t expect that’.

 I guess for a younger reader it would have been pretty enjoyable, the story is easy to follow and at times, interesting.

I feel very guilty giving this, this rating because of the rave reviews on sites such as Goodreads, but it just wasn’t for me.

★★

Liccle Bit

Liccle Bit – Alex Whatle

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lemar is known as ‘Liccle Bit’ on his estate. He’s small in size, but that’s the only thing small about him. What he lacks in height, he makes up for in ambition, talent, and drive. That is until he gets himself mixed up with the gang culture that surrounds him. A truly impressive young adult read that highlights the pressures that youths face in today’s society.

I requested to read this book because I liked the cover. I know you should never judge a book by it’s cover, but this black on yellow ensemble really caught my attention; and I’m glad it did. Admittedly, I wasn’t impressed with the name of the book prior to reading it. I couldn’t get my head around why the author had chosen to use the word ‘Liccle’ instead of little, to me, it sounded childish. My opinion on this changed completely once I started reading. The language in this book is incredible. The way the author has captured how youths speak to each other, their slang, and the reality of conversations is something that I’ve never seen done as well as in this book. This dialogue and language kept me captivated from start to finish.

Characters were likable, I liked Lemar; I liked how he knew the difference between right and wrong but suffered with the internal battles between doing the right thing with the fears of what the consequences would be. I believe this book is a truthful insight to what many youths who are still involved with gang culture may go through on a day to day basis.

A truly captivating read, that I had finished in one sitting.

★★★★★