Review of Tower of Parlen Min by Matt Xell

Ves Asirin wins a trip to the Tower of Parlen Min. There, with 19 other children, he competes in the Sword Challenge; a series of puzzles and tasks, for $12 million. As fantastic and glorious as the tower seems to be, Ves finds that it keeps a dark and secret history that he has been connected to for over 150 years, a secret that will define his destiny ... if he can escape 'The shadow'.

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Where to start with this particular book? Well, it's very, very long. It's taken me over a week to plug through it, usually it only takes me a day. I think my overall reaction is 'too much'. There's just a little bit too much of everything and it kinda spoiled my enjoyment of the story. The Sword Challenge is only a small part of many different things going on at once, I really enjoyed reading about that but then there was murders going on somewhere in the village and wolves attacking and family secrets and Ves's amnesia and first love...

In short, my brain is hurting. As I said, I really enjoyed the Sword Challenge and if it was me, I'd scrap all the extras and just focus on that and first love, just have one book. It would be shorter but not too short, certain things that annoyed me wouldn't happen and the book would get a nice simple 5* review and a physical copy purchase.

Stuff I did like without complaining: Ves's relationship with Vikey and Tammi was very cleverly written and it as fun watching Ves muddle his way through everything at the same time as dealing with his memory loss in a strange place. I would have liked to have seen more of the Tower and the Pirate Ship bits sounded awesome!

I'd highly recommend this to Harry Potter fans who can take in a lot of information at once.

3/5 

Received free from the Author in exchange for an honest review

Review of Allison Wonderland by Diana Caporaso

They are three teenagers of a lost generation. Brother and sister Jeremy and Zoey not only befriend Allison, they take over her life. In a world where parents don't understand and teachers don't care, Allison learns of many vices that teenagers use to block out the pain and hopelessness that they don't know how to handle. If Allison isn't strong enough to survive the wonderland that is the teenage years, her friends won't only teach her how to feel alive. They might just teach her how to die as well. 

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I decided to start reading this last night. Unfortunately I read the entire thing on my Kindle app without stopping so when I finished the book I had a rather large headache!

The story itself is very, very heavy for a short book. It covers drugs, drinking, incest, rape, self harm, suicide, pregnancy, sex, paedophillia, eating disorders, you get the idea.

Allison first meets Jeremy outside of school and the effect it has is similar to a car crash. She quickly spirals into a pattern of drug taking, self harm and Bulimia. I think this is partly because she wants Jeremy's attention and partly because she knows she can - her parents never notice her. She just gets worse and worse throughout the book, I think she's always been depressed due to her parents but after meeting Jeremy it really hits her how much her parents don't care.

Jeremy himself is a very messed up character. He messes Allison around a lot, saying he can't love her one moment and telling her he lives her the next day. He also is very short-tempered and easily jealous, he hates any guy talking to her. Zoey is on the same downward spiral that Jeremy is, she's very messed up but continues her schooling because she wants to get away from her hometown.

Despite the heaviness of the story, I really enjoyed reading it (well, I read the entire thing in one go, so of course I did!). The situations that Allison finds herself in feel very realistic and the writing style is brilliant, not one I'd expect from an Indie author. I don't think I found one spelling mistake in any part if it. It's also very cheap too - just 70p for the eBook on the Amazon UK site. If you do choose to review it, please pop by Goodreads - I believe there's only one other review on there!

5/5

Review of Exile by Rebecca Lim

Mercy Series Book 2

Mercy’s search continues ...

Mercy is an angel with a shattered memory, exiled from heaven for a crime she can’t remember committing.

So when she ‘wakes’ inside the body and life of eighteen-year-old Lela Neill, Mercy has only limited recall of her past life. Her strongest memories are of Ryan, the mortal boy who’d begun to fall for her – and she for him.

Mercy soon discovers that circumstances have forced Lela into waitressing at the Green Lantern, a busy city café frequented by suits, cab drivers, strippers, backpackers and the homeless, while caring for her terminally ill mother.

Just as Mercy is adjusting to Lela’s life, her beloved, Luc, reappears in her dreams, and she begins to glimpse her true nature and true feelings for Ryan. What she does not know is that her attempts to contact Ryan may have explosive consequences for everyone around her.

Meanwhile, ‘the Eight’ — the angelic beings responsible for her banishment — remain determined to keep Mercy and Luc apart, forever …

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Review of Shadowland by Alyson Noel

Immortals Series Book 3

Ever and Damen have traveled through countless past lives—and fought off the world’s darkest enemies—so they could be together forever.  But just when their long-awaited destiny is finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon Damen…one that could destroy everything.  Now a single touch of their hands or a soft brush of their lips could mean sudden death—plunging Damen into the Shadowland.   Desperate to break the curse and save Damen, Ever immerses herself in magick—and gets help from an unexpected source…a surfer named Jude.

Although she and Jude have only just met, he feels startlingly familiar.  Despite her fierce loyalty to Damen, Ever is drawn to Jude, a green-eyed golden boy with magical talents and a mysterious past.  She’s always believed Damen to be her soulmate and one true love—and she still believes it to be true.  But as Damen pulls away to save them, Ever’s connection with Jude grows stronger—and tests her love for Damen like never before...

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If Shadowland was part of a sandwich filling, it would be that bit of soggy lettuce that you don't really want, but decide to eat anyway. It wasn't the best book in the series and quite frankly, it's pretty boring. Unfortunately I wanted to get to the last book, so it needed to be read. I do love The Immortals series, purely for it's silliness (I'm not a Vampire! I have magick juice!) and hopefully the rest of the books will be better.

Ever is the main problem in this. She's developed a rather large ego and ignores everyone's advice, which just makes everything more awkward. She doesn't seem to realise she's immortal and has all the time in the world, she too focused on getting laid, to put it bluntly.

The addition of the twins was a nice one, as they were my favourite characters in the last book. They show their age more in this one and actually start acting like 13 year olds. This would be great but Ever just sees them as the second obstacle in the way of her, Damen and a large bed. The first one being your favourite creepy stalker that's about as scary as a Scottish Fold kitten, Roman. Roman does what he's good at in this - he turns up every so often, basically sings 'I've got the cure and you can't have it!' and disappears again. Only without the singing. And poor Ever. Not only dies she have to cope with Roman and the Twins but Sabine has a new boyfriend who's also Ever's teacher! They shouldn't be dating! It's gross! And Ever has to get a job with a really hot surfer guy! How Ever* will she cope?

*Pun intended.

3/5

Review of One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

My name is Ruby.
This book is about me.
It tells the deeply hideous story
of what happens when my mother dies
and I'm dragged three thousand miles away
from my gorgeous boyfriend, Ray,
to live in L.A. with my father,
who I've never even met
because he's such a scumbag that he
divorced my mom before I was born.
The only way I've ever even seen him
is in the movies,
since he's this megafamous actor
who's been way too busy
trying to win Oscars
to even visit me once in fifteen years.
Everyone loves my father.
Everyone but me.

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I saw a review of this on another blog and I was quite intrigued by the title. I'm used to titles with no more than three words! Anyway, I decided to read the review and upon discovering that it was told in poetry style, like Ellen Hopkins, I immediately swapped all my SwagBucks for a £5 Amazon voucher and waited eagerly for it to arrive. Which was today... I had to read this!

I wasn't disappointed. One Of Those... is a great fluffy read, rather quick and I was left with a feeling I can only describe as satisfied. I blame the quote on the cover. The tale focuses mainly on the poetry format but it's also told through letters and e-mails sent between Ruby, the main character, Lizzie, Ruby's best friend and Ray, Ruby's boyfriend. I found Ruby's voice fantastically hilarious at times and I'm guilty of reading many snippets out to my OH!

I did feel sorry for Whip, Ruby's Dad, quite a lot through this. Before she had even met him she had him pegged as an asshole without getting his side of the story. As soon as she turns up he tries to make her as happy as possible but she's not interested in the slightest. Ruby is really hurting after losing her mom though, and I felt sorry for her, being stuck in an alien environment with no-one she knows to grieve with.

There were parts of this that were a little silly and a little predictable but I feel that that's a good thing and it compliments this fluffy read nicely. I definitely will be buying more from Sonya and re-reading this a lot! If you liked Ellen Hopkins but want something a little shorter and not as heavy, I'd definitely recommend this.

5/5

Review of Small Blue Thing by S.C. Ransom

Celebrating the end of exams with best friend Grace, 17 year-old Alex rescues a swan caught on a wire in the Thames mud and finds an extraordinary bracelet. Through its disturbing and compelling powers, she finds Callum, a soul locked in a half-life of sadness and mystery following a terrible accident, and his persuasive and sinister sister, Catherine. As Alex and Callum grow closer despite the enormous obstacles to their love, the dangers mount until Alex must risk everything to save Grace and Callum must risk everything to save Alex.

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Review of Wuthering Hearts by Kay Woodward

When Robert arrives in town with his film-star looks and mysterious background, he sends Emily's heart a-flutter. It's almost enough to take her mind off this year's school play... miserable old Wuthering Heights. Urgh. But Robert wastes no time in stamping all over Emily's dreams. Is there no escape from his spectacular mean 'n' moodiness? While Emily is trying to make up her mind what she really thinks of the new boy, no one else stands a chance.
It was never this tricky for Cathy and Heathcliff.

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After reading a lot of YA, this cute fluffy book was the perfect next read for me. Although it's blatantly obvious it's aimed at younger readers, I still found it appealing and easily got lost in the story. Kay's writing fits the style of the book but it's not patronising or tries to act too young, like I've noticed with other books. There's plenty of humour and mix ups too, plus a brooding love interest to throw in to the mix. A particularly interesting thing for me was this book's setting West Yorkshire, in the UK. Why? Because I live there! This definitely helped me connect to the story easier.

Emily is your usual sort of teen girl - she lives with her father and her sister after her parents divorce and has ambitions to become an actress. She meets Robert for the first time when she's complaining about the choice of Wuthering Heights for the school play and develops a crush on him. She's desperate to become Cathy in the school play because acting's her thing but this quickly changes when she realises she wants to be Heathcliff's (Robert's) Cathy. She tries to be nice to Robert, thinking he needs cheering up but he always brushes her off or glares at her. Will she ever be able to be at least friends with him?

Shuffle along Jacqueline Wilson, this author knows what teens actually do these days. I thought the mentions of Facebook and Edward Cullen were quite fun and I think teens can easily relate to that. This book is perfect for teen girls and the young at heart, where you can follow Emily as she deals with her first crush and discovering love for the first time. Emily has a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and it was a little nerve wracking wondering if she would get with Robert, who kept getting more annoyed with her everytime she did something a little silly.

5/5

Received free form Andersen Press in exchange for an honest review

Review Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

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I was so excited to get a copy of this as this is my favourite type of book: nice flat spine, a secret signature underneath the cover, thick pages that smell amazing, filled to the brim with photos and illustrations and the start of each chapter has a different patterned page. In short, a book made with a lot of love. Of course, all this work is useless if the story isn't as good but for me the story was just as rich and delightful as the book!

The narrator of this gripping and mysterious tale is Jacob. The story starts when Jacob is a young boy, listening to fantastic tales by his Grandfather, of Miss Peregrine and her Peculiar Children. He believes every word about the levitating girl, the invisible boy and many other children who lived with Miss Peregrine, but as he grows up he realises that what his Grandfather has been telling him might not be real after all. Then the worst happens - Jacob's Grandfather dies and he's left with many unanswered questions. So he decides to find the old house and see if he can find his answers.

I loved every word of this book, just as Jacob loved every word of his Grandfather's tales. It drove me insane wondering if the children were real or not and I was so happy when my questions were answered! There's many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting and I enjoyed the book even more for them. I did find that Jacob seemed to act a little older than his age (16) but that may be because I'm used to YA books written by women who use a different tone. The tone of this book is quite gothic and mysterious and I even felt a slight chill down my spine when I read it! Thankfully it didn't keep me awake though! Miss Peregrine is definitely a book that both teens and adults can enjoy and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes spooky tales. I believe there's a sequel in the works, which I can't wait for!

5/5

Received free from Quirk Publishing in exchange for an honest review

Review of Raven Queen by Pauline Francis

I have lived the life of a princess since the day I was born. But it did not bring me what I wanted. I am still trapped. My beloved Ned speaks of love, freedom, a future. To walk with him in the forest, our raven soaring above us, is my only joy. But my father plans that I shall be betrothed to the King and I am afraid. Queens of England have a habit of dying. I have no desire to take the throne, no wish to find myself in the Tower of London. Wife, Queen - I fear it will bring me to my knees.

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Raven is the vividly descriptive tale of the few months leading up to Lady Jane Grey's death. Adding a love interest, the narration switches between Ned, a Catholic, and Jane, a Protestant. Readers get a glimpse of what Jane's life might have been like before she got caught up in the politics of her world and became a tool of her parents. Jane saves Ned after he is hanged, and finds him work. They fall in love but their love is doomed from the start.

Lady Jane Grey is a part of history, and she's always fascinated me. So I picked this book up eagerly, hoping I had found a new Historical Author to fan girl over. Sadly, it wasn't to be. I was very disappointed by this book. I never understand why or how Jane and Ned fell in love in the first place, as we're never told. I couldn't connect to the book at all. This is just part of what annoyed me. It needed more detail. The book is very quick to get through, which is probably why everything went so quickly. Another problem was the Historical accuracy. Ned's character didn't seem very realistic at all and when it got to the end of the book, everything got really silly. I can't really go into specifics due to spoilers. Back to Historical accuracy. Everyone knows Jane was executed in private but it seems that in this book she's outside.

Considering this is my first read of a book by this Author, I'm a little wary of reading any more by her but I would like to have a go at one or two.

2/5

Review of Pretty Twisted by Gina Blaxill

Ros has a secret crush on Jonathan. Jonathan is massively hung up on Freya (even after she dumps him). And Freya? Well, Freya is a beautiful enigma. Even more so when she goes missing without a trace..."Pretty Twisted" is narrated in alternating chapters by Jonathan (16) and Ros (14) who meet online at a time when things are going sour for Jonathan. His stunning girlfriend, Freya, is away at college and they are growing apart - consequently, he is struggling with his own sense of identity. Ros is also experiencing some problems - one of her friends is dating an older man whose strange behaviour gives Ros cause for concern. Meanwhile, the local news has been reporting some kidnappings of teenage girls. So when Freya dumps Jonathan, then seems to disappear off the face of the earth, he enlists Ros' (somewhat reluctant) help in tracking down the girl he still loves. With danger lurking around every corner, their stories become inextricably linked in a way nobody could have predicted...

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Pretty Twisted is Gina's debut Young Adult novel and it's pretty good read too. The story is told from two people's POV's - Jono, who is obsessed with his missing girlfriend, Freya, and Ros, who is younger than Jono at 14 but in many ways she is much wiser. Finding themselves drawn to each other they try to find out where Freya has gone. There's a lot of suspenseful moments in this, which I enjoyed and I liked working out the culprit and finding out what happened to Freya.

 However, this book was a little painful to read near the end because there's so many moments that are painfully obvious and very over-done. I found the ending a bit too pretty and I never understood why one if the missing girl's name was never mentioned. Despite this, I really liked the character development. Ros was very easy to relate and despite her age, which everyone never shut up about, she was much more mature than Jono, who spent most of his time whining about Freya. Normally I would find this annoying but I felt as if I could understand why Jono acted the way he did.

Freya was rather strange. She was very much a background character and yet at the same time she was central to the plot. I never did understand her character.

3/5

Received free from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Review of Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson

The turnkey pushed Hannah into the cell, and clanged the door shut behind her. Hannah’s eyes stung and she felt a heavy churning in her belly. The smell of urine, vomit, sweat and rotting flesh was overpowering, and she broke out in a hot, prickly sweat, despite the icy night.

1814, London Town. Hannah Cheshire - wealthy and spoiled - has fallen from grace. Punishment: transportation to the colony of New South Wales.

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When I first saw this book, I knew I had to read it, just from seeing the cover alone. I wasn't disappointed - this extraordinary historical tale with a fairytale feel to it blew me away. I finished this in a few hours as I couldn't stop reading.

Right from the start the book hooked me, by not letting me know how Hannah ended up in Newgate. Instead, it starts when Hannah is in Newgate, and starts to tell you how she ended up there, which was a great way to grab my attention and made me want to read more. After prison, Hannah is transported to New South Wales and a lot of pages (around 100, probably more) is dedicated to life on the ship, which I usually find boring. However, due to the people on the ship and the bizarre goings-on there, I wasn't bored at all!

There's a lot of things in this book that are quite shocking, but I'm glad they're there, as they made the story feel more realistic. I loved that when Hannah was in London I felt as if I was in a fairytale world, which is what she saw it as. Then when the story moved onto the gaol and the ship, I felt as if I could really understand just how disgusting the accommodations where and how much Hannah went through.

There's a lot of really strong characters in this, that really stand out. One in particular was Dr Ullathorne who was just repulsive and I spent a lot of time hoping for him to get his. I also loved Molly, the street child with a melted face. She was really sweet and kept Hannah going throughout the journey. Another favourite was Long Meg, who befriended Hannah back in Newgate and looks after her. Long Meg is a typical London girl, very ballsy and she's not afraid to speak her mind, which added a lot of comedy to the tale.

Hannah herself was less likeable than the others, due to how she was brought up. She's a great character, she looks after Molly and she isn't afraid to stand for what's right but she has moments where she wants impossible things to be true and she can act quite spoilt too. I think the journey was quite good for her though, as she learnt a lot along the way.

5/5

Review of Hourglass by Myra McEntire

One hour to rewrite the past . . .
 
For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

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This wasn't a book that's been at the top of my wishlist, in fact it's not even on it. After reading this stunning debut, I'm really regretting that. Although I admit that the cover really put me off, it's pretty creepy to look at, even if it's memorable!

I devoured every bit of this story and I enjoyed every bit. I loved all of the characters, even the love interest, Michael! Emerson and Michael really connected with each other, and I liked that he tried to follow the rules set by Emerson's brother as it added a lot of romantic tension between them both. I love the twists and turns and surprises in this, as well a solid explanation as to why Emerson and Michael are so infatuated with each other, instead of the usual, 'He's just so darn hot!' one.

I really enjoyed reading about Emerson's past and how she deals with the ghosts that haunt her. She's a pretty strong character and has been through a lot after her parent's deaths, including being admitted in a mental facility because of the ghosts. I thought the idea of sticking your hand through the middle of the ghost was pretty funny, especially when Emerson punched Michael in the stomach. You know, just to be sure!

Although time travel is hardly a unique idea, this story felt really unique to me. The Hourglass team are kind of like time-manipulating X-Men! There's plenty of storylines that can be done with this and I'm hoping there will be sequel as I'd love to read more and there were a couple of things that weren't quite cleared up. The main storyline was cleared up nicely though and the story ended really well, I just want more!

5/5

Received free from a blogger who has now closed her blog, in exchange for an honest review.