Review of Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis

Something lives deep in the forest... something that has not been seen on Callum's farm for over a hundred years.

Callum and Iona make a promise to keep their amazing discovery secret, but can they keep it safe from harm?

The pact they make will change lives forever.

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Sky Hawk is quite a rich book, filled with vivid descriptions of Callum's world. Callum lives in a village in Scotland and his family own a farm. Like most kids he's interested in the latest technology and hanging round with his friends. He first meets Iona when she's trying to catch a fish, on Callum's land. Well, his father's. Callum's friends, particularly Rob, weren't very interesting or likeable to me but I did start to like them more as the story went on.

I really liked Iona's character. She was a cute kid and seemed to be a pretty good artist too. I felt sorry for her because she was bullied so much by her other classmates, even Callum ignored her when he was in school. She's a social outcast and lives with her mad old drunk grandfather, who has a habit of turning up to school in his pyjamas. I do think that Callum's family should have tried to help her out more, as she clearly ahd to do all of the housework etc. by herself.

About half way through something terrible happens that had me yelling about it on Twitter. I'm still not sure why it happened, as I think Callum would have done the same thing had it not happened. You try reviewing without spoilers when you need to talk about something spoilerish. It gets confusing! Anyway, I hated it.

I liked that I got to read about a girl in a dire situation, in another country. I felt really added to the story and it kept me reading. The ending finishes off perfectly and I'd really like to read more from this promising author! I love the cover too, it's difficult to take your eyes off of it. I think this book is definitely one for fans of Michael Morpurgo, which is handy because his quote is on the cover!


4/5

Received free from OUP in exchange for an honest review

Review of Alis by Naomi Rich

At fourteen, Alis has never been outside her strict religious community. But when her parents arrange for her to marry a forty-year-old man, she flees desperately to the dangerous, unfamiliar city. She learns quickly that the only way to survive there is to become a thief?or worse. Facing an impossible choice between a forced marriage or life on the streets, Alis seizes control of her own fate. But the path she chooses sets off a disastrous chain of events that leave her accused of murder. Steadfastly loyal, Alis must decide: will she betray a loved one or sacrifice herself?

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It's difficult to know what to say about Alis. It's not really bad but it's not really good either. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading but some of the plot seemed a little unrealistic, like how quickly Alis found her brother. Another thing that put me off was that it kept skipping. Not a day or two, quite frequently weeks and months had gone by. I wouldn't mind this but the plot didn't really let me getting settled into any particular part of Alis' life before skipping again and I found it quite difficult to connect with Alis' character due to this.

The world that Alis was in didn't feel real to me. This may be because when Alis journey's from one place or another, she'd get in the wagon and BAM we're there. I wanted to get a feel for the city but again, due to the skipping I didn't learn much. As it seems to be a historical world unlike ours, that really didn't help. Although it felt very American. I no idea what the date was supposed to be or anything.

The only character in this story that seemed to have any substance was the Minister. He was very kind to Alis, considering she was quite horrible to him, even though he clearly wanted to be in that situation as much as she did. Other characters, like Ethan, Luke and Joel should have been memorable but due to the sheer lack of conversation (especially Joel, I remember him speaking once), I'm already forgetting them. I'm not even sure why Alis and Luke love each other. They just do.

There was just a general lack of detail that made the story feel a little washed out, like a painting that someone had done but hadn't bothered to colour it in properly. I don't think it will be a story that I will still be thinking about in months to come.

2/5

Received free from Andersen Press in exchange for an honest review 

Review of The Legend of the Oceina Dragon by J.F. Jenkins

Darien Oceina is the youngest son of the Great Dragon Lord of the Water. For years he¹s loved and cherished Tai Dawson from afar. Tai is a simple, ordinary girl who doesn¹t even know Darien exists. On his eighteenth birthday, he chooses her as his wife. But there’s one problem: She thinks his choice means she¹s going to be offered as a sacrifice to the Dragon Lord, but instead, she’s forced to move to his home, far away, to give up her life and be his bride.

When she first sees Darien after the ceremony, she doesn’t expect to feel anything but hatred toward him. The two are struggling with the complications of a new marriage when their nation is attacked by a rival dragon species. Together they learn to love one another while they struggle to stay one step ahead in a game where the prize is their survival.

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I'm not sure what to think of this book. When I started it I liked that it read the same as a fairy tale story but it went downhill after the first chapter I really started to hate it. Then, around page 110 I started to enjoy it again. It was really bizarre.

The writing style (barring the first chapter) is okay but needs some work. I just wanted... more? I'd just be getting into a chapter and then it would skip to the next, and it would be a day, a week later and that made it difficult to connect with the story. I'd class this as older YA as it feels more adult (plus there's sex in it). The story ends on a cliff-hanger and I have to admit that books that do this are really starting to annoy me.

Tai was an interesting character. One minute she's yelling at Darien for kidnapping her, the next she's humping him. Stockholm Syndrome? The story is really lacking in plot for a good 70 pages; I can't even remember what happened. I wanted to read about Tai settling in, getting to know the characters more. Apart from Tai and Darien, I never really understood any of the other characters as they didn't say much.

The breeding and birth was an... interesting... one. To be honest, I've never read anything so bizarre in my life, apart from Breaking Dawn. There are no graphic descriptions of birth of sex but if you read this you'll get what I mean.

The dragon politics and the possibility of war was one I'd not normally read a book for but in this it really felt like the plot was actually moving somewhere! Until it stopped dead and now I have to read the next one to find out what happens.

3/5

Received free from BLB Blog Tours in exchange for an honest review

Review of Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

No, I don't understand this cover either.

Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant's body in a rich lady's coffin. Following the advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think of to give something at least to the little baby who died at birth, and to avoid the ignominy of a pauper's grave. Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Emmeline Unwin and Mr James Solent. These two characters will have a profound affect upon Grace's life. But Grace doesn't know that yet. For now, she has to suppress her grief and get on with the business of living: scraping together enough pennies selling watercress for rent and food; looking after her older sister, who is incapable of caring for herself; thwarting the manipulative and conscience-free Unwin family, who are as capable of running a lucrative funeral business as they are of defrauding a young woman of her fortune. A stunning evocation of life in Victorian London, with vivid and accurate depictions, ranging from the deprivation that the truly poor suffered to the unthinking luxuries enjoyed by the rich: all bound up with a pacy and thrilling plot, as Grace races to unravel the fraud about to be perpetrated against her and her sister.

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This book felt much longer than it was for me. I liked the Dickensian feel to it, the plot could quite easily have been written by Dickens himself and he even makes a cameo appearance! However I did feel the plot was quite slow in places and others I wanted more detail. I would have like to have seen things from Lily's point of view more, she doesn't get much of a say in it. There's one particular situation that Lily finds herself in that I really wanted more detail on.

The strongest part of this story was the beginning, where Grace gives birth to her child. I loved that it wasn't glossed over and told you as much detail as possible without being too gross. This reminded me of the beginning of Oliver Twist, which I watched the other day. I'm not a huge fan of Dickens but I know Oliver Twist quite well and strangely enough, this plot feels similar.
Another strong part was when Grace recounted hers and Lily's pasts to James and to herself. These show you what London girls back then went through and really made me feel for Grace and Lily. Their situation slowly becomes more desperate before the Unwins take them in.

There's lots of twists and turns in this, a lot that I wasn't expecting which was nice but felt a little too clean, a little too coincidental, like they'd been thrown in the make the plot spicier or something. I really liked the addiction of James Solent, who was by far my favourite character in the story. It would be nice to have a sequel where James and Grace get married by I believe Mary Hooper isn't one for sequels!

I did enjoy this story, all in all. I thought it was quite rich and would make a perfect TV movie.

4/5

Received free from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

Review of Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

Avery witnessed her parents' death-but as much as she wants to remember who killed them, her mind is a blank. Then Avery meets Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels an intense connection. When Ben reveals he's a werewolf, Avery still trusts him-until she learns that he, too, can't remember the night her parents died.

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Although this followed a similar YA formula (girl's parents die, she meets a hot guy, madness ensues) I found I enjoyed this much, much more than other similar YA books. I think this was partly due to the writing style, which flowed really well, I quickly lost myself in it and also because of the plot, which concentrated mostly on Avery's parents deaths, instead of her boyfriend. There was plenty of romance but at appropriate times and it wasn't smothering the plot, which I really appreciated.

I also loved the setting. There wasn't much said about the town, which was tony anyway but plenty of descriptions of the woods, making the plot mysterious and suspenseful. It was also a perfect setting for the wolves, although there were only ever two wolves mentioned in the entire story, a lot of the time they were just there as an idea, howling away in the distance.

I love Avery's name. There needs to be more girls called Avery, it just isn't used enough! She was a great character and I could almost feel what she was feeling while she was trying desperately to remember what happened to her parents that night. I liked Ben's character too, who also has a dark past. His werewolf side isn't shown many times, it's more about his struggle to deal with that side of him while he's in love with Avery.

Couple of extra things that don't affect the review: I received this from Bloomsbury and then spent about half an hour on Twitter complaining about it. Why? It smells really bad. Like sheep's lungs or something. I don't know who the printers are but someone needs to fix that. Also, I liked that there was a new colour other than your usual black: red. There two pages of an illustration of some trees, done in red and the chapter headers, page numbers and the word moon are all printed in red too! There's also a little drawing of a couple of trees at the bottom of the page, which I think is a nice touch.

5/5

Received free from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

Review of Montacute House by Lucy Jago

At first a boy’s body is discovered, then John, Cess’s best friend, disappears . . . What is the mystery behind these sinister events?

Cess works caring for the chickens at Montacute House but on her thirteenth birthday everything changes. She finds a precious locket hidden in the chicken coop and is convinced someone has placed it there for her to find. But the day is overshadowed by fear as a boy’s body is found by the river, and then John disappears. Cess is determined to find him but is soon embroiled in a plot that threatens her world and forces her to draw on powers she never knew she possessed, powers that will place her life in danger if they are discovered by the villagers. Witchcraft, politics and religious ambition combine in this gripping and wonderfully realised novel set in the Somerset of the 1500s.

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I've wanted this book for a while, so I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. At points I had to physically force myself to read this book. The plot kinda felt like it was all over the place and the characters felt very clichéd. The plot was fairly basic with some uniqueness but not enough to make me want to keep reading.

The story felt like it was aimed toward the younger YA set but I'm not sure to be honest. The main character is 13 (unlike the model on the cover!) but she does come across as younger. On the other hand Drax, a man of around 30 years of age, I kept forgetting his character was over the age of 15. There was also Will, who I couldn't connect with at all. He wasn't around long enough for me to connect with him before he disappeared so I didn't really care whether he lived or died.

Somewhere down the line, to spice things up a bit, there's a new character thrown in that Cess ends up in love with. So the idea of a chick saving her boyfriend is thrown out of the window. Poor Will. I'm not quite sure why there needed to be a love interest thrown in. It didn't add anything to the story and although Jasper was useful at times and one of the most interesting characters he could quite easily have been a chick.

The main unique factor in this story was magic. Yes, real magic, not 'ooh, she's got a broom, burn her!' magic but actual witches and a coven, which I quite enjoyed reading about. I would have liked to have the story about that and not some complex political plot with a thousand holes in it. Another problem I had was the house itself. Montacute House is real, you can visit it and everything but it was completed in 1601. The story is set in 1596. I'm rather confused about this. I found this on Google very easily so I have to wonder where the author did her research.

3/5

Received free from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

Review of Released by Megan Duncan

After a demon apocalypse kills their parents and everyone they know, 17-year old Abby Phillips,  her brother, Carter, and friend, Max flee their home to travel through what has become the wastelands of America. When radio transmissions of a resistance offering shelter and safety cease, Abby is tempted to give up. Struggling to overcome life-threatening obstacles in their dangerous journey, Abby and her companions quickly discover there are much worse things lurking in the dark than they could have ever imagined.

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I would usually watch a movie of this kind of idea - apocalyptic future where demons (no zombies here (I think), sorry zombie fans) have invaded and a kick ass chick with weapons, her brother his friend head to New Mexico to find a military base, making friends and enemies along the way.

Abby is an awesome main character. She's tough, knows her guns but you know she's got the softer side of her too and she has quite motherly instincts towards Taya. I liked that she got on with things instead of expecting the guys to do everything for her. She's still grieving after the loss of her father and that shows in places through the book.

I loved this book. It's quite a quick read and I devoured every page. I'm not hoping to be able to buy a physical copy and the sequel. The story is quite action packed but not rushed, it's nicely paced and Megan writing really works with it, no huge descriptions, straight to the point. There's lots of suspense too and I was reading frantically, wondering if Abby and her family would make it to their destination.

The romance between Abby and Max is well written and really sweet but not heavy, it's more of a sub-plot in the book. I did find myself wondering if they would have dated if the demons hadn't of turned up, as in a situation like theirs, these things tend to happen. I'd like to think they did.

I also really liked Taya's character. She's smart, knows how to look after herself but still shows her younger side, which is what Abby needs, as Abby's still a teenager herself. I think the trio really needed a tough little sister to look after (even if she insists she doesn't need looking after!) and she really fits the part, I love her. It would be awesome if in the next book there's a scene where Abby shows Taya how to clean guns and stuff.

If you buy this book for any reason (and I hope you do!) at the very least buy it for the cover. This is a self published book and whoever created that amazing cover needs a pat on the back. I'm desperate to see it on my shelf!

5/5

Received free from the Author in exchange for an honest review

Review of Flawless by Lara Chapman

Sarah Burke is just about perfect. She's got killer blue eyes, gorgeous blond hair, and impeccable grades. There's just one tiny-all right, enormous-flaw: her nose. But even that's not so bad. Sarah's got the best best friend and big goals for print journalism fame.

On the first day of senior year, Rock Conway walks into her journalism class and, well, rocks her world. Problem is, her best friend, Kristen, falls for him too. And when Rock and Kristen stand together, it's like Barbie and Ken come to life. So when Kristen begs Sarah to help her nab Rock, Sarah does the only thing a best friend can do-she agrees. For someone so smart, what was she thinking?

This hip retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac is filled with hilariously misguided matchmaking, sweet romance, and a gentle reminder that we should all embrace our flaws.

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To start with, I adore that cover. As soon as I saw the cover, I knew I had to read it. The story itself is quite a quick read at around 250 pages and quite enjoyable as a quick, fluffy read (with nothing that you don't want the younger YA set to read about) about embracing your flaws. Perfect for a lazy day at the beach or something.

Part of the fun of Flawless for me was trying to imagine what Sarah's nose looks like, as every character in the book seem to point out how huge it is at some point. I ended up imaging it as the guy in the egg card advert with the huge nose. You know, the one where he sneezes? I miss those adverts! Sarah's character is definitely more likeable than Kristen's, a lot of the times I wanted to slap some sense into Kristen and make her realise what she was doing to her friend. I found it weird that they were friends as they were quite opposite from each other but then again, I had a friend like Kristen. I don't have a big nose though. Mine is quite cute.

One good thing about Sarah is that she's smart. Very smart in fact. She gets on with her school work, panics if she's late for class and is filling in every college application she's eligible for. Lara Chapman could have gone with your typical giggling blonde chick with no brains but I'm glad she didn't as that wouldn't have worked at all. Kristin however, is the opposite - she's not very bright and says a lot of things that are downright stupid (The Impressionists - not comedians!) and you can see she envies Sarah's writing ability. Oddly enough though, she's very good at maths!

Right from the start I could see that Sara and Rock worked together and I couldn't blame her for being jealous of her friend. I found her chats to Rock quite painful to read, I wanted him to realise it was her writing to him! I would have liked to know more about Rock's character as I never really connected with him.

4/5

Received free from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

Review of Need by Carrie Jones

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

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I used run screaming from anything to do with Fae, unless Holly Black wrote it. I hadn't found anything that interested me at all wrote it. Until I read Need.

Just to make this clear, whoever designed this cover needs to be slapped. It's one of the worst cover's I've ever seen and it really creeps me out. I love the story however so it's all good as long as I don't have to look at it too much.

I love that Zara's a hippie. You don't get enough Hippie girls in books. Weres and Pixies after I've posted my Urgent Appeal letter! I love it. The plan didn't work out well but it was hilarious all the same. I cracked up when she started yelling about Were-Bunnies. I liked her character from the beginning which is unusual for me, I usually find them annoying at first. I think it was partly because she's a part of Amnesty International. I'm more of a Greenpeace girl myself. Saving sharks from becoming tuna and all that jazz.

I actually liked the love interest! A certain blogger will love me for this. Usually I'm quite picky but Nick was a really good character and actually fit in with the story instead of just being there or having the story centred around him. I liked that his and Zara's relationship was there but not really full on and heavy like in other books. Usually I feel like I'm suffocating with it.

When you start the book it might feel a little like Twilight but I didn't notice that until a review pointed it out. Sure, Zara's mom has packed her off to a small town but I honestly didn't notice any Twilight references as the plot is a lot stronger and the characters aren't cardboard.
I found the Stephen King references fascinating (although one does wonder if there are any Vampires in his books? I think not). Of course, she's going to Maine so that's an obvious one. I also picked up the quote as soon as I saw it, which I wanted to pat myself on the back for.
There's a few clichéd moments in this and moments where you go 'I knew it!' but that's to be expected after all. I'm curious to see how the plot develops in the next book as this could quite easily have been a stand-alone.

5/5

Review of Divergent by Veronica Roth

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

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Unless you've been living under a rock or you don't know me, you'll probably know about Divergent and how much I've been wanting to read it (I've been commenting on every IMM post that has it, saying how much I want it!). Was the wait worth it?

Divergent is amazing. I loved that it didn't concentrate entirely on the romance between Tris and Four, as romance in YA books has really been getting on my nerves lately. The romance that was there was really sweet and enjoyable. The story mostly concentrates on Tris's survival - there's a lot of moments in this where I'm honestly not sure if she's going to survive or not. I managed to read it in about 4 hours, which is impressive even for me considering this book is nearly 500 pages long!

I liked that it wasn't bubble wrapped either, beating characters up to the point of death frequently and killing a lot of them off too. Tris is no exception - she gets beaten up more than most, even getting a few injuries from Four. To say this book is action packed is an understatement.
I hated Peter and his crew. I was glad when Tris got her own back on a lot of them. He's also a total pervert. I wished she'd have kicked him somewhere. In fact, I'm surprised she didn't. I would have.
Lots of suspense in this, I was panicking when it came to the results to find out who stays and who goes in Tris's new faction, as I honestly wasn't sure. It never failed to surprise me, which is a major plus - I usually guess everything.

I loved the world that Veronica creates, it feels so real I almost want to live there - but I doubt I'd survive! I would probably go for the Erudite faction unfortunately. You could probably find me sitting in some dusty corner of a library. Well, not too dusty. I seem to have a bad cough lately.

5/5