Mini Pin-It Reviews #13 – Four YA Novels

Hello everyone and welcome to another mini pin-it reviews post! I have a massive backlog of reviews and this is my way of trying to get on top of things a bit. This isn’t to say I didn’t like some of these books – my star rating is a more accurate reflection of this, but this is a great, snappy way of getting my thoughts across and decreasing my backlog a bit. This time I’ve got four YA books for you – please see my pin it thoughts below!

1.) The Impossible Knife Of Memory – Laurie Halse Anderson

What’s it all about?:

For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

2.) Through The Ever Night – (Under The Never Sky #2) – Veronica Rossi

What’s it all about?:

It’s been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don’t take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe’s precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.

Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, can their love survive through the ever night?

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

3.) Belle Epoque – Elizabeth Ross

What’s it all about?:

When sixteen-year-old Maude runs away to Paris, her romantic dreams vanish as quickly as her savings. Increasingly desperate for money, she answers a mysterious advert: ‘Young Women Wanted for Undemanding Work. Apply In Person To The Durandeau Agency.’ But the work is very strange indeed. Maude discovers she is to be a repoussoir – an ugly young woman hired by Parisian socialites to enhance their beauty.

Maude is humiliated – but faced with destitution, what choice does she have? Quickly (and secretly) selected as the perfect companion for the Countess Dubern’s daughter Isabelle, Maude is thrown into a decadent world full of parties, glamour and astonishing cruelty. Maude finds that academic Isabelle is equally disenchanted with the Parisian social scene, and the girls form a tight bond. But when bohemian artist Paul and the handsome Duke d’Avaray are introduced into the girls’ lives, their friendship will be tested to its limits. The girls are about to discover the true meaning of being beautiful…

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

4.) Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) – Jessica Spotswood

What’s it all about?:

A gorgeous, witchy, romantic fantasy by a debut author! Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and the Beautiful Creatures series!

Everybody thinks Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship–or an early grave. Then Cate finds her mother’s diary, and uncovers a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra. But if what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe–not even from each other.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

COMING UP NEXT ON MINI-PIN IT REVIEWS: Four Thriller Novels.

Pointe – Brandy Colbert

What’s it all about?:

Theo is better now.

She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.

Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

What did I think?:

Pointe by Brandy Colbert was one of my Chrissi Cupboard Month picks a while back now and recommended as a “must-read” book by my sister who is also a blogger over at Chrissi Reads. I remember when she first read it and reported back and she had a very visceral and emotional response to the story so I was intrigued as to whether I would feel the same. On finishing it, I can definitely see why she had that response. This novel is packed full of difficult and dangerous subject matters that could be quite tough to read about for some people. Ultimately, it wasn’t a five star read for me but it was a solid, memorable piece of fiction that I still remember months down the line after reading it.

This is partially due to our main character, a young girl called Theo. She has had a lot of drama and personal struggles in her short life so far including an eating disorder and difficult first relationship and has had to deal with her best friend, Donovan being abducted and secreted away where she cannot reach him. She is starting to get her life back on track, feeling brave enough to date boys again but her real passion in life is dancing and she is in the tough process of training to be a prima ballerina. When Donovan unexpectedly returns however, it dredges up a host of memories that Theo does not welcome and is definitely not prepared for. Has her friendship with Donovan stood the test of time? And can she put old ghosts to rest, start telling the truth, accept help from her close family and friends and finally move on from the past?

As I mentioned earlier, there are some awful subjects tackled in this novel. So, trigger warnings for eating disorders, abuse, drugs, cheating, manipulation….to name a few, the author has covered the entire spectrum of potentially damaging incidents that any person would be terribly unlucky to suffer! Theo may not be a particularly likeable character for some readers but I found her refreshingly real and even though she was flawed and made multiple mistakes and questionable decisions, the whole point of the novel is watching her adapt and grow into an adult who learned from what she had been through. It’s a gritty, dark story that does pull on your heart strings and unsettle you but is entirely worth the murky moments when we see how far our characters have come. Finally, I also loved that our main characters were black (hooray for a bit of diversity!) but their race was never fussed over or exaggerated. As it should be, of course!

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

Mini Pin-It Reviews #10 – Four Thriller Novels

Hello everyone and welcome to another mini pin-it reviews post! I have a massive backlog of reviews and this is my way of trying to get on top of things a bit. This isn’t to say I didn’t like some of these books – my star rating is a more accurate reflection of this, but this is a great, snappy way of getting my thoughts across and decreasing my backlog a bit. This time I’ve got four thriller novels for you – please see my pin it thoughts below!

1.) Panic Attack – Jason Starr

What’s it all about?:

An intruder, a desperate struggle, a family under siege: This is Jason Starr’s most provocative and suspenseful novel to date.

Dr. Adam Bloom has the perfect life. He’s financially secure and lives in a luxurious house with his wife, Dana, and their twenty-two-year-old daughter, Marissa, a recent college graduate. Late one night, his daughter wakes him up and says, “Somebody’s downstairs.” Adam uses his gun to kill one of the unarmed intruders, but the other escapes. From that moment on, everyone’s life in the Bloom household will never be the same.

Adam doesn’t feel safe, not with the other intruder out there somewhere, knowing where he lives. Dana suggests moving, but Adam has lived in the house all his life and he doesn’t want to run away. As the family recovers from the break-in and the Blooms’ already rocky relationship rapidly falls apart, Marissa meets a young, talented artist named Xan. Adam feels that something’s not quite right with Xan, but his daughter ignores his warnings and falls deeply in love with him. When suspicious things start happening to the Blooms all over again, Adam realizes that his first instinct about Xan was probably dead on.

With Panic Attack, Jason Starr is at his best, crafting a harrowing page-turner that will blow readers away.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

2.) The Book Of Souls (Inspector McLean #2) – James Oswald

What’s it all about?:

Each year for ten years, a young woman’s body was found in Edinburgh at Christmastime: naked, throat slit, body washed clean. The final victim, Kirsty Summers, was Detective Constable Tony McLean’s fiancée. But the Christmas Killer made a mistake, and McLean put an end to the brutal killing spree.

It’s now twelve years later. A fellow prisoner has just murdered the incarcerated Christmas Killer. But with the arrival of the festive season comes a body. A young woman: naked, washed, her throat cut.

Is this a copycat killer? Was the wrong man behind bars all this time? Or is there a more frightening explanation?

McLean must revisit the most disturbing case of his life and discover what he missed before the killer strikes again . .

Would I recommend it?:

Probably!

Star rating (out of 5):

3.) The Good Girl – Mary Kubica

What’s it all about?:

‘A tremendous read’ – The Sun

Now optioned for a major movie by the company behind Winter’s Bone, Babel, Being John Malkovich and the TV series True Detective.

A compulsive debut that reveals how, even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems…

I’ve been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don’t know the colour of her eyes or what they look like when they’re scared. But I will.

Mia Dennett can’t resist a one-night stand with the enigmatic stranger she meets in a bar.

But going home with him might turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life…

Would I recommend it?:

Probably!

Star rating (out of 5):

4.) The Shut Eye – Belinda Bauer

What’s it all about?:

Five footprints are the only sign that Daniel Buck was ever here.

And now they are all his mother has left.

Every day, Anna Buck guards the little prints in the cement. Polishing them to a shine. Keeping them safe. Spiralling towards insanity.

When a psychic offers hope, Anna grasps it. Who wouldn’t? Maybe he can tell her what happened to her son…

But is this man what he claims to be? Is he a visionary? A shut eye? Or a cruel fake, preying on the vulnerable?

Or is he something far, far worse?

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

COMING UP SOON ON MINI PIN-IT REVIEWS: Four Author Requests.

The Kiss Of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) – Mary E. Pearson

What’s it all about?:

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor’s secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can’t abide. Like having to marry someone she’s never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

What did I think?:

When my sister and fellow blogger Chrissi Reads told me I had to start this series I have to admit that although I trust her opinion of what I’m going to enjoy implicitly, I was slightly unsure. I’m not a big fan of romance heavy books, they tend to be a bit sickly sweet for my liking and I was worried the cheese factor might be a bit too much for me to take. Well, Chrissi was right once again. I actually LOVED this book, so much in fact that I gave it a physical hug when I had finished. Embarrassing to admit? Maybe but never mind, eh?! It’s the perfect mixture of fantasy with magical elements, intrigue, twists and turns with a wonderful independent female lead and even a love triangle that was beautifully understated and amazingly, didn’t get on my wick.

Our main character, Princess Lia is from the land of Morrighan and is due to be married off to a prince from a neighbouring land that she has never met before, purely for political alliance purposes. She, understandably, is less than thrilled with this prospect and decides to run away with her best friend and maid, Pauline. They ensconce themselves under the radar in a fishing village miles from home, working locally and trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. However, Lia does not manage to stay incognito very long. There are now two men that come into her life that are both after her for different reasons. One is the thwarted prince that she was meant to marry, the other is an assassin sworn to take her life (again for political reasons). Their names are Rafe and Kaden and they are both deadly in different circumstances but the brilliant thing about this novel is that we don’t know which is the assassin and which is the prince inviting bucket loads of intensity, tension and drama in an action packed plot that I simply adored.

So as I mentioned in the first paragraph of this review, I am in no way a romance fan. I never have been but after reading The Kiss Of Deception I am now starting to wonder have I just been reading the wrong sort of books? The romance in this novel was so tender and lovely to read that I even experienced a little flutter at certain moments of the narrative, something I thought could never have happened to a cynical old heart like myself! More surprising, I actually enjoyed the love triangle part of this story, normally something I despise in YA fiction. In the first novel of The Remnant Chronicles it just feels somewhat different – I’m not sure if I can explain it. I think it might be down to the character of Lia and how she deals with the intentions of both Rafe and Kaden. She has sass, a fiesty “no nonsense” nature and her strong personality in general coupled with her insistence that she can be independent and work a normal job, sort of an anti-princess so as to speak really made me respect her and made her more believable and the romance aspect less sickly sweet. I had such a positive reaction to this book, it was so pleasantly surprising and on finishing it I immediately asked Chrissi if she had finished the second book yet so I could read it, that’s how desperate I was to continue the series as soon as possible, a VERY good sign I think!

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

Asking For It – Louise O’Neill

What’s it all about?:

It’s the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O’Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there’s a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma.

The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can’t remember what happened, she doesn’t know how she got there. She doesn’t know why she’s in pain. But everyone else does.

Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don’t want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town’s heroes…

What did I think?:

I first came across the amazing Louise O’Neill with her debut novel, Only Ever Yours which won a host of acclaim and the YA book prize back in 2015. Just looking at the title, Asking For It, I knew this was going to be a raw, emotional read but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the feelings it would give me while I was reading it. The author approaches difficult topics, things we don’t necessarily talk about much (but SHOULD) with ease and panache and I finished this novel angry with the world but strangely quite empowered and wanting to do something to change it.

If you haven’t heard already, Asking For It is the story of eighteen year old Emma O’Donovan. Her life is pretty much perfect, she has a host of adoring friends, she is popular, beautiful and clever to boot and is the apple of her parents eye. A lot is expected of Emma, especially by her mother and it is interesting to note how the support network around her fails spectacularly after one night when her whole world falls apart. Emma is under the influence of alcohol and drugs when the event occurs and was so wasted that she has no recollection of it at all. Turning up a bit bruised and worse for wear on her doorstep might have just been another night partying a bit too hard? Until school the next day when her friends ignore her, mock her or just plain won’t meet her eye. For there are explicit photographs of Emma and what happened to her plastered all over social media and she has become the laughing stock of the school. Emma has had a bit of a reputation prior to the incident but she was obviously too drunk/high to give her consent… was she asking for it?

While reading this novel, I couldn’t stop thinking about the issue of consent and responsibility that the author has explored in such a visceral, honest way. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the amount of rape cases that actually end in a conviction i.e. very few and as a result, many women feel scared to come forward as they fear they won’t be believed. It is only widely known that the prosecution only need to get a whiff of “she had been drinking,” before the issue of consent becomes a very blurry one. This just makes me so angry. What right does anyone have to use alcohol as an excuse to not convict someone who has brutally invaded a private, personal space? In Asking For It, Louise O’Neill makes our emotions and attitudes whirl considerably more as Emma O’Donovan is not a likeable character in the slightest. She is rude, bitchy and a nasty piece of work and initially, she was so rotten I felt I couldn’t possibly feel sorry for her. Until the party. Until she becomes a wreck, a broken shell of herself, possibly ruined for life and intensely pitiable. Of course, no matter someone’s personality/past actions, absolutely no one deserves to be violated like that.

We have to start talking about this issue, we simply must try and lift the shame behind having this happen and treat victims the way they should be treated, as a human being with basic rights to their own body that no-one should take away unless they explicitly consent to it. This is why this book is so great – it makes you think, it makes you emotional, it makes you desperate to see change and it makes you worry about every single woman that this has happened to. Certainly nobody is EVER “Asking For It.” A huge thank you to Louise for writing such a strong, passionate story that really opened my eyes.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

December 2015 – Chrissi Cupboard Month #4

It’s December. And that means…. (drumroll please) it’s Chrissi Cupboard Month!

My lovely sister and fellow blogger Chrissi Reads gives me books on a regular basis, and as she reads at the speed of light I have had to acquire a cupboard in my bedroom purely for her books. Unfortunately, with all my other books and huge TBR pile, I’m not getting through them as fast as I’d like so I would like to dedicate the month of December to reading books purely from the Chrissi Cupboard. I will obviously be reading my short story every week and our Kid-Lit and Banned books for the month of December, but I’m hoping the majority of books will be from this cupboard. Here are the first ten I am planning to read and review:

Asking For It – Louise O’Neill

The Kiss Of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) – Mary E. Pearson

Prisoner Of Night And Fog (Prisoner Of Night And Fog #1) – Anne Blankman

Double Cross (Noughts & Crosses #4) – Malorie Blackman

Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles #1) – Lauren DeStefano

In Darkling Wood – Emma Carroll

The Impossible Knife Of Memory – Laurie Halse Anderson

The Good Girl – Mary Kubica

Pointe – Brandy Colbert

Queen Of Shadows (Throne Of Glass #4) – Sarah J. Maas

As usual, I’m carrying on with a couple of series, finishing one (the Malorie Blackman) and starting others! My other Chrissi Cupboard Months so far have been pretty strong but I think this one is the strongest yet. I’m most excited for Asking For It and carrying on the Throne of Glass series as I’m absolutely smitten with it, but I have a funny feeling that I’m going to enjoy the Mary E. Pearson book a lot more than expected from what Chrissi has been gushing about it. She knows my tastes pretty well and I trust her judgement! I’ve also loved what I’ve read from Emma Carroll so far (review for Frost Hollow Hall and The Girl Who Walked On Air coming soon) so I’m very excited to read In Darkling Wood. A brilliant month ahead, wouldn’t you agree?