Category: Reviews by Bee

Review: The Hetty Feather Series by Jacqueline Wilson

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The Hetty Feather Series by Jacqueline Wilson
Genre: Historical
Published by: Doubleday Children’s
Pages: 400 | 400 | 432 | 304 | 512
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★
Note: As this is a review of the entire series, certain plot points and outcomes are discussed that may spoil the series for first time readers, or people that haven’t completed the series!

H  E  T  T  Y     F  E  A  T  H  E  R

Hetty Feather is such a change of pace from anything Jacqueline Wilson has written before. Set in the 1890s, it is the first in her Victorian series, featuring Hetty, a foundling girl with ambitions to join the circus and becoming a published author, whichever comes first. Hetty Feather is so unique because it reads like usual middle grade fiction, but has the makings of a classic. Hetty’s journey is structured very much like Jane Eyre’s, except it spans across three books! The first book is pastoral, fascinating and exciting. The circus makes such a wonderful setting, in stark contrast to the Foundling Hospital. Reading as Hetty gets torn away from everyone she loves: her mother, foster family and beloved Jem, is heartbreaking. No matter what she goes through, mischief, mayhem or injustice, you always root for her! It’s hard to think that the sequels are going to match up to such a marvellous beginning!  Continue reading “Review: The Hetty Feather Series by Jacqueline Wilson” →

Review: If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

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29470648If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, LGBT+
Published by: Usborne
Pages: 290
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★★

I was so desperate to read this book and I have been ever since it came out, but it was just one of those things where it was on a deal at Waterstones (buy one get one half price) and there wasn’t another book that I wanted! By the time there was If I Was Your Girl had been taken out of the offer, and I resolved that I’d have to find it in a library somewhere. THEN the next round of Zoella’s Book Club was announced and you’ll never guess which was the first book on the list?! And because I bought it when it was the featured book, it was half price! So sometimes waiting for the deals really does pay off! So, I’ve been hyped about this book for a really long time and I’m so happy I’ve finally got to read it because I LOVED it.

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Review: I’ll Be Home For Christmas UKYA Anthology!

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31114205I’ll Be Home For Christmas, an anthology by UKYA authors
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Pages: 384
Format: e-book
Rating: Each story rated individually!
Note: We received this book in exchange for on honest review. 

After reading  Stephanie Perkins’ Winter and Summer anthologies, it’s about time to have one full of wonderful UKYA authors! There are a few here, like Katy Cannon and Holly Bourne that we were really looking out for, but anthologies are always an exciting opportunity to discover new authors too.

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Review: The Secret City by C. J Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld

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cover94392-mediumThe Secret City by C.J. Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Atom
Pages: 365
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Series: The Secret Fire (The Alchemy Chronicles #1)

This is the second, and I presume final book in The Alchemy Chronicles. I feel very lucky that I got to read them one after the other, instead of waiting the year for The Secret City to come out, because I was completely engrossed with the first book. It was action packed and incredibly well paced, so I was genuinely excited to get around to this book. The acknowledgements of book one also seemed to suggest that there was only one more book in the series, and if there’s anything that’s going to make me want to read a sequel more, it’s knowing that it’s the second of a duology rather than the middle book of a trilogy! I mean, really, I’m glad that this is the end, because it definitely feels like a story told in two parts, where book one sets up all the action and conflict, introducing us to the world, and book two is resolving the issues and ramping up the tension just a few more notches before the end!

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Review: The Secret Fire by C. J. Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld

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22911719The Secret Fire by C. J. Daugherty
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Atom
Pages: 415
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★.5

I picked up The Secret Fire when I saw C.J. Daughter speak about Feminism in YA with Holly Bourne and Holly Smale. It was an absolutely incredible event, and though C.J was mostly talking about her Night School series (which I was reading at the time and wasn’t really enjoying) I really wanted to read this one, and I am overjoyed to say that I really liked it!

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Review: The Best Possible Answer by E. Katherine Kottaras

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cover93050-mediumThe Best Possible Answer by E. Katherine Kottaras
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 272
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Academic overachiever Viviana has a panic attack that puts her in the hospital after the nudes she sent to her now ex-boyfriend completely destroy her life. As she tries to pick up the pieces, she gets a job at her apartment building’s pool and meeting a new group of friends who will help get her through. This sounds amazing, right? I was really pumped for this contemporary, I was all set to read it over the summer, but then life got in the way and I didn’t start until October and had to put it down for almost month before I finished. But I did. I eventually came back to it and realized why I might have put this down in this first place.

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Review: Blood For Blood by Ryan Graudin

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31116030Blood For Blood by Ryan Graudin
Genre: Historical, Action
Published by: Orion Children’s Books
Pages: 496
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Series: Wolf By Wolf (#1)
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

So, what I didn’t realise was that Blood For Blood is the last in this series. It was only a DUOLOGY! I was a little suspicious when it felt like things were wrapping up and I was like ‘wait!’ While I am extremely excited that it meant I could unexpectedly finish another series before the end of the year, I’m really sad that I won’t be off with Yael on another action-packed adventure!

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Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

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28588345The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
Genre: Fantasy
Published by: Penguin Books
Pages: 313
Format: ebook
Rating: ★★★
Series: The Young Elites (#1) | The Rose Society (#2)

I honestly don’t think I was ready for this series to end. It was one of my most anticipated releases for this half of the year! The Young Elites was one of the first books that I read this year, and I was immediately drawn in by the delicious cast of characters. I’m pretty sure everyone knows by now that one of this series’ USPs is that Adelina is a bit of a villainous protagonist, but not in a fantastical super villain way, more in a ‘this girl’s had a hard life that has forced her to make tricky decisions in sticky situations’. Some people will probably say that’s mellow, but I’ve always loved Adelina, and the bond she has with her sister. And, for me, book two was even better, so I was going in with HIGH expectations, let me tell you.

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Review: Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

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29341439Kids of Appetite by David Arnold
Genre: Contemporary, Coming of Age
Published by: Headline
Pages: 352
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★★
More by this author: Mosquitoland
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was so pumped when I saw David Arnold had a new book out this year! I read Mosquitoland around the same time I read Becky Albertali’s debut and Maddie read Jeff Zentner’s debut. So this time was pretty great for discovering new authors. I fell in love with David Arnold’s writing style IMMEDIATELY, even if I didn’t enjoy the story as much. Kids of Appetite had the perfect mix of witty narrative and FULL-ON plot. I was all about these kids from chapter one and am delighted to say that this author’s books are just getting better and better!

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Review: The Form of Thing Unknown by Robin Bridges

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cover93174-mediumThe Form of Things Unknown by Robin Bridges
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, (Re-telling)
Published by: Kensington Books
Pages: 304
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★.5
Note: I received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review!

Natalie is suffering from some strange hallucinations while on the set for her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With questions of ‘who’s dating who’ and ‘we’re all crazy here’ the characters’ lives somewhat mimic those in the story they’re retelling. It’s an interesting concept, similar to Robin Bridges’ other novel Dreaming of Antigone where the protagonists are both aware of the text they’re retelling whilst retelling it. I’m not sure if it’s a style that completely works for me, but I’ve never been a fan of really meta fiction. But I think The Form of Things Unknown does a good job of blurring the lines between the original text and the new characters’ lives.

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