Category: Reviews by Bee

Series Review: The Chocolate Box Girls by Cathy Cassidy

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Cherry Crush, Marshmallow Skye, Summer’s Dream, Coco Caramel, Sweet Honey, Fortune Cookie
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Romance | Published by: Puffin
Pages: 272, 304, 288, 304, 304, 288 | Format: Hardback | Rating: ★★★★

The Chocolate Box series is one of my favourite middle grade series. I remember when Cherry Crush was being teased on Cathy Cassidy’s website and getting so excited at the idea that she was going to be writing a series about sisters! I also remember in 2010 (when I was 12-13) thinking, ‘oh my goodness, I’m going to be 18 by the time I finish this series!’ (Though I was 19 in the end because she added a half-brother to the mix which bumped the series up to six.) I stopped reading when Summer’s Dream came out…I’m not entirely sure why… but it felt like finally the right time to complete my Cathy Cassidy reading experience! I’m so glad I did, because it’s chocolatey and beautiful.

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Review: The It Girl by Katy Birchall

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The It Girl by Katy Birchall23201793
Genre: Contemporary, Comedy, UKYA
Published by: Egmont
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★.5

This is another book that follows the geeky/awkward girl struggles through secondary school trope made popular by Holly Smale’s Geek Girl series. Any regular reader or watcher of Heart Full of Books will know that Maddie and I adore Geek Girl, and The It Girl is supposed to have a good sense of humour, so we both thought we’d give it a go! If nothing else, at least we’ll be supporting another UKYA author, right?

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Review: Broken Hearts & Revenge Series by Katie Finn

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Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Thing to Mend, Revenge, Ice Cream and Other Thing Best Served Cold and Hearts Fingers and Other Things to Cross by Katie Finn
Genre: Contemporary, Summer, Romance, Revenge
Published by: Square Fish
Pages: 342, 400, 320 respectively
Rating: ★★.5
More by Katie Finn: Top 8 | What’s Your Status? | Unfriended

The Broken Hearts & Revenge trilogy follows Gemma, who used to be best friends with Hallie until she spread a rumour that destroyed Hallie’s mother Karen’s career and her dad’s chance at happiness. After five years she returns to the Hamptons, where Hallie lives, and uses a fake identity to try and rebuild their friendship, because grudges can’t last forever, right?

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Review: The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

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18295852The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Headline
Pages: 337
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
More: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight | Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between

I almost always only give Jennifer E. Smith’s books 2 stars, and yet they’re fun and quick to read that never stops me from picking up her next book. The Geography of You and Me was no different! It’s about a girl and boy who get trapped in an elevator together and fall in love pretty much instantly. Nothing about this story was particularly surprising but that’s what I’ve come to expect from these sugary sweet contemporaries.

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Review: Cherry by Lindsey Rosin

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30168148Cherry by Lindsey Rosin
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 288
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Note: We received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. 

This is the story of four friends who decide that before they graduate high school they MUST lose their virginity. They call it ‘The Sex Pact’. The premise in general – the whole we need to have sex by a deadline thing – was the main issue we had with this book. But there are so many pros that make this a real must-read for teenage girls who don’t want to feel ashamed for enjoying sex or don’t feel comfortable talking about sexual content with their own friends. It’s going to give you a dialogue to help understand how you might be feeling about sex, and that in itself is a wonderful thing.

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Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

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17675462The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater
Genre: Supernatural
Published by: Scholastic
Pages: 419
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Series: The Dream Thieves (#2) | Blue Lily, Lily Blue (#3)

The Raven Boys is one of those seriously popular books that I still haven’t read. Maddie has read the first three books and now with the recent(ish) release of the season finale, I feel a lot of people are talking about it again. So, I decided to pick it up, mainly because the idea of psychics really drew me in as I’m writing a sort of magical-realism witch story at the moment. As I was reading I kept thinking ‘Oh gosh I’ve got another three of these to go.’ Then, I realised I could just abandon the series even if I couldn’t DNF the book. I mean, everyone told me that nothing really happens but I wasn’t entirely sure to what extent nothing happens. And let me to you: Nothing Happens. (apart from right at the very end when it’s like whaaaat? I’ve skim read too much by now, how did we get here? I’ll have to fill in the blanks myself.)

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Review: The Program by Suzanne Young

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11366397The Program by Suzanne Young
Genre: Dystopian, Sci-fi, Romance
Published by: Simon Pulse
Pages: 403
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★
Series: The Treatment (#2)

I started to read this book because I’d recently finished the currently available 2 seasons of iZombie on Netflix. I LOVE iZombie, it’s just incredible and I couldn’t recommend it enough. After all the medical sci-fi, I decided it was finally time to read The Program which has been on my TBR for ages. In short, it definitely reminds me of YA from 2013. It’s a little too romance heavy and insta-love is a real issue. I was really intrigued by the first 50 or so pages, but after procrastinating from continuing for almost two months (due to BTAT2016 and university reading) I was losing hope. I finished it…eventually, though! Here are my thoughts:

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Review: The Deviants by C. J. Skuse

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23126437The Deviants by C.J. Skuse
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Published by: Mira Ink
Pages: 320
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★★
Note: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Now, I have read a LOT of YA mystery/thriller kinds of stories, but when I read the blurb for this one, I just couldn’t resist; the mystery pulled me in! Although, I wouldn’t recommend reading the Goodreads blurb, because I think it gives a little too much away, so here’s mine instead: The Deviants follows five teenagers who used to be best friends until everyone’s favourite older sister Jessica died. Years later the fearless five find themselves back together, playing their old tricks and seeking revenge. But Ella, the narrator, is hiding something from the rest of her friends, including her boyfriend Max. If they knew the truth it would surely rip them apart, because it seems like she has an explanation for Jess’s death, and no one is going to like it.

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Review: We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

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25124140We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen
Genre: Contemporary, Family-Orientated
Published by: Anderson Press
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★
Note: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

We Are All Made of Molecules is a two perspectives story. There’s Stewart, who recently lost his mum and whose dad is moving in with his new partner, Ashley’s mum. Ashley is struggling with her own new situation as her dad came out as gay and is now living in the annex at the bottom of the garden. It’s a beautiful story of a blended family, full of rich characters and really touching moments.

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Spoiler Review: Half Lost by Sally Green

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26404831Half Lost by Sally Green
Genre: Paranormal, UKYA
Published by: Penguin
Pages: 335
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Series: Half Bad (#1) | Half Wild (#2)

OPINIONS. I have them. This is the last book in the Half Bad trilogy, and since I’ve reviewed all of the others it seemed only right that I reviewed the finale. (Also, I was in too deep to stop) I supposed this book lived by to my expectations considering I’d already been spoiled on a major character death thanks to a Twitter rampage that after the initial release. A list of questions seemed like the only way to approach this review, so here we go.

  • Why did nothing happen in the first half?
    • Basically, Nathan and the crew spend the first half of the book roaming around different campsites trying to find Hunters and, more importantly, Annalise. Other than that, I have nothing to report. It was slow paced and super boring.
    • In fact, the beginning was very reminiscent of Mockingjay. I mean, a group of people trying not to trigger booby traps with some death thrown into the mix.
  • Was The BIG Death necessary?
    • Simple answer? No. It was emotionally manipulating to the audience, I felt, and severely damaged the character development steps made in previous books.
    • Gabriel is a sweet child and did not deserve this fate.
  • ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME THAT THE IMAGES ON THE FRONT OF THE BOOKS ARE ALL NATHAN?!?!
    • He’s a boy in the first. In the second he discovers he can turn himself into a wild animal to feel more in control. AT THE END OF HALF LOST HE TURNS HIMSELF INTO A TREE. The tree is Nathan. Nathan and the tree are one.
    • It’s genius, but I’m still a little mad at it.
  • What other gifts does Nathan have?
    • He’s in possession of so many, but he managed to control so few? He still had so much potential but the ending was so rushed we didn’t get any of it.
  • Nathan is just so hellbent on his stupid revenge plot he gets himself stuck in a bundle. He was literally invincible at the time, as well.

I honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of this story but three main factors pulled me in from the beginning: 1) Male witch. 2) UKYA 3) morally grey (erring on bad) MC. If those things pique your interest too then I would recommend reading the first book. Then you can battle with writing style and characterisation when you decide if it’s worth continuing. Half Wild although more vulgar than any of the other books was my favourite of the series (against popular opinion), so maybe my dislike of this end was inevitable. I’m just glad I have something else to tick off my series list.