Category: Reviews by Maddie

Review: The Naturals and Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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The Naturals and Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller, Secret Agent
Published by: Quercus Books
Pages: 308 | 376
Format: Library book
Rating: ★★★★★

Both of these books have been sat, unassuming, on our local library’s shelves for a while now, and never before had we picked them up. The last visit we had, it was about time we gave them a chance. They’re blurbed by Ally Carter, after all, and I love a good spy story. From books I picked up on a whim, to the best books I’ve read so far this year, I loved reading them back to back. There’s nothing better than discovering a new favourite book, especially if it’s one you haven’t heard anyone else talk about. So, let’s talk about all the reasons to love The Naturals series, and why it had my heart racing from beginning to end. Fangirl mode: activated! Continue reading “Review: The Naturals and Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes” →

Review: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

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28756053The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Electric Monkey
Pages: 496
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★.5

If Non Pratt was my author of the year in 2015, then Huntley Fitzpatrick is definitely in the running for my favourite of 2016. Although I haven’t given any of her books a full 5 star rating, I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve spent reading them. There’s something about her style that’s so easy to read and puts me in a pleasant mood. I’m actually sad to have read all of her books before the summer, but it just meant the summer came to me a little sooner!

Continue reading “Review: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick” →

Review: London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning

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26177619London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 272
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Note: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

I was first drawn to this book because of it’s short timeline. It takes place over one night, and that would probably mean it would be a quick, fun read that could entertain me for a few hours. And I was right! London Belongs to Us is snappy and fast paced, the perfect read to start a summer of reading contemporary books. Continue reading “Review: London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning” →

Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrow of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

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18166936The Strange and Beautiful Sorrow of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
Genre: Fairytale (?), Historical (?) Fantasy (?) How the heck do you classify this??
Published by: Walker Books
Pages: 306
Format: Library Book
Rating: ★★★★

I’ve had my eye on this book for a while for two reasons:
a.) the beautiful cover, and
b.) the beautiful (and intriguing) title.
After seeing the reviews on Goodreads, the decision was made. I would read this book immediately. When I started reading, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The book is like an odd mixture of Chocolat by Joanne Harris (for all the generations of women and mother-daughter relationships) and Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (for the creepy, I-don’t-know-if-I-like-it vibe!) It’s also got some fairytale elements to it, but all together, it’s a hard one to pin down and I loved it…I think. Continue reading “Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrow of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton” →

Review: You Don’t Know Me by Sophia Bennett

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17205536You Don’t Know Me by Sophia Bennett
Genre: Contemporary, Fame
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 340
Format: Library Book
Rating: ★★★

My guilty pleasure reads usually have celebrities or the rise to fame in them. I picked up You Don’t Know Me thinking it was going to be a cookie cutter version of this trope; the classic ‘girl turns into something she’s not because of record label pressure’ kind of thing. While it did fulfil the stereotype to a certain degree, I was really surprised by how it defied my expectations. It covered body shaming, cyberbullying and being misunderstood way more than fame, and I’m so pleased it did.  Continue reading “Review: You Don’t Know Me by Sophia Bennett” →

Review: Unrivalled by Alyson Noël

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29325755Unrivalled by Alyson Noël
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: MIRAInk
Pages: 368
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve never read an Alyson Noël book before, so I was super intrigued about her writing. Also, one of the main characters is called Madison, so we share a name and I always find that hilarious. (Somehow my name is always used for the snooty mean girl, and I wanted to see what stereotypes were placed on my name in this instance!)

I was most sold on this book by the comparison to Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, but I wasn’t really getting those vibes while reading. The blurb promised that Madison would ho missing, but this didn’t happen until 75% through and everything before that was lacking the level of drama I expected when compared to the TV shows above. Continue reading “Review: Unrivalled by Alyson Noël” →

Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

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18460392All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Penguin
Pages: 388
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★

Warning: This isn’t going to be a review, as much as it’s going to be a list of reasons why I find this book completely problematic, despite its many awards and recent ‘Goodread’s Choice Award’ win.

No. 1) It blurs the lines of sexual consent.

This is my biggest issue. Violet and Finch are in a relationship. It may not be a healthy one but if they both want to have sex, that’s cool. What’s not cool is Finch pressuring Violet into having sex with him. There are two instances that stick out in my mind after reading this book, where Violet is apprehensive and Finch pressures her. Continue reading “Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven” →

Review: Never Evers by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

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26270886Never Evers by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison
Genre: Contemporary, UKYA
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 268
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★.5

After reading Lobsters some time last year, and enjoying the experience of reading more UKYA, I was more than happy to pick up this duo’s latest book, Never Evers. I have a soft spot for books that take place over a school trip, and books with celebrities, so basically all of the blurb appealed to me! I can say, whole-heartedly, that I enjoyed this book much more than the debut, so let’s discuss… Continue reading “Review: Never Evers by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison” →

Review: Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice by Beth Revis

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27226670Paper Hearts by Beth Revis
Genre: Writing Advice, Non-fiction
Published by: Patchwork Press
Pages: 342
Format: e-book
Rating: Helpful! 

Bee and I both study Creative Writing at university, but the nature of our course means that we don’t get to look into writing genre fiction until our third year. I’m always up for listening to writing advice, especially if it comes from a published author like Beth Revis, who wrote the Across the Universe series, and The Body Electric. Getting to read this book gave some excellent specifics about what is need when writing a young adult book, and it’s definitely geared towards YA, as that’s what Beth writes herself. It was basically all I wanted to read about writing YA that was missing from my university course!

Continue reading “Review: Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice by Beth Revis” →

Review: The List by Siobhan Vivian

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10866233The List by Siobhan Vivian
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Harlequin
Pages: 336
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★

We were really looking forward to reading this book because it deals with eight different perspectives, much like our beloved Clearwater Crossing. Also Siobhan Vivian has co-authored the Burn For Burn trilogy with Jenny Han and I liked Siobhan’s character a lot more than Jenny Han’s. Basically, the book had a lot of promise.

Unfortunately, dealing with multiple perspectives can have it’s down side, mostly that one character can become more prominent, or all characters could be underdeveloped. While the characters themselves weren’t under developed – they all had their own issues! – their storylines came to an abrupt end. A lot of the conflicts were left unresolved, and we found ourselves waiting the whole time for that ‘something bug’ to happen.

Continue reading “Review: The List by Siobhan Vivian” →