Category: Reviews by Maddie

Review: Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivision

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lobstersLobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Vision
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 307
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

Lobsters was subtitled ‘A Socially Awkward Love Story’. Because of this, I was expecting ‘Lobsters’ to be the tale of two socially awkward people finding love and happiness and feeling better about having social anxiety. Unfortunately, ‘socially awkward’ is being used in it’s derogatory form, claiming something that isn’t really ‘socially awkward’, just an embarrassing situation, and unintentionally making light of legitimate social anxiety.

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Review: In Bloom by Matthew Crow

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in bloomIn Bloom by Matthew Crow
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Much-in-Little (Corsair)
Pages: 235
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

(Warning: The blurb of this book is misleading.) On the back cover, this book is compared to ‘The Fault in Our Stars’. Normally, comparing a contemporary book with John Green is a risky business, as A LOT of people in the world love TFIOS. However, I’d say the only similarity with John Green’s most famous novel is that the two main characters have cancer. That’s like comparing Shadow and Bone with The Selection, because they both have a female protagonist!

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(Spoiler) Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

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the death cureThe Death Cure by James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 325
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★
Series: The Maze Runner (#1) | The Scorch Trials (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

All was for nought, my friends. I have finished the trilogy in exactly the same place as where I started: knowing nothing about anything. After ‘The Scorch Trials’ ended, probably with Thomas being knocked out because that’s his favourite state of consciousness, I thought: ‘Am I finally going to get some answers?!’ Turns out, the answer was no. So, here I go, with my one star review. There WILL be spoilers from here on out.

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Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

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the scorch trialsThe Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 360
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★
Series: The Maze Runner (#1) | The Death Cure (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I was a little bit worried to begin this book, because it meant venturing into new, unchartered territory. I knew what to expect with ‘The Maze Runner’ and wasn’t that surprised with the changes the movie made. With ‘The Scorch Trials’, the fate of my reading enjoyment was left solely in the hands of James Dashner. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Here’s why…

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Review: Goddess by Josephine Angelini

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goddessGoddess by Josephine Angelini
Genre: Romance, Mythological, Adventure
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 450
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★.5
Series: Starcrossed (#1) | Dreamless (#2) 
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

The final instalment to the ‘Starcrossed’ trilogy – Josephine Angelini came at this book with all guns blazing. Her protagonist has transformed from ditzy school girl to deity superhero. Who saw that one coming? Being honest, I found this finale to be borderline ridiculous, as in, Helen’s powers went to new heights, almost literally, that it was hard to read without laughing at the outcome. How can one girl bring down all of Olympus? Percy Jackson didn’t manage it and he’s the best man for the job, by far. So, what are my true thoughts on ‘Goddess’…

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Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

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the maze runnerThe Maze Runner by James Dasher
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dystopian
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 384
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★
Series: The Scorch Trials (#2) | The Death Cure (#3)
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

I have a confession to make. It’s terrible, I know, but….I saw the movie first. But after I saw the movie, I was filled with the best feeling ever. MOTIVATION! I could not leave ‘The Maze Runner’ where the movie did – that epilogue section was too much. I needed to know what happened next. So, I decided I would read the book, experience everything as the author intended and then continue the series. So, now that I’ve witnessed both the book and the movie, I can say: the movie was better. (Book-to-movie review coming soon.)

Plot and Pacing
The Maze Runner is your classic dystopian. Some kids are chucked in an arena and have to try and survive. Unlike ‘The Hunger Games’, all the kids co-operate. Order is everything. The aim of the game is simple: escape the maze. Well, we weren’t really excepting them to stay in the maze, right? Wrong. Over fifty kids have been stuck in this maze for two whole years. UNTIL our protagonist Thomas arrives.  Continue reading “Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner” →

Review: Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

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dreamlessDreamless by Josephine Angelini
Genre: Romance, Mythological, Adventure
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 504
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★
Series: Starcrossed (#1) | Goddess (#3)
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

In the sequel to ‘Starcrossed’, Helen must venture to the Underworld in order to complete her quest of freeing the furies from the cycle of vengeance. A more apt title for this book would be ‘Sleepless’, as Helen battles on the brink of death to find the haggard sisters, whilst still having to deal with the wakened world of Nantucket and a boyfriend who’s forbidden to her by the laws of nature.

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Review: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

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starcrossedStarcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Genre: Romance, Mythology, Action
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 514
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★
Series:  Dreamless (#2) | Goddess (#3)
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

After looking at the cover, I didn’t know what to expect from ‘Starcrossed’. You can’t help but read the title and think about Romeo and Juliet. I was worried that this book was going to be consumed with a forbidden romance that would end in disaster. Safe to say, I was surprised ‘Starcrossed’ was more than just another angsty YA romance novel!

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Review: Amy and Matthew by Cammie McGovern

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amy and matthewAmy and Matthew by Cammie McGovern
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Published by: Macmillan
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

This book was like a breath of fresh air. Dealing with disability and mental illness, ‘Amy and Matthew’ ticks a lot of diversity boxes, and gains some originality points, as I’ve never read something that covers these issues. So, ‘Amy and Matthew’, I didn’t have a problem with. However, the fact it’s subtitled as ‘A Love Story’ is where things started to get a little tricky.

Characters
The first twenty percent of the book, we are introduced to the lives of our protagonists, written in 3rd person so we can experience their lives separately, as well as together. Amy has cerebral palsy and Matthew has (to begin with) undiagnosed OCD. They have to deal with the stresses of over-active and absent parents, along with trying to survive senior year. Amy wants to make some friends, which includes Matthew. They hang out and slowly, they fall in love. Except, neither character can overtly say they’re in love and if they do, each character seems to be in a different place in the relationship.
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Review: Geek Girl – All That Glitters by Holly Smale

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all that glittersGeek Girl: All That Glitters by Holly Smale
Genre: Contemporary, Humour
Published by: HarperCollins
Pages: 430
Format: ARC E-Book
Rating: ★★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

The fourth book in the Geek Girl series maintained the same level of humour and fun that the other three books in the series uphold! ‘All That Glitters’ took Harriet on a new adventure: being a Sixth Form student! (Such a nice change from the plethora of secondary school settings out there!)

Harriet’s venture into sixth form shouldn’t dissuade a younger reader from continuing the series – she’s still the same geeky, bubbly girl she was in secondary. Although, we were expecting Harriet’s voice to mature as she became a young adult, we’re sure this will happen in the subsequent books, as she went through some major character development by the end of the book.

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