Review: Girlhood by Cat Clarke

Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Within the last six months, I’ve read two Cat Clarke books. Entangled and A Kiss in the Dark. Both were chilling in some way, with plot twists that had me throwing the book to the other side of the room and hugging a pillow to my chest. She knows how to write a thriller, and with a tagline like ‘Sugar and spice and scars for life’, you know when you’re getting in, you’re getting in deep. Unfortunately, Cat’s reputation for writing YA thrillers ultimately led to both of us being like ‘Wait….was that it?’ With that said, Girlhood is my favourite of her books so far because of the different, less mysterious tone. And it takes place in a boarding school, so that’s a guaranteed win.

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Review: The Lost and the Found

20685157The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Crime (?)
Published by: Quercus
Pages: 441
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★

The Lost and the Found has been on my radar for a while. It follows Faith thirteen years after her adopted sister Laurel was abducted and suddenly reappears. Laurel is thrust back into her family life and it’s a lot to adjust to. Meanwhile, Faith is struggling with her older sister’s return as what little attention she got from her parents before is completely non-existent now that Laurel’s back. Last year I read If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, which is about sisters who are returned to civilisation after growing up in the woods. It has a similar tone and the same mysterious and volatile tone that I really loved from Murdoch’s book and overall, I’m pleased I was immersed in the harrowing tale of the Logan family.

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Review: Red Witch by Anna McKerrow

26200465Red Witch by Anna McKerrow
Genre: Supernatural
Published by: Quercus Books
Pages: 416
Format: ARC e-book
Series: Crow Moon (#1)
Rating: ★★★
Note: We received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. 

I jumped straight into Red Witch after finishing Crow Moon. Once again, I knew practically nothing about the sequel and was pleasantly surprised to find it was from Demelza’s point of view. I thought she was an under appreciated character in the first book, but her POV meant that I lost the small connection I had with the characters from Crow Moon. I’ve just read 400 pages of Danny, at least tell me what happens to him and Saba! Red Witch did pretty much everything I felt was lacking for the first book, so now we have a pretty interesting climax ready for the third and final book in the series, which I will definitely be reading! There will be spoilers of Crow Moon in order to talk about the events of the second book, so if you haven’t finished Crow Moon, I highly suggest you do that first.

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Review: Crow Moon by Anna McKerrow

23567756Crow Moon by Anna McKerrow
Genre: Magical-realism
Published by: Quercus
Pages: 384
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★.5

Crow Moon is a UKYA book about a Greenworld and a Redworld, that’s pretty much all I knew before reading. Also, the cover is absolutely beautiful, but completely misleading. Just like Half Bad by Sally Green, Red Witch explores a magical witch land through a male protagonist. I never really connected with the voice, maybe because I prefer female protagonists, but something was definitely hindering my enjoyment and access to the story.

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