Monday 31 August 2015

All the Rage by Courtney Summers Review

All the Rage by Courtney Summers 

 

“Just because something starts out sweet doesn’t mean it won’t push itself so far past anything you can call sweet anymore.”

All the Rage is the story of Romy who is suffering from the aftermath of her rape whilst also dealing with the bullying/hatred of the town people and trying to bury the old her. 

 “No. But no is a dead word.”

The story starts off with the rape scene and introduces the situation surrounding it. The rapist is the sheriff’s son and part of a family which is highly respected and influential in the small town where Romy lives.  Romy suffers backbiting and mental & physical abuse from parents, teachers and students and it made me so angry. I come from a fairly large city so I don’t know a substitute for the Turner family but I can’t believe how cowardly and stupid everyone was to blindly follow what the family said or to know they were wrong and be too fearful to say anything. Later on in the novel more details of the rape scene are given.  

“Makeup was a shallow girl’s sport, but it’s not. It’s armour.”

Romy is sort of living 2 different lives – the “old” her was the one who got hurt and she’s trying to move on from that girl. I don’t even know how she had the will to go to school – if I was facing the abuse she was I wouldn’t and her silent strength was important to her because it sheltered her from too much negativity.

“You know all the ways you can kill a girl? God, there are so many.”

Rape culture is such a big theme in the book and it’s dealt with really well. In the book Romy is called a “Slit” because to them she’s worse than a slut who is still a human being but she’s just slit for them to fuck with. It’s so horrible to not only go through what Romy has gone through but then be dehumanised because of it – literally everybody’s abuse was mostly because no one saw her a person just someone to toy with. I was so angry at the town’s people for their victim blaming because they thought she was drunk, she fancied him, she wore tight clothes and her background and that meant she wasn’t raped she just did it for attention. I hope no one ever goes through that situation alone.

“They cry for her and twist their hands in a way they never would for me. This is what happens when a girl befalls a fate no one thinks she deserves.”

 In the book Romy’s ex best friend has gone missing and everybody grieves for her because not only was she popular she didn’t deserve to be kidnapped – who does? But Romy didn’t have any of this when she was raped because wasn’t on the same “level” as Kellan and because people believed she deserved it. Also there’s this party that happens and the actions at that party show how much people believe she deserved to be raped because they let people do these things to her.

“I don’t know why it’s the girls who always seem to have to take on that kind of burden.”

Even after everything people still worry about his promising career... just stop! No one cares - you do the crime you pay for it.  


★★★★

Friday 28 August 2015

Feature and Follow Friday

Feature and Follow Friday

F&F Friday is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read.

The aim of Feature and Follow is to increase blog followers and make friends.
1.     First leave your name on the original post and then create a post on your own blog that links back to the original post
2.     Then visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!
3.     Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy.

4.     How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed. All features are chosen randomly to be the feature. They are not chosen by content or name.



This week’s question: Share a random quote from the book you are currently reading.

The book I'm currently reading is - 

Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Publication: September 10th 2015 by Macmillan Children's Books336

This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them.

Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over as a new student at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to act like a normal, functioning human this time around, not a girl who sometimes can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.
 

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with a mischievous glint in his eye.
 

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and secret road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.
 


As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.

A captivating and profound debut novel, "Fans of the Impossible Life" is a story about complicated love and the friendships that change you forever.

The Quote - "Against all odds. May people look at us and wonder how such jewels can sparkle in the sad desert of the world. May we live the impossible life." 





Wednesday 26 August 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

Waiting on Wednesday

 A weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that people are eagerly anticipating.

My choice for Waiting on Wednesday this week is:


On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

Publication: May 17th 2016 by Amulet Books, 464 pages


January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one.

Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter outside their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time.

A last-minute meeting leads them to something better than a temporary shelter: a generation ship, scheduled to leave Earth behind to colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But everyone on the ship has been chosen because of their usefulness. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister?

When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray Review

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray


“We are made by what we are asked to bear”

Lair of Dreams is split into different 2 different plots, the sleeping sickness mystery and the Project Buffalo one.  Theta, Memphis, Henry and Ling are trying to work out how the sleeping sickness occurred whilst Evie, Mabel, Sam and Jericho are finding information on Project Buffalo.

The first plot is the sleeping sickness in which people fall asleep and never wake up which eventually leads to their bodies burning up and them dying. It sweeps through Chinatown and foreigners are blamed for it. Ling is a dream walker who can also talk to the dead and one night she meets Henry who’s looking for someone from his past, they both decide to help each other. In the first book the main plot was about Naughty John it was creepy and evil but in this book the main plot is more mysterious. Though there is the creepy atmosphere with the ghosts in the tunnel most of it is figuring out who the women in the veil is and what her motive is.  Memphis sort of picks up some pieces with the help of his brother but his and Theta’s characters are mostly focused on their relationship

The second plot follows Sam as he tries to find his mother with the help of Evie who is now the ‘Sweetheart Seer’ after revealing her gift and becoming popular. After Evie comes out many people start coming out as Diviners – most of them being liars but people pay great money – she gains a lot of attention and gets a slot on a radio show reading objects.  Sam and Jericho are still working at the museum but with no income it’s soon going to fall apart so they decide to open up a Diviners exhibit with Will’s past being revealed and his link to Sam’s mother. 

Evie after the events of the first book is really broken and spends most of the book drunk. She isn’t seen as much as in the first book because the story is more focused elsewhere and her story focuses on the love triangle between Jericho and Sam and how she tries to be strong but her breakdown seems inevitable. 

Mabel wasn’t seen much either but her character does change a lot – she grows a backbone after being used by Evie and Jericho. The ending of the book leaves a cliff-hanger to what her character might do towards her friends.

Theta and Memphis’s story mainly focuses on both of them struggling with their powers and how most people disapprove of their interracial relationship.

Sam spent most of the book figuring out how to track down his mother but similar to Jericho he did talk a lot about Evie which isn’t as boring as it sounds.  I really liked the conversations between Sam and Evie – it was a love/hate relationship and they just had so much chemistry. I like Jericho fine enough but he’s so self pitying about Evie and I don’t think him and Evie are suited to be. One of my favourite things about this book is that though both boys liked Evie they never hated on each other – sure they teased each other but their relationship was just funny and relaxed which was nice as they weren’t pitied against each other.

Henry and Ling are probably my favourite duo from this book. The only set back is that Henry kept on hurting Theta unintentionally when he kept in dismissing her.  But they are like complete opposites – Henry’s really lively and dramatic whilst Ling is straight forward and blunt and their relationship is really nice.

I like the diversity in this book as it has a lot of main characters from different backgrounds from different places around the world, religions, disabled characters and different sexualities.

My favourite aspect of this book is when all the characters all meet and help each other. It’s like finally all of them together – talking about being Diviners and the bad things going on in NYC.

There are other smaller plotlines in the book and they’re kept short to keep the mystery like the two men following Sam and their other work, Will and Mrs Walker’s trip, Project Buffalo’s history, Sam’s mum, Blind Bill, Evie’s brother, Theta’s past and Memphis and the crow . Also I think the big overall plot for the saga is hinted at as well involving the King of Crows.

I also enjoyed how the author put in aspects of history from the time period like the KKK, acts on the people of China town, women forced into prostitution and inventors and science.


★★★★

Monday 24 August 2015

The Diviners by Libba Bray Review

The Diviners by Libba Bray


How do you invent a religion? You say, ‘God told me the following,’ and then wait for people to sign up”

After Evie reveals a secret at a party and scandalises the town people her parents send her to live with her Uncle Will. Desperate to escape and for a new change Evie grasps the opportunity to stay in New York City. The story focuses on many main and minor characters; the ensemble characters all have linking stories which involve their own powers and the link to solving the mystery.

The book is close to 600 pages so it’s not a surprise that the book is action packed. The good thing about the book is that at times it’s told from different perspectives which I liked because it brought in more information about Diviners and the villain. The mystery was built up well with the right amount of information given – there wasn’t an overload or too little and the creepy atmosphere that was created was spot on. The multi-perspectives showed different events happening around NYC, background/contextual information about characters and events, the murders and individual powers.

Evie’s a lot of things – she’s ambitious, selfish, brave and makes risky choices. She’s the typical MC who’s pretty, funny and conceited but her past and her actions don’t make her dull and do set her apart from the stereotype.  

Mabel is Evie’s old friend and she’s shy and helpful but she wasn’t seen much. She sort of helped and got told what was happening but didn’t really get involved – she didn’t help at the end. Her background story is told and it’s quite sad with her parents neglecting her and then also having a friend like Evie who isn’t interested in what she’s in. At the end of the book a mystery man is seen who earlier on saved her from the police and I guess with that plotline we’ll probably see more of her in next book which is good because she’s a really grounded character which is a drastic change from the other characters.

Theta is a show girl and from what we’ve seen her past is really sad and heartbreaking. She comes off quite relaxed and cool but inside there’s a lot of pent up emotions. We catch a glimpse of powers and it’s interesting to see a physical power which is dangerous as oppose to the other which is more mind and mental. Also her friendship with Henry and their past is just so cute.

Memphis is an interesting character because there’s a lot of mystery surrounding him. His background story is revealed which links to healing and a crow which follows him around but aside from that we don’t know much about him aside from that he protects his brother and his mother kept a secret from him. 

Romance – Jericho was off limits to Evie because Mabel had a crush on him and she emphasised this point a lot and then all of sudden feelings developed between them two and that point went out of the window!  Jericho is seen as the brooding but sweet character who has a very mysterious past which is revealed in the book. I would have preferred if it wasn’t revealed as the mysterious air is gone and it’s as if Evie’s pity for him will lead to other things.  Though I did like the ending as it was quite open and nothing was truly confirmed.

Uncle Will has his fair amount of secrets and it’s hidden by Evie’s view of him as a nerdy lonely professor so when his link to Project Buffalo the others involved in it is revealed it’s interesting.

I love the atmosphere and the writing style in this book especially in the murder and Naughty John chapters as it added to tension and creepiness of the book. I also liked how the subplots in the book added more to the story because we got to know characters and their stories and it wasn’t all mystery solving. I liked how the aspect of religion and belief was included as it was an important theme in the book and how strong faith and idolising led to the evil rising and staying that way.


★★★★

Friday 21 August 2015

Feature and Follow Friday

Feature and Follow Friday

F&F Friday is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read.
The aim of Feature and Follow is to increase blog followers and make friends.
1.     First leave your name on the original post and then create a post on your own blog that links back to the original post
2.     Then visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!
3.     Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy.
4.     How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed. All features are chosen randomly to be the feature. They are not chosen by content or name.


This week’s question: If you could have any animal in the world as a pet, what would you pick? Fictional ones count too! 

Toothless! I don’t know how it’ll work out but I’ll love a dragon as a pet.






He's so adorable! Leave a comment below on what your choice was and your thoughts on mine.  

Thursday 20 August 2015

Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas Review

Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas  


“There were things you would always be powerless to change…even if you are powerless, your words are not.”

Ollie is a 14 year old who is allergic to electricity, he lives in a cabin in the woods and apart from his mother and doctor he doesn’t really have anybody else. That is until his doctor gets him a pen pal from Germany who is 16 year old Moritz. Mo has a pacemaker to help his heart work and it’s electronic so if they were to meet – Ollie would die or Mo would die without his pacemaker.

The story is told through the numerous letters that the boys write to each other and the writing style is so on point. Reading the book you can just see the characters getting to know each other and become friends and when there are sad parts – it was just so real and heartbreaking. The story probably isn’t what you’ll expect; it’s not all cute and fluffy.  The story for most parts alternates between the 2 characters and there is a clear distinct difference between their writing styles which I loved as it showed their personalities. It was also apart from some sections was told in a chronological order. The story also focused on what the characters did during the week – so context for their story was added. 

I love the voices that told the story – the book just felt so realistic as if I was there with them. Ollie at first is so full of life and just full of happiness, he babbles on a lot and it’s so nice to see someone being happy when they’re trapped in this situation. He is very different to Mo who is very negative and hurtful towards Ollie at first because he’s such a closed and complicated character. As the story goes on we find out that Ollie has gone through an experience that has left him depressed and also a lot of his past is hidden from him. On the other hand Mo is at first very closed then he opens up and then he goes back to being closed – his cycle is similar to Ollie’s however Ollie’s starts with him having gone through the first two steps already. I guess that’s why they clicked so well together because they understood something about what the other had gone through.

The big reveal or twist near the end was for me totally unexpected and really interesting to read. We get an insight into Mo’s early years and how it affected him. It’s a weird and drastic change from the first section which shows the difference as it goes from realistic fiction to science fiction. 

The romance for the book is more complicated as it’s shown that the boys both have their own love interests but their feelings for each other are left hanging.


★★★★

Wednesday 19 August 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: The Land of 10,000 Madonnas & Wink Poppy Midnight

Waiting on Wednesday

 A weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that people are eagerly anticipating.

My choice for Waiting on Wednesday this week is:


The Land of 10,000 Madonnas by Kate Hattemer

Publication: April 19th 2016 by Knopf352 pages

Five teens backpack through Europe to fulfill the mysterious dying wish of their friend in this heartwarming novel from the author of The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy.

Jesse lives with his history professor dad in a house covered with postcards of images of the Madonna from all over the world. They’re gotten used to this life: two motherless dudes living among thousands of Madonnas. But Jesse has a heart condition that will ultimately cut his life tragically short. Before he dies, he arranges a mysterious trip to Europe for his three cousins, his best friend, and his girlfriend to take after he passes away. It’s a trip that will forever change the lives of these young teens and one that will help them come to terms with Jesse’s death.

With vivid writing, poignant themes, and abundant doses of humor throughout, Kate Hattemer’s second novel is a satisfying journey about looking for someone else’s answers only to find yourself.
 


Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke

Publication: March 22nd 2016 by Dial Books, 352 pages

The intrigue of The Virgin Suicides and the "supernatural or not" question of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer coalesce in this young adult mystery, where nothing is quite as it seems, no one is quite who you think, and everything can change on a dime.

Every story needs a hero.
Every story needs a villain.
Every story needs a secret.

Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy. Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous.

What really happened?
Someone knows.
Someone is lying.

For fans of Holly Black, We Were Liars, and The Raven Boys, this mysterious tale full of intrigue, dread, beauty, and a whiff of something strange will leave you utterly entranced. 



Tuesday 18 August 2015

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish 
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is  Top Ten Of My Auto-buy Authors


Beth Revis 





Rainbow Rowell





Gail Carriger





Jennifer L. Armentrout







Morgan Matson







Jennifer Echols







Richelle Mead






Sarah Dessen 






Katie McGarry





Maria V. Snyder



Monday 17 August 2015

The Accident Season by Moϊra Fowley-Doyle Review

The Accident Season by Moϊra Fowley-Doyle  


“I think we all drown, in one way or another.”

The Accident Season is the story of one family who find themselves getting injured regularly every October with no explanation behind it. The story follows Cara a 17 year old who recognises something different this year which in hindsight releases the secret or mystery surrounding the Accident Season.  

There are many different characters in the book but the main characters are Cara, her older sister Alice, her ex-stepbrother Sam and her best friend Bea. Each character had their own subplot to give some background on them and develop their character which was nice as it showed the accident season affected more than one person. Cara was okay for a MC but she was kind of boring and tended to focus more on her own feelings towards Sam, she also idolised the other characters which didn’t help her be more interesting. Alice’s story is the saddest from them all as she goes through so much on her own and not many people can tell she’s broken and unhappy. Sam and Cara were very similar in the way they were written – I get that they’re supposed to be really close but Sam was like the male counterpart to Cara and as he’s the main male character it didn’t suit the book

I liked the writing style of the book it was easy to read and had a nice flow to it which suited the magical atmosphere in the book. The story had a prologue style first chapter which hinted to something that happened further on in the book but the event wasn’t really significant so I felt that the chapter was sort of useless.

There are quite a lot of plots in this book and most of them interlock and contribute to each other which is interesting. After Cara discovers that a student from her school – Elsie appears to be in every one of her photos and Elsie has disappeared with no trace and with no one really knowing who she is, Cara tries to find her. As she tries to find Elsie she discovers Elsie’s identity, the truth behind the Accident Season and her family secrets. We also find out Sam’s dad part in the story and it’s a major part.

The book is part mystery and has a hint of a magical aspect. The bad thing was that the mystery wasn’t build well and sometimes not at all – whenever new information/clues were given Cara immediately did something to dissolve the tension/mystery that could have been built up. So I wasn’t ever kept guessing on something except the major plotline. I liked the magical aspect as it fit nicely with the story especially the witch’s story.

Also the sexual tension between some characters was just awkward and cringe worthy to read.  



★★★☆☆

Friday 14 August 2015

Feature and Follow Friday

Feature and Follow Friday

F&F Friday is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read.

The aim of Feature and Follow is to increase blog followers and make friends.
1.     First leave your name on the original post and then create a post on your own blog that links back to the original post
2.     Then visit as many blogs as you can and tell them “hi” in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!
3.     Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy.

4.     How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to WordPress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don’t have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed. All features are chosen randomly to be the feature. They are not chosen by content or name.



This week’s question: If you could have an endless supply of food what would it be?

I’m going to say pizza. I don’t know why except I’m always craving pizza and although it’s not healthy, having an endless supply would be great. Also having an endless supply means I could just sell the pizza and get rich fast because most people love pizza.



Leave a comment below on what your choice was and your thoughts on mine.