Review: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Glass Sword

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Edition: Orion, 2016

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

If there's one thing Mare Barrow knows, it's that she's different. Mare's blood is red - the colour of common folk - but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court wants to control. Pursued by the vengeful Silver king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join the rebellion. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

DISCLAIMER. THIS REVIEW WILL HAVE SPOILERS.

It's been a while, but my lovely friend over at booksandclevernxss.blogspot.co.uk has finally finished Glass Sword and now we're going to talk about it together like we do with so many books.

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, Book #1)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Edition: Penguin, 2012

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

A forbidden romance. A deadly plague. Earth's fate hinges on one girl...CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation. Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future. This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget.

Review

Ever since I first saw and heard about this series, I’ve been intrigued and I finally bought it at Christmas, only just now finding the time to read it.

I’ve always been a lover of fairytales. I’m enchanted by the notion of true love, of royalty, of magic, and more recently I’ve fallen in love with the way princesses are being rewritten into warriors, no longer damsels in distress, stuck in high towers. I love how timeless they are and how they are so easily rewritten. I don’t know how Marissa Meyer came to a point where throwing fairytales into a steampunk dystopia sounded like a good idea, but I'm glad she did.

One of the things I loved about reading Cinder was finding and recognising the elements from the original Cinderella. The prince, the stepsisters, the ball, but also the little things, like the foot that replaces the glass slipper and the car that acts as the pumpkin coach. 

Review: How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne

Title: How Hard Can Love Be?
Author: Holly Bourne
Edition: Usborne Publishing Ltd. 2016

Rating: ★★★★★ ★

Synopsis

All Amber wants is a bit of love from her estranged mum. And she's hoping that a summer together at Mum's Californian kids' camp will help patch up her shattered heart. But then she meets Prom King Kyle - and offers her heart up for breaking all over again. Even with BFFs Evie and Lottie's advice, Amber's finding love hard. Is it worth the fight? (Taken from Waterstones.com)

Review

Well. I was slow starting it but I flew through the last half. I really think I must just be falling in love with Holly Bourne books in general as this was just as amazing as Am I Normal Yet? (which for some reason I always want to call How to be Normal???) 

For starters, I loved the setting. If I had the guts and the time and the money, I would definitely have to give the counselling thing a go. Maybe I'll settle for writing a book about it (shamelessly using a friend who has done it as a sort of research guinea pig). I loved the cabins and the woods and the lake, the sun and the campfires. It was a summery read, but so different to the summer books I normally read, where the characters are just spending summer in their not-so-dreary home towns. In my head, I think I pictured it as a mix-up of Camp Rock and the camp from The Parent Trap, which shows you the sort of things I like to watch. 

I'm a sucker for a road trip, so when I realised this book included not one, but TWO, I was ecstatic. And can I just say, I really want to go to Yosemite now, if Holly Bourne's descriptions of it are accurate. Even if they aren't, the chapters set there were perhaps my favourite, being someone who loves writing descriptions as well as reading them.

I liked that Lottie and Evie took a back seat. While I feel this series is about their friendship as much as anything else, it was nice to have them come to the foreground when they had something really important to contribute, not only to support Amber, but to push the plot along. I really loved the Skype scenes where Lottie was shoving her face in the camera, and the emails where she would take over the keyboard. Those moments felt so realistic to me as I remember that horrifying yet hysterical feeling when your best friend hijacked your phone or email. 

I also really enjoyed the introduction of Whinnie and her knowledge of Winnie the Pooh's philosophy. I love Winnie the Pooh and his little ramblings on love and friendship, which at first you might dismiss (I mean, he's a fictional bear) but if you read them a little closer they have a subtle but profound wisdom in them.

While the title suggested otherwise, I didn't find this book to be all about love. To me, it was more about Amber's relationship with her mother and how that had affected other parts of her life. The moment Amber finally stood up for herself was great, and I could almost feel the same relief she must have felt at that moment, like she'd been set free. 

And, I can't forget to mention, that gold star, up there. While the love story didn't take the spotlight, it's simplicity and the chemistry between Amber and Kyle, did make me want to write, and that's what the gold star is all about: words that inspire me to write my own. There was one moment in the most dramatic part of their relationship, which is my favourite quote, that really made me want to grab my notebook (old school, I know) and get writing. 

I don't have a bad word to say about this book and I highly recommend it, to everyone. This book, and in fact, Holly Bourne herself, are just one example of why I get so angry at people who dismiss and look down on YA fiction. 

Favourite Quote

"There was the love in life you couldn't choose. The love you just felt, that you couldn't let go of, that tortured you and messed you up and made you sometimes too screwed up to let the other kind of love in. The other kind of love, was the love you did choose. The love you didn't have give, but you gave anyway." 

Review: Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

Title: Am I Normal Yet?
Author: Holly Bourne
Edition: Usborne Publishing Ltd. 2015, UK

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

All Evie wants is to be normal. And now that she's almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the-girl-who-went-nuts, there's only one thing left to tick off her list...But relationships can mess with anyone's head - something Evie's new friends Amber and Lottie know only too well. The trouble is, if Evie won't tell them her secrets, how can they stop her making a huge mistake?

Review

When I finished this book, I logged straight into Goodreads – it's like a ritual now. I sat there, Goodreads in one hand, this book in the other, being asked what rating I would give it. Initially, I was thinking four stars, but then, out loud, I asked myself "what's wrong with this book?" The answer? Nothing. So five stars is what it gets. 

Review: Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Title: Peter Pan
Author: J. M. Barrie
Edition: Parragon, 1994

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis
Peter Pan and Tinkerbell lead the three Darling children over the rooftops of London and away to Neverland - the island where the lost boys play. Magic and mischief is in the air but if villainous Captain Hook has his way, before long someone will be swimming with the crocodiles... (Taken from Waterstones.com)

Review

Peter Pan in a single word? Charming.

I thought that the Disney adaptation I know best was about as magical as it could get. Turns out I was wrong. *gasps of horror from me, the huge fan of Disney*. I realise that it wasn't exactly a literary choice, but the early 20th century language brings its own kind of magic, reading the story today. 

I was shocked for some reason, by how well all the adaptations I've seen have stuck to the original story. I loved reading lines and realising I'd heard it before, exactly the same way. 

Review: The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Cycle: The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, The Raven KingAuthor: Maggie StiefvaterRating: ★★★★★ ★

Review

Okay, so, I know The Raven King isn't out yet which means I can't review it but I've just finished reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue and I want to review that, as well as the first two in the series. Since I read them a while ago, I thought I'd do a review of the series as a whole rather than the individual books. So, here goes.

I didn't actually come across this series until my friend read it and adored it (this is the Peter Pan friend I keep referring to). She then went on and on, telling me I had to read it. I read the blurb and wasn't sure it'd be my thing. My friend and I have a pretty good relationship about reading. A lot of the time we read and love the books we recommend to one another but we're just as happy to read a book and disagree about it, or even not read a book recommended y the other. And, like I said, I wasn't going for it, but she seemed so enthusiastic and passionate about it that I guess I was curious. So, I borrowed it, and I am SO GLAD I did. 

Reading Roundup

March has been a super busy month – deadlines, Easter holidays, job interviews – and my reading has experienced a bit of a slump. Which makes me sad, BUT the very few books, that is, two, which I've managed to fit in have been extremely good reads. And, I will be back on it for April. I will. I am DETERMINED. So, March's books:

Glass Sword

Rating: ★★★★★

Not going to lie, Glass Sword was pretty intimidating to look at. 400+ pages, the size of a hardback? If I hadn't been waiting for this book to come out, I would not have even tried. I don't think it was quite as good as Red Queen, but there were so many twists that I wasn't expecting, ones that had me scribbling in the margins. My full review isn't up yet, but it's going to be a special one, I promise. (Edit: it's here)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Rating: ★★★★★ ★

I WILL finish this before the end of March *nervous laughter*. I'm so nearly finished but so far, much like the two before it, Blue Lily, Lily Blue is amazing. I won't gush too much here, I'll leave that for the full review, here. Plus, look, a gold star! 
(Edit: I finished it in the (very) early hours of April 1st...does that count?)

Like I said, I'm pretty disappointed in myself this month. It can only go up from here, right? 

Review: All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Title: All I Know Now
Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
Edition: Sphere, 2015

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

We all know that growing up is hard to do, and sometimes the only thing that makes it better are the reassuring words of someone who has walked that bumpy road just a few steps ahead of you and somehow ended up as a fully-functioning adult. Carrie Hope Fletcher is that person.* Thanks to her phenomenally popular YouTube videos, Carrie has become an 'honorary big sister' to hundreds of thousands of young people who turn to her for advice, friendship and, most of all, the knowledge that things will get better. Carrie has created a safe and positive space for young people to connect and share their hopes and concerns online, and now she will share her most personal thoughts and experiences in her first book, ALL I KNOW NOW. Part memoir, part advice guide, it will include Carrie's thoughts on some of the topics she's asked about most regularly: bullying, body image, relationships and perhaps the scariest question of all: what does the future hold for me? With warmth, wit and a sprinkling of hard-won wisdom, Carrie will provide the essential tools for growing up gracefully ...most of the time. *Although she did recently post a video about how to pee in a onesie. So the definition of 'adult' is a bit flexible here ...

Review

I've been watching Carrie's videos for a while now and actually only just realised that there's only a one or two year age difference between us. This means that I've read All I Know Now at the age she was when she wrote it.

For me, it wasn't about looking to Carrie for advice, although she gives it in abundance, it was more about finding out about the things she believes in and the journey she's made to get where she is. Having watched her videos, I already knew I admired her – her success, her outlook on life – and I wanted to know more. So when my housemate turned up with a copy of her book I knew it was time to read it. 

Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Title: A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness, an original idea by Siobhan Dowd
Edition: Walker Book, 2012

Rating: ★★★★★

Review

First things first, this is a children's book, recommended to me by my Writing for Young People module tutor. I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did; that feeling comes with the territory of reading lists and the like. But I really think it's impossible to not like this book. 

It was so beautifully written, it was as though every single word had been perfectly and carefully chosen. If it hadn't been a library copy I would have been underlining almost all of it. The story was so touching and heartbreaking made even more so by Patrick Ness' writing, as well as the story behind the book and how it came to be. 

Review: Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

Title: Night Owls (The Anatomical Shape of a Heart in the US)
Author: Jenn Bennett
Edition: Simon & Schuster UK, 2015

Rating: ★★★★★ ★

Review

I don't even know where to start. I devoured this book; I read it in just over 24 hours, and that's including the day out I was on with my family. 

Okay, let's start with Bex. I loved Bex and her dream of being a medical illustrator. It was so refreshing to have a character wanting to be something other than the generic. I think it's so important for teens to realise how many options they have. I didn't realise what I really wanted to be until I'd already done a year at university. Not saying I'd want to be a medical illustrator, but it would have been nice to be able to read about characters who dreamt of careers you'd never heard of.