Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 528

Publisher: Indigo

Released: 29th of September 2015 

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price - and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy, Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone.

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction - if they don't kill each other first.

What I Have to Say 

I had no idea how much this book was missing from my life. The world needed a heist book set in the Grisha universe so much. In fact, off the top of my head, I cannot think of a single fantasy heist book, though I'm sure they exist (and if anyone knows of one, leave a comment because I want to read them). This book had me enthralled from the beginning, though I took a while reading it because I really wanted to savour it. Despite being over five hundred pages, it ended far too quickly. I want more. 

I don't think there was a single main character that I didn't like. Obviously there were some I liked more than others (Inej, Nina, Kas, to name just a few), but there weren't any characters that I just didn't like. And those who I wasn't completely enamoured with by the first paragraph, I grew to love pretty quickly. 

I say this for a lot of series, but I cannot wait for the next book. The ending was the kind that had me very frustrated that I couldn't read on. Though even if it hadn't ended on such a cliffhanger, I feel I would have said the same. I want more of these characters in my life. I would reread this book a thousand times if I had time. I just want more. 

This is without a doubt one of the best books that I've read this year. Probably one of the best that I'm going to read this year. I want everyone in the world to read this book because I love it so much. 

As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka

 Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 238

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 7th of August 2014

Seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson is hardly your average teenager. She lives by herself in the city of Tampere, Finland, and has a firm rule to mind nobody's business but her own. But that rule is put to the test when she happens upon five hundred washed euro notes hanging up to dry in her school's darkroom, and it is shattered once Lumikki realises who owns them.

Caught in an increasingly tangled web of deception, corruption and danger, Lumikki finds herself navigating the Tampere's dark underbelly in the search to expose its shocking connection to the international drugs trade. Lumikki is smart, but is she smarter than a master criminal? Can she bring down the infamous 'Polar Bear' - or will she become another one of his victims?

What I Have to Say 

It took me a while to get into this book. I liked it a lot once I got into it, but there was a fair amount of time when I just wasn't engaged with it. The main character was interesting, though it was hard to get into her head. Towards the start it felt like she was just trying to be different. Though after a while, you begin to find out why she's the way she is and the reasons behind certain things she does. I found the understanding made her more interesting and not just someone trying to be different for the sake of it. 

The plot line also got a while to get started, but once it did, I really liked it. The suspense was good and I really liked the way they brought in Lumikki's name and the whole fairy tale/ snow white/ snow queen thing. 

I think it was good as thrillers go, but for me it just didn't feel like anything special. 

Counting Stars by Keris Stainton

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 288

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Released: 3rd of September 2015

Big city, big dreams, no money, no problem...

Six 'friends', one flat, big dreams... what could go wrong? When eighteen-year-old Anna leaves school and moves to Liverpool, she feels like her life is finally beginning. She's landed her dream job at a theatre, and she's moving into an exciting (if not slightly run-down) flat on a buzzing street lined with shops, bars, and buskers. Best of all, her new flatmates are kind, welcoming and a lot of fun - what more could she ask for?

But although her new life is fun, it's also a little overwhelming. Anna's job quickly falls through, and then she realises that although her new friends are great, they're also a little mixed-up... and it's not long before Anna starts using her blog to talk about her experiences, from the hilarious to the ridiculous to the little-bit-scary. But when Anna spills a bigger secret than she can handle, suddenly the consequences are all too real. She'll have to prove she has the mettle to make it in the big city, or risk losing everything she thinks she wants.

What I Have to Say 

This book was a very realistic tale of a teenager moving away from home for the first time and one of the few books I've see that show a character choosing not to go to University, which is good because it shows the other path that people can choose. This will really help people who, like Anna, don't really want to go. 

Anna moves into a house with people who are honestly the dream housemates. They're fun, they're quirky and they don't argue about who's going to do the washing up (though I think that's just because Alfie does it). I really liked them as a group.

It shows various problems, living away from home for the first time, abuse, job hunting, parental pressure, sharing your life with the internet and many more. But it was a fairly gentle read. A lot of these problems bubbled away under the surface of the story for a lot of the book with the only real conflict coming in the last couple of chapters.

Though this book wasn't a "page-turner" or a "thrill a minute", it made a lot of valid points whilst being a gentle read. Let's be honest here, if all the books you read are "unputdownable" you'd never get anything done.

It probably won't be a book I think back on in six months time, but it was one that I enjoyed reading.

3.5 Stars

Monsters by Emerald Fennell

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 288

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Released: 3rd of September 2015

Set in the Cornish town of Fowey, all is not as idyllic as the beautiful seaside town might seem. The body of a young woman is discovered in the nets of a fishing boat. It is established that the woman was murdered. Most are shocked and horrified. But there is somebody who is not - a twelve-year-old girl. She is delighted; she loves murders. Soon she is questioning the inhabitants of the town in her own personal investigation. But it is a bit boring on her own. Then Miles Giffard, a similarly odd twelve-year-old boy, arrives in Fowey with his mother, and they start investigating together. Oh, and also playing games that re-enact the murders. Just for fun, you understand... 

What I Have to Say

This was a good story, but really wasn't my thing. I was put off by the level of description that the writer used in the gory parts of the book. It made up a lot of the personalities of the two characters, so I understand the reasons behind putting in so much detail. There are people out there that will love this book for precisely this reason. It just put me off completely. 

Often I find screwed up characters or characters who do bad things really interest me, but I just didn't like these too. It probably goes back to the gory side of things and how much they enjoyed it that made me dislike them, especially the bit with the cat. 

The ending was really good though. I wasn't really intrigued by the mystery, but I found the solution to be really satisfying, I can't say I noticed any foreshadowing to it, but it was surprising without seeming too out there. 

It was a good book, just really not my thing. 

Hacked by Tracy Alexander

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 288

Publisher: Piccadilly Press

Released: 6th of November 2014

Dan had been diagnosed as ADHD as a child. He quite liked the ritalin, but then he got into computers, and for his parents a geek was better than something feral. It was hard to remember when the genuine hacking started; but free phone credit was the first illicit, tangible "real-life" results of a hack, though not the last. 

By the time Dan is contacted online by "Angel," he is eager for the challenge laid before him - creating tricky bits of code. But Dan begins to suspect that something more nefarious may be planned for his code than he thought. He will have to decide what truly matters more - protecting his anonymity and freedom or preventing a deadly terror attack ... 

What I Have to Say 

This is such an interesting book. It really makes you think about how easy it is to be tricked and cross the line between mild law breaking and getting people hurt. I had a lot of sympathy for Dan as he faced the choice between trying to make things right and keeping himself from getting into trouble for what he'd done. 

It was really interesting to see how his friends and girlfriend reacted to his hacking, especially at school with the mobile phone hacking and with his little sister on club penguin. It shows how people are; how they encourage him and flock to him when he's getting them top ups for their phones but turn on him later when things get more serious. 

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the next book because it looks like something equally as interesting. 

The Secret Fire by C.J. Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 424

Publisher: Atom

Released: 3rd of September 2015

French teen Sacha Winters can't die. He can throw himself off a roof, be stabbed, even shot, and he will always survive. Until the day when history and ancient enmities dictate that he must die. Worse still, his death will trigger something awful. Something deadly. And that day is closing in.

Taylor Montclair is a normal English girl, hanging out with her friends and studying for exams, until she starts shorting out the lights with her brain. She’s also the only person on earth who can save Sacha.

There’s only one problem: the two of them have never met. They live hundreds of miles apart and powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.

They have eight weeks to find each other.

Will they survive long enough to save the world?

What I Have to Say 

I've been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it and it was so good! I loved it from the first page until the last. The characters were both perfect. I loved Taylor a lot. She was intelligent, driven and had a distinct personality that is sometimes lost in that type of character. Sacha was tough, dangerous, off the rails and wonderfully French. You could see the chemistry between the two from really early on. 

The writing styles of the two authors complimented each other really well. I adored the mysteries surrounding the two characters. Taylor, starting to find out that there's something unusual going on with her and Sacha having known for a while that he's going to die and given up on his life because of it. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this series develops. I have a feeling it's going to become one of my favourites. 

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

Synopsis (From Goodreads) 

Pages: 434

Publisher: Usbourne

Released: 1st of August 2015

All Evie wants is to be normal. She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy. She’s even going to parties and making friends. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list…

But relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

What I Have to Say 

The representation in this book was phenomenal. The accuracy of the descriptions of OCD were, in my experience at least, bang on. The way that Holly Bourne portrayed the choppy, frantic way that people with anxiety tend to think was very impressive. And even with all that going on, she has managed to keep the voice of the character there underneath it all. 

The only negative thing I found in this book was when Evie made the point that people with mental illness don't tell people they have mental illness. While being quite clearly the characters opinion not the author's, I felt that could send the wrong message out, because some people who do talk about their illnesses may feel invalidated by this statement. But equally as important is that people should feel comfortable to talk about their illnesses if we want a world where mental illness is seen as a socially accepted illness to have. Although I really do agree with Evie's point that people should not be using terms like bipolar and OCD to describe everyday emotions. 

I just want to add a warning here for anyone thinking of reading the book, it could be mildly triggering for some OCD / anxiety suffers. I want to encourage people to read it, but if you are suffering from these things, keep yourself safe, monitor your moods and thoughts and if you're in doubt about whether it's triggering you; put it down. This book is fantastic and very helpful, but it's more important to stay safe. 

One of the best things I found about the book is how the different types of therapy that Evie is going through are real techniques used with OCD suffers. Not only does Evie talk about things like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and mindfulness, but she also goes through some of the techniques, which could be really useful for people with OCD or other anxiety disorders who aren't ready to face technical books or explanations but are all right facing it through fiction. 

A review of this book would not be complete without talking about feminism. I loved the spinster club and everything about them. Feminism is definitely something that should be talked about more in YA (and in general) and this was a really good way to spotlight it. I'm really glad that it's going to be a trilogy,