Changers: Drew by T. Cooper & Allison Glock-Cooper

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 288
Publishers: Atom 

Released: 12th of January 2016 

The Cheerleader, The Nerd, The Jock, The Freak. What if you had to be all four?

Changers book one: DREW opens on the eve of Ethan Miller's freshman year of high school in a brand-new town. He's finally sporting a haircut he doesn't hate, has grown two inches since middle school, and can't wait to try out for the soccer team. At last, everything is looking up in life.

Until the next morning. When Ethan awakens as a girl.

Ethan is a Changer, a little-known, ancient race of humans who live out each of their four years of high school as a different person. After graduation, Changers choose which version of themselves they will be forever - and no, they cannot go back to who they were before the changes began.

Ethan must now live as Drew Bohner - a petite blonde with an unfortunate last name - and navigate the treacherous waters of freshman year while also following the rules: Never tell anyone what you are. Never disobey the Changers Council. And never, ever fall in love with another Changer. Oh, and Drew also has to battle a creepy underground syndicate called 'Abiders' (as well as the sadistic school queen bee, Chloe). And she can't even confide in her best friend Audrey, who can never know the real her, without risking both of their lives.

What I Have to Say 

This book was very different from what I expected, in a good way. I expected it to be an interesting look at a boy who changes into a girl overnight, looking into the difficulties of adjusting to that. What it actually is, is a deep intense look into issues such as male privilege and the experiences other people have 

I was surprised by how feminist this book came across. But the change that Ethan/Drew had to go through, from a boy to all the expectations and social judgement that a girl gets in high school? It really highlights how many more expectations there are on females than males.

 Even through reading through all of this, I didn't expect the scene at the party, so I feel this needs a trigger warning but it's a spoiler, so highlight to read: There is attempted rape in this book. For such an intense issue, I felt this was treated respectfully and sensitively, though I feel that I would have like to see more of how Drew coped in the aftermath. 

I cannot wait for the next book in this series. I have so many questions and can't wait to see who Drew ends up as next. 

Gathering Voices by Kris Humphrey

Synopsis (from Netgalley) 

Pages: 224

Publisher; Stripes Publishing

Released: 7th of January 2016 

When a raven drops a white feather at the doorstep on the day of your birth, it is a symbol of your destiny. You are a Whisperer – a guardian of the wild. 

The war against the shape-shifting Narlaw is raging. Mika and her Arctic fox companion, Star, must travel from their distant mountain home to join Dawn and the other Whisperers at the palace. The journey is fraught with danger and the outlook for the kingdom of Meridina is bleak, but Mika has discovered a gift that might just change their fortunes. Could she hold the key to defeating the Narlaw?

What I Have to Say 

I'm really enjoying this series. It's cute and the power to talk to animals has been a thing I have loved reading about since childhood. But there are too many Whisperers. Every book is introducing more and more and though I really love Mika and Star, I'm finding that I miss some of the Whisperers from the earlier books.  The only one we've gone back to in this book is Dawn and as much as I like her, I find myself wondering why they don't mention all the other Whisperers that are knocking about in the palace. 

I'm also wanting to know more about the setting. There seem to be so many little cultures with slight differences that we just don't see for that long because the characters from that part of the story are all leaving their homes. In the last book Tuanne was the most interesting part, because her way of life was so different and she was having to adapt. We need more of that. 

I seem to have only talked about problems in this review, but I really am loving the series. I love the characters and their companions and their fight against the Narlaw. I just want more of it. More detail, more explanations of the culture. Just more. 

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 312

Publisher: Orchard Books 

Released: 14th January 2016

How is it that one day Digby was my best friend's cute twin brother, and then the next he stole air, gave jitters, twisted my insides up?

And with Mom gone, bills to pay and Wren to look after... Why does the best thing happen at the worst time?

What I Have to Say 

This is not a book for people who don't like a good cry, It's a touching story about abandonment and children growing up too fast in order to care for their siblings. 

There's a lot of emotions in this book, from Lucille, Wren and their friends as they try to survive with their parents gone, without letting anyone find out they're on their own. To start off there's a strong bond, both between the sisters and their friends and it's interesting to see how those relationships are strained as the pressure mounts up some growing weaker and others growing stronger. 

I felt this was a really interesting and sensitive look at children becoming carers from their siblings because of neglectful or sick parents (or in this case both). I only know a little of the subject matter, but I felt it was written with compassion and realism. 

Be prepared for the ending though, because it is intense. 

Faceless by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400

Publisher: Chicken House

Released: 7th of January 2016

When Maisie is struck by lightning, her face is partially destroyed. She's lucky enough to get a face transplant, but how do you live your life when you can't even recognize yourself anymore? She was a runner, a girlfriend, a good student ...a normal girl. Now, after a single freak accident, all that has changed. As Maisie discovers how much her looks did and didn't shape her relationship to the world, she has to redefine her own identity, and figure out what 'lucky' really means.

What I Have to Say 

The plot of this book caught me the moment I heard of it. It sounded like a really interesting thing to explore so I'm really glad that it didn't disappoint me. 

I can't say anything for the accuracy of it, since I haven't faced many of the issues that the character faces in the book. But it did feel really accurate and from the terminology and details used in the book, it certainly seemed like the author had done her research. 

I think the thing that interested me the most in this book was the idea of identity and change that was looked at. How through her surgery Maisie loses her sense of identity and has to find out who she is post-accident. It's something that everyone can identify with.

This is definitely a thought-provoking book and a really well written one.

Moth Girls by Anne Cassidy

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 304

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Released: 7th of January 2016

Helplessly drawn like moths to the light, two girls go missing in an evocative and gripping tale . . .

They called them the Moth Girls because they were attracted to the house. They were drawn to it. Or at least that is what is written in the newspapers that Mandy reads on the anniversary of when her two best friends went missing. Five years have passed since Petra and Tina were determined to explore the dilapidated house on Princess Street. But what started off as a dare ended with the two girls vanishing. As Mandy's memories of the disappearance of her two friends are ignited once again, disturbing details will resurface in her mind.

What I Have To Say 

Anne Cassidy writes great stories. Her plots keep me wanting to read on and know what happens next, I love the fact that with Moth Girls, it was really hard to guess what had happened to the two girls. 

 I do find her writing style a bit simplistic though. With Looking For JJ, I found I didn't notice it so much and I think that the fact that a lot of the story was told through the point of a young child's point of view helped somewhat. But with Moth Girls, even the 12-year- old flashbacks felt a little off-putting, 

It didn't stop me enjoying the story too much though. I especially found the relationship between the three twelve-year-olds interesting and realistic. It added a lot of reality to the story and rounded out the older version of Mandy. 

If you like mystery and realistic portrayals of childhood trauma this is a good choice. 

The Winter Place by Alexander

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 448

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Released: 22nd of October 2015

When a mysterious stranger and his brown bear show up on the same day that Axel and Tess's father dies in an accident, Axel fears he might be going crazy, especially as only he can see them. However, the strange duo are quickly forgotten when Axel and Tess are shipped off to Finland to stay with grandparents that they've never met. But when they arrive in Finland, Axel is stunned when the stranger and his bear reappear. More incredibly, the stranger tells him that his parents are lost and need help. 

Desperate to see his father again, and actually meet his mother, Axel follows the man and his bear, disappearing deep into the frozen wilds of northern Finland. When Tess realises that her brother has vanished she's distraught. And so begins the frantic search across snow and ice into the dark forest. But as the hours creep by and with no sign of Axel, Tess begins to wonder if her brother has ventured onto a path that she cannot follow. 

What I Have to Say 

This book got better and better as it went on. It's not the kind of book that I was in love with from the start, but by the end of it I was sad to finish it. It was a very urbanized fairy tale, with the enemy for the most of it being a wheelchair. Which really worked when you found out what it actually was and how the mythology worked.  

The Finland setting was really interesting as it's a country that I don't know Learning about the mythology of other places is one of my favourite things about books like this, so I was glad there was so much of it. 

The reader is kept in suspense for most of the book and I did feel it was drawn out a bit, especially towards the start. But on a whole, I enjoyed it a lot. 

Boy 23 by Jim Carrington

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 384

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Released: 19th of November 2015 

Boy 23 isn't in My Place any more. He can't see The Screen, he can't hear The Voice. Boy 23 is alone.

One dark night, Boy 23 is thrown in the back of the van and driven out of My Place - the only home he has ever known. He is abandoned in a forest with a rucksack containing the bare essentials for survival. Before the van drives away, a voice tells him he must run as far as he can. His life depends on it. Boy 23 has never known another human. Boy 23 has never even been outside. So who is he? Why do people want to kill him? And more to the point, who is the voice that wants to save him?

What I Have to Say 

I really enjoyed this book. There was such a lot of great mystery in it. From the start, we have no clue who Jesper is or who the Voice is and what their connection to Marsh Flu is. Jesper's voice really draws you in. He sounds perfect for the boy he is, having grown up in seclusion with no contact with another person, his only knowledge coming from videos. 

The replacement of words in Jesper's vocabulary didn't bother me. Though they weren't really needed, since why would he know some words and not others, but there weren't too many of them so it just fell naturally into the way he spoke. Comparing it with Sophie Someone, which I really hated because of the replacement of words, I think it is because Boy 23 just replaces a couple of words whereas Sophie Someone replaced so many. 

If you're looking for a good post apocalypse book, this is a really good one to pick. There's people who've taken advantage of the break down of the society and others who have tried to help. There's so many things that get revealed later in the book too. 

This was a really good read.