The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 480

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books 

Released: 3rd of May 2016 

They’ll get inside your head…

Imagine if you could see inside the minds of everyone around you – your best friend, your boyfriend, your enemies…?

Imagine how valuable you’d be…

Imagine how much danger you’d be in…

Imagine being an Outlier.

It all starts with a text:

Please Wylie, I need your help.

Wylie hasn't heard from her one time best friend, Cassie, in over a week. Not since their last fight. But that doesn't matter. Cassie's in trouble, and it’s up to Wylie to do what she does best, save her best friend from herself.

This time it's different though – Cassie's texts are increasingly cryptic and scary. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie asked him to help. Trusting the super-hot boy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn't feel right, but Wylie has no choice.

But as Wylie and Jasper follow Cassie’s bizarre trail, Wylie has a growing sense that something is REALLY wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? Who is she with and what do they want from her? And could finding her be just the beginning…?

What I Have to Say 

Although this book was okay, it didn't catch me. I think part of it was the same reason that a lot of books like this don't catch me, it's because they seem the same as a lot of other things that I've read recently. Of course, if I'd read this first then maybe I would like it better, but in the end, this is how it is. 

The other reason I didn't really get into this was that pretty much everything could have been solved if they'd just stopped lying to each other. Cassie lied to her dad and her dad lied to Cassie and if they'd just stopped then everything would have gone smoother for everyone. 

I might continue reading these if I have the opportunity. I was interested in the powers that they showed and would like to see how that is developed, but if not for that, I probably wouldn't bother. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with this copy for review. 

Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320

Publisher: Electric Monkey 

Released: 30th of June 2016

June's life at home with her stepmother and stepsister is a dark one – and a secret one. She is trapped like a butterfly in a net. 

But then June meets Blister, a boy in the woods. In him she recognises the tiniest glimmer of hope that perhaps she can find a way to fly far, far away from her home and be free. Because every creature in this world deserves their freedom . . . But at what price?

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child Abuse, Racism

What I Have to Say 

This book was grim! I like sad books, but this was depressing levels of sad. Obviously it is a pretty dark subject matter, so I was expecting it to be a pretty dark read, but what I wasn't expecting was the second half. The child abuse in the first half was interesting and a good view into what many children are suffering through, but the second half, I just didn't need. 

The main reason I didn't like the second half is that I kept thinking of people who are going through child abuse reading it. Children and young adults who are suffering like June does might pick up the book in order to feel less alone or seek advice of how to escape the situation. And what they will find reading this book is a very grim picture. 

I'm not saying that it's a bad story to tell. I think that any story whether it is a positive or a negative one deserves the right to be told, but I feel that, in YA especially, there is more responsibility to the readers who might be suffering and until there is a suitable number of positive books out there on a particular subject, I feel that writing negatively about such a subject might only cause pain. 

That's not to say that it's a bad story. It may have been a bit too dark for me, but there are many aspects that a reader could enjoy and the story-telling was perfectly done. The characters were well written and easy to engage with  and the feeling of sympathy for June was very quickly established. 

If you like dark books then this will be a very good read, I just worry about the message it sends to people like June. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Electric Monkey for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

The Accidental Secret Agent by Tom McLaughlin

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 240 

Publisher: Oxford University Press 

Released: 2nd of June 2016 

Schoolboy turns secret agent in this hilarious spy spoof! Before you read this, I want you to carefully check that no-one is reading over your shoulder - go ahead, do it now. First off, that was terrible - really obvious. If I'm going to tell you top secret government information, you're going to have to be a bit more stealthy. Try again. Was anyone looking? No? Right, then I'll begin. This year the secret service made a major mix up, they mistook a 13-year-old boy called Kevin for a secret agent (I know, so much for an 'intelligence' agency). This was the sort of kid that would try and zip wire across a building and end up falling head first into a fountain with his bum on show, so can you imagine what happened when he was allowed access to the amazing sort of spy gadgets that James Bond would use? Despite this, it was up to Kevin to save us all from an evil supervillain. It was the most dangerous, daring mission in the history of the secret service, and also its biggest blunder.

What I Have to Say 

There's something really enjoyable in reading books like this. Books that from the very start are made up of completely wild concepts that make it clear that this isn't something to take more seriously, because the joke is in the very title. It's a hilarious concept to set up the jokes to come. 

I think I liked the sister best. It may be because I'm a girl, but I found it really amusing how she swept in and did a lot of the actual spy work with more competence. Although I enjoyed Kevin stumbling along trying to do these things, I just gained a lot of enjoyment in how good at the spywork his sister actually was. 

This book is definitely a great one for any boy or girl who daydreams about being a spy. The humour is very good and will lead to a very entertaining read. 

My thanks go to Oxford University Press for providing me with this copy for review. 

Love and Other Man-Made Disasters by Nicola Doherty

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 240

Publisher: Orion Children's Books 

Released: 2nd of June 2016

Juno is scared of a lot of things. Climate change, urban foxes, zombies - the usual. So when she goes on a skiing holiday with her mum's adrenaline-mad new husband and his tearaway twins, she doesn't hold much hope of surviving. Then she meets Boy. Gruff, hairy and thrill-seeking, he's everything Juno doesn't like. Or is he? Juno's about to discover there's nothing more scary than falling in love.

What I Have to Say 

From first glance this could be a book about a girl with anxiety who meets a boy and falls in love and ends up being cured, but it isn't. Yes, Juno meets a boy and yes while being with him she learns how to quiet down some of the worries in her mind. But what I took from it was more than that. This isn't a story of girl meets boy, this is the story of a girl learning to take risks and do things despite the way that they could turn out. It's more than anything the story of a girl learning to be brave. 

I feel that there was too much emphasis put on the love though. It was an important part of the book, but I feel that the events later were more important. I don't know how they could have shortened the romance, but I feel if they'd condensed it down and made it less of the whole story it would have put more importance on Juno's coming-of-age story line. 

Despite this, it was a good book. Funny and lighthearted as well as covering some very important points. This would be a good read for the summer. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Orion Children's Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

Sing by Vivi Green

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books 

Released: 2nd of June 2016 

America’s most famous pop star flees the spotlight to recover from her latest break-up in Maine – only to fall for a local boy and be faced with an impossible choice at the end of the summer: her new guy, or her music.

Multiplatinum pop icon Lily Ross’s biggest hits and biggest heartbreaks (because they are one and the same):

1. AGONY. (That feeling when her ex ripped her heart out of her chest and she never saw it coming.)

2. GHOSTS. (Because even famous people are ghosted by guys sometimes. And it sucks just as much.)

3. ONCE BITTEN. (As in: twice shy. Also, she’s never dating an actor or a musician ever again.)

But this summer’s going to be different. After getting her heart shattered, Lily is taking herself out of the spotlight and heading to a small island in middle-of-nowhere Maine with her closest friends. She has three months to focus on herself, her music, her new album. Anything but guys.

That is… until Lily meets sweet, down-to-earth local Noel Bradley, who is so different from anyone she’s ever dated. Suddenly, Lily’s “summer of me” takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself falling deeper and harder than ever before. But Noel isn’t interested in the limelight. She loves Noel-but she loves her fans, too. And come August, she may be forced to choose.

What I Have to Say 

I feel there was too much romance in this book. It's not that I'm against romance, though I do think a lot of YA books insert romance in when it's not necessary to the plot far too often. And it's not that I think that Noel and Lily's relationship shouldn't have been part of the book. I just think that it should have happened differently, that the emphasis shouldn't have been on whether or not they end up together. 

I just feel that the whole point of the book, of Lily leaving the city and her schedule behind, was to learn how to live and write music on her own, without a man in her life. While part of the story was concluded, I feel that it wasn't quite as strong as it should have been. I feel that Lily didn't really stand up for herself and say "No, I need to be alone for a while" like I would have liked. 

Though it fell flat to me on that one issue, the rest of the book was enjoyable and interesting. I liked the viewpoint of a big name celebrity and how nice a person Lily was. Often in books, celebrities can come off as jerks, so it was a really cool concept. 

This is perhaps not one that I'd go out of my way to recommend, but if you think it sounds interesting then I'd definitely say to read it! 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with this copy for review. 

London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 272

Publisher; Hot Key Books 

Released: 2nd of June 2016 

Seventeen-year-old Sunny's always been a little bit of a pushover. But when she's sent a picture of her boyfriend kissing another girl, she knows she's got to act. What follows is a mad, twelve-hour dash around London - starting at 8pm in Crystal Palace (so far away from civilisation you can't even get the Tube there) then sweeping through Camden, Shoreditch, Soho, Kensington, Notting Hill . . . and ending up at 8am in Alexandra Palace.

Along the way Sunny meets a whole host of characters she never dreamed she'd have anything in common with - least of all the devilishly handsome (and somewhat vain) French 'twins' (they're really cousins) Jean Luc and Vic. But as this love-letter to London shows, a city is only a sum of its parts, and really it's the people living there who make up its life and soul. And, as Sunny discovers, everyone - from friends, apparent-enemies, famous bands and even rickshaw drivers - is willing to help a girl on a mission to get her romantic retribution.

What I Have to Say 

I've loved Sarra Manning for quite a while, despite not having to get around to reading quite all of her books yet and I have to say, this book could only have been written by her. Who else could write about a young black girl travelling around various parts of London at all hours of the night, joined by, among other things, two french guys and a broom. 

There were motorbikes, rickshaws, stolon bikes and of course the good old tube involved in this mad dash as Sunny tried to track down her boyfriend so that she can dump him. It shows her journey from a quiet people-pleaser, to a badass bike thief and every stop along the way. 

I think you can tell why I love this books. It's an adventure from start to finish that you can get absorbed in, There's nothing really more to say, it's just an awesome wild romp set in London. 

And the broom is the best part. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400 

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books 

Released: 

Seventeen-year-old Maddie O'Neill Levine's grandmother is a young-at-heart socialite who has always been Maddie's go-to confidante. Although Maddie and the rest of her family have learned to expect the unexpected from their matriarch, Gram still manages to shock them all when she announces that she has booked the O'Neill clan on a secret death-with-dignity ship called the Wishwell; Gram has terminal cancer and is determined to leave the world in her own way--and give her family an unforgettable summer of dreams-come-true in the process.

Soon, Maddie is on the trip of a lifetime with her wacky family. Aboard the ship, Maddie bonds with other Wishwellians and falls for Enzo, the son of the ship's owner, as they travel the globe. But despite the copious laugher, headiness of first love, and wonder of the glamorous destinations, Maddie knows she is on the brink of losing Gram, and she struggles to find the strength to let go in a whirlwind summer shaped by love, grief, and the power of forgiveness.

What I Have to Say 

I think the thing I like most about this book is that, while being a book that is generally pro-euthanasia, it didn't get into the debate. There were some characters who didn't agree at all, who stayed behind and didn't go on the cruise and others who didn't agree with certain cases, but other than the odd comment here and there, they didn't voice their opinions. I felt it left the reader with the freedom to make up their own mind because there weren't passionate arguments trying to convince them either way. All that they saw was the pain and suffering of some of the guests and the choices that each of them made. 

It's pretty obvious that this is a sad book. I mean, any book with death and euthanasia as the main theme was always going to be, but it was written in a way that kept it light-hearted. The aim of cruise was to have fun and celebrate the lives of those about to die and the crazy adventures kept it very upbeat and lighthearted. It's the kind of book that you don't look back on and think of how it stomped your heart out and drove you to tears, even though in the end, of course it did. 

Truly, I think that this is a beautiful book. It was well crafted to deal with a sad and very hotly debated issue in a way that masks the heavy topic behind lightheartedness and levity without losing the real point of the book. I'm so glad I got the chance to read it. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder Children's Books for providing me with this copy for review.