Legion by Julie Kagawa

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 384

Publisher: HQ

Released: 25th of April 2017 

Dragon hatchling Ember Hill was never prepared to find love at all--dragons do not suffer human emotions--let alone the love of a human and a former dragonslayer, at that. With ex-soldier Garret dying at her feet after sacrificing his freedom and his life to expose the deepest of betrayals, Ember knows only that nothing she was taught by dragon organization Talon is true. About humans, about rogue dragons, about herself and what she's capable of doing and feeling.

In the face of great loss, Ember vows to stand with rogue dragon Riley against the dragon-slaying Order of St. George and her own twin brother Dante--the heir apparent to all of Talon, and the boy who will soon unleash the greatest threat and terror dragonkind has ever known.

Talon is poised to take over the world, and the abominations they have created will soon take to the skies, darkening the world with the promise of blood and death to those who refuse to yield.

What I Have to Say 

I'm enjoying this series more than when I started it, but it still isn't my favourite Julie Kagawa series. She's doing really interesting things with the Talon organisation and the clone dragons. I'm especially liking the stuff with Dante. This book especially gave a lot of information on Dante's motivations. It makes sense now as to what he's doing and exactly why he's doing it. I wish he'd get out from Talon's claw, but I can understand his aims and why he thinks he's doing the right thing for both himself and Ember by doing what he's doing. 

The thing that's really holding me back from really adoring this series is the love triangle. I am so sick of love triangles in books. They never capture my interest as much as they seem to with everyone else. I thought that we could move on with it after what happened in the last book. And again I'm hoping that it will be put behind us after the things that happened in this book. I really hope so anyway. I just don't care which of them Ember ends up with, all I care about is whether they can defeat Talon and avoid being killed by St. George. 

The things with St. George have gotten really interesting in this book though. I can't say much without spoilers, but let's just say that I'm really curious to see what they do in the next book... 

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

I Have No Secrets by Penny Joelson

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 336
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Released: 4th of May 2017


Jemma knows who did the murder. She knows because he told her. And she can't tell anyone.

Fourteen-year-old Jemma has severe cerebral palsy. Unable to communicate or move, she relies on her family and carer for everything. She has a sharp brain and inquisitive nature, and knows all sorts of things about everyone. But when she is confronted with this terrible secret, she is utterly powerless to do anything. Though that might be about to change...

What I Have to Say 

This was such an interesting story! It made me want a Miss Marple style detective story about a detective who's in a wheelchair tends to overhear things from people around her because people just assume she doesn't understand and then she could use it to her advantage. I think it would be cool if this turned into a series with Jemma at the center, but I don't think it would happen. 

It was so interesting to see things from the point of view of a person with no way to communicate at all. It really opened my eyes to the feelings of humiliation that can come from being stuck like that. Jemma was such an amazing character and she had so much going on in her mind and yet people around her couldn't do anything but just guess at her needs. And even the most kind and sensitive person in the world would never be able to get that right for her. 

I love this book most because it really made me think of things from a different viewpoint and I hope to find more books like this. 

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

Passing for White by Tanya Landman

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Publisher: Barrington Stoke 

Released: 15th of May 2017 

1848. The Deep South. Rosa is a slave but her owner is also her father and her fair skin means that she can ‘pass for white’. With the aid of her husband, Rosa disguises herself as a young Southern gentleman, and her husband as her property. In this guise, the couple flee the South, explaining away their lack of literacy, avoiding anyone that they may have ever met and holding their nerve in the face of extreme stress and imminent danger, over a thousand miles to freedom. 

What I Have to Say 

One of the many things I liked about this was that it was a that it's based on a true story. Some of the names and events are changed but the basic story of two black people travelling across America in search of freedom is the same. It's inspiring and made even more awesome by the fact that there was no "white saviour" in the entire thing. The entire journey was all down to Rosa, a black slave, taking advantage of her light skin to disguise herself as a white gentleman. And that is just the most beautiful thing I've read lately. 

Rosa felt very real as well. Her fear as she traveled, always worrying that she would be caught out was infectious and it made me root for her so much, because I couldn't stand the thought that she wouldn't succeed. 

The language used in the book was mostly okay. The N-word was used once and Rosa's husband was addressed as "boy" a few times, but there was a note in the back explaining the authors decision to use these words and how she had tried to hold back as much as she could without being unrealistic. I think. Obviously being white I don't know what it would be like to be a black person reading this book, so I can't really comment more than to say I respect the author's decision and hope it doesn't offend anyone. 

My thanks go to Barrington Stoke and Nina Douglas for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 288

Publisher: Chicken House 

Released: 4th of May 2017 

Ami lives with her mother on an island where the sea is as blue as the sky. It’s all she knows and loves, but the arrival of malicious government official Mr Zamora changes her world forever: her island is to be made into a colony for lepers. Taken from her mother and banished across the sea, Ami faces an uncertain future in an orphanage. There she meets a honey-eyed girl named for butterflies, and together they discover a secret that will lead her on an adventure home. Ami must go back to the island of no return, but will she make it in time?

What I have to Say 

I think this was even more beautiful than the Girl of Ink and Stars. There was just something about the love involved in it. The way that Ami was fighting to get back to her mother. 

The treatment of Leprosy was really interesting. I didn't know much about it before, but it was really cool to see Ami's home, how the colony had a whole society with different words to talk about people with Leprosy because so much of the illness is based around slurs and misinformation. 

The only thing that I disliked was that the bad guy was portrayed with OCD and it was used a lot to show how scared he was of the disease. I understand completely how many people were scared of Leprosy. I have OCD, I know I would have reacted the same way as Mr Zamora. And it just made me so uncomfortable to have my illness portrayed with me, even though the main characters did pity him and say he was sick rather than hate him more for it. 

I liked the butterflies and the symbolism though. I want to be a butterfly zookeeper! 

My thanks go to Chicken House for providing me with this copy for review. 

An Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 288

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 4th of May 2017 

It's been a year since Milly, Elyse and Leonie's dad died, and a year since their last trip to Rome. Summer's here again, and once again they are heading with their mum to Italy - but what's it going to be like going without Dad? Rome still holds its familiar charms - the sun is still as warm, the gelato as delicious, the people as welcoming. But nothing is quite as it once was ... 

With grief still raw for all of them, Milly is facing the additional awfulness of having to see Luke again - gorgeous, gorgeous Luke, who she had a fling with last year, and who she made a total fool of herself with - or so she thinks. What's going to happen this time? What's more, things between Milly, her sisters and their mum are rocky - Leonie is being tempestuous and unpredictable, Elyse is caught up with her new boyfriend, and Milly feels like she just doesn't know how she fits in any more. 

Over one Italian summer, can Milly find a way back to the life she once had? 

What I Have to Say 

This was a good story but there just wasn't much to grip me and make me want to read on. I liked the way it addressed grief and mourning and the effects it can have on people, but that's all it was. A journey of characters and how they recover. And for me, those books just aren't really enough. 

The three sisters were really interesting and I liked the way that they were different from each other. I also liked the descriptions of Rome. It made me really want to go on holiday, so I think the best time to read this is when you're on holiday. It would make a really great beach read. 

This is all I really have to say on it. Like I said, it's a good story, but it just wasn't for me. 

It would make a great beach read though. 

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

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 416 

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books 

Released: 4th of May 2017 

When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows the lazy summer break she’d imagined won’t be exactly like she anticipated. And once she returns to her grandfather’s estate, a bit banged up but alive, she begins to realize that her injury might not have been an accident. One of her family’s employees is missing, and he disappeared on the very same day she landed in the hospital.

Desperate to figure out what happened, she befriends Euan McEwen, the Scots Traveller boy who found her when she was injured, and his standoffish sister Ellen. As Julie grows closer to this family, she experiences some of the prejudices they’ve grown used to firsthand, a stark contrast to her own upbringing, and finds herself exploring thrilling new experiences that have nothing to do with a missing-person investigation.

Her memory of that day returns to her in pieces, and when a body is discovered, her new friends are caught in the crosshairs of long-held biases about Travellers. Julie must get to the bottom of the mystery in order to keep them from being framed for the crime.

What I Have to Say 

Mostly, this book made me want to read Code Name Verity again. I'd forgotten how awesome Julie was as a character. This book was amazing and I loved it, but not as amazing as Code Name Verity was. I think it would take a lot to beat Code Name Verity though. 

The story was so good though. It really showed prejudice but also in a way that showed the privalidge that Julie had. I think it was especially interesting because it showed the Traveller's feeling annoyed when Julie did things for them, even when there really no choice for her in certain cases. I think it really helps show that even though we have the best of intentions, we still have so much privilege and we have to acknowledge it. It's definitely one of those cases where having a book about prejudice written from the point of view of a privileged white girl can actually address the issues in a good way. 

The mystery was really good too. I love how Wein makes you think that you know what happened, at least to a certain extent and then throws in a new piece of evidence that completely changes everything. It wasn't as big a reveal as with Code Name Verity, but it was still pretty awesome. 

I definitely need to read Code Name Verity again now. 

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

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Pan Macmillan 

Released: 4th of May 2017 

Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes. 

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall. 

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined . . . and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

What I Have to Say 

This is a great book about the ups and downs of life. Teddy and Alice haven't had the best of fortune in their lives, but when Teddy wins the lottery, it seems like their luck is going to turn, but it's not quite as easy as it seems. This book really looks into the expectations and media coverage that lottery winners get after their win. 

It wasn't as cute and relaxing to read as I've found Jennifer E. Smith's books before. It's not that the other books weren't deep, but I feel that because through most of the book Alice love for Teddy seems unrequited, it didn't have the romantic feel that the other books. I liked it a lot in other ways, but it wasn't what I'd been expecting. 

Alice's struggle was really interesting to read. I've read a lot of books about identity and trying to find out what you actually like rather than what you've felt pushed into and the fact that she honestly thought that she was happy until it was time to actually decide on a University felt quite realistic. Freezing when it comes to big decisions and putting it off because I don't want to face it, is something that I do a lot, so it felt very familiar to me. 

I'm not completely overwhelmed by this book but it was a good read. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with this copy for review.