Did You See Melody? by Sophie Hannah

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 336

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Released: 24th of August 2017 

Pushed to the breaking point, Cara Burrows abandons her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied - by a man and a teenage girl.

A simple mistake on the part of the hotel receptionist - but Cara's fear intensifies when she works out that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving life sentences for her murder.

Cara doesn't know what to trust: everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

What I Have to Say 

I've enjoyed Sophie Hannah's books before and this one wasn't an exception. She built up the mystery so well from the very start, not only what happened to Melody Chapa, but also what happened to Cara at home, why was she running away? There were so many different things to be intrigued by that it kept you reading, interested in what would happen next. 

The Melody Chapa stuff was really interesting. Obviously as the main theme of the book, it was really prominent. It was funny to see the other characters in the book and how they were all drawn up into the mystery of whether the girl in the hotel room was Melody Chapa. I really liked the side characters in this book, possibly more than Cara herself. 

The mysteries around Cara were really interesting at first, but I was unsure about the character. She seemed a bit timid and suggestible, a housewife who suddenly had the thrill of independence, booking her secret holiday and running away from her family. It was good to see her grow over the course of the novel and change into someone more secure with voicing her own opinions. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this copy for review. 

Breaking by Danielle Rollins

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 352

Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens 

Released: 10th of August 2017 

Charlotte doesn't fit in with her two best friends, or with anyone else at The Underhill Preparatory Institute, her cut-throat school for the rich and gifted. But when those best friends die suddenly, Charlotte doesn't know where to turn.

Were they keeping secrets? Could Charlotte be the reason they did it? Because Charlotte has a secret of her own, and now she must decide how much she will risk to discover the truth.

Trigger Warnings: Suicide, cutting

What I Have to Say 

I thought that this would be more bitchy girls in prep girls cutting each other down, but what I got was so much better than that. There was a lot of intrigue and mystery, but there was also a lot of grief from Charlotte. Grief for the way her mother can't love her, grief for the loss of her two best friends. The first part of it is pretty introspective and it makes you wonder a lot why Charlotte stays at Underhill, despite the fact that there's the mystery of the "drink me" bottle. 

But that's the heart of the story. This is the story about the way that she changes. The way that she gains the confident to assert herself, whether that's just because of the fact that she drank something from a little bottle or the fact that she's finally realising that she can be her own person instead of endlessly failing to be what her mother wants her to. 

I think it's this character that makes the book more than anything else. Charlotte is a product of her mother's desperation for her to be smart and despite her mother being absent for most of the book, she is always there in the background of Charlotte's thoughts. And as Charlotte starts to change, she starts to go against her mothers wishes more and more. 

It ended in such an interesting way too. I really can't wait for the sequel to find out what happens next. 

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

Tender Earth by Sita Brahmachari

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 432

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Book  

Released: 1st of June 2017 

Laila Levenson has always been the baby of the family, but now with her older siblings, Mira and Krish, leaving home just as she starts secondary school, everything feels like it's changing... can the reappearance of Nana Josie's Protest Book and the spirit it releases in Laila, her friends and her local community, help her find her own voice and discover what she truly believes in?

A powerful chime rings through Laila's mind, guiding her to walk the footsteps of the past on her way to discover her own future.

What I Have to Say 

This book was amazing. I loved the plot, I loved the theme, I loved Laila even if her actions were questionable at times. It was a beautiful story of a girl with a lot of change going on in her life, learning about the world and how to make a difference in it. With such strong story lines about race and protest, it is a brilliant book to put into the hands of teenagers who might need to learn how to stand up for what they believe in. 

Diversity is a massive thing in this book. I don't think there was a single character who wasn't diverse in some way, whether through race, religion or disability. It was just so great to see so many different people represented in the book and coming together through Laila. 

I loved whole protest book and the way Laila was learning and connecting with a grandmother she'd never met through it. It was a lovely story to have at the heart of the book and a great way to bring in the political climate that's going on at the moment. This book didn't shy away from showing the differences between people and how much racism is a part of our country right now. 

I haven't read the other books in this series, so this has really made me want to read them. This was such a fantastic book and everyone should read it. 

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

Another Place by Matthew Crow

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 304

Publisher: Atom
Released: 3rd of August 2017 

A small town. A missing schoolgirl. A terrible secret. And one girl's fight to survive.

Sixteen-year-old Claudette Flint is coming home from hospital after an escalating depression left her unable to cope. Released into the care of her dad, she faces the daunting task of piecing herself back together.

She may look unchanged; but everything's different. The same could be said about her seaside hometown: this close-knit community seems to be unspooling in the wake of the sudden disappearance of one of her schoolmates, Sarah.

As the police investigate and the press dig around for dirt, small town secrets start to surface - and Claudette must do everything in her power to keep her head above water. 

What I Have to Say 

Apart from a really, really accurate description of depression right at the very end of the book, this book didn't really have much of an impact on me. The story was enjoyable to read, but I didn't really have strong opinions on whether it was good or bad. It was just one of those in the middle books that was good enough to read but doesn't really go much further than that. 

I liked the main character, the depiction of her feelings felt accurate and very present throughout the book. She was easy to like, because it was obvious that she cared deeply about finding Sarah and her really bad depression periods were shown accurately but not in too much detail. Sometimes going into the nitty gritty detail of depression can be off-putting. In this book it more goes into the time lost when you're depressed. It's pictured like she just goes dark and stays in her room for days, which is exactly how it feels like when you emerge from deep depression like that. 

Really that's all I can say about this. It's obvious that a lot of thought went into this and it's got some really good descriptions of how it feels to be depressed, but as a story, I didn't find it particularly compelling. 

So if you want to understand depression, it's a great book, if you're looking for a story to get lost in you might want to pick up a different one. 

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

Editing Emma by Chloe Seager

Synopsis (Goodreads) 

Pages: 368

Publisher: HQ

Released: 10th of August 2017 

When sixteen-year-old Emma Nash is ‘ghosted’ by the love of her life Leon Naylor, she does what any normal teenage girl would do…

Emma spends the summer lurking in her bedroom, avoiding all human contact (and the shower), surrounded by the collection of chewit wrappers she saved from packs Leon gave her, back when he actually acknowledged her existence…

But seeing Leon suddenly ‘In a relationship’ on Facebook with the perfect Anna, spurs Emma into action and she embarks on a mission to make positive changes to her life (or ‘edits,’ if you will) and vows to use the internet for more than obsessively stalking Leon’s activities! Instead, she will use it for good and noble causes like finding someone who will actually be nice to her, and recording her findings for the rest of the world to see (i.e. BFF Steph and her mum) on her new Editing Emma blog.

But Emma soon discovers her ‘habit’ is harder to break than she first thought – turns out she’s not the only one ‘editing’ herself online (thank you Tinder for finding her mum’s profile, age 35, really?) and that life through an Instagram filter isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. But it could be worse, she could have outed her best friend, accidentally chatted up a 12 year old boy and revealed to the world why Leon Naylor is worth no girl’s time or virginity… oh no wait, that’s exactly what happened…

What I Have to Say 

This book had good messages at the heart of it, but it had way too much stuff about sex and masturbation in it for me. I think it's good that it showed that girls masturbate as well as boys, but it just made me feel really awkward when Emma kept going on about how much she masturbated? I felt like it was just a little too much. It just felt like the whole book was about sex really. 

There were a lot of feminist issues addressed in the book that I approved of though. The story, behind all the boys and dating and masturbation is really about Emma finding herself. It's about her processing what happened with Leon and finding out that her methods to deal with it are really that great. I really felt there were some good messages in this book, especially towards the end. 

All in all though, I was just so put off by the sex stuff. I found it hard to empathise with Emma, even though I felt so sorry about her having to suffer through such a horrible way to be broken up with. By the end I liked her a bit better because she was a more developed character, but it's the beginning that invests you in a book or not. 

As an adult reading this, I do think that maybe actual teenagers would connect better with this book. 

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

Simply the Quest by Maz Evans

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 373

Publisher: Chicken House

Released: 3rd of August 2017 

Elliot and Virgo’s troubles are far from over: death-daemon

Thanatos and his scary mum are at large and determined to

destroy the world. As even more immortal allies and enemies

emerge, Virgo and Elliot must learn how to be heroes …

What I Have to Say 

After enjoying the first book so much, I'm sad to say that this one didn't catch my heart so much. I still enjoyed the basic concept and story lines, but I felt that some of the characters, like Hermes and Hercules were a little cringe-worthy. They're based on stereotypes of people, which maybe the younger readers would find more funny. But I just didn't like it. 

The rest was great though. Same Elliot, same Virgo. The main gods were a bit in the background as they'd gotten into a fight with Hera and had their powers taken, probably mostly to put the focus on the two teenagers. But it was still nice to see the gods around and bickering in the background. 

I'm starting to really like Virgo. I loved her to begin with, even if she was really snobby, but her character is having to adapt and learn as she struggles with mortality and it's cool to see her journey. 

This is still a really good series even if some of it annoyed me. 

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

Freshers by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 367

Publisher: Chicken House Books 

Released: 3rd of August 2017 

Uni beckons. Phoebe can’t wait to be a fresher – especially since her crush from school will be there too. She’ll be totally different at Uni: cooler, prettier, smarter … the perfect potential girlfriend. She’ll reinvent herself completely. But Luke’s oblivious, still reeling from the fallout of the break-up with his ex. Thrown head first into a world of new friends, parties and social media disasters – can Phoebe and Luke survive the year, let alone find each other?

What I Have to Say 

Me and my friends at Uni were very different from Phoebe or Luke or any of the people they hang out with, but somehow this book captured the madness that was Fresher's week and the whole first term really. The ups, the down, the break-ups, the hook ups and just the whole experience of being away from home and living with people who you don't know. 

As with all of Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison's characters, I loved them all in their unique ways (except the ones we're not meant to like of course). I thought the whole stuff surrounding Luke and the football team was really interesting and a good thing to bring awareness to. Because it was gross and disgusting and they handled it well. 

One thing I will say though, which is not a criticism of the book really, but too many books about University involve binge drinking and parties. There aren't any books or even parts of books about the insane other stuff that happens. The groups who hang out and marathon Disney movies all night. Or who do other crazy stuff that doesn't involve drinking. In Freshers there was the Quidditch and there was one character who didn't drink, but it still made out that Uni is just all about binge drinking. It gives the wrong impression to people who don't drink but want to go to Uni. It is something that some people worry about and I think more needs to be written about non-drinking Uni students. 

My thanks go to Chicken House Books and Nina Douglas for providing me with a copy for this book for review.