The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Pages: 256
Publishers: Orchard Books
Released: 7th of August 2014

"The yard of this house is a graveyard of moments and everything left behind is a clue. And I am here to dig."

There's a ghost haunting 208 Water Street. She doesn't know who she was, or why she's still here. She does know that she is drawn to Maggie, the new girl in town, and her friends - beautiful, carefree Pauline and Liam, the boy who loves her.

But the ghost isn't all that's lurking in Gill Creek... Someone is killing young girls all across the county. Can the ghost keep these three friends safe? Or does she have another purpose?

What I Have To Say 

 My main problem with this book was that it was trying too hard to be the Lovely Bones. Everything was trying to be poignant, especially the bits from the point of view of the ghost. I think it would have been okay if it hadn't be so obvious that the author was aiming for that. 

The main character was all right, though she seemed to lose a lot of her personality when she met Pauline and Liam. Her role really felt like a narrator than an actual character because I don't feel she'd have made much difference to the plot if she was replaced with any other character. 

It was a nice story, very slow but enjoyable to read. But it didn't really have enough substance, especially in the first half. Pauline and Liam as well as some of the other characters in the town were interesting enough that they made up for the lack of character in Maggie. 

Read if you want a sedate story that got some nice imagery, not if you want something fast and gripping. 

Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington

Pages: 336
Publisher: Orchard Books
Released: 8th July 2014

The perfect life or the perfect love. You choose.

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she shifts to her 'other' life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she's a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she's considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments that bring her dangerously close to the life she's always wanted. But if she can only have one life, which is the one she'll choose?

 What I Have To Say 

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't a great feat of literature. It didn't have beautiful sentences from cover to cover, although there were a few notable ones. But what it did have was a really sympathetic character, an interesting concept and a really easy to read story. 

I found the idea of living two separate lives really interesting. And found Sabine's frustration with it all very believable, especially when she was pulled from one world to the other in inconvenient times. I wanted her to keep both worlds through the entire book, but I could understand completely why she didn't want to. 

There were a few parts that were gripping, especially towards the end of the book. But on a whole it was a little slow. Especially when there was an exciting scene in one world but not in the other and you have to go through several chapters to get through to the next bit. 

But on the whole it was really good. Such and interesting concept and a nice resolution, even if not every question got resolved. 

Ramblings: YALC Blogger Workshop, How I've grown as a blogger and other stuff

I'm not going to lie, one of the main reasons I got into blogging was because of the free books. I saw Sophie getting all the latest ARCS and having a successful blog and wanted to be her. Well, I still want to be her really. Yeah, I was naive and I probably started blogging for the wrong reasons.

But! I've grown so much since then. I don't worry about ARCs or followers so much anymore. Yeah, I still want the ARCs, yes I still want more followers and comments and get jealous of the popular blogs (I think most of us do, let's be honest) But even when I feel that no one's listening, I still post. I still try and think of unique stuff to do. Because it gives me a purpose, something to do with my life at a time when I honestly don't have much going on. And I just love doing it, for doing it.

What I learnt at YALC

 

I honestly learnt a lot at the whole event, just talking to other bloggers about the way we do things was a massive learning experience. But I want to focus on the Blogging Workshop that happened on the Saturday of the event. Because that was such a wonderful experience.

The event was run by Kat McKenna (Marketing Editor of Macmillon), Sanne Vliegenthart (Digital Coordinator for Hot Key/ Book Tuber), Holly Bourne (Author of Soulmates and Journalist for Thesite.org) and Natasha Ngan (Author of the Elites and Fashion Blogger). They said many things, half of which I'm sure I've forgotten but here are a few that stuck with me.

• Keep your posts short and use pictures and bullet points to break up the text because readers on the Internet don't have long attention spans. (Today I'm not doing so good at this.)

 

• Publicists want to be your friends (This is something I need to remember because I'm often shy to approach publicists, especially on twitter, in case I'm disturbing them.)

• Events like YALC and socialising on websites like Twitter can be great for getting followers and networking with other bloggers.  

•  If you see something missing, a topic that people aren't posting about for example, write it yourself. 
 

 

Some of these I knew already, others are things that were interesting to hear. They've given me some good ideas for my blog, including a couple of topics I'd like to write post for. So those might be coming your way... well whenever I get around to actually writing them.

I'm also thinking of creating a new blog. Branching out into another field. It's mostly that last point that is making me think of doing it, though I have been thinking about it for a while. I've been studying Japanese for about 4 years now and I can't find much intermediate resources out there and most of the blogs I've seen about Japanese aren't very well labelled. So I might start doing that in the future, I'll probably post links to twitter if you're interested.

So that about sums up all that's in my head recently. I've definitely started posting more since YALC and I'm really having fun doing so, so I'm hoping to keep that up.

Now is the time to say if you'd like to see anything new on my blog. Comments are always welcome.

The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting by Holly Bourne

 Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 464
Publisher: Usbourne Books
Released: 1st of August 2014

Apparently I'm boring. A nobody. But that's all about to change. Because I am starting a project. Here. Now. For myself. And if you want to come along for the ride then you're very welcome.

Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. Most of the time she hates her life, her school, her never-there parents. So she writes.

But when she’s told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

What I Have To Say

This book was quite a fun read. It's a really great book for Mean Girls fans, with the base storyline being fairly similar. The commonly told story of a girl becoming popular, with her own agenda. But with a bookish twist. 

Most of the issues I had with this book were, I think, things that the writer intended people to take issue with. This is a story about Bree's learning process. At the start she puts far too much importance on being 'interesting'. And by interesting she means popular. 

Bourne tackles a lot of issues in this book. Showing self-harm and bullying as they are in many teenagers lives. She does a really good job of this, but I think the fact that she shows Jassmine's self-harm as well as Bree's deserves a special mention for two reasons.

1. It's a message that is stated time and time again but keeps needing to be said; just because someone is popular doesn't mean that they're happy. 

And 2. Self-harm is not limited to cutting. There are many different ways that people self-harm and I'm glad someone has finally acknowledged that. 

The Savage Kingdom Blog Tour: YALC Jealousy and Comic Book Drawings: A Guest Post by Simon David Eden

YALC London! Wish I’d been there! A feast of Books, Comics & Films, now that is what I call cool. It’s a word that gets bandied around a lot (particularly by me)

but hey, I just don’t think there’s ever been a really convincing user-friendly replacement. Bad. Sick. Wicked. Awesome. Swaggy. They’ve all got their place and their devotees I guess, but I’m sorry, for me nothing does the job quite like cool. It’s clean, simple, rolls off the tongue, even rolls back the years. From Jimmy Dean to Kerouac to 60s Paris to Greenwich Village to Miles Davis through to Heisenberg’s Pork Pie hat in Breaking Bad. Was that cool incarnate or what?

 But I digress. The YALC London! Next time I’m rocking up for sure. Hopefully with The Savage Kingdom and its sequel out by then, I might even get an invite. A boy can dream. You see, even as a fantasy novelist with a long and pretty illustrious screenwriting career behind him, I still hanker after that visceral connection I felt when I picked up my very first Marvel Comic. That was a very big deal to me. Still is. I’d never seen anything quite like it, and it just kind of flicked a creative switch and set me on the road towards becoming a writer. Of course back then my family didn’t have two pennies to rub together, so comic books were a luxury we couldn’t really afford. 

But out of adversity as they say… I got around the problem by drawing my own. Frame by frame. Page by page. Copying others at first, before branching out and inventing my own characters and stories. Below is a snap from a pencil rendition (with apologies to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, I was 12 and knew nothing about copyright!) of the origin of Spider-Man. I drew the whole comic. Spent months on it. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a great tool for learning about the economy of story telling even if I couldn’t afford the crayons to colour it in! Or maybe I just knew instinctively I wasn’t an inker or colorist. Anyway, the rest is history. 

So who knows, maybe a few years down the line some author or graphic novelist or filmmaker will write a blog about how YALC and The Whispering of the Pages launched their career. Now wouldn’t that be cool.

The Savage Kingdom by Simon David Eden

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 304
Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
Released: 17th of July 2014

Everyone has the potential to change the world, but some are born to do it.

 When Drue's beloved cat Will-C goes missing, she's unaware that his disappearance is the start of the greatest global conflict the world has ever known. The animal kingdom has declared war on mankind, and now domesticated creatures must choose who to fight for: Man or Beast.

Cast into a world full of danger, but determined to rescue Will-C and bring him home, Drue starts out on a quest and makes an astonishing discovery: an ancient tribe of shape-shifters, who have lived in the shadows since the dawn of time, are about to play a key role in shaping the future - but can they save mankind? And what role is Drue herself about to play?

The Savage Kingdom is an unforgettable tale about courage, hope, loyalty and the unbreakable bond between a girl and her cat.

What I Have To Say

It took me a little while to get into this book. The first few chapters were too info-dumpy for me, but it quickly got better and I ended up really enjoying it. 

I really loved the Nsray. I felt that the culture was we built with a lot of great background and explanation. Though I think that Drue was a little slow in asking the one question that I think anyone, especially a 12-year-old girl, would ask before anything else: 'Can I shapeshift too?'! I mean come on. It took her a few chapters to even realise it was possible. 

The only thing I really didn't like about it was the animals. While I love animals being main characters in books, it felt like they were too human. I am really interested in getting inside the animals' heads and I like it when authors have really thought through how the animal would think and how different they would be from humans. 

That said, I really did enjoy the Savage Kingdom and will definitely be keeping up with the series. 

Book Haul #2

Lots of books this week, partly due to YALC, so this might be a long one.

Summaries are from Goodreads except Afterworlds which is from Netgalley.


Print Books:

From YALC:

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

 

In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story.

My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.

Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.

I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.

I really don’t.

 I was so excited to get this copy. It was top of my ARCs I wish I had list. I assume it was Harper Collins who was hiding ARCs away at YALC so thanks! 

The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting by Holly Bourne

 

Apparently I'm boring. A nobody. But that's all about to change. Because I am starting a project. Here. Now. For myself. And if you want to come along for the ride then you're very welcome.

Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. Most of the time she hates her life, her school, her never-there parents. So she writes.

But when she’s told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

These were on sale at the YALC bookshop so that was  awesome. 

The Memory Keepers by Natasha Ngan

 

  "No one can take your memories from you... can they?"

Seven is a thief with a difference - he steals downloadable memories from banks and memoriums to sell onto London's black market, trading secrets and hidden pasts for a chance at a future of his own. He makes sure he keeps some special stuff back to 'surf' himself though - it's the only real form of entertainment he can afford. But one night, as Seven is breaking into a private memorium in a wealthy part of London, he is caught in the act by one of its residents; Alba, the teenage daughter of London's most famous criminal prosecutor. Instead of giving him away, Alba promises to keep Seven's secret - as long as he allows her to go memory-surfing herself. In doing so, they discover a hidden memory about Seven's past, revealing a shocking secret about Seven's childhood, the government and a mysterious experiment known as The Memory Keepers...

Now Seven and Alba will have to race against time to unlock the maze of The Memory Keepers - but can they keep themselves out of harm's way before the London Guard - and Alba's father - catches up with them?

Also being sold at the bookshop. So excited to read it. 

In The Post: 
 

The Savage Kingdom by Simon David Eden 

 

Everyone has the potential to change the world, but some are born to do it.

When Drue's beloved cat Will-C goes missing, she's unaware that his disappearance is the start of the greatest global conflict the world has ever known. The animal kingdom has declared war on mankind, and now domesticated creatures must choose who to fight for: Man or Beast.

Cast into a world full of danger, but determined to rescue Will-C and bring him home, Drue starts out on a quest and makes an astonishing discovery: an ancient tribe of shape-shifters, who have lived in the shadows since the dawn of time, are about to play a key role in shaping the future - but can they save mankind? And what role is Drue herself about to play?

The Savage Kingdom is an unforgettable tale about courage, hope, loyalty and the unbreakable bond between a girl and her cat.

I got this for a blog tour I'm part of. Review on Monday. Thanks Simon and Schuster! 

Netgalley:

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack.
But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most. 

I'm really looking forward to this! I love Scott Westerfeld. Thanks Simon and Schuster! 

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books

Released: 31st of July 2014

In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story.

My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.

Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.

I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden. I really don’t.

What I Have To Say

It must have be hard to write a book with a protagonist who doesn't like to talk to people, but Oseman has managed to pull it off really well. I think the key to this is Tori's strong internal monologue, which is a very distinct part of the book. 

I've not seen a book about a tumblr girl before, but it was really cool to see. The combination of saractistic, pessimistic and anti-social seems to be a common personality type on tumblr but I've always wondered how they would fit into society. I think Tori's shows that they really don't, which is probably why they choose tumblr. 

What really worked about this book was that it was a very accurate representation of teenage life as it is at the moment, with many teenagers changing and growing a struggling so much that they're falling into depression. The mystery of Solitaire really just adds colour and drama to the real story, the vivid potrait of average teenage life. 

I don't think I've really given justice to this book, because I really love it. I haven't even mentioned the witty sarcastic dialogue or the brilliant characters of Michael and Tori, because though they make the book great and enjoyable to read, they're not what makes this book special. And this is a really special book.

Event Report: YALC

I'm not posting a review today because this weekend has been far too hectic and tiring. And that's because I was at YALC!

It was a crowded, busy, tiring, stressful and completely and utterly wonderful weekend. My feet are screaming at me for walking too much and my arms are refusing to stretch too far up or even lift the kettle (I just want a cup of tea!) because of all the books I was carrying around with me. But I would do it again right now if I could. In fact I wish I was still there.

I met so many amazing authors that it would take too long to list them all, let alone detail any of the conversations I had with them, but I met a lot of them as well as a lot of really lovely writers who weren't listed, bloggers, Booktubers, writers, publishing people and YA fans in general.

The best thing about this sort of event is that you can just start a conversation with anyone and have a great chat with them. And you couldn't throw a stone without hitting a blogger (not that anyone tried, I hope!). Although I missed quite a few people I wanted to meet, there were so many bloggers who I did meet (both who I already follow on twitter and brand new) and I really feel like some of them will become great friends.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to any of the panels, but I did get into the blogging workshop. It was brilliant and so, so useful. I won't say much because I want to write a post solely about it, listing some of the advice from it as well as my feelings about it and blogger goals that I've taken away from it.

I am so glad that I went as I had a really wonderful time. I really can't wait to go again next time.

Did you go to YALC? Or anything similar? Did you make friends? I'd love to hear your stories.

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 324

Publisher: Corgi

Released: 5th of June 2014

Deepdean School for Girls, 1934. When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't, really.)

But then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She thinks it must all have been a terrible accident - but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls know a murder must have taken place . . . and there's more than one person at Deepdean with a motive.

Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove a murder happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first, naturally), Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning, scheming and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?

What I Have To Say

This is my latest book crush. One of those books where you fall in love with the title, then the cover and then finally you get the book and everything is just perfect.

The characters are what makes this book special. Daisy is very easy to imagine. She's that pushy girl. The one who has to get her nose into everything. And Hazel is the saner, less pushy Watson. Which is another thing that worked really well. The Watson and  Holmes references. They fitted very well with the characters and provided an excellent reason for Hazel's narrative. I like that idea of the "sidekick" character writing the documentation down. It's a real shame that more authors don't use it. Although, Hazel is far from a sidekick. 

The boarding school setting was fantastic as well. There's something wonderful about those old all girls schools that has some kind of magic to them them that I can't quite book my finger on. But ever since I was young and reading the Worst Witch I've loved stories of that kind. 

While this is defined as a "middle grade" book by goodreads, I really think that this is a prime example of how books cannot be categorised by age. Reading as an adult, I looked at Daisy and Hazel as wonderful young girls and didn't feel that I needed to relate to them at all to enjoy their adventures. 

I'm really looking forward to the next book. I need more Daisy and Hazel in my life. 

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 354

Publisher: Indigo

Released: 3rd of July 2014

Laureth Peak's father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers--a skill at which she's remarkably talented. Her secret: She is blind. But when her father goes missing, Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin are thrust into a mystery that takes them to New York City where surviving will take all her skill at spotting the amazing, shocking, and sometimes dangerous connections in a world full of darkness. She Is Not Invisible is an intricate puzzle of a novel that sheds a light on the delicate ties that bind people to each other.

What I Have To Say

Anything that Marcus Sedgwick writes is a pretty safe bet for a good read. This is the third of his books that I've read and I've enjoyed every one. But this caught my attention for the obvious reason. This is the first time I've ever seen a book with a blind protagonist. Sedgwick has taken a massive step for diversity in YA.

I'm a big fan of anything different, anything I've never seen before. It's more interesting to see the world from a different point of view. And this is a book where the main character can't see.

Sedgwick did a really good job of showing the world from Laureth's point of view. He really showed how difficult even simple expressions are. The part that really stuck in my mind was a paragraph about the phrase "grey area"  and how words like black and white and grey just mean nothing to her because she's never seen them. We live in a world where even our language isn't accessible to the blind.

I could spend this whole review talking about Laureth's lack of sight. But that would be unfair to the book. Just like Laureth, there is so much more to it than just blindness. So much of it was about mystery and coincidence. Sedgwick skillfully builds the mystery surrounding Laureth's father and what had happened to him. But I think that the best thing was the coincidences and how he worked the number 354 into everything while exploring the scientific and mathematical equations through Jack's notebook.

This is what makes Sedgwick's books so good. They are well researched and he builds the story on the research without making it seem too complicated or overloaded with information. And this one is ever 354 pages long. 

Event Report: Bookshop Crawl

Yesterday I met up with my friend, A, to take part in a Bookshop Crawl for Independent Bookseller Week. The purpose, to raise awareness of Independent Bookshops.  The idea of the crawl is that you visit as many of your local independent bookshops as you can in one day. Loads of Vloggers and Bloggers all around the country took part.

So I researched the local Independent Bookshops in my area. Since the city I live in is pretty small, I wasn't surprised to have to widen my search. But the only bookshops I could find were in Hereford, where I've never been and would have no idea how to find anything. Instead, I took the train up to Bath.

  We started out the place at Good Buy Books, a small shop near the train station. When I say small... I mean tiny. It really didn't have many books, so unsurprisingly, we didn't find much to buy. I did manage to walk away with a Books Are My Bag tote bag though, so the trip wasn't totally wasted.

Second up was Toppings. Despite the fact that I lived in Bath for three years, this was only the second time I'd been in and I really regret that, because it really is a wonderful bookshop. There's a great selection of books, small tables and chairs scattered around the place and you can even get coffee while you browse. It's got an atmosphere that is exactly what makes a lot of Indie Bookshops nicer to browse than chain stores.

My browsing was slightly more fruitful as I came away with a copy of Undone by Cat Clarke.

Our final stop was, of course, the ever wonderful Mr. B's. We actually ended up going there twice. I came away with a lovely stack of books, including two that were recommended at the counter. The friendliness and constant recommendations of the staff is makes this shop, in my opinion, one of the
best.

We both really enjoyed the bookcrawl. It was exhausting and took a sizable chunk out of my bank balance, but I'm really glad I did it.

Do you have a favourite Independent Bookshop? Or just a favourite bookshop in general? Did any of you take part in the bookcrawl? I'd love to hear your opinions and stories.

Book Haul #1

So I've been cheating and not doing this, partly because I keep forgetting and partly because I couldn't think of what to call it. But then I thought, hey, it doesn't need a fancy name. It's better do it than not. So I've unimaginatively called it book haul!

These are all the books I've gotten from Netgalley or through the mail and haven't reviewed yet.

All the Netgalley books have the summaries from Netgalley. She Is Not Invisible has a summary from Goodreads.

Netgalley e-books

The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson

The yard of this house is a graveyard of moments and everything left behind is a clue. And I am here to dig.

There's a ghost haunting 208 Water Street. She doesn't know who she was, or why she's still here. She does know that she is drawn to Maggie, the new girl in town, and her friends - beautiful, carefree Pauline and Liam, the boy who loves her. But the ghost isn't all that's lurking in Gill Creek... Someone is killing young girls all across the county. Can the ghost keep these three friends safe? Or does she have another purpose?

This book looks so cool. I've been holding it off reading it because I had other books with closer release dates but I can finally read it and I'm excited! Thanks Hatchette!

Between the Lives by Jessica Sh

irvington

The perfect life or the perfect love. You choose.

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she shifts to her 'other' life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she's a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she's considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments that bring her dangerously close to the life she's always wanted. But if she can only have one life, which is the one she'll choose?

This is another book that I've been holding off reading and honestly the amount of times I've nearly given in and read it, it's only because I've had a massive amount of reading to do that I haven't given in yet. Thank you so much, Hatchette, I'm looking forward to it.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

DAY ONE The Georgia Flu explodes over the surface of the earth like a neutron bomb. News reports put the mortality rate at over 99%. WEEK TWO Civilization has crumbled. YEAR TWENTY A band of actors and musicians called the Travelling Symphony move through their territories performing concerts and Shakespeare to the settlements that have grown up there. Twenty years after the pandemic, life feels relatively safe. But now a new danger looms, and he threatens the hopeful world every survivor has tried to rebuild. STATION ELEVEN Moving backwards and forwards in time, from the glittering years just before the collapse to the strange and altered world that exists twenty years after, Station Eleven charts the unexpected twists of fate that connect six people: famous actor Arthur Leander; Jeevan - warned about the flu just in time; Arthur's first wife Miranda; Arthur's oldest friend Clark; Kirsten, a young actress with the Travelling Symphony; and the mysterious and self-proclaimed 'prophet'. 

I've heard so many good things about this book, that when I saw it on Netgalley I just had to request it. I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you Pan Macmillan.

The 100 Society by Carla Spradbery

For sixth-form student Grace Becker, The 100 Society is more than just a game; it's an obsession. Having convinced her five friends at Clifton Academy to see it through to the end, Grace will stop at nothing to carry out the rules of the game: tagging 100 locations around the city. With each step closer to the 100-mark they get, the higher the stakes become. But when the group catches the attention of a menacing stalker - the Reaper - he seems intent on exposing their illegal game, tormenting Grace with anonymous threats and branding their dormitory doors with his ominous tag.

As the once tight-knit group slowly unravels, torn apart by doubt and the death of a student, they no longer know who to trust.

With time running out, Grace must unmask the Reaper before he destroys everything she cares about for ever...

This is another book that I heard about before I saw it on Netgalley. It sounds like a really interesting read. Thanks, Hatchette.

Print Books

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

Laureth Peak's father has taught her to look for recurring events, patterns, and numbers--a skill at which she's remarkably talented. Her secret: She is blind. But when her father goes missing, Laureth and her 7-year-old brother Benjamin are thrust into a mystery that takes them to New York City where surviving will take all her skill at spotting the amazing, shocking, and sometimes dangerous connections in a world full of darkness.

I received this book a few days ago and sped through it. I love Marcus Sedgwick and I think writing about a blind girl is really interesting and a huge step for diversity in YA. Review on Monday. Thanks Indigo.

The Rain by Virginia Bergin

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

My thanks go to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with this e-ARC. 

Pages: 384

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Released: 17th of July 2014

One minute sixteen-year-old Ruby Morris is having her first proper snog with Caspar McCloud in a hot tub, and the next she’s being bundled inside the house, dripping wet, cold and in her underwear. Not cool. As she and Caspar shiver in the kitchen, it starts to rain. They turn on the radio to hear panicked voices – ‘It’s in the rain . . . it’s in the rain . . . ' That was two weeks ago, and now Ruby is totally alone. People weren’t prepared for the rain, got caught out in it, didn’t realize that you couldn’t drink water from the taps either. Even a drip of rain would infect your blood, and eat you from the inside out. Ruby knows she has to get to London to find her dad, but she just doesn’t know where to start . . . After rescuing all the neighbourhood dogs, Ruby sets off on a journey that will take her the length of the country – surviving in the only way she knows how.

What I Have To Say

Every so often a book comes along that really makes you think. What would happen if the apocalyspe came? What would happen if half the world suddenly died from a deadly disease? The Rain brought up a lot of issues that I hadn't even considered. What would happen to all the pets trapped in people's houses with no access to food or water. 

It was the mundane things such as this that made the book so fun to read. And the fact that Ruby cared so much about her neighbours. The way she had to knock on every door even if there was no chance of them being alive. That and that she went around rescuing all the dogs.

Although, Ruby was a really terrible character. I mean aside from her interest in celebrity magazines, which is just not to my taste, she often seemed heartless, especially towards her stepdad, who she just showed no grief for.

I did like that she developed well though. While still kerping the core of the character intact, the Ruby at the start of the book was so much more capable, not just at looking after herself, but using her brain as well.

I was disappointed about not seeing how a lot of the characters ended up though. Without giving too much away, there were a few characters that disappeared towards the end of the book that we never found out about.

Honestly, this book had a lot of potential, but it just didn't quite hit the mark. An enjoyable read that really makes you think, but don't expect too much from it.