24 May 2014

Love letters to the dead - Review

Available now 
What's it about?
It begins as an assignment for English class: write a letter to a dead person - any dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain - he died young, and so did Laurel's sister May - so maybe he'll understand a bit of what Laurel is going through. Soon Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people - Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart... it's like she can't stop. And she'd certainly never dream of handing them in to her teacher. She writes about what it's like going to a new high school, meeting new friends, falling in love for the first time - and how her family has shattered since May died.
But much as Laurel might find writing the letters cathartic, she can't keep real life out forever. The ghosts of her past won't be contained between the lines of a page, and she will have to come to terms with growing up, the agony of losing a beloved sister, and the realisation that only you can shape your destiny.
My review
This book was so much more than I was expecting, it really was. From the description I knew it wouldn't be all sunshine and roses as it's about a young girl coming to terms with her sisters death, not that I'm opposed to 'sad' books, and the way that its written in letters to dead people sounded really interesting, especially since I'd not long finished The perks of being a wallflower when this book was bought to my attention which is also written in the same format.
Anyway, so yeah there are sad moments but its not all doom and gloom, I really wasn't expecting some of the turns it took in the end, the truths that come out and how Laurel does eventually have to grow up. I really liked her right from the start, in her letters she's always completely honest about her feelings, about how she hopes she will make friends at her new school and that she wants people to like her, I liked her candidness. She does indeed grow up by the end of the book and it feels natural as it happens because of all that she's been through and is going through now.
Love letters to the dead is a brilliant and moving debut that will have you up at night thinking 'just one more letter before I go to sleep.' Laurel writes to several dead celebrities during the course of the book and she explains her reasons for each one, they're not just random big names the author has chosen but rather, people that have become special to Laurel, either from the love of a movie or a song or because she actually feels close to them by comparing parts of her life to theirs. I liked the way her letters also included tidbits of their lives so I could really understand why she was writing to them and felt like I knew them the same way she did.
It's a brilliant book and I look forward to more from this author in the future.

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22 May 2014

Dangerous creatures - Review


Dangerous creatures book one
Available now
www.penguin.co.uk 

What's it about?

A new series returns to the world of Beautiful Creatures. Some loves are cursed...others are dangerous.
Ridley Duchannes will be the first to tell you that she's a bad girl. She's Dark. She's a Siren. You can never trust her, or even yourself when she's around. Lucky for her, Wesley "Link" Lincoln can never seem to remember that; quarter Incubus or not, his heart is Mortal when it comes to Ridley. When Link heads to New York City to start a music career, Ridley goes along for the ride-and she has her own reasons. As if leaving small-town Gatlin for the big city, trying to form a band, and surviving life with a partially reformed Siren isn't hard enough already, Link soon learns he has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay.
My review
If you were worried that Dangerous creatures wouldn't live up to the original Beautiful creatures series then fear not! Because it is just as good, I was hooked all the way through, and that ending, oh my god that ending!
I've always had a little bit of a nerd crush on Link so I was really excited to hear there would be a new series following him, its actually more about Ridley, who I did like also and I came to really like her in Dangerous creatures. She's so much different to Lena and Link is a lot different to Ethan so this book had a completely different tone to the others whilst still remaining true to the world. I enjoyed that it wasn't set in Gatlin, though I miss the place, it was good to expand on the Caster world, to meet some new characters and learn more about their different abilities.
As usual, Garcia and Stohl's writing blends seamlessly, they clearly both have voices that go together well so that you can't tell that the book is written by two authors and they tell a good story. The pacing was and build up was good.
Spoilers: I didn't love who turns out the be the bad guys to be honest, I'd have preferred something completely new rather than the same old bad guy because I thought it kind of took away some of the finality of the original series and it also stops it from being a series that can stand alone from that so readers looking to start with Dangerous creatures as their introduction to the Caster world will find themselves confused and have parts of the Beautiful creatures series spoiled for them. End of spoilers.
Other than that though, I loved it! I loved Link, as usual and it was great to see a new, sometimes vulnerable side of Ridley, I really feel like I know her better now. I'm not sure if the big cliff hanger ending was necessary but I guess I'll find out just as soon as I get my hands on book two... is it next year yet?


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19 May 2014

Right click - Review


Right click by Lisa Becker
Click: An online love story book three
Available now 

What's it about?

Love. Marriage. Infidelity. Parenthood. Crises of identity. Death. Cupcakes. The themes in Right Click, the third and final installment in the Click series, couldn't be more pressing for this group of friends as they navigate through their 30's. Another six months have passed since we last eavesdropped on the hilarious, poignant and often times inappropriate email adventures of Renee and friends. As the light-hearted, slice of life story continues to unfold, relationships are tested and some need to be set "right" before everyone can find their "happily ever after."
My review
Right click is the final book in what has been a fun trilogy, for those that have not heard of these books before, they are all written in email format between five friends, and a couple of guests here and there. You may think that would mean you miss out on all the action, only hearing about events after they've happened, but it really isn't like that, the books are written so well that when the characters are retelling things, you still feel like you were there. And Lisa Becker has a great way of getting individual voices across, the emails really feel like conversations between close friends, full of inside jokes and sometimes catty sniping.
In Right click the humour I loved from the other books is still there, I love the way everyone sometimes gets off topic and starts punning, there's some real laugh out loud moments. There's also sad moments, and tense moments, and an I-almost-cried moment, Right click has it all. 
It was a great ending to the series and I'll be sad to say goodbye to Renee and co because they've been a lot of fun, I've enjoyed watching them find love and find their lives taking directions they hadn't expected. I've also enjoyed their spats, their make ups, their HA-LARIOUS misadventures and Shelley's dirty mind! I need more from this talented author!

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9 May 2014

Savage drift - Review


Monument 14 book three.
Available now.
www.bookswithbite.co.uk 

What's it about?

The stunningly fierce conclusion to Emmy Laybourne's Monument 14 trilogy.
The survivors of the Monument 14 have finally made it to the safety of a Canadian refugee camp. Dean and Alex are cautiously starting to hope that a happy ending might be possible.
But for Josie, separated from the group and trapped in a brutal prison camp for exposed Type Os, things have gone from bad to worse. Traumatized by her experiences, she has given up all hope of rescue or safety.
Meanwhile, scared by the government's unusual interest in her pregnancy, Astrid (with her two protectors, Dean and Jake in tow) joins Niko on his desperate quest to be reunited with his lost love Josie.
Author Emmy Laybourne reaches new heights of tension and romance in this action-packed conclusion to the Monument 14 trilogy.

My review
(Warning: Spoilers from the previous two books.)
Savage drift is the gripping conclusion to a brilliant trilogy from author Emmy Laybourne. I've really enjoyed this series and loved the slightly darker tone of the last book. Our characters might have made it out of the Greenway and into a rebuilding civilisation but their troubles haven't ended yet, they still have lots of challenges to face to try to get reunited and have a happy ending. All the way through I really didn't know if that would happen for them but I certainly had my fingers and toes crossed that they would. I also felt so bad for Astrid being pregnant in a chaotic world, the help of doctors and hospitals isn't as readily available to her as it would normally be which made it difficult for her and Dean and Jake's constant bickering didn't help either. I felt she grew a lot as a character though, as it starts to sink in that she's going to be a mother and responsible for someone else she starts to grow up but she hasn't lost any of her sass either. I love the way she puts Dean in his place when he's being particularly immature. Astrid and Dean are an unlikely couple but they really work well together by the end and I'm glad they got together.
I don't want to give too much of the story away but rest assured that this is another thrilling, well paced book and you won't get any less than you did in the previous two. I was happy with the conclusion and that last scene almost had me in tears!

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5 May 2014

Beautiful redemption - Review (Repost with Dangerous creatures info)


The caster chronicles book four.
Available now.
www.penguin.co.uk 

What's it about?

Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?
Ethan Wate always dreamed of leaving the stifling Southern town of Gatlin.
But he never dreamt that finding love with Lena Duchannes would drive him away. Lena is a Caster girl whose supernatural powers unveiled a secretive and cursed side of Gatlin, so powerful it forced him to make a terrible sacrifice.
Now Ethan must find a way to return to Lena - and Gatlin - as she vows to do whatever it takes to get him back. Even if it means trusting old enemies or risking their loved ones' lives.
Can Ethan and Lena rewrite their fate and their spellbinding love story in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series? 
My review
 (Warning: may contain spoilers from the previous three books.)
Having been with this series from the beginning I was sad to see it end but excited at the same time, especially after what happened at the end of Beautiful chaos, I couldn't imagine how they would bring back Ethan and have everything work out by the end of the book.
I'll admit, I didn't love the middle two books as much as I did the first so I wasn't sure what I'd be getting with Beautiful redemption, turns out what I got was something epic! I really enjoyed every gripping moment following Ethan's journey to trying to get his life back and even a brief few chapters from Lena's perspective as she tries her best to help him.
Beautiful redemption was an unpredictable adventure that kept me hooked until the end, I think it ended - both the book and series - perfectly, despite some sad events, they felt necessary to the story and everything was in order, so to speak.
However, I wish I'd gotten around to reading Dream dark before I picked this up because there are a lot of references that I assume are to it throughout Beautiful redemption that made me feel like I'd missed something, so I would suggest reading Dream dark first.
Ethan still remains my favourite ever male lead, the things he'll go through for the girl he loves is impressive, to say the least, and he's a perfect southern gentleman, so polite and caring, he's how I'd like my son to turn out when he grows up.
The Caster chronicles has been a fantastic series and I can't wait to see what the authors come up with next, either together or separately.

My thoughts on the cover
I really like the birds eye view of the spiral staircase on this cover, its an interesting image and I like the way the green has been used and how the whole series matches together nicely.

Favourite quotes
'I love you, Ethan. I won't forget you. I'll never forget you, and I'll never stop loving you.'


'She slid into my arms, falling into sobs that beat against my chest. I don't know which one of us was crying harder. I'm not even sure we remembered to kiss. What we had went so much deeper than a kiss.'

If, like me, you're already a fan of this series, then check this out!

Dangerous creatures

The first in the spin-off series is available to preorder and will be released on May 20th 2014.

A new series returns to the world of Beautiful Creatures. Some loves are cursed...others are dangerous.

Ridley Duchannes will be the first to tell you that she's a bad girl. She's Dark. She's a Siren. You can never trust her, or even yourself when she's around. Lucky for her, Wesley "Link" Lincoln can never seem to remember that; quarter Incubus or not, his heart is Mortal when it comes to Ridley. When Link heads to New York City to start a music career, Ridley goes along for the ride-and she has her own reasons. As if leaving small-town Gatlin for the big city, trying to form a band, and surviving life with a partially reformed Siren isn't hard enough already, Link soon learns he has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay.

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthors of Beautiful Creatures, are back and casting another magical spell. Their signature mixture of mystery, suspense, and romance, along with a dash of fun and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.


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