REVIEW: Girlhood by Cat Clarke

Cat Clarke is definitely one of my favourite authors. I love her characters and relationships and I'll always be excited to read more of her stories.  Just as I was excited to read Girlhood especially with the boarding school element to it.

While Girlhood didn't quite reach the emotional impact as some of the author's previous stories there is still so much emotion in this book and a lot to love about it.

My top five reasons to love this story include (but aren't limited to)

1) the boarding school element
2) an addition to the first reason is that this boarding school is set in this Scottish wilderness, which makes it that little bit more ...wild?
3) the friendships, which I think is what keeps drawing me back to Cat Clarke's stories
4) the issues that this book tackles including an eating disorder, grief, guilt and also ...gaslighting
5) the diversity of the characters including sexuality, race and differing economic backgrounds.

What even is it about boarding school stories that are such a pull to me and to so many other readers? They're just so addictive to read and the boarding school within Girlhood is no exception. Here are a bunch of girls all living together away from their parents, having this little bit of freedom and independence. And I think the fact that this is a boarding school in Scotland and in this particular location makes it even more fun.  Because of that there are secret caves and spooky nooks and crannies within the building, ghost stories that can be pulled out to scare.

The main character in Girldhood is Harper.  She's come to Duncraggan Academy for a new start.  She's still haunted by the death of her twin sister, Jenna and Harper still carries feelings of both grief and guilt for her part in Jenna's death. But she's found a great, close group of friends and things seem mostly okay ...until the arrival of new girl, Kirsty Connor, shakes things up.

As I said, one of my favourite elements to this story are the friendships.  Harper's friends are pretty amazing: supportive and togethery and you can tell immediately how much they mean to Harper. But you can see with the arrival of Kirsty that cracks start appearing in Harper's friendship group.  But can it be so easy to destroy a friendship?  I'd also not heard that much about gas-lighting before, the manipulative tricks that are employed to cause unease and self-doubt.  I thought it was interestingly done in Girlhood.  It kept me reading and wanting to know more. But I also loved that this is a book not only about the slow destruction of friendships but about building new ones and building on existing friendships.

And finally, thank you to Cat Clarke for writing diversity into this book without having it be a thing in the book.  There are bisexual characters in this book and people of colour but these things are secondary to the main plot line.  I love that.  The only bit I will mention specifically is that Harper does struggle in coming from a middle class background and adjusting into a community mostly made up of far wealthier classmates and friends even though her own circumstances had changed to match those of her friends.  And I found that particularly interesting.

I really enjoyed Girlhood.  It was tense and engaging and I really do recommend it!

REVIEW: The Memory Book by Lara Avery

The Memory Book by Lara Avery ended up being an incredibly quick book to read that was emotional but not overwhelming.  I'm glad I gave it a chance and I loved how sweet the book ended being.

I was a bit conflicted about reading The Memory Book by Lara Avery.  The cover itself makes it look like a book I'd want to pick up and flick through... but once I found the story revolves around 17 year old Sammie with a rare disease, Niemann-Pick Type C, a genetic disease similar to dementia in which Sammie will slowly lose her memory as well as other cognitive functions, I was a little less keen.  Only because a member of my close family suffers from dementia and I worried that this book would feel like too much. 

Luckily for me, this book is very readable.  There were moments of heart-break, but the overall tone of the book is very positive and hopeful and that comes across very well within this book.  It's essentially Sammie's diary as she tries to make sense of this condition she's living with, trying to record the important events but also as she's trying to work towards her goals, her new relationship and the rest of her life as it is becoming.  

I think the fact that Sammie is quite young and dealing with this disease and also her character's approach towards it made it far easier to read her experiences.  Yes, she's going through something awful, but she has such a good attitude about it that it felt harder to feel sorry for her and I think even her denial that she might not achieve some of her goals  is what helped create some distance in the emotional aspects of the story line.  

Because Sammie is such a driven character. She's determined to do All The Things: win the national debate championships, be valedictorian, go to New York for university. She realises that Niemann-Pick will affect her life in some ways but she's determined to live out her goals anyway.  I also enjoyed her burgeoning friendship with ex-friend, Cooper, and new love interest, Stuart.  It was nice to see that this book was very much about the experiences of a teenage girl with romance and troubled friendships.  I loved everything else going on in Sammie's life.  

But I think ultimately what I enjoyed the most about this book is that it is a very life-affirming story of hope and love and slowing down and treasuring the things most important to us. 

Interview with Cat Clarke, author of The Lost and the Found

Hello and welcome back to Fluttering Butterflies! Can you please tell us something about yourself and your new book, The Lost and the Found? 

Hello! It’s so lovely to be back here! Thank you so much for having me. I’m Cat, writer of UKYA and avid consumer of cheese. The Lost and the Found is about a seventeen year-old-girl called Faith, whose abducted sister reappears after thirteen years. I like to think of it as a story that starts with a happy ending and then things move on from there…

One of my favourite aspects of the book is the mentions that the media plays a part in reporting (or not reporting) missing children. Was this something important for you to get across in this book? 

For me, that’s what the book is really all about. It was something I was very interested in exploring – the types of stories that the media chooses to latch onto, and those that it chooses to ignore. It’s awful to see stories about missing teenagers or children consigned to a couple of lines on page 23 of a newspaper, simply because their faces don’t fit or their story isn’t quite ‘acceptable’ to a mainstream audience.

Confession/brag time: Faith and Michel spend lots of time whipping up delicious macarons. What is the best/worst thing you've ever baked/cooked yourself? What's your specialty?

Food is my favourite topic of conversation.  The best thing I ever cooked was very recently, actually! Turkish-spiced chicken with a hot green relish. The recipe is from an amazing cookbook called A Bird in the Hand by Diana Henry. I’m salivating just thinking about that relish. I’m making it again tomorrow! The worst thing I ever made was a gluten-free Victoria sponge for my wife’s birthday. Actually, the end result wasn’t entirely revolting, but it took three attempts to get sponges that weren’t as flat as a pancake. In the process I managed to drop two eggs on the floor, burn my arm, phone a friend in a complete panic AND cry. Suffice to say, baking is NOT my strong point.

In fact, Michel was one of my favourite characters! I loved his and Faith's relationship and it was great to see his position in the modern structure of this family. Talk to me about diversity and representation! 

Thank you! Faith’s parents are divorced, and her dad lives with Michel, a Frenchman. Faith’s dad is bisexual, and Michel is gay. Michel is probably my favourite character in the book, and not just because he’s a master macaron-maker. Diversity is so important. For me it’s just about reflecting the society we live in. I think it’s important to include LGBT parents as well as LGBT teenagers in YA fiction, because it reflects the family situation of lots of young people, and it shows that LGBT kids grow up to be adults too! It sounds obvious, but if we don’t see these adults in YA fiction it’s almost like they don’t exist.

Usually in author interviews with authors who have written books with a darker plot line, I'd ask what the toughest scene was to write. But for The Lost and the Found, was it harder to hold back from telling us about the darkness Laurel had faced? Was that a conscious decision to spare readers from the traumas she had faced?

The story is told from Faith’s point of view, and she herself is spared most of the details of the trauma Laurel has suffered so it wasn’t a conscious decision to spare readers. The most important thing has to be what’s right for the book.

I quite liked this easy connection that Faith and Laurel had right from the start. Who are you favourite literary sisters?

I love reading about sisters! Nova Ren Suma’s Imaginary Girls is a fascinating and brilliantly dark exploration of the bond between sisters. A new favourite is Sarah Crossan’s One, an astonishing book about conjoined twins. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.

If you had £1000 to spend in a shopping spree, where would you go and what would you buy?

I would buy a super comfortable battered old leather armchair, and ban anyone else from sitting on it. Or a super comfortable battered old leather jacket, and ban anyone else from wearing it. And I would probably save some of the money because I’m boring like that. Wait. Scratch that. I’d buy £1000 worth of cheese (and biscuits and assorted chutneys) and host a magnificent cheesefest. Will someone give me £1000 please? 

If one stumbled upon it, from a writerly perspective, what would your internet history tell us? 

Alas I can’t tell you about my current internet history because it would give you all kinds of spoilers about my next book. Oh, and it would also show you that I spend far too much time on social media when I should be writing said book.

The Lost and the Found was one of my most highly anticipated UKYA books published this year, what book(s) are you most looking forward to reading this year? 

I’m SO looking forward to ALL OF THE ABOVE by James Dawson, THE DEAD HOUSE by Dawn Kurtagich, AM I NORMAL YET? by Holly Bourne and COUNTING STARS by Keris Stainton. I have a feeling this is going to be a bumper year for UKYA!

REVIEW: The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke

I have been very much looking forward to reading The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke! She is a definite favourite author of mine and I went into reading her new book expecting something very emotional and that is definitely what I got from this book!

The Lost and the Found is a story about a girl who was lost ... she's abducted from her family and then returns 13 years later.  It was very much a story about families and about sisters and about missing children. I loved the exploration of the media portrayal in particular and how not every missing child has the same response.

The Lost and the Found is the story of missing Laurel Logan. How she was abducted 13 years ago and that returns to them after a very long time.  The story is told from the perspective of Faith, Laurel's younger sister and she is a wonderful narrator. Really showing the reader how difficult it was at times to live in Laurel's shadow and how difficult it was to transition into having a sister and sharing their family after such a long time.

My favourite aspect of the book is Faith and Laurel's relationship. That instant connection. That bond between the girls even though they've been separated for such a long time, it felt easy for them to become sisters. Faith takes it upon herself to let Laurel shine for awhile, to do things she would rather not because Laurel requested it.  I loved them together. They're not perfect or without conflict, but I really believed in their relationship.

I also really loved Faith's family. In particular, her father's partner, Michel.  I loved Faith and Michel's relationship and Michel was by far my favourite character. I loved that Faith had somebody like Michel in her life to talk to and be open with who isn't so intrinsically linked to Laurel's abduction. Plus he's French and makes macarons. Also, plus points for having both same sex parental figures and also a bisexual man.  Both need more representation in YA and I'm glad that Cat Clarke included both.

At the heart of this book, there is this underlying tension and I felt quite unsettled while reading that Laurel wasn't telling us everything. I was quite glad that a lot of her experiences while she was away were glossed over (and just because we didn't hear the gruesome details doesn't mean that the reader won't come away unsympathetic to her.)  But I also mean that Laurel's secrets put me on edge and I found it really interesting to go on this journey with Faith and Laurel.

The Lost and the Found was surprisingly emotional. In that, I didn't realise until that last page just how emotionally invested I was in this story, in these characters and in this relationship between Faith and Laurel!

Gerbils, Hurdles and Ski Boots by Cat Clarke (Love Libraries)

Love Libraries is a new semi-regular feature on Fluttering Butterflies and it's all about our love for libraries and librarians.

I'm really pleased to have one of my favourite authors here on the blog today taking part in this new feature! Cat Clarke is the author of many wonderful books including Torn, Undone, A Kiss in the Dark, Falling and Entangled. Her new book is being published in July so do look out for that. If you would like to know more about Cat Clarke or her books, do visit the following websites:

Cat Clarke ... Cat on Twitter ... Cat on Facebook 

My mum and I used to go to the library after school once a week. It was a stocky, imposing building with worn stone steps leading up to huge front door. It was one of my favourite places in the world.

First stop was always children’s fiction. I was a miniature Terminator, my laser eyes scanning for shiny new spines until BEEP BEEP BEEP JUDY BLUME ALERT! A new Judy Blume book was always a special occasion. I would pluck it from the shelf with my grubby little fingers before anyone else could swoop in and claim my prize. 

Next stop: checking in on Mum, who by this point would have a pile of six or seven hardbacks she’d found on the latest releases shelf. We would enter into negotiations over how long it was before we had to go home. She’d say ten minutes, I’d say twenty. We always ended up settling on fifteen.

Third and final stop: non-fiction. This is where the gerbils, hurdles and ski boots come in. I would pick a few books off the shelf, sit on the floor and read.* For some reason, the three books I kept on returning to again and again were a book about owning and caring for gerbils, a book about athletics, and one about skiing. The last two were brilliant books published by Usborne. (Side note: One of the proudest moments of my life was snagging a job writing Usborne books many, many years later. I like to think my encyclopaedic knowledge of athletics and skiing had something to do with this stroke of good fortune).

The book about gerbils turned out to be particularly useful. After months of careful research, my mum took me to the pet shop to get two gerbils of my very own. Thanks to my hours spent in the library, I managed not to kill Chip and Dale. The gerbils, for their part, managed to bite the skin between my fingers on only a semi-regular basis.

I’d like to say that after poring over the books about athletics and skiing turned me into a sports superstar, but that would be a lie. The truth is, I always liked reading about things rather than actually doing them. But if I had wanted to become a sporty goddess, I had all the facts at my fingertips: different types of ski boots, the ins and outs of mogul skiing, how to hurdle. I knew it all. And some of that information still lurks in my brain, ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

I loved that library. I’m planning to go back and visit it in a few months – for the first time in twenty years. Fingers crossed they’ll have a new Judy Blume ready and waiting for me.

Love your library and it will love you back. And if you need any out-of-date advice about ski boots, give me a shout.

*There are library scenes in most of my books, mostly because I think libraries are bloody awesome. In The Lost of the Found (out in July), the main character, Faith, visits her local library and sits on the floor of the non-fiction section to read. I wonder where I got that idea from.

Cat Clarke is the UKYA author of several YA books including Entangled, Torn, Undone, Falling and A Kiss in the Dark. Her latest, The Lost and the Found, is being published by Quercus on 2nd July! It sounds fantastic. 

REVIEW: Blue by Lisa Glass

What even is it about surfing books? I read one and I absolutely crave more. Such was the case with Blue by Lisa Glass.  What thrilled me about this book in particular, aside from the awesome surfing is that it is set around an actual English seaside town and not Hawaii or the US or Australia, but somewhere closer to home.  Let's have more of that, okay? 

And I really quickly fell for this story and these characters. At parts I found it a little surprising that we hear so much about secondary characters and their side stories, especially when it came to Zeke's family and the things they get up to but it all made sense in the end.  I had no idea until I turned that last page that is the first book in a series! I'm really quite excited to read more about Iris and her surfing experiences. 

So, Blue tells us this story spanning one momentous summer with our main character, Iris.  She's really down in the dumps at the beginning of Blue, having just broken up with her ex-boyfriend, Daniel, and she's finding it hard to move on.  Her best friend, Kelly, drags her off to a yoga class and there Iris meets Zeke, this hot surfer dude and they really hit it off. 

These first few chapters of Blue were so wonderful to read, especially as it's really awkward and there are some embarrassing moments as Iris and Zeke first interact. It was obvious how much Iris fancies the pants off Zeke. And to be honest, so did I right from the start. He's gorgeous and talented and it seemed pretty clear to me (not so much to Iris) how smitten with her he is too.

But there are so many things standing in the way of their relationship.  First off, Iris is totally unsure what Zeke feels or what he wants from her. Then she finds out that actually he's this big-time surfer who travels the world surfing the hottest spots and being sponsored. And there's also Iris's conflicted feelings about her ex-boyfriend and the fact that she might not yet be over him...

I found this book to be pretty surprising. I loved meeting Zeke's family. His brothers, his parents, his nana, they were all lovely and I just wanted to be part of that family unit.  There was an incredibly touching scene involving the three Francis brothers and Nanna that had me nearly about to cry. And at the same time, I really felt for Daniel.  He really cares about Iris in his own way but makes so many mistakes trying to win her back. It was a very emotional ride.

But, of course, the thing I really did love the most about this book was the surfing. Blue takes us through all sorts of different aspects of surfing. From learning to surf, surfing as a fun hobby, the competitive nature of trying to get into more pro circles and also that of someone at the top of their game in surfing.  I found it all fascinating. I loved hearing about the different lingo and different things to consider and be aware of, the different boards and places to surf. Honestly, I lapped up every single detail of surfing in this book. It was all so very satisfying.

Blue was such a fun and romantic, summery beach read. I really recommend that you pick this one up and fall in love with surfing all over again!

REVIEW: A Kiss in the Dark by Cat Clarke

I was super excited to read another book by Cat Clarke. I've loved all of her previous books and I love how emotional everything she's written has been.  I especially loved the idea of this book.... the idea of a large secret that comes between two people starting out in a new relationship. 

 I don't fully understand why the official product summary is vague about this secret that threatens this relationship between Alex and Kate, especially as the secret is revealed (to the reader) fairly quickly.  I wish that books such as this would be a little bit more open about the topics that it covers as I now feel like revealing the secret in this review will spoil something for others in their own reading experience.   So I will have to keep the rest of this review slightly vague.

I think the thing that I loved about this book is that it is a book that showcases the strength and beauty of love. I absolutely adored both main characters in this book, but especially Alex.  Alex carries around this huge amount of guilt and for that I really came to care more for Alex than I ever expected despite the lies and deception that takes place.  Alex is a person who believes that this relationship with Kate is an opportunity for happiness and love that could potentially be missed out for good if this secret is revealed.  So things carry on with Kate far longer than they should and while Alex and Kate slowly fall in love with each other, their happiness is tinged with this awful foreboding for what will happen when all parties learn the truth.  I felt really bad for both Alex and Kate.  My heart absolutely broke for them both and while I hoped for a happy ending, it really didn't seem at all possible.

A Kiss in the Dark is told in two parts, before and after, and we are able to see this relationship from both Alex and Kate's perspective which I think was really interesting, especially as in both parts each of these characters is dealing with some pressure and guilt for their own actions.  I think it was definitely important to see things from both points of view in order to get a clear picture of everything that has happened though I did find it a little harder to connect with Kate's narration. 

The other thing that I really loved about this book is the support from Alex's mother and brother.  I really love both of these characters and the ways in which Alex's mother and Jamie go out of their way to voice their love and acceptance of Alex both in subtle ways as well as in more explicit terms. 

A Kiss in the Dark was a really interesting book to read.  I loved the way in which perceptions of gender and sexuality are challenged and explored.  I found it interesting to see both main characters dealing with an awkward situation and carrying it on longer than necessary even when it becomes apparent how hurtful the consequences are because of how difficult it becomes to tell the truth.  But more than anything else, I thought Alex and Kate's love was a really beautiful thing to witness and I'm so glad that I took this journey with them.

Well done, Cat Clarke, for writing such a beautiful, emotional, and heart-wrenching story! Highly recommended.

Cover reveal and review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I was contacted recently by the lovely people over at Quercus about trying to make a big splash over the UK cover of this new book, The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes which is being published here on the 7th of November.  It's the first in a new series by the author of the Raised By Wolves series and I happen to adore it. All of the psychology that Jennifer Lynn Barnes writes into her stories absolutely appeals to my inner psychology-nerd!

What do you think of the cover? I like it. I love the font used especially.

Here is the official product description:

Cassie Hobbes is not like most teenagers. Most teenagers don’t lose their mother in a bloody, unsolved kidnapping. Most teenagers can’t tell who you are, where you’re from and how you’re likely to behave within moments of meeting you. And most teenagers don’t get chosen to join The Naturals.

Identified by the FBI as uniquely gifted, Cassie is recruited to an elite school where a small number of teens are trained to hone their exceptional abilites.

For Cassie, trying to make friends with the girls, and to figure out the two very different, very hot boys, is challenging enough. But when a serial killer begins recreating the details of her mother’s horrific crime scene, she realises just how dangerous life in The Naturals could be...

 My review:
 
When I was younger, there was a TV programme that my dad and I would watch together called The Profiler. I remember every week we'd watch it and then afterwards we'd sit and discuss the latest plot twists and story progression. I have a real fondness for that show. There have been other more recent crime shows that deal with profiling but that is still the show that has stuck with me. I find it all very fascinating. So with that in mind, when I heard that Jennifer Lynn Barnes was writing a new series involving young people solving crimes using different types of forensic psychology I really couln't request the book quick enough. I loved Jennifer Lynn Barne's previous YA series about werewolves and I loved how her background in psychology gave the story this added depth and another layer to the story that I found fascinating and I was sure that I would love The Naturals just as much. And you know what? I did. More so, even. 

The Naturals was a brilliant read for me. I was hooked right from the start, as we meet our main character, Cassie, as she's approached at her waitressing job by this young man with a strange offer. Cassie has this awful past that's left her with nothing but questions and she hopes that maybe by joining this special unit of 'Naturals' that some of those questions might just be answered... 

The Naturals refer to a group of people that have been gathered together because they have this innate skill of detecting emotion or truth or seeing patterns in numbers. Cassie's skill is that of a natural profiler, who can see the minor details of a person's appearance or behaviour and make a good guess about that person's psychological profile. Which is a real benefit for this new crime-fighting unit of special people that Cassie is recruited into. There's a bunch of talk of using the Naturals to work cold cases for the FBI for their own safety, but when Cassie's past catches up with her and intrudes on her present things start to become very different...

With an interest in psychology myself, I lapped up the different ideas and talents that surround the other characters that Cassie comes to live with.  She ends up meeting some very different and interesting people. I loved straight-talking and snarky Lia, and Sloane, the numbers/statistics girl who becomes Cassie's roommate. The relationships between the three girls was quite interesting to watch enfold, especially as it was a pretty rocky start with Cassie and Lia.  But I think the interactions between Michael, Cassie and Dean were my favourite. Yes, it is sort of a love triangle and some may groan and roll their eyes, but I enjoyed it. Especially when it came down to playing 'Truth or Dare' with people who can spot lies and/or can sense other people's emotions. 

My favourite aspect of The Naturals is, of course, all of the psychology, the characters and their relationships with each other but there is also a really surprising and thrilling mystery at play here as well. With snippets from the mind of a serial killer interspersed with Cassie's narrative, there is a steady build-up to very actiony finale. I was on the edge of my seat and really didn't see that coming! 

I am very much looking forward to reading more in this series! I love the idea of a teenage crime-fighting unit with special abilities. It fills me with excitement!

Top Ten Books I've Read But Haven't Yet Reviewed

Thank you, as ever, to The Broke and the Bookish for hosting such a wonderful feature.

This week's theme is one we can choose ourselves and I have decided to use this week to highlight the Top Ten books that I have read and not yet reviewed.  I'm hoping to do some quick mini-reviews of these excellent books in the hopes of feeling a bit accomplished and to hack away at my ridiculous to-be-reviewed list.

Slide by Jill Hathaway 

I read Slide way back in January, and still haven't reviewed it! I'm such a terrible book blogger.  Especially because Slide was a really great book.  I really got into it when I was reading.  I really love the cover - that eyeball is super creepy - and I loved the premise too.  Teenager, Vee Bell is a narcoleptic, only instead of falling asleep during these episodes, she slides into other people's minds.  She's found out loads of things about other people in this way - students cheating on tests, teachers sneaking drinks of alcohol.  And one horrible day, she slides into the mind of a murderer who kills her sister's friend Sophie.  Armed with the knowledge of what happened, but no way to prove it, Vee sets out to solve a murder.

I really enjoyed this one.  Though the book is quite slim, there's still enough of a story to fall into and get wrapped up in.  I found Vee's ability to be really interesting!  I'd love to read more, in fact.  I thought the action was all really fast-paced, and I liked all of the characters.  It was very fun to read a thriller with Vee's unique ability and I was left guessing until the very end.  Very entertaining!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer 

I loved Cinder by Marissa Meyer!  I generally like fairy tale retellings, but I feel like Cinder is in another category as a retelling.   Marissa Meyer took the Cinderella story and gave it a really fantastic science-fiction twist.  Just thinking about this story makes me smile.  She turned Cinderella into a cyborg! And there are this creepy alien race from the moon.  Just the whole world-building felt wonderful and I loved finding out more about the plague and Cinder's strange past.  Plus there are more than enough classic Cinderella references to make my heart happy - especially the glass slipper as Cinder's robotic leg and the pumpkin carriage being an old VW bug.

I really loved Cinder as a character, her relationships with her step-sister and Iko and I thought the romance between Cinder and the Prince to be really sweet.  I cannot wait to read more about Cinder and this world in the next book by Marissa Meyer! Plus? Love the cover.

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar 

 I love, love, LOVED Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar.  I loved absolutely everything about it.  I first saw it on another YA book blog, during an event showcasing Australian YA.  I didn't think that I'd be able to get hold of the copy as it didn't seem to be available in this country. Luckily, I managed to find the book on a book swapping website that I use and I fell in love.  Soon after, I heard that it had picked up a UK publisher and could not be happier that this book would soon be able to reach a wider audience! Hurrah for that.

My heart absolutely broke for Carly, the main character of this book.  She's gone through something really horrific and in response to this terrible event, she shuts down. She quits school, gets a job in a cafe and surfs.  That's it.  Until she meets Ryan, who is fresh out of jail and is carrying his own brand of baggage.  I kind of loved Carly and Ryan together.  And I was quite happy for Raw Blue to turn into a straight love story - two very broken people trying to start a relationship together.  But Raw Blue isn't just a love story, it's a story of Carly picking up the pieces of her life and trying to be okay with just herself, and I respect Kirsty Eager for that emphasis on Carly.

Reckoning by Lili St. Crow 

I wanted to love this book more than I did.  I've loved the Strange Angels series since the very beginning.  I loved the realistic grittiness that comes along with following Dru on her adventures.  She goes through really terrible things and in this, the fifth and final book in the series, I wanted closure.  I wanted a really definite ending for her.   With the bad guy sorted and her future clear, I wanted Dru to make that final important decision of her romantic entangements. 

And while I can see why Lili St. Crow did what she did and why she ended this series in the way that she did ... I was still a little bit disappointed. It seems that for some, an open-ended ending is okay.  But not in this case.  Still, excellent series.

Bunheads by Sophie Flack 

I really meant to review Bunheads by Sophie Flack before now.  I had been looking forward to reading this book since I heard about it from the Atom blogger brunch absolutely ages ago.  And I did love this book.  It's about ballet, and I love ballet.  

I remember reading one particular book about ballet over and over again when I was little.  It just made me feel happy to be reading about ballet which I find to be really graceful and beautiful.  So YAY for ballet books.  The thing that I felt distracted me from this great story is that it was marketed as this love story between Hannah and Jacob that makes Hannah question her dedication and devotion to her ballet company.  And while there is a relationship between these two, I found the main focus to be more of Hannah's journey away from her romantic relationships.  Because we're told about this relationship that makes Hannah question everything, I expected more from it.  And it wasn't there.  But what is there is great, realistic stuff about ballet and how competitive it is, how much of an issue is placed on diet and image.

A very enjoyable book, this one!

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth 

Struck is a book that I was very excited to read for such a long time.  It's that eye-catching cover, which just screams out 'Read me!' in a very persuasive way.  Unfortunately, while I did enjoy it and I raced through the book, something about Struck was slightly off for me.

I'm not entirely sure what it is about Struck that didn't work for me, which is probably why I never reviewed this book.  I love the idea of it - Mia is a lightning addict in this crazy world in which natural disasters have destroyed so much and the people are being torn apart by cult leaders and the people opposing them, which also seem to be rather fanatic.  I think I wanted to know more about being struck by lightning and less of  the religious zeal.

The Sky Always Hears Me: And the Hills Don't Mind by Kirst Cronn-Mills 

I don't even remember where I first heard about this book.  All I really knew about the book is that the main character begins to question her sexuality.  And I always like reading YA books that deal with this sort of thing. So based on that very small amount of information, I went into reading The Sky Always Hears Me... And this book turned out to be entirely different than what I first expected.  It's a little bit strange, it's kind of gentle and can be quite funny and overall I just really enjoyed it.

I loved seeing Morgan interact with the different people in her life, from her boyfriend, her crush, Rob, Tessa, the girl who kissed her, Morgan's grandmother.

I also really loved the inclusion of fortunes and how Morgan goes to shout all of her thoughts and feelings into an empty canyon.  I loved the confusion about everything going on in her life, I loved Morgan's voice and character and I think this book is really great.

Scarlet by AC Gaughen

Oh man, was I excited to read this book!  I absolutely adore the Robin Hood story.  It's one of my dad's personal favourites as well, so growing up, I felt almost surrounded by these characters and the adventure of it all.  So I was always going to be happy to read another book to do with Robin Hood, but I also really love the twist.  Will Scarlet as a girl! That makes me very happy.

And while I didn't LOVE that there is a sort-of love triangle, I was still completely swept away by the story.  I really liked how Scarlet keeps her identity hidden from the rest of the band, and the mystery that surrounds her previous life.  I really loved Scarlet, she's feisty and brave and really jumps in to do her part in fighting injustice and freeing those she cares about. Robin, too, was written really well.  I really just can't get enough of this story!

Rosebush by Michele Jaffe 

 I had had a copy of Rosebush on my shelves for absolutely ages unread.  I think I bought the book based entirely on the pretty cover.  Luckily for me, when I did get around to reading the book, there's also a very interesting story here as well.  I don't know about you, but I'm starting to really love the psychological thrillers that are on the YA shelves at the moment.  I never really thought that those sort of books were for me, but they are. 

I love how Jane, the main character in this story, is left piecing together the fragments of her memories in order to work out who tried to kill her. I was left completely guessing as Jane (and us as readers!) try to solve this mystery in time.  Jane works out that it had to be someone she knows, someone she calls a friend who has done this to her and that is pretty creepy to me! I had no idea who did it until the very end and I loved the journey to get to that point!

Ultraviolet by RJ Anderson

 I absolutely loved Ultraviolet with a passion! I had no idea what I was getting into when I first started and throughout the book I was always on my toes, wondering, always wondering what secrets could this book possibly be holding?! Every aspect of this book was wonderful to me.  I loved the main character, Allison.  I loved her voice and finding out the things she's not saying.  She's a teenage girl sectioned into a mental hospital for murdering a girl. 

I really loved this story progresses, where one things leads to another to another and I'm left gasping at the surprises and the unexpected twists.  I feel like I can't say very much about this book without spoiling things, which is probably why I haven't reviewed this book until now.  But it is wonderful. 

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Are there any favourite books that you've read lately but haven't yet reviewed?

More paranormal mini-reviews (Trial By Fire, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Carrier of the Mark)

The following post contains mini-reviews for the following books: Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin and Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon.

Whenever I go through a prologed book slump, it is usually the fault of a decline in my mental health.  I sink into a depression and I don't feel like reading.  It's pretty simple.  And I've found that when I'm in a depression, the books I really like to read are those that are very emotional or dramatic.  And what's more emotional and over-the-top in its dramatics than a good paranormal romance, right?  I find myself drawn to the overly passionate paranormal romances in order to stir some emotion in myself.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, as the following reviews will prove.

Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Did I ever tell you how much I love werewolves?  I do. They are my favourite paranormal creatures.  Mostly because I love the idea of belonging to a pack.  The idea of this extended family that's always there for you makes me feel a bit teary if I'm honest.  And I think I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes' version of werewolves the best.  Her books feel very emotional and intelligent, with the mix of politics and gender and equality into the narrative.

I adored the first book in this series, Raised By Wolves, just as I adored this, its sequel.  I love that Bryn is quite a fragile human girl, but still, it is her that is in charge of a large and valuable pack of wolves.  She has very loyal friends and boyfriend and while her father-figure is no longer in charge of her, he is still partially present in her life, offering his advice.  And while there is less of the strong first emotions of love in this book with the emphasis more on protecting the women and girls of her fledgling pack as well as negotiating the difficult werewolf politics of the other wolf packs in the area, there is still enough romance and high emotions.  Reading this book was a wonderful escape from my own thoughts and I zipped right through it.  Wonderful sequel, I'm very much looking forward to more!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Here is a book that I loved wholly and entirely.  I had no idea what I was getting into when I started it, I had just heard a bunch of wonderful things from it from mostly American book bloggers.  I wanted in on this amazing story, and I loved every page of it.  I'm usually a little bit intimidated by chunky books like this one, but in Mara Dyer's case, I felt the bigger and longer it is, the better!

I really loved unravelling the mystery is this book.  I wanted any scrap of detail or information that Michelle Hodkin throws to the reader.  I found myself hugely addicted by this book, even though in parts it can be quite creepy and felt a bit dark.  I loved that our narrator, Mara, tells us this story without really having a full grasp on all of the events, even those that she experienced herself.  I do love an unreliable narrator especially witnessing the confusion.  And how have I not written about the love interest yet?!  I fell for Noah Shaw right alongside Mara.  Their relationship is tension-filled and swoonworthy.  I want more already.  This book is incredible, very romantic and suspensful and addictive.  I am no waiting impatiently for the sequel!



 Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

This book arrived for me around the same time the Internet drama involving the author was occurring and while it did leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, I figured it was only fair to judge the book by its own merits rather than the actions of the author.

I have to say, I wasn't impressed.  What attracted me to this book is the addition of Irish mythology into a paranormal romance.  Ireland isn't a setting that I read of very often, and I wanted more from it.  Same with this romance between Megan and Adam which promised to be of epic proportions.  And while I did finish the book, I finished it without caring very much about the world created, the characters or the romance.  For me, it didn't engage me emotionally at all, and that was very disappointing.  I really wanted to enjoy this one. I still think the cover is quite pretty.

REVIEW: Torn by Cat Clarke

I think Torn by Cat Clarke is the book I was most looking forward to read. Cat Clarke's previous book, Entangled, was just that good - very emotional and hard-hitting that I could not wait to get my hands on Torn. And it's sometimes scary to have such huge expectations for a book. But Torn lived up to all of the expectations I had. I loved the flawed characters, the emotions I felt witnessing this revenge against the mean girl gone wrong and all the guilt and horrible feelings afterwards as everyone involved tries to get on with their lives. It was a wonderful, emotional book and I think I'll always be excited about reading new books by Cat Clarke!

Torn is told from the point of view of Alice King who recently went on a school trip to Scotland. There, sharing a cabin with her best friend Cass, social reject Polly, emo-girl, Rae and Mean Girl Tara. When Tara's bullying and mean girl ways go a bit too far, Cass and Polly decide to teach Tara a lesson in humiliation.

What happens next was difficult to read, but it was also really gripping and I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from the pages. I loved how conflicted these characters are and how much in particular Alice struggles with the choices and decisions that were made. There's a deeper layer of guilt to Alice's story as she begins a romantic relationship with Tara's younger brother Jack. How can she carry on with Jack and not tell her what she knows about his sister's death?! And to make things worse, Tara isn't gone for good. Instead, Tara haunts Alice.

Torn really has so many great things going for it - a really ruthless mean girl, some hugely flawed and relateable characters, a sweet love story, a dead girl, and a ghost! But what I loved so much about it is how much emotion there is, especially from Alice. Not just guilt and horror at what happens, but all the complicated feelings that come with first love and a friendship that have ended badly. I love Alice's relationship with her father particularly as they are both still grieving from the loss of Alice's mother.

Torn as a brilliant book, one that really made me think about seemingly small actions that mean so much more to other people. It made me think about how I treat other people, how honesty and doing the right thing can feel like such a grey area. Mostly it just made me feel. Angry and confused and hurting and hopeful - and I think that's a sign of a great story. Torn is a book not to miss!

REVIEW: Raised By Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Paranormal Month)

I've had Raised By Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes on my shelves unread for such a long time! Especially after I went to one of her events and heard her speak so interestingly about her writing inspirations. And as I was reading the book, I could see how well she had blended her experiences of growing up amongst older brothers and their friends with that of Bryn's life as a human girl surrounded by werewolves and also that of her psychological background.

Bryn is a girl in unusual circumstances. As a child, Bryn's parents were killed by a rogue werewolf and she was rescued and adopted into Callum's pack. Now, at 15, the pack is all Bryn knows. She's had to adjust to living with the pack who are all stronger and faster and bigger than she is. But Bryn has always stood on the outside, not letting the pack mind and their emotional and physical bonds affect her in the same way. She's always been determined to keep her own identity and her own thoughts and ideas separate from Callum's pack.

That is, until the day she sees Chase, a teenage boy locked in a cage in Callum's house. Seeing Chase and hearing his story changes everything for Bryn as she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth of what happened to Chase and if that is at all connected with the death of Bryn's parents so many years ago.

I really loved Raised By Wolves. I did worry at the beginning that this book would be very male-dominated, as I suppose most werewolf books are. But Jennifer Lynn Barnes really took this werewolf story in a new direction and surrounded Bryn with some great women. Bryn herself is one of my favourite characters that I've read recently. She's feisty and headstrong and stubborn and I really loved the connections she makes with the other characters in the book.

Her adoptive mom, Ali, is really great - supportive and protective. Despite some of his dubious decisions and actions and all the rules and restrictions that he places on her, I also really loved the relationship between Bryn and Callum, the alpha and Bryn's closest thing to a father-figure. There seems a lot more going on under the surface with this pair and you can tell that both of them have such strong feelings for each other. Bryn' s friends are also awesome - Devon and Lake. And while there is a rather strong emotional and romantic connection between Bryn and Chase, it isn't fully played out because of some of the things that occur within the course of the novel, so I'm really hoping that there will be more of that in the next book.

All in all, I really thought that Raised By Wolves was a hugely addictive read, one that was surprising and fun. It felt emotional and exciting and dangerous and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long before reading this book. I'm sure to dive straight into the sequel, Trial By Fire, as soon as I can and I'm really excited about it! I think werewolves might just be my thing.

REVIEW: Defiance by Lili St Crow

Oh hurrah for such a fun and exciting series as the Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow! Defiance is the 4th book in the series, and it is one of my favourites of the four books published so far. What I love so much about these books is how exciting and fast-paced they are. Everything moves at such a quick rate and so many surprising things happen, I'm almost left breathless by it all.

The huge cliffhanger of Jealousy made me all the more excited to read this book, and it was certainly no disappointment. We're immediately thrust into Dru's life, as she must continue her training and her education of the Real World while she struggles through the agony of not knowing where Graves is or what he is suffering at the hands of Sergej.

Though Graves is missing from much of the story (WAHH! I love heart Graves) in his place is Christophe, whose relationship with Dru has always been a little complicated. The progression of the Christophe and Dru relationship during Defiance had me absolutely fascinated and my excitement for more in this bizarre love triangle grows and grows. I cannot wait to read more in the next installment!

There's LOTS of action here, as you'd expect, as well as lots of deceit and betrayal and nobody is sure quite who can be trusted and who can't. I love how Lili St. Crow really keeps me guessing in that respect and I admit to seeing none of the twisty plot turns in advance. This series just makes me incredibly happy to read and I will always be excited to read more in the Strange Angels series!

REVIEW: Strange Angels and Betrayals by Lili St Crow

Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow - Dru Anderson: Night Hunter. Knife Wielder. Heart Breaker. Dru can sense evil, which helps when she and her Dad are tracking down ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional reanimated corpse. It's a dangerous life, but it's the only one she knows. Then Dru's dad turns up dead and she suddenly finds herself in the middle of a deadly game where every move she makes could be her last. Dru is more special than she realizes - and whatever killed her dad could be coming for her next. Can Dru stay alive long enough to fall for one - or both - of the guys hungry for her affections? Find out in the heart-stopping first book in a thrilling series.

I was immensely surprised with how much I enjoyed reading Strange Angels! And now that I've read the book, I can't remember the reservations I had before reading it. It's fantastic with the action and the pace is set at break-neck speed. The characters are interesting and likeable and I love all the information regarding the Real World with the suckers, demons, and wulfen.

First, the action. We're thrown into it right from the beginning, with Dru leaving for school. She has a bad feeling about leaving, but doesn't say anything. Her dad goes off on one of his missions to battle the bad things but comes home a zombie to attack poor Dru. And that's just where it starts. It kicks off from there with wulfen attacks and meetings with suckers, and Dru is a pretty kick-ass character.

Dru is sarcastic and independent. Her dad has trained her to know things most teenage girls don't know about, keeping her gun clean and safe, knowing the exit routes. But she's in uncomfortable territory as her dad did all the fighting before and you can see her vulnerable side. Especially when it comes to the goth half-Asian kid, Graves, that she picks up. Graves is by far my favourite character. I really just want to give him a hug.

It's an interesting storyline anyway. I like this idea of the 'Real World' where suckers and wulfen and ghosts and dream stealers exist. And there's Dru and her dad circling around it and suddenly lands herself deeper than ever and way above her head. When I finished Strange Angels I was really pretty desperate to read the next one...

(SPOILERS)

Betrayals by Lili St. Crow - The second novel in the Strange Angels series picks up with Dru neatly tucked away in a Schola that's more like a prison than a secret training facility. Except for one tiny detail ...she's the only girl in the place and is totally surrounded by tons of cute boys. But a traitor in the Order wants Dru dead and she can't trust anyone except for Graves. Too bad he's being kept busy with a new crew of wulfen teens and doesn't have time for her. As she learns the truth about who she can and can't trust, Dru's only hope may be to save herself - although the one gift that makes her special is draining away, and she doesn't know how to get it back. Will Dru survive long enough to find out who is really after her? Or is she destined for the same fate as her murdered parents? Lili's characters come alive on the page in a way that's visually stunning and she creates the same terrific pace, danger and teen romance as in Strange Angels.

Like I said, I was pretty desperate to read the next book in the series once I finished Strange Angels. And Betrayals is still fast-paced and filled with lots of action, but there's a different layer to this book. Dru is really struggling with the loss of her father, this new information about her mother, her memories of the day her mom died, her new and special role in the whole scheme of things. It's a lot to adjust to. Thankfully, we do learn more about the dhjampir and her mother, but it still doesn't seem enough.

And things are definitely wrong in the Schola Dru and Graves have been taken to. Nobody's educating Dru, they let her sit around and get away with things. The close bond between Graves and Dru is a bit strained as he's finally accepted amongst the wulfen. And Dru still doesn't know who she can trust. She even starts doubting Christophe.

It's an interesting sequel, but I would have liked more answers. And while I'm not keen on where the Graves-Dru-Christophe triangle is headed, it has been hurtling towards the inevitable since the first book. Myself, there's no doubt that I'm on Team Graves.

Bring on the next book, Jealousy, out in July!