I will not stop fighting, I am here beside you, I'll rage, I will rage at the dying of your light

 



This Raging Light
Author: Estelle Laure
 Publication Date: January 14th 2016 
Publisher: Orchard Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
 

How is it that you suddenly notice a person? How is it that one day Digby was my best friend's admittedly cute twin brother, and then the next he stole air, gave jitters, twisted my insides up?

Lucille has bigger problems than falling for her best friend's unavailable brother. Her mom has gone, leaving her to look after her sister, Wren. With bills mounting up and appearances to keep, Lucille is raging against her life but holding it together - just.

A stunning debut to devour in one sitting, Laure captures completely the agony and ecstasy of first love.

“This is home. I forgot it was. Music carries the weight of being human, takes it away so you don’t have to think at all, you just have to listen. Music tells every story there is.”

Oh, wow. Even though I do have mixed feelings for This Raging Light, that's all I'm thinking right now. Wow.

Wow, this book is a hot mess. A complicated hot mess. But, in a good way. Kind of. See? It's hard to explain, it should be hard to like the characters, but it's not. Well, not for me. I like my characters messy and hard to like. They're flawed, they're realistic.

Lucille is...not a horrible person. Neither is Digby. They're good people who make bad choices and let me start by saying whilst I don't condone cheating, God I shipped Digby and Lucille so much. They fit. They're quirky and he made her happy when her life was insane, he helped her when she couldn't help herself. He picked her up. And yes, Lucille liked him a long time before they happened, she may have, kind of made the first move. But they both done it. The blame is not all on Lucille, okay?

The way I see it, I felt like she cracked, all the shit that was put on her shoulders by her parents and her wanting. Wanting a normal life. Wanting parents that loved her, that wouldn't leave her. Hell, wanting one parent who was that. Wanting a home. Wanting to not be doing what she had to do to survive and to keep her sister, Wren, with her. Wanting normal. Wanting a life. And wanting Digby. 

She was trying her hardest to create a semi normal home life for Wren, and looking out for her so she didn't have to feel the way she did. But, who was looking out for her? 

Digby. That's who. 

It's not all about the romance, it's part of it, part of the way the story goes, but it's about family. It's about the way that sometimes people are not cut out for it. It's about adult's majorly fucking up and not taking responsibility. It's about a seventeen-year-old girl who tries her fucking hardest to keep everything together while it's falling apart. It's strong, and it's chaotic, and its Lucille's life, and she grows so much within those pages it's surreal to think of someone going through that, and honestly? I don't think I'd be able to do it. 

The writing is just as quirky, and messy as the story, it fits, it creates the atmosphere and while it took some getting used to it, once I did, I couldn't put it down. The only reason this isn't a five for me is because of the loose ties.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night is probably my favourite poem, so of course that's what drew me to This Raging Light, and I'm so glad it did, because Lucille is not a character I'm going to forget for a while, and neither is her story.

Rating: 4/5

       

 

Shhhh...Or Else.

The Unquiet
Author: Mikaela Everett
Publication Date: September 22nd 2015
Publisher: Greenwillow Books 
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

 For most of her life, Lirael has been training to kill—and replace—a duplicate version of herself on a parallel Earth. She is the perfect sleeper-soldier. But she’s beginning to suspect she is not a good person.

The two Earths are identical in almost every way. Two copies of every city, every building, even every person. But the people from the second Earth know something their duplicates do not—two versions of the same thing cannot exist. They—and their whole planet—are slowly disappearing. Lira has been trained mercilessly since childhood to learn everything she can about her duplicate, to be a ruthless sleeper-assassin who kills that other Lirael and steps seamlessly into her life.

An intricate, literary stand-alone from an astonishing new voice, The Unquiet takes us deep inside the psyche of a strong teenage heroine struggling with what she has been raised to be and who she really is. Fans of eerily futuristic and beautifully crafted stories such as Never Let Me Go, Orphan Black, and Fringe will find themselves haunted by this unsettling debut.

IS IT BAD I’M ONLY NOW NOTICING THE COTTAGE ON THE COVER? Probably. The comparison to Never Let Me Go-which I haven’t read-so guess who’s out of her depth? Yes, Me-but now I do want to read it because The Unquiet was bloody brilliant. 

Review: The Lie Tree

The Lie Tree
Author: Frances Hardinge
Publication Date: May 7th 2015
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~ 

The leaves were cold and slightly clammy. There was no mistaking them. She had seen their likeness painstakingly sketched in her father's journal. This was his greatest secret, his treasure and his undoing. The Tree of Lies. Now it was hers, and the journey he had never finished stretched out before her.

When Faith's father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she is determined to untangle the truth from the lies. Searching through his belongings for clues she discovers a strange tree. A tree that feeds off whispered lies and bears fruit that reveals hidden secrets. The bigger the lie, and the more people who believe it, the bigger the truth that is uncovered.

But as Faith's untruths spread like wildfire across her small island community, she discovers that sometimes a single lie is more potent than any truth.

A beguiling tale of mystery and intrigue from the award-winning author of Fly By Night and Cuckoo Song

There are two words to describe The Lie Tree. Masterfully and Done. I don't say that lightly. What I loved about Cuckoo Song was how vivid the writing was, and how it was skilfully created, and even though the plot and pacing was slow, it's pay's off when subtle connections are made. The Lie Tree is no exception. It is completely different than Cuckoo Song, but at its core, the writing, the descriptions, the lyrical feel and flow, is exactly the same and it's brilliant.

Review: The Fall

 
The Fall
Author: Bethany Griffin
Publication Date: October 2nd 2014        
Publisher: Orion Childrens
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

For Madeline, the House of Usher is a nightmare to live in - but impossible to leave - in this brand new Gothic novel from Bethany Griffin, author of the Masque of the Red Death sequence.
Madeline and her twin brother Roderick have the Usher name, the Usher house - and the Usher disease. Something is wrong with the family's blood - and it seems to have spread to the house itself. Sometimes Madeline even thinks that the house is alive... When Roderick is sent away to school, the house seems to want revenge on the one member of the Usher family left behind: Madeline herself.

A gorgeous, eerie, darkly Gothic tale, THE FALL is guaranteed to intrigue and enthrall its readers, winning legions of new fans for the talented Bethany Griffin. Perfect for fans of Laini Taylor, Becca Fitzpatrick and Cassandra Clare

I don't know much about The Fall of the House of Usher, and I think, in the case of The Fall it was better for me that way, since whereas it might be familiar to others, I got to see this story with fresh new eyes and it was delightfully strange.

Review: Afterworlds

 

 

Afterworlds

Author:  Scott Westerfeld

Publication Date: September 25th 2014

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster UK Children's                                                  ~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

 From international bestselling author, Scott Westerfeld, comes Afterworlds, a brand new, thought-provoking, suspenseful thriller you won't be able to put down!

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



 

 

Afterworlds is my first Scott Westerfeld and I have to say, I wasn't disappointed in what I was promised in writing style. It's very easy to get into, and though I did have a problem with one half of the story, it kept me compelled to read it. Now, the behind-the-scenes look at publishing in YA was fun, if not a little terrifying to every person out there who are inspiring writers- especially the younger market.

Review: The Witch of Salt & Storm

The Witch of Salt and Storm
Author: Kendall Kulper
Publication Date: September 4th 2014        
Publisher: Orchard Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants only to take her rightful place as the sea witch of Prince Island, making the charms that keep the island's whalers safe and prosperous at sea. But before she could learn how to control her power, her mother - the first Roe woman in centuries to turn her back on magic - steals Avery away from her grandmother. Avery must escape before her grandmother dies, taking with her the secrets of the Roe's power.

The one magical remnant left to Avery is the ability to read dreams, and one night she foresees her own murder. Time is running short, both for her and for the people of her island who need the witches' help to thrive.

Avery has never read a dream that hasn't come true, but a tattooed harpoon boy named Tane tells her he can help her change her fate. Becoming a witch may prevent her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers it will also require a sacrifice she never expected. And as she falls in love with Tane, she learns it is his life and hers that hang in the balance.

A sweeping romance with a spellbinding twist - from a talented new voice in YA fiction.

I'll start by saying I don't regret reading The Witch of Salt and Storm- and kudo's if you read it and get that reference, and I'm just going to go put on The Cure and go cry for a while because I do not accept how it ended. Nope. Nope. Nope. It didn't, okay? Okay, it's not that painful, honest. But the thing is, the symbolism in here is just ahhhhhhhhh, everything you think is going to happen, happens, just not in the way you (or Avery for that matter) imagined it would happen so it just pulls you along with the emotional waves .

Review: Wild

Wild
Author: Alex Mallory
Publication Date: July 8th 2014        
Publisher: HarperTeen
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~ 

In this action-packed and timely "Tarzan for the digital age," Cade, a teen raised in the wilderness, is brought into modern civilization.

The forest is full of secrets, and no one understands that better than Cade. Foraging, hunting, surviving-that's all he knows. Alone for years, Cade believes he's the sole survivor. At least, until he catches a glimpse of a beautiful stranger...

Dara expected to find natural wonders when she set off for a spring break camping trip. Instead, she discovers a primitive boy-he's stealthy and handsome and he might be following her. Intrigued, Dara seeks him out and sets a catastrophe in motion.

Thrust into society, Cade struggles with the realization that the life he knew was a lie. But he's not the only one. Trying to explain life in a normal town leaves Dara questioning it.

As the media swarm and the police close in, Dara and Cade risk everything to get closer. But will the truth about Cade's past tear them apart?

Wild was...well, wild. It wasn't as clichéd or cheesy as I thought it was going to be. I mean, we've all seen Tarzan, right? It wasn't like it at all, it must be hard to try and write an integrating wild  character into the world of our own, without hindering on believability. The interactions between Cade and our other characters were done well, particularly with Dara, and when it came to explaining to Cade about the world we live in, to certain objects and machines he wasn't told about by his mother, I didn't roll my eyes or anything. I know.