Book Review: The Smell of Other People's Houses

The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
Published: February 23rd 2016, Wendy Lamb Books
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Pages: 240

3 STARS

The Plot:

"In Alaska, 1970, being a teenager here isn’t like being a teenager anywhere else. Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger.

Four very different lives are about to become entangled." - Goodreads

Review:

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley.

Where this book wasn't the most engaging of reads, it certainly had a lovely story.

The novel is from the view points of different teenagers growing up in 1970's Alaska after it gets declared a statehood, so I guess you could class it as 'historical fiction' in a way.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book is the way all the characters stories were woven together. The reason I kept reading was the little links the author put in which tied each teen to the other; I found myself reading on wanting to discover more about them and where they'd eventually end up. 

When I first saw this book the title struck me as a bit odd.. But after reading the story it gave me a new understanding. Where at first I simply thought it literally meant what other people's houses smell like, but as I read I discovered it had a much deeper meaning, and it actually meant that no matter how hard you try to be someone else, to hide your identity, you just can't shake where you come from. It's there in your hair, your clothes, the smell of your family and your home.

I would recommend this book to those looking for a nice, lighthearted easy read.

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Book Review: A Song for Ella Grey

A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond
Published: October 2nd, 2014, Hodder Children's Books
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 276

2 STARS

The Plot:

""I'm the one who's left behind. I'm the one to tell the tale. I knew them both...knew how they lived and how they died."

Claire is Ella Grey's best friend. She's there when the whirlwind arrives on the scene: catapulted into a North East landscape of gutted shipyards; of high arched bridges and ancient collapsed mines. She witnesses a love so dramatic it is as if her best friend has been captured and taken from her. But the loss of her friend to the arms of Orpheus is nothing compared to the loss she feels when Ella is taken from the world. This is her story - as she bears witness to a love so complete; so sure, that not even death can prove final." - Goodreads

Review:

I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so first things first, prior to receiving this book I had absolutely no idea what it was about. I simply saw it on NetGalley, thought the description sounded interesting and away I went.

As I was reading this book the phrase "what the hell is going on?" occurred frequently in my mind. Not only was the narration difficult to follow, it also seemed incredibly erratic, and things were repeated.. a lot.

On first glance I was expecting the book to be about a group of teens from Newcastle, with a main character who's clearly in love with her best friend. However, toward the middle/end of the novel, things began to get really weird.. After doing some research into the book I discovered that it is actually a retelling of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Long story short, they fall in love, get married, Eurydice then gets bitten by a snake, and dies. Orpheus then goes crazy after losing the love of his life and decides to journey to the underworld to go and bargain with death to get her back.

In my personal opinion, the myth simply did not work as a young adult book, the two themes didn't exactly coincide well. The result was an overly descriptive book full of weird metaphors and dull characters that didn't really add anything to the story. Overall, I found this book to be quite a weird read, and not in a good way.

If you're after an intense teenage mystery book, then this simply isn't it. I'd personally suggest something like We Were Liars instead.

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Book Review: We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Published: May 13th 2014, Delacorte Press
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Pages: 242

3 STARS

The Plot:

"A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth." - Goodreads

Review:

An extremely emotional, beautifully written story.

I really can't say much about this book without giving away the entire story. I can tell you one thing though, the twist is one that will rip your heart out. However, I guessed what was going to happen so I didn't find it as horrifying as some other readers did, but it still filled me with genuine upset!

I enjoyed the way the book was written, it felt like we were discovering what happened that summer on the island along with Cady, and that we were part of her distressing journey to unearth the truth. I also liked the short fairytales and the way it felt like Cady's reality; the truth was too painful to remember so she made up stories to make it seem less real.

The writing is also rather unique and meaningful, some things you find yourself having to read several times to discover the true meaning behind it, as Cady likes to twist the meaning of things.

We Were Liars is a short, disturbing tale, it is absolutely beautifully written, really engrosses you and makes you want to find out what truly happened that summer.

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Book Review: Sinner

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater
Published: July 3rd 2014, Scholastic
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 386

4 STARS

The Plot:

"found.
Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.
Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes...but what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.
Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go." - Goodreads

Review:

I fell in love with Maggie Stiefvater's writing style the moment I picked up Shiver. She has a unique way of making everything sound so unbelievably lyrical, and Sinner is no different. As soon as I started the first page I knew it was going to be memorable.

The book was so different from the Shiver trilogy, which is only fitting considering Shiver was more Sam and Grace's story, and Sinner follows Isabel and Cole who are their polar opposites.

The story takes place in L.A, where Isabel appears perfectly at home. She's bossy, high-maintenance and at times a complete bitch, not to mention her sky high heels and perfectly manicured nails never looked at home in Minnesota anyway.

Cole on the other hand, is a troubled recovering drug addict/rock star who is thrust back into the limelight when he follows Isabel to L.A, when she is sent to live with her mother at the end of Forever. I absolutely loved the way Cole was written, his inner thoughts are described in such vivid detail that you can really grasp what it feels like to be in his head. To feel like no matter what you do, or how much you try to change, to everyone else you're still going to be that messed up kid who fell down on stage and never got back up.

Another thing I liked was the way she described the shift for Cole as a drug. Those of you who remember The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy will remember that Cole had found a way to chemically generate the shift. It makes you realise that he still hasn't completely given up on his addict lifestyle and he's still clinging onto something from his old life by shifting. Whenever he shoots up, for a few minutes he gets to escape from his own body and mind and gets to become the wolf. Everything that matters fades away and he just sees the world for what it truly is, a collection of images.

I believe the book is more about Cole growing and evolving to realise he doesn't need the shift and he doesn't need another high to try and distract him from being himself. This realisation is helped by Isabel, who is equally as damaged as Cole. She's lost people and grew up with a completely messed up family, which is enough to mess with anyone's head.

I wouldn't describe Sinner as a love story, it's more a tale of two broken people trying to find a way to survive in this world, and not go completely insane in the process. That's not to say there isn't your fair share of romance, which is evidently accompanied by a considerable amount of bust ups and make ups.

I absolutely loved Sinner, it's thought-provoking, moving and above everything extremely memorable.

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Book Review: Fangirl

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Published: January 30th 2014, Pan Macmillan
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 461

5 STARS

The Plot:

"Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life.

Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realising that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible." - Goodreads

Review:

I LOVED this book! It was so wonderfully written and all the characters were just adorable and delightful.

Cath was certainly my favourite character. She was so witty, amusing and a complete worrier, which I think we all can relate to in some aspects. I found her to be an especially relatable character having suffered from social anxiety myself. When she was saying things about how nervous things made her I found myself nodding along, agreeing all the way.

Levi is another character I particularly enjoyed, I liked the fact that he wasn't the typical smoking hot unattainable guy you read about in most romance stories. Instead he was this incredibly sweet, funny guy, the kind that you didn't have to feel awkward around and you can just be yourself, which is kind of perfect for Cath.

I really enjoyed the way Rainbow tied the Simon Snow stories in, and that they subtly referred to what happened in the chapters. Actually, I really enjoyed the Simon Snow stories full stop. They reminded me a hell of a lot of Harry Potter, which can only be a good thing.

The humour was splendid! Often I found myself bursting out into fits of giggles (followed by stares from family members.)

I honestly can say that there was nothing I didn't like about this book, apart from maybe Levi's receding hairline.. Plus the fact that Cath noticed it so much and commented about it, that was kinda awkward. But other than that this book was an absolute delight to read. I would definitely read it again and you can count on the fact that I will be looking for other Rainbow Rowell books to indulge in.

Perfect light hearted reading!

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Book Review: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1)

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Published: August 31st 2010, Simon & Schuster
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 479

5 STARS

The Plot:

"In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series. 

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them..." - Goodreads

Review:

After reading the Mortal Instruments series I was hungry for more, so when I discovered the prequel series, I simply had to have it.

This book was simply everything I could possibly want in a novel.

Romance, fantasy and exciting tension all wrapped up in one. Not to mention the book is set in the extraordinary Victorian London, which Cassandra Clare has researched impeccably. Her writing enables you to paint a lavishly detailed picture of what this particular version of London looked like, from the grotty banks of the river Thames crawling with mudlarks, to the picturesque Hyde park with it's secret goblin grounds!

Clare once again brings a bevy of inspiringly strong characters forward, which are both incredibly well written and awe inspiring.

It was also incredibly fascinating to meet the ancestors of some of the characters from the mortal instruments series! (you can definitely see the similarities with Will and Jace.)

I recommend this for fans of fantasy and all things magical, also if you like gothic fiction this could be worth a try!

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Book Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Published: March 27th 2007, Simon & Schuster
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 485

4 STARS

The Plot:

"When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know..." - Goodreads

Review:

This book draws you in right from the first page, and before you know it you're sucked into Clary's mysterious supernatural world.

I absolutely loved the setting for it, Cassandra Clare has created this whole different world tangled up within our own, faeries in central park, werewolves and vampires roaming the streets, it's guaranteed to make you look at New York in an entirely different light.

The characters also captivate you, I don't think there was a single character that I didn't like at least a little bit. Sure, Clary can get a little annoying at times, but she does get a hell of a lot more bearable as the series go on and she starts to get more daring. However, Jace really made the book for me, and not just because of his devilishly handsome good looks - although that is a perk. But his sassy attitude keeps you chuckling all the way through.

The character I really fell in love with was Magnus Bane, the fabulous gay high warlock of Brooklyn. He's cheeky and full of breathtaking flair, and his outfits, just wow. Talk about loving glitter.

Overall, a fabulously captivating read, I highly recommend it.

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