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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