The Elite - Keira Cass

The Elite - Keira Cass

GENRE: YA
PAGES: 272
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Children's
FORMAT: Galley
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

The Selection gets fierce as rivals stake their claim on the prince. Six girls, one life-changing prize...America Singer will leave her pre-destined life for a world of glamour and luxury, if she wins...But surviving The Selection is tough. Rivals are battling to become Prince Maxon's bride as the threat of rebel violence just beyond the palace walls escalates into war. Only six girls are left and sworn friendships are tested to breaking point. America's feelings for Maxon grow stronger, but she suspects darker mysteries in his royal past. With ex-lover Aspen waiting for her in the shadows, where do her loyalties truly lie?

REVIEW

What is it that I love about this series? I can't quite put my finger on it. On one level it's reality TV trash. It's over obvious in the comparisons its trying to draw, even down to calling the protagonist America Singer. But on a level it's absolute entertainment and I love it. As soon as it came up on NetGalley I snapped it up and devoured it in a couple of sittings.

This 'episode' isn't so much a sequel as an extension of the first book, there's not much of an overlap and it jumps straight back in to the plot. There are some episodes, like the hosting of the foreign royalties that are so sickly sweet but this is not why I read it. The real reason?

Maxon.

No, I don't read him and think "OMG he's so hot she'd be mad not to go with him", no, I'm sucked into America's way of thinking. As soon as he goes away I too am doubting everything that comes out of his mouth and thinking 'why are you bothering? At least you know that Aspen is true'. But then you think, isn't it better to be in a position where you can change the world? Even if it means sacrificing your own happiness?

I could never guess what was going to happen next, or who was going to be eliminated, and every time I think I've got it all pinned down and realigned my expectations, I'm proved wrong. These are the things that I love. If you haven't read the first book, The Selection, then I hope I haven't ruined too much and you want to read it. It's great entertainment and although it's not a long read and there probably isn't too much under the surface I think you'll find enough in it to keep you thinking about what you would do long after you've finished reading.

Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy

GENRE: Childrens 9-12

PAGES: 398

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins

FORMAT: PB

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course). Oh yeah. And dead. Then there's his sidekick, Stephanie. She's...well, she's a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out.. Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source - the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard. When all hell breaks loose, it's lucky for Skulduggery that he's already dead. Though he's about to discover that being a skeleton doesn't stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there's anything Skulduggery hates, it's torture...Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it.

REVIEW

Skulduggery Pleasant is the coolest, smoothest, most awesomest (and probably the deadest) Detective around and you may not know he exists, but he saves you from some of the evilest supernatural people and creatures around on a daily basis. And it's not easy, no. In fact it's most dangerous. 

Made-up words aside, I am thoroughly in love with this series already - don't let anyone tell you that 'grown-ups' can't enjoy reading books for younger kids. It just proves that done well books can be accessible to anyone. It has an incredibly spot-on humour: kind of dark in places and completely sarcastic. Its straight up my street. I don't know what took me so long to actually get round to reading it but now I'm completely hooked.

Stephanie, our main heroine and guide, is a great character. She is down to Earth, tough and really funny. She has a fantastically dry sense of humour and finds a great, loyal friend in Skulduggery who shows her the world that her beloved late Uncle had inhabited. And more importantly he sweeps her away from her humdrum ordinary life. I love Skulduggery for that ironic reason of how 'fleshed out' he is. He is so set in his ways, like his love of his Bently and his noir-style crime fighting dectection. He's a brilliant father figure and semi-moral compass for Stephanie. He also has a really interesting, if not grim, backstory that is eeked out in this book:

“I woke up, a bag of bones. Literally. They had gathered up my bones and put them in a bag and thrown the bag into a river.”

Even through his humour you can sense a darker side, the feeling that there is so much more to him that will be both uncovered and developed in the following books. Having said this you could quite easily read this on its own and be satisfied. In fact I dare you, because it's virtually impossible to read this and not want to run out for the next.

 In fact every character is a burst of colour and fun. It's accessible and there is something for everyone. Girls will love the role model that Stephanie is and boys will love how cool Skulduggery is. An lets face it, everyone loves a bit of action. This should be a staple read in anyone's library.

Each book in the series is a quest in itself. Its almost formulaic: introduces a baddy, world is in jeopardy, massive battle scene and world is temporarily saved. I like that I know what to expect and I have to admit that I don't read these for the action - it's wholly for the banter. I find it hilarious. I really want to show you a few examples of my favourite quotes, it doesn't matter how good a review I write I know these will convince you how awesome this series it.

This is one used on the back of the book:

"So you won't keep anything from me again?"
He put his hand to his chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Okay then. Though you don't actually have a heart," she said.
"I know."
"And technically, you've already died."
"I know that too."
"Just so we're clear."

Another of my favourites:

"If there is one regret that I have had in my life, it is that I never fathered any children. There are times, when I look at what Fergus and Beryl have produced, when I consider myself fortunate, but there are also times when it breaks my heart.”

This illustrates so well that it is not just one of the funniest things I have ever read, but it has emotion. Yes this book has been around for quite some time now, but you don't even need to be afraid of spoilers because there's so much more to get your teeth in to. This is writing you'd be happy to read in adult literature. 

The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks

The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks

GENRE: YA

PAGES: 272

PUBLISHER: Penguin Books

FORMAT: PB

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 5 Stars

Please not that this review refers to an unedited advance copy.

SUMMARY

Room meets Lord of the Flies, The Bunker Diary is award-winning, young adult writer Kevin Brooks's pulse-pounding exploration of what happens when your worst nightmare comes true - and how will you survive?

I can't believe I fell for it. It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was. A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete. There are six little rooms along the main corridor. There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out. What's he going to do to me? What am I going to do? If I'm right, the lift will come down in five minutes. It did. Only this time it wasn't empty . . 

REVIEW 

The Bunker Diary appeared one day in my pigeonhole. I hadn't requested it, didn't know anything about it, and I've never read anything by Kevin Brooks before. Odd. They say that the right books find the right people in the end and if that's the case this book should find everybody. It is truly incredible. 

Linus is abducted and put in an old bunker, soon to be followed by 5 other people from completely different walks of life. No one knows why they're there but they're stuck. In each cell is a notebook, and the story is a transcribe of the day to day diary that Linus keeps. Linus is an incredible narrator. He is strong and humble and really likable. You will root for him against a faceless enemy. Its a cruel, horrible book in places. Its cold and nasty, but it will makes you understand how the human psyche reacts to these things. It will make you ask yourself how you would cope, what you would do. Would you give up and wait to die? Hope for rescue? Plan your escape? 

Kevin Brooks has created something incredibly special. He will play with your sympathies, make you feel claustrophobic even if you're reading this in the middle of a field, and probably terrify you too. The only limits he sticks to are the white concrete walls - psychologically he will make you experience everything. It's really hard to tell you the things I found so powerful about this because they lie in the events. Each one pushes you closer to madness and the end, dear God the end. For days afterwards - even now when I think about it - I couldn't quite believe how it ended. I can't even tell you why, I don't wanna give the impression of hope or hopelessness because you should really go in to this as blindly as possible. You need to experience these things with Linus. 

Since reading it, copies have spread around our staffroom like wildfire. Everyone has loved it and been affected by it. It will move you and force you to experience extremes of emotion: compassion, terror, confusion, greed, desperation, and even love to an extent. 

In a years time, when everyone has had chance to read this, I will write a spoiler-full post, more about what I thought about specifics event but until then it's over to you. Go and read it. You won't be disappointed. You won't be the same but you certainly won't be disappointed.

Hidden - Marianne Curley

Hidden - Marianne Curley

GENRE: YA
PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
FORMAT: PB
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 3 Stars

PUBLICATION DATE: February 2013

SUMMARY

Ebony has always known that she is different. Her violet eyes mark her out, and her protective parents have kept her in a gorgeous valley, home-schooled, safe from everything - almost as if she's being hidden. But she's changing: glowing, getting more and more beautiful, and stronger than anyone knows. Ebony can't stay hidden for ever, and when she meets complicated, intense Jordan, something explodes inside her - something that can be seen from the heavens; something that changes everything. Ebony is a stolen angel, concealed on Earth. Now the heavens have found her, they want her back.

REVIEW

Hidden tells the story of violet-eyed Ebony. After her over-protective parents go crazy at her for sneaking out of her house to go to a party, Ebony demands to know why they are always so evasive about why she is not allowed to leave the area around the house or why they wont tell her much about when she was born. What she find is something that she never expected. Ebony is an Angel, stolen from her home realm soon after her birth.

I found Ebony a little bland as a character, although I did like the fact that she denies that she could be an angel for as long as she can, I hate it when characters accept these unbelievable things straight away. After being informed about how she came to live with the couple she considers her parents, they disappear, and Ebony is left living with her best friend and trying to track them down. I wanted to see the quest part of the narrative developed more, but it falls a little flat when Jordan brings the answers to her.

The secondary main character, and alternate narrator, is Jordan. I kinda liked him. He is supposed to be your hard-act kid - life spent on the street or between foster homes - but he didn't come across like this. He's fairly level headed. I did like the extra layer he brings to the story though, even if he is achingly cheesy at times. In fact the whole story felt sugarcoated. I think it's good for the younger audience but older readers won't find much to get their teeth in to. It's a little predictable and even the Angelic characters felt like stock personalities, there to provide background noise. I didn't even find myself remotely interested in the mythology of the realms and the Angels, even though that is something that would usually catch my attention.

One thing I did find a little annoying is that although Curley describes the settings well and they are beautiful, I couldn't figure out where it was set, as in what country. The characters kept saying things like 'mate', which as a Brit is something I hear a lot of, but I knew from the valleys that it definitely wasn't the UK. My initial guess of any book is that it's set in America but that couldn't be right either. And then it dawned on me, Australia! and a quick google of the author confirmed this. I'm not a big fan of knowing about the author before I read a book but I think this might have helped. Like I said, not a big deal but something that I was a little confused about.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful. I was kind of drawn in but I kept waiting for it to be at least a little more profound than it is. Its mass market, a little bland, but good if you want a simple story to be involved in. I want to say nicer things about it, but it just didn't inspire me enough.