REVIEW: Looking For JJ - Anne Cassidy

GENRE: YA/Crime
PAGES: 304
PUBLISHER: Scholastic
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

A gripping and emotionally searing novel from a talented author, Looking for JJ explores the circumstances and motives behind the murder of a child - by her friend. Six years later, JJ has now been released, and has a new identity. But is there any way that she can lead a "normal" life?

REVIEW

This is a perfect mix of my two favourite genres - YA and Crime!

I've been meaning to read this for *ages* and stumbled across a hardback copy in the charity shop, woo, it was fate. I enjoyed it from the start - I liked the plot, I loved the narrative and everything was described so well I could see it playing out like a film. I felt so sorry for Alice, her mother was selfish and neglectful, and as much as she is trying to put things behind her, something is always dragging her back to the past and that is precisely what she wants to leave behind. It's a clever novel because it deals with a very serious and sensitive storyline with tact and sensitivity and ultimately I was rooting for Alice to prevail. I now need to read the sequel! 

- Gem.

REVIEW: Me and Mr J. - Rachel McIntyre

GENRE: YA/Issues
PAGES: 320
PUBLISHER: Egmont
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Fifteen-year-old Lara finds her soulmate. There's just one problem - he's her teacher. Lara's life is far from perfect, but being an upbeat kind of person she saves her venting for her diary. It's the only place she can let out her true feelings about the family dramas and hideous bullying she has to face every day. And then a shining light comes out of the darkness - the new young and MALE teacher, Mr Jagger. The one person who takes Lara seriously and notices her potential. The one person who is kind to her. The one person who she falls madly and hopelessly in love with. The one person who cannot love her back ...can he?

REVIEW

This book was really interesting, because I loved it whilst wanting to slap Mr J! Focusing on a variety of controversial issues such as bullying and student/teacher relationships, the story is very current and therefore it's easy to relate to what is going on. At times it was laugh out loud funny, at others it made me think about how I'd deal with the situation if I was Lara. It's clear that this is going to be a book that people either love or hate, but I was firmly in the LOVE camp and read it in one sitting. It's perfect for fans of Cat Clarke.

- Gem.

GUEST REVIEW: All The Bright Places - Jennifer Niven

GENRE: YA

PAGES: 400
PUBLISHER: Penguin
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

All the Bright Places is a compelling and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die. Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all. And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink. How far will Violet go to save the boy she has come to love?

REVIEW

I have been thinking about how to write this review for a while. I finished this book last night and it has not left my mind since then. I loved this book so much. It was so amazing and it just completely blew me away. People are probably going to kill me for saying this but this book, for me anyway, was like a much better version of The Fault In Our Stars. Don’t kill me just yet. I know that everyone love The Fault In Our Stars, and I do too but you’ve probably never read All The Bright Places so you don’t know that this book isn’t better than it.

The reason I loved this book so much is probably because it affected me so much. I don’t know why but something about this book just changed me. I know that sounds weird but it’s true. As well as breaking my heart into millions of little pieces, it also taught me so much about everything such as life.

Okay, I’m going to try write a normal review now. The characters in this book were honestly the best part about it. Finch was an unusual character that was amazingly portrayed. Despite not being like him, I understood why he was the way he was. I understood the things that he did and why he did them. I wouldn’t say he was one of my favourite male characters but I did really love him in a different way to how I love everyone else. He specifically taught me a lot about life and how we should live life. Violet was unique and different. After going through something so tragic, she is obviously quite scared of living but I loved her because of that. I loved seeing her grow out of her fear and start living her life. Both of the characters felt so real and it’s hard to believe that they are only characters in a book. The romance between them was amazing. It did feel quite insta lovey at the start and slightly stalkerish but I loved it so much despite that.

The writing in this book was just exquisite. The writing in this book just made me fall even more in love with it because it was breathtaking. The writing was stunning. Any sentences I can form will not do the writing in this book justice. You’ll just need to read the book.

The ending of this book broke me. The last 100 pages were just amazing and fabulous, as was the whole book but the last 100 pages were even more so. I just can’t believe that it ended that way. It was just so amazing and fabulous. Everyone needs to read this book now. Stop reading this review and go buy the book so that you can read it. I cannot recommend this book enough. This review definitely did not do it justice. Just go read it now and you’ll see what I mean.

- Sofia.

REVIEW: Cuckoo Song - Frances Hardinge

GENRE: Supernatural YA

PAGES: 416
PUBLISHER: MacMillan

FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars
 

SUMMARY

The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes. Slowly they swivelled, until their gaze was resting on Triss's face. Then the tiny mouth moved, opened to speak. 'What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.' When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out. Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family - before it's too late ...

 

REVIEW

I had been meaning to read this for a long time, and as soon as I picked it up I couldn't put it down! It's such a unique and haunting novel, each character is well defined and the journey Tris goes on is really interesting and moving.

 

I would recommend this to anyone who likes something a little extraordinary, or Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

 

-Gem.

GUEST REVIEW: I Was Here - Gayle Forman

GENRE: YA

PAGES: 288
PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars
 

SUMMARY

This characteristically powerful novel follows eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend's shocking suicide. As Cody numbly searches for answers as to why Meg took her own life, she begins a journey of self-discovery which takes her to a terrifying precipice, and forces her to question not only her relationship with the Meg she thought she knew, but her own understanding of life, love, death and forgiveness.

 

REVIEW

Let me just start by saying that the blurb I have just given to you is not the blurb that I had previously read. In fact my blurb does not mention anything that happens in the book but instead it just has the note that Meg wrote to Cody. Due to this, I went into the book expecting it to be a YA contemporary novel about a girl trying to find herself after her best friend commits suicide however while this is what it was about, this wasn't the whole book.

One thing I would like to say before I start talking about my feelings towards this book is that I don't think it is suitable for younger readers. It includes quite a few swear words and a very small amount of sexual content. However, the main reason I would not recommend this to younger readers is because of what it is about. It is obviously a book dealing with the subject of suicide. Some of the things in this book are quite eye opening and they could potentially affect people on a deeper level. I cannot tell you what they are because it will slightly spoil a part of the book but only read this book if you are mature enough to be able to deal with a difficult subject.

Cody was a peculiar main character. Obviously having just recently lost her best friend, she was slightly emotionally detached from the reader and because of this you didn't really connect with her as much. At the start she was this angry girl who was being forced to face a life without her best friend. However, as the story went on, she became more real and we got to know her a bit more. We started to feel for her a lot more because we understood why she was feeling the way she was. Her many flaws became more clear but we understood why she did certain things even if they were slightly crazy. As she starts to decrypt the file, we see a different side to Cody and I felt as if we were seeing parts of Meg come out. We were seeing how Meg felt before through what Cody felt then. This also meant that I felt that I knew Meg despite not actually meeting her. I felt an emotional connection to her and I could see why they were so close. This made the story a lot more realistic and it meant that I could feel like I was actually part of the novel and not just reading it.

One thing I need to mention about this book is the romance. Having gone into this book not knowing about a romance, I felt that it was quite natural. Even though as soon as we met Ben, I knew he would be a potential love interest I kept questioning this because of what was revealed. I could not figure out how a relationship between them would work but I loved it. It wasn't a rushed relationship. It felt real and it felt as if it had happened the right way. She did see him as attractive but she never wanted to be with him because of Meg and I loved that. It wasn't any form of love at first sight and they did actually become friends first. The book mainly focuses on the loss of Meg and everything Cody does in order to deal with that and I liked the fact that the romance didn't overshadow this.

Gayle Forman has a lovely way of writing stories that I just adore. Having previously read and loved her If I Stay duology, I had high expectations despite reading Just One Day and not liking it as much. This book definitely did not disappoint. From start to finish, I was engaged and even though I wasn't reading it all the time, I was constantly thinking about what was happening because I wanted to know. There was a slight mystery aspect in this novel because of the encrypted file and that's what I loved. I wanted to know what was in this file. Once we did find out what was in it, I was shocked and I just kept reading. At times, I felt myself getting sucked in like Cody was and when you read the book ,you'll find out why that is really scary. Every part of this novel was full of symbols and hidden meanings and I loved it. Gayle Forman has this way of writing that just completely transforms something ordinary into something that holds a lot of meaning and I absolutely loved that. At times, I was a bit worried about how people would react to what was in the file because it is alarming and it did make me wonder what it can do to people however as you read on, this changes and Gayle Forman dealt with this subject so incredibly well. Forman did what she does best; she wrote about a depressing subject yet also somehow managed to stop you from becoming completely and utterly depressed.

In the end, I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars because it was full of emotion, mystery and intrigue. I needed to know what was going to happen next. I was completely and emotionally involved with the characters and the story as a whole. This book comes out in January 2015 and I strongly suggest that you pick this book up if you feel that you can deal with this subject because it will change you slightly. If you haven't picked up If I Stay by Gayle Forman, I also suggest you do that. Thank you for reading this slightly odd review. I just don't know how to put how I feel about this book into words.

 

- Sofia.

GUEST REVIEW: The Mara Dyer Series - Michelle Hodkin

  

 

Summary

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger. She wakes from a coma in hospital with no memory of how she got there or of the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her best friends and her boyfriend, yet left her mysteriously unharmed. The doctors suggest that starting over in a new city, a new school, would be good for her and just to let the memories gradually come back on their own. But Mara's new start is anything but comforting. She sees the faces of her dead friends everywhere, and when she suddenly begins to see other people's deaths right before they happen, Mara wonders whether she's going crazy! And if dealing with all this wasn't enough, Noah Shaw, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen can't seem to leave her alone...but as her life unravels around her, Mara can't help but wonder if Noah has another agenda altogether...

 

This book trilogy is one of my favourites purely because I fell in love with three things:

• The Plot
• The Characters
• The Endings (even though the second one wanted me to cry for ages)

 

The plot:

 The plot of the three books of course are an after effect of what happened in the previous book (except for Unbecoming as it was the beginning which caused the after effects). The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is about a 16 year old girl called Mara who discovers she is an only survivor a terrible accident. And she is terrified. To make this even harder for Mara she cannot remember anything from the accident, which killed her three closest friends is very traumatic for her. To try and escape from the relentless guilt, she convinces her family to move the Florida. However, Mara’s misfortunes soon catch up to her and she finds herself finding it hard to run away from her problems. In the midst of all of her problems…she falls in love. What eventually happens to Mara? Does she defeat all the odds and comes standing tall with her lover by her side? Or does she have a reoccurring person from her past who is set in destroying everything she loves?

 

GUEST REVIEW: Famous In Love - Rebecca Serle

GENRE: YA Romance
PAGES: 432
PUBLISHER: Macmillan
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Paige doesn't think she's particularly special, but after getting the starring role in a massive film adaptation of the bestselling Locked trilogy, the rest of the world would disagree. Now she's thrown into the spotlight, and into a world of gossip, rumour and deceit. The only people who know what she's going through are her two male co-stars, and they can't stand the sight of each other. Paige knows it's a mistake to fall in love on the set of a movie, but days of on-screen romance and intensity start to change her mind. The question is, can she keep what happens behind the scenes a secret when the world is watching her every move?

REVIEW

I was immediately drawn to this book because a) I’m a sucker for romance stories and b) it is about a girl who is cast in a major book to movie adaptation. I did actually end up enjoying it as well. Once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down and I kept reading until I finished. Every time I tried to put the book down and go back to sleep, I kept thinking about what was going to happen next so I had to pick it up again. It was fast paced and despite there being no action, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened.

Paige was an interesting main character. Her views about major book to movie adaptations really made me think about how some big actresses may feel about appearing in them e.g. Jennifer Lawrence. She was constantly worried about messing it up or not doing it right for the fans. And when she went out to go sign books, her shock over the screaming fans really made me think about how hard it must be for these stars to deal with screaming fangirls. I am definitely not a screaming fangirl but it made me think about the way people view actresses. Paige found it hard to deal with the major change in her life that acting bought about, despite it being something that she has wanted for her whole life. Basically throughout the whole book ,she was dealing with some sort of issue but I didn’t mind it. I didn’t actually dislike her which is good.

Now here is where it gets complicated. The boys. Rainer was introduced quite early on in the book and we were made to like him and while he was cute and adorable, I was quite skeptical of his actions. He was too good to be true in my opinion and then when Jordan entered, I immediately loved him for some reason. I did end up liking both the boys because Rainer was sweet where as Jordan was brooding. Though I have to say I personally prefer Jordan myself but I do like them both for Paige. Saying that, the one thing I disliked about this book was the ending. I felt that it was rushed and a lot of the big things that we were waiting to happen happened within less than 50 pages. I also didn’t like who she ended up with and the actual ending. I mean, what about the other two movies? Did the fans like the movie? Surely her feelings would change? Also how did the book in the book end? Who did August choose? And another main question came from the beginning. Does she know that she chose the wrong person? I’M SO CONFUSED.

Never the less I really enjoyed the book as a whole so I’d probably give it about an 85% so 4 out of 5 stars. It is enjoyable and I do recommend you pick it up when it is released. That’s all from me today. Thanks for reading and see you soon.

- Sofia.

GUEST REVIEW: Lies We Tell Ourselves - Robin Talley

GENRE: YA
PAGES: 384
PUBLISHER: MIRA Ink
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Lie #1: I'm not afraid. 

Lie #2: I'm sure I'm doing the right thing. 

Lie# 3: I don't care what they think of me. 

It's 1959. The battle for civil rights is raging. And it's Sarah's first day of school as one of the first black students at previously all-white Jefferson High. No one wants Sarah there. Not the Governor. Not the teachers. And certainly not the students - especially Linda, daughter of the town's most ardent segregationist. Sarah and Linda are supposed to despise each other. But the more time they spend together, the less their differences matter. And both girls start to feel something they've never felt before. Something they're determined to ignore. Because it's one thing to stand up to an unjust world - but another to be terrified of what's in your own heart.

REVIEW

It’s 1959 and the world is changing for two teenage girls who are thrown into each other’s paths as Jefferson High introduces black students to its halls for the very first time. Lies We Tell Ourselves is told between Sarah and Linda two girls who at the start of the book appear to be very different but little do they know are actually the flip side to the same coin in the battle for civil rights.

Sarah is one of the first black girls to be integrated and right from the first chapter I was equally horrified and heartbroken for her and the abuse she had to go through. Linda is a popular white girl who’s been told all her life that black people are beneath her and so when she gets to know Sarah during a school project she’s confused and torn by what she herself is learning to be true and wanting to uphold her family’s reputation and please her father whose career is built on segregation. Both girls are equally interesting to read about as they go on a tremendous journey to figure out for themselves what’s wrong and what’s right.

Lies We Tell Ourselves is set at a point in history where people’s minds were slowly changing towards equality and so I found it really interesting that author Robin Talley decided to take a look at gay rights as well for comparison. I thought this was well explored through Linda’s best friend Judy who’s one of the only white students to accept Sarah yet sees homosexuality as sinful and wrong. It was interesting to read about how minds move and at what pace especially when it comes to equality.

There’s a lot of important messages and themes throughout Lies We Tell Ourselves but my personal favourite is one that I believe stands the test of time and is at the root of all good change and that is to do what you feel in your heart to be right rather than what you’ve been told is right. Seeing Sarah and Linda find their own way and the strength it takes to do that is an incredibly empowering thought to take away from this book.

Every now and then a Young Adult book comes along that I want to push into every readers hands both young and old and Lies We Tell Ourselves is that book for 2014.

- Jess.

WHY BIRMINGHAM??

Birmingham. 

The second biggest city in England, and yet, commonly missed out on signing and talk tours by authors (and other things like concerts, but that's another thing). 

I'm 14 in 2 months time, and I've lived in Birmingham since I was 3 and a half years old... so about 10 years. In that time, I have been to only 4 different book events. A Jacqueline Wilson talk, a Jacqueline Wilson signing, a Cathy Cassidy signing and the TFiOS fan party. 

Obviously that's not all there has ever been in the city, but for someone who has been a book lover all their life, it isn't that much. A lot of Birmingham book lovers have similar stories. 

So... why is Birmingham missed out? Particularly for YA. I mean, whenever there is an event there is a big turn out, and people who live in neighbouring cities with little events always like to come too. 

And I mean, Waterstones High Street is MASSIVE. Look at all that space for signings and talks and fan parties and launches and meets and just ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF. Come on. IT'S SO BIG THERE IS A COSTA IN IT. It has floors and floors of impeccably organised shelves of books, manga and non fiction and fiction and YA and classics and everything else. 

I find it really weird that on author tours, they go to small cities (which I have NO ISSUE with, don't accuse me of that) but not to one of the biggest cities.

There's another point. When an "author tour" consists of... London. And maybe like Manchester. That's a tour? A signing in the capital? Sure, it's a big city, but that doesn't mean it has all the book lovers in it! 

There are flaws in my logic; you may ask "oh but you have LAUREN OLIVER in store in August". BECAUSE, Gem has spent agesss securing that for us. We probably wouldn't have got it otherwise.

Now, some reasons why you should come to us!

1. As previously mentioned, massive city, massive bookshop. 

2. LOADS OF BOOK LOVERS. Look at this site! 

3. This will sound irrelevant about books, but it's not. We're a massively cultural city! So your book can be set anywhere about anything with any issue, and we'll love it. 

4. Gem and Bex are like the loveliest people that work in bookshops ever (also Dani from the Sutton Coldfield branch) :D

5. They are also just awesome and organise awesome things. Like fan parties, which I think are fairly unique to us. 

So there you are. Publishers and authors, come see us! We're trying to raise our profile as a city and you should come and help us do that!

(Quick note: this is not meant to offend anyone. Just raise awareness etc etc) :)

- Charli

REVIEW: The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks

GENRE: YA/Thriller

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.

- Bex.

REVIEW: The Pledge - Kimberly Derting

GENRE: Fantasy/Dystopia

PAGES: 384

PUBLISHER: Allison & Busby

FORMAT: Paperback

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Words are the most dangerous weapon of all...Seventeen-year-old Charlaina knows she has exceptional but perilous powers. In the far future, in a land controlled by an aged and ruthless queen, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. Even acknowledging a member of the ruling class while they are speaking their native tongue is punishable by death. Charlie can understand all languages, a secret she must protect to stay alive. When she meets the alluringly handsome Max, who speaks in a language she hasn't heard before, she is intensely attracted to him. Max believes that Charlie is the key to something bigger and he pledges to protect her. But as war descends, can she trust him?

REVIEW

This is another book I've picked up in order to fuel my obsession with Young Adult Dystopian novels and, thankfully, I wasn't disappointed. The main gist of the story is that Charlaina, the main narrator, is born with the power to understand any language. This is especially significant as the story is set in a country that specifically rules its class hierarchies through language. It is also reminiscent of the story of Anastasia and the Russian Romanov family (without giving too much away).

The Pledge has a very easy narrative, and I absolutely flew through it. It wasn't perhaps the most exciting book I've read so far this year but it did keep me on my toes. It successfully did what any Dystopia should do - kept you guessing where the characters loyalties lay. Was Charlaina about to be taken advantage of and duped, or is she actually playing a smart game? Being able to understand anyone puts her in the best position for gaining information to use for her advantage.

I did felt, though, that for a book that put so much emphasis on language it could have been a little more creative in its actual narrative, but perhaps it did benefit from having clean, straight writing. However I did enjoy place names becoming people's names in order to keep the old world alive. I would liked to have seen a little more of other characters; common every day people, just to see their thoughts on the society. It was obvious that the majority of normal folk went along with the class system and it seemed to suit them fine, even cheering along with the hangings to show their support for the Queen. I suppose I just wanted to hear more a little more general dissent!

At the beginning of the book we are told that the Queen is technically the same person that has been on the throne for a long time, just transferring her 'Essence' into another willing body as her current one begins to die. Although I found this bit of the story a little tedious, it did begin to explore the stories interesting take on the gender debate. Charlaina's society is primarily a Matriachy - but not Feminist in an extremist man-hating way. I felt that the story didn't always fully explore this, that it was just a fact that people lived with. The Queen herself dislikes men and feels that they are unsuitable for the throne but never really answers why. 

Men are actually portrayed in two ways: firstly the lecherous leering bouncer of the clubs that Charlaina and her friend visit. These club aren't strictly illegal but are similar to warehouse parties. What did annoy me a little was that there was no backlash for these underage girls begin in a club illegally, and Charlaina must have being doing it for a number of years because she has very few worries about the alcohol or the, yes, drugs. In fact it all seemed a little too normal for her.

Secondly there is the Knight in shining armour, the must for any YA novel, in the forms of Xander and Max, and even in her dad. Her Dad is actually one of the most revealing characters. He understands and tries to impress the importance of keeping any differences quiet, which is difficult when its something as not responding to something that you're not supposed to understand. Max is The Pledge's leading man, and he won't disappoint. Even I liked him. He's shown to be fiercely loyal and selfless, sweet and even funny. Needless to say their romance is a sweet one, and I like the way it almost takes a backseat to the events around them.

I really enjoyed The Pledge and I would recommend it as a good Summer read. It'll keep you occupied while you wile away the hours down at the beach.

- Bex.