Welcome to Adam's Antics! Here you fill find reviews of both recent and up & coming YA titles that i've read. I'm a relatively new Bookseller and as so i'm still trying to read a bit of everything from all over our wonderful 5 floors but YA is something that i'd love to get the chance to read more of. Let me know what you think of my reviews, whether you've read the same book and any suggested titles you may have read yourselves. But more than anything, keep reading YA!!
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This week I'm reviewing The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss:
PAGES: 320FORMAT: Hardback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars
PUBLICATION DATE: 24/04/14
This review refers to an uncorrected advance edition.
SUMMARY
SUMMARY
I always thought you'd know, somehow, if something terrible was going to happen. I thought you'd sense it, like when the air goes damp and heavy before a storm and you know you'd better hide yourself away somewhere safe until it all blows over. But it turns out it's not like that at all. There's no scary music playing in the background like in films. No warning signs. Not even a lonely magpie. One for sorrow, Mum used to say. Quick, look for another. The world can tip at any moment … a fact that fifteen-year-old Pearl is all too aware of when her mum dies after giving birth to her baby sister. Told across the year following her mother's death, Pearl's story is full of bittersweet humour and heartbreaking honesty about how you deal with grief that cuts you to the bone, as she tries not only to come to terms with losing her mum, but also the fact that her sister - The Rat - is a constant reminder of why her mum is no longer around…
REVIEW
This is one of the most refreshing books i've read in some months. Not normally something that I would pick up but I was intrigued by the story and I always like to read an authors' first offering if possible so this was a no-brainer for me really. We start by learning that Pearl (a young teenage girl) has fairly recently lost her mother during childbirth which has left her living with her step-father and newly born baby sister. Her sister is not someone that she even wants to attempt to get to know or even see as she, in Pearl's eyes, is the source of all her anguish and despair due to her mother's death 'because' of her.
I won't go into any further detail about that particular relationship but 'The Rat' really is the source of Pearl's depression and the story unfolds around that relationship and how Pearl is now going to deal with the given situation.
With a little help from a familiar face Pearl learns to come to terms with her loss, eventually, and begins to try and move on with her new life. Exceptionally well written, again especially from a debut author, and extremely emotional in parts (I foolishly read the end of the book on my break in the staff room at work) it will no doubt ignite some sort of feeling within you, good or bad. The characters are well developed and the friendships and romance that Pearl does allow during the story are meaningful and well told. Very difficult to put down and easy to read in one or two sittings if you invest that time in the book.
Certainly an author that i'll be looking out for in the future.
- Adam.
- Adam.
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