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: All Fall Down - Ally Carter

GENRE: YA/Crime
PAGES: 320
PUBLISHER: Orchard
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Grace is absolutely certain of three things: 1. She isn't crazy. 2. Her mother was murdered. 3. Someday she's going to find the man with the scar, and then she is going to make him pay. From the bestselling author of Gallagher Girls and Heist Society, a thrilling new series set in the glittering international world of Embassy Row.

REVIEW

I love Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls books so I was really excited to get a proof of All Fall Down, the first book in her new Embassy Row series. The first person narrative drew me in to Grace's world, and allowed me to become just as caught up in the danger and excitement of her world. The storyline was full of adventure and intrigue, and Grace is a brilliant character - witty, fearless and determined to find out the truth - but when she starts uncovering one mystery, she stumbles on to something much more dangerous... This book will delight her loyal fans, and is sure to garner her a whole host of new ones. It's perfect for fans of Geek Girl by Holly Smale, Code Red Lipstick by Sarah Sky and Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

- Gem.

REVIEW: Skulduggary 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.

- Bex.

REVIEW: Flashes - Tim O'Rourke

PAGES: 416
PUBLISHER: Hodder & Stoughton
FORMAT: Hardback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Charley has visions: flashes of things she can't explain. A girl in trouble. The sound of trains in her head. She feels certain they are clues to a crime. But no one will believe her. Until she meets Tom, a young policeman on his first case: an accidental death on railway tracks, not far from where Charley lives. Their attraction is instant, but can they discover what has happened? Accident, suicide or murder:and will it happen again?

REVIEW

My favourite genres of YA and crime are perfectly blended in "Flashes". The novel jumps straight into the action of the story without need for unnecessary build up of the characters, and Charley is an immediately likeable character. As her flashes coincide with bad things happening, and once she has met PC Henson, the pace ramps up even further as they desperately try and work out who is the baddie behind the killings. 

The novel is well plotted, with little clues hidden throughout the text, and if you get to the the end without knowing who the killer is it will be a great twist! I guessed really early on who the killer was but that didn't detract from my enjoyment, I loved seeing how the story would play out and noticing all the red herrings that were put in front of me as a reader. It's a really clever balance between a crime thriller and a supernatural story - it's written in such a way that I wholeheartedly believed that Charley's flashes were real! 

A great story, although I would say don't read it whilst your spending the day getting trains and tubes around London like I did - I was terrified someone was going to push me in front of them!

- Gem.

REVIEW: Impostor - Susanne Winnacker

GENRE: Fantasy
PAGES: 304
PUBLISHER: Hodder Children's Books
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4.5 Stars

SUMMARY

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she's spent the last two years with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. There she trains with other Variants, such as long-term crush Alec, who each have their own extraordinary ability. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again. Tessa hates everything about being an impostor - the stress, the danger, the deceit - but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she'd do anything to keep. Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

REVIEW

The tagline on the back of my proof copy of this was "Veronica Mars meets X-men" so immediately this drew my attention as I love both of those things!

I really enjoyed this book, the plot was exciting and a brilliant blend of crime and the paranormal. I really sympathised with Tessa, she was given a really dangerous mission but despite this she does her best to try and track down the killer, all the while battling with her personal feelings about the situation she is now in (don't want to give away any spoilers though!).

I've read another of Susanne Winnacker's novels, The Other Life, and I really liked that too. In both novels the tension increased throughout and the ending was dramatic and intense. Impostor wrapped up the initial mystery well but given how well thought out all the elements were - the FEA etc. - I'm really glad there is going to be a sequel and I'll definitely be reading it!

- Gem.

REVIEW: Torn - Car Clarke

GENRE: YA/Contemporary/Issues
PAGES: 384

PUBLISHER: Quercus

FORMAT: PB

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt. Alice King isn't expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she's not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares...Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there's Tara - queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down. Cass decides it's time to teach Tara a lesson she'll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever...A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love.

REVIEW

Torn is told from the perspective of Alice, a sweet level-headed girl with a kind heart. She tells us the story of what happens on a school trip, when she and her friends decide to take revenge on Tara, the school bully. Unfortunately it all goes horribly wrong.

Alice is in the middle of the school social scale - she's not one of the most popular kids but she's also not constantly bullied, like Polly is by Tara. When they're on a school trip and Tara is separated from her 'entourage' Cass, Alice's best friend, decides that it's time that Tara is taught a lesson for all the times she's put them all down. None of them thought their plan would go so horribly wrong. When Tara accidentally dies Alice must live with the guilt and fear of being discovered.

Cat Clarke is always completely spot-on in her portrayal of what it feels like to be in a British High School. I personally hated school, and can remember exactly what it's like to not be in the in-crowd. There's a survival instinct that kicks in that makes you just want to get through the day. Not only do you have to deal with the school work, but also the way you look and the things you say. And just hope that you can make the right friends.

The tension in this book is inescapable. You can completely understand and empathise with Alice's situation. The guilt so claustrophobic and so strong it penetrates the narrative to the point where I was almost screaming at her to tell someone. Her mental state manifests in her hallucinations of Tara, which I thought was a brilliant tool in helping Alice deal with the situation. It was really creepy in places and although you question why she does some of the things she does, at the same time you understand how easy it is to lose a grip.

Another thing I love about Clarke's books is the way she manages to weave the narrative into a tangled ball that is impossible to unravel. Everything happens because of everything else and people affect each other in ways you can't imagine. One event sets off a chain reaction that you could argue starts from when Alice was a much younger girl. When she meets Jack, Tara's brother, Alice falls for him. Obviously after what the girls allowed to happen to Tara this is less than ideal. They make such a sweet couple that I desperately wanted them to be together but there is always this penetrating guilt. You want to be able to erase it for her, and it makes you realise that from an outsider's perspective, and when you look at the hard facts, Alice doesn't deserve to have happiness with Jack. And yet I wanted her to.

I've loved every one of Cat Clarke's books. The narratives aren't challenging but they're so interesting and compelling that I always recommend her. I can actually associate with all of her characters and although you do get a certain amount of resolution there are so many possibilities that run through my head of what could happen after the books are finished, and I loved that. They seem so simply written but there is an incredible amount of depth.

- Bex.

10th Anniversary Cover and Sequel For Anne Cassidy

It's been 10 years since Anne Cassidy published her YA modern classic, Looking For JJ and to celebrate Hot Key Books are reprinting with a new cover and an exciting sequel.

Looking For JJ: 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?

Finding Jennifer Jones: Kate Rickman seems just like any other nineteen-year-old girl. She goes to university, she dates nice, normal boys and she works in her local tourist office at the weekend. But Kate's not really normal at all. 'Kate' is in fact a carefully constructed facade for a girl called Jennifer Jones - and it's a facade that's crumbling fast. Jennifer has spent the last nine years frantically trying to escape from her horrifying past. Increasingly desperate, Jennifer decides to do something drastic. She contacts the only other girl who might understand what she's dealing with, breaking every rule of her parole along the way. Lucy Bussell is the last person Jennifer expects any sympathy from, but she's also the last person she has left.

In the Hot Key Blog, Emma Williamson notes:

When I finished reading Anne’s final draft of Finding Jennifer Jones, it was one of those goosebump moments. So much about Jennifer and her life, past, present and future, is revealed. I found it a richly rewarding and hugely thought-provoking window into Jennifer’s life. Looking for JJ and Finding Jennifer Jones are not so much two separate books as one incredibly satisfying story – albeit a story that has taken 10 years to write. But don’t good things happen to those who wait?

You can read more over at the Hot Key Books blog.