Hush Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush Hush is possibly one of the most boring, predictable and tiring book I have ever read. It is identical to the millions of other vampire fiction books currently invading our book shelves plot-wise.

It consists of:
A mysterious guy
He is very annoying
Yet you love him
You endure several deadly encounters
However through it all you still predictably love him.

It really is rather infuriating, but I am a fair reviewer so I shall type out a brief summary of the plot:

When Nora is forced to sit next to a guy called Patch in science she is disgusted by his obnoxious personality. He is very irritating and seems to know everything about her even though she has told him hardly anything. However she cannot possibly judge Patch because she cannot trust her own judgement of herself, let alone anyone else. She keeps seeing dangerous scenarios involving a mysterious person wearing a ski mask. Once its running them over in a car, then its being pushed out of a roller coaster, then a woman being mugged in the street, then her friend V being attacked. Every time the evidence seems to magically disappear before she can show someone the proof. But is she imagining? It doesn't help that a transfer student who could have been previously involved in a murder wants to mingle with her and V. But deep down Nora doesn't want patch to be involved, to her he is as perfect as an angel.

Compared to my previous Angel related review, this was a major disappointment and didn't fulfil the idea of angels well at all. When one of the main characters turns out to be a fallen angel there is no discussion on this, in fact Nora seems to accept this as perfectly normal with not as much as a question.
Plus, can you think of any other young adult dark fiction books where the two main characters meet as lab partners? Slightly twilight-esk me thinks? This annoying lack of originality means that you can work out the ending from the very start. Plus the main character appears to be either deluded or suicidal, constantly putting herself in danger in the poisonous name of love. Also the police are at her house almost every night to investigate crimes that appear to have never taken place, would she not have been referred elsewhere? The only good point I can think of is that for reviewers you want to read till the end to see JUST how bad it can get.

I give it an awkward one star.

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Angel - L.A Weatherly

My first NBCS book review! Here we go! 

This is a book that I have never seen or heard about before, the cover of a pale girl is quite menacing and makes you want to know what's in store. It is a crazy mix of romance, action and drama and is a nice alternative to vampire fiction. 

Willow's life is perfectly normal, she lives with her disabled Mum and her aunt and has a girly best friend called Nina. But Willow isn't normal, she's psychic and can see into the future by simply holding someone's hand. When she first agreed to read Beth's aura she had no idea what trouble it would cause and how it would change her life forever. Beth is popular and clever at school, but an encounter with a mysterious man is going to pull her astray and take Willow with her. Next thing Willow knows she is fleeing from the Church of Angels - a mad cult who worship angels who supposedly saved humanity. She isn't alone, Alex is seventeen, incredibly handsome and an angel hunter who was instructed to find and kill Willow by the CIA. Everything is not what it seems: the CIA has been taken over by angels. Is it even possible for Angels to be bad? One thing is for sure - Willow is a half angel... whatever that is. 

One thing I realised by reading this book was how much of a novelty and truly unique idea it is. The plot line is common for vampire fiction books; but the concept of angels is completely new and fresh. It turns our pretty much set-in-stone concept of angels upside down, and by the final page you seriously begin to ponder whether it could actually be true. 

I may be suffering from 'Angel Burn' but this book seems fantastic. It's narrative is unusual yet simple to follow, sometimes third person narration of the plot, then flipping between Alex and Willow's point of view. Knowing both characters thoughts made the romance even more painstaking, L.A Weatherly spun Alex and Willow's relationship so skilfully that the reader ends up begging for them to get together. Alex is also the perfect fictional boyfriend, which means the book ticks all boxes for teenage girl readers! 

A story of betrayal, romance, angels and a whole new side to the world. Warning - this book will change the way you think about angels forever! I give it a flying five stars! 

Yay For Little Reviewing Job!

Hello!
First of all I am very sorry for the lack of updates, I've been reading too much ;)
Anyway at the moment I have a fantastic system going on for book reviewing!
Ever heard of a charity called the National Blind Children's Society? Well let me tell you something... They are AMAZING! They have a unique service called Customeyes, which provides large print books in any format for young people with a visual impairment. So I can get my books just how I like them:

• In Arial 
• Bold
• Size 24
• On yellow paper

Call me picky! 

Anyway a fantastic deal has been struck up between me and customeyes, they send me books and I review them! I also got my link on their website:

http://www.nbcs.org.uk/customeyes/CustomEyes-member-writes-review/731

Oh oh oh! I was also on the front of their newsletter this morning! It was amazeabubbles! Thank you so much NBCS :) 

Anyway so I am going to get writing my first review for them now, Exciting stuff! 

TTFN! 

:)

My so-called Phantom Lovelife - Tamsyn Murray

My so-called phantom lovelife is a wonderful read for anyone who loves paranormal young adult fiction!

It is the fascinating tale of a girl called Skye, who was born with a fantastic psychic ability. Skye uses her skills for good by working at the 'Dearly Departed' spiritualist church, here she helps spirits pass over to the astral plane. She sees ghosts everywhere she goes and when a ghost called Owen alerts Skye to her drowning friend in the lake, they hit it off straight away. She begins to get to know Owen, he is a beautiful teenage boy with a noticeable scar on his face. Skye is curious because she knows that ghosts only stay on this earth if they have unfinished business or died tragically. Owen soon reveals that he had fallen through the ice, which he stepped on for a dare, during the snow . He has a mourning sister who visits the scene of the accident regularly, but Owen can't do anything to comfort her. Skye teaches Owen how to move away from the lake by carrying a pebble with him. But when Skye gets closer to Owen than her professional capacity allows she tries to encourage Owen to let go of this world and move onto the astral plane. Owen refuses point blanc and no amount of Skye talking to him will change his mind. In despair she resorts to getting back together with her ex, Nico. Nico is a member of the evil cult 'The Solomanarii' which promise ghosts a way to stay on this earth by enslaving them to the cult. This is Owen's dream ticket... can Skye stop him in time?

Tantalizingly twisting this book is very addictive. It is infact the third book in the series which includes (My so-called afterlife and My so-called haunting). I haven't read either of the previous books but I came against no problems in slipping straight into this one. I would read the others in the series because I enjoyed this book a lot.  There were certain characters which I would have liked to see have a bigger role in the plot: like Mary. Mary is an ancient ghost of a witch, I think she could have been used a lot more for comedy purposes rather than just appearing occasionally to remind the reader that it is actually different to any other teen novel. About half way through the plot you stop thinking of Owen as a real ghost but as just a normal boy, this was quite misleading sometimes. Also the scene where she gets back together with Nico is slightly unrealistic considering she knows he is part of an evil cult? I wouldn't take someone back who was in that kind of group, no matter how 'normal' he makes it sound! I give this book a fantastic four stars!

The Truth about Celia Frost - Paula Rawsthorne

The Truth about Celia Frost is utterly captivating, It traps you within its pages and won't let you go until you have read it cover-to-cover. It is the story of a girl named Celia, she lives with her Mum Janice. Celia is sick, she has a rare blood disorder which means if she has the tiniest cut: the cut will never close, and she could bleed to death. She is also sick of the solitude her disorder brings her. She endures terrible bullying at school: universally known as 'Freak'. Meanwhile, Janice is living in constant panic about Celia and worries intensely. But when Celia is involved in a stab attack at school, something strange happens and it puts light on a whole new scenario. It's a secret so terrible that Celia can barely believe it, but is it true...?

...The wounds sealed by themselves...

On the other side of the city, A women who is code-named 'Nemo' instructs private investigator Frankie to find the mother and daughter. She strings him along with the promise of a heavy pay check, but will she push him too far? The character of Frankie is very mysterious, he became a private investigator after being chucked out of the police force for corrupt practice. He is being instructed to find and follow Celia and Janice, but is there more to him? Or is he just the 'baddie'?

This book had me absolutely drawn in from the ominous title, to the very last paragraph. Paula Rawsthorne leads you to several different conclusions during the plot, and you are wrong every time until the very end! I must have thought up at least seven different theories about Celia until I found out the truth!

Celia meets the mysterious boy Sol through a near death experience, yet another wake up call. He becomes the perfect excuse to get out more. It's the perfect match and they spend afternoons by the lake as he teaches Celia how to swim and become more of a teenager. Sol tries to shed light on Celia's mother's strange ways, but is he right? Celia begins to play mind games with Janice and forces her into letting her go out, blinded by rage and unaware of the hurt she is causing. Or the danger she is putting them both in.

A must read... five stars!

Meeting Matt Haigh

In my town every year there is a literature festival, and it is usually a community 'cup of tea and scone' affair. This year me and my friend went to see Matt Haigh (author of 'The Radleys').

I have read the book, it is about a family of vampires trying to be normal while their mad uncle is the typical Dracula type. They hide the fact that they're vampires from their kids so they develop terrible rashes. It is a book that I would rate 3 stars- it wasn't great, could of been better.

But I went to meet Matt, hoping that what he'd say would compel me to flick through again! Or that there was another aspect to the book I missed completely. So (tea in hand) myself and a friend went to listen to what had to be said! Matt was unlucky, he started Writing the book before the Twilight phenomenon started, and finished and published it during the twilight boom. This must have been hard, to have your unique and wonderful idea of vampires demonified by an aisle of books with bite! The name 'Radleys' came from 'to kill a mocking bird''s Boo Radley who was a mysterious, shady character and a definite outsider. Matt spoke about the link between these characteristics and the way his vampire clan feel. Later, he described the places where he had set the book (a mixture of local villages near us). He then read a chapter and submitted himself into book signing.

It was a good night, but I don't think I'll re-read The Radleys, it just doesn't appeal to me. It was really interesting hearing about how the book came to be published and how the idea came to him.