Book Review (ARC): Beautiful Broken Things; Sara Barnard.

After hearing so much about this book, I got so excited when I was granted access to a Netgalley copy. I have very mixed experiences with Contemporary YA but often I fall in love with those that focus more on Friendship, Sexuality or Mental Illness: things other than love that I strongly believe that young people need to learn about. This one had two out f three and I'm looking forward to letting you guys know just how well Barnard wrote this book. I'm also entering this into the 'Monthly Motif' challenge.

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Beautiful Broken Things
AUTHOR: Sara Barnard
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Macmillan's Children's Books
PAGES: 322
GENRE: Contemporary, Young Adult, Fiction

RATING: 5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. 

As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

What I Liked:

• One of the things that really impressed me about this book is the integration of Social Media into the story-line. I see it so little in Contemporary YA, which is bizarre considering that it's such a huge thing in the lives of young people nowadays. Not all arguments and huge dramas happen face to face, some are online or via text. I just think that Barnard really made a great use of this and I was impressed by how authentic the social media conversations felt.
• The topics covered in this beautifully written book are sensitive and probably difficult to write. Barnard handled them sensitively and authentically. I've read books where conversations don't quite feel real or authors don't handle the subject matter carefully. This was not one of those books. In a way, she was teaching her target audience about both mental illness, and the value of friendship. I loved that there was no real romantic story-line and that adults played a big part in the story too. The idea of teens running around trying to be the heroes of their personal dramas without any kind of adult influence is a ridiculous one, and luckily Barnard was well aware of the importance of grown-ups in a story about young people.
• The characters were very complex and that was so important. I just loved watching them develop! I didn't like Caddy so much to begin with (more on that later) but as the book progressed I began to realise that she represents a huge portion of society that has the best of intentions, but are so ignorant and wrapped in their own perceived problems that they can't possibly handle those looking after those that are in real trouble. Through Caddy we learn that we can't make everything better and that it's okay to step back and say 'I'm not equipped to help you. You need professional help.' I think it's important that even though we have good intentions, trying to help for selfish reasons may damage a person more than make things better.

What I Disliked:

• I had heard from trusted Book Bloggers that this was a novel about friendship and handling mental illness, which of course it turned out to be. I have to say, the beginning didn't grab me in the way I wanted it to. The mention of boys made me sick with worry that this would be 'just another love story' and Caddy's personality was pretty unbearable to begin with. Her petty jealousy and desperation to make her life 'less boring' made me raise my eyebrows so much that I lost them in my hair for quite a while. This of course did make the character development so much clearer later on, when she learns that having a messed up life is not glamorous in any way, shape or form. It was necessary in order for her character to learn from the book's events, but boy was it irritating.

Overall Conclusion:

I loved this book. It just completely got teenagers and how they think. While I didn't love Caddy in the beginning, I could relate to her Girls School issues (it wasn't private, but I attended a Girls Only school) and social anxiety when it came to parties, being drunk and disobeying parents. Barnard handled her subject matter well, being careful with it but not afraid of it. All three girls played a really important part in the story (no one ended up being left out) and I loved watching them all develop as time went on. Barnard gave people of Caddy, Rosie and Suzanne's age group a voice that was convincing as it incorporated all of the insecurities found in teenagers alongside their new-found confidence as they approach maturity. The incorporation of social media was clever and I liked that Adult's weren't the definitive bad guy or mysteriously absent as they so often are in books aimed for teens. I can't wait to read more of this lady's work!

Book Review (ARC): The Dark Days Club; Alison Goodman.

As today is the release date for this awesome book, I thought I'd post my review of the lovely ARC I got to read beforehand! This is definitely one of the best series beginnings I've read in a while, and I absolutely adored it from start to finish! I'm also entering it into the Key Words Challenge.

SOURCE: Giveaway Win
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: The Dark Days Club
AUTHOR: Alison Goodman
SERIES: Lady Helen (#1)
PUBLISHER: Walker Books
PAGES: 496
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

RATING: 5/5 Stars

Blurb:
London, April 1812. Eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall is on the eve of her debut presentation to the Queen. Her life should be about gowns and dancing, and securing a suitable marriage. Instead, when one of her family's housemaids goes missing, Lady Helen is drawn to the shadows of Regency London.

There, she finds William, the Earl of Carlston. He has noticed the disappearance too, and is one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of powerful demons that has infiltrated every level of society. But Lady Helen’s curiosity is the last thing Carlston wants—especially when he sees the searching intelligence behind her fluttering fan. Should Helen trust a man whose reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her headstrong sense of justice lead them both into a death trap?

What I Liked:

• Let's start with Lady Helen & Lord Carlston, who were the comparative Darcy & Elizabeth in this very loose 'Pride & Prejudice' retelling. I don't normally like those sorts of comparisons, but this one was spot on! Elizabeth & Darcy gave me a very particular type of feels that few book couples can replicate, but Goodman managed it! I loved their slow-building romance, I liked that Goodman didn't let a whole lot happen between them. A slower pace is much preferred to insta-love. And yet the tension. Good lord it was excruciatingly heated at times, I don't know how Lady Helen coped! I'd like to see more of these two in Book Two for sure!
• Goodman certainly did her homework for this book! It's set in 1812 so I expected to see a lot of ball gowns and duchesses and carriages and such, but the level of detail went far beyond my expectations. Goodman had a very clear idea of exactly what life was like in that time (particularly for the women). Political and cultural events played an important role in the shaping of the plot, famous figures cameoed at various social events, and to the letter Goodman got the inner workings of a household in exquisite detail. Everyone knows I love good world-building and this went far beyond my expectations.
• The plot itself was very well structured and full of some very satisfying twists and turns. I mentioned the romance variant but that actually took a back seat for most of the book so the reader could focus on the main plot: Lady Helen's self discovery. I liked that Goodman worked so hard to make her different from other ladies, wanting more than her station should allow, and yet not so modern that she actually thought she deserved them. The sad truth is that most women in that era believed they were inferior to men and most author's writing from this time period make the mistake of writing very modern ideals with a historical background. Goodman balanced it perfectly and Helen was by no means demure, just clever enough to keep her opinions to herself and use her position to her advantage.

What I Disliked:

• I already mentioned the slow-burning romance but I have to say that this does apply to the rest of the book as well. The blurb implies a very quick transition from her presentation to demon-hunting. This is not the case. There's a lot of mystery solving, Goodman is very detailed with her descriptions and the pace (particularly in the first half) is rather slow. Personally I had little problem with this, especially as the second half of the book paced itself much better. Others who like to get through a story quickly will struggle immensely.

Overall Conclusion:

What a book! It's been a while since I enjoyed anything quite so much, especially a series' first book. I really think this book pretty much ticked off the entire check list: fantastically detailed world-building, memorable characters, great plot-line, a sizzling romance and the promise of more to come. At times the pacing was a little slow and there were certainly moments that could have been cut from the book to speed things up and save page space. I think the rest more than made up for this however and this impressive first installment has me desperate to read Book Two already! Now I just have to wait...

Book Review (ARC): This Raging Light; Estelle Laure.

Wowee, another book finished in just a day! Despite feeling pretty horrendous this week, I'm actually being quite productive in the reading department! I'd been looking forward to this read a lot too, so I'm glad I got round to it as quickly as I did.

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: This Raging Light
AUTHOR: Estelle Laure
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: HMH Books For Young Readers
PAGES: 312
GENRE: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

RATING: 2.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Can the best thing happen at the worst time?

Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she's about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend's brother.




What I Liked:

• This book was pretty fast-paced and I liked that most of all. Laure did not beat about the bush when getting to the point so I felt totally sucked in by what was going on all the time. There were a lot of twists and turns throughout and plot-wise, it moved in a very definite direction with utter confidence. Sometimes little to no build up is a bad thing but in this case it didn't feel that way. I liked being plopped into the middle of the situation and being pulled along for the ride.
• Laure wrote her perspectives very well and handled a subject that I rarely see in books, especially YA: child abandonment. She wrote from Lucille's perspective, a seventeen year old girl left to fend for herself and look after her sister after her Mother takes an extended vacation to 'get away'. In a lot of ways, despite a slightly immature perspective for a seventeen year old, I felt like I appreciated a lot more how difficult coping with something like that can be. Lucille is under a lot of pressure to feed them both and pay bills, deal with school, work an almost full time job and keep up appearances so that no one will suspect the two of them are alone.

What I Disliked:

• As I said, Lucille is under a lot of pressure in this novel so in my opinion, the last thing she needed was a love interest. And I'm not talking about the kind that is there to save the day or help her to cope with what's happening. I'm talking about the kind that already has a long-term girlfriend, can't make up his mind, and is adding a lot more stress into an already stressful situation with plenty of plot points to keep it going. At times it felt like there was just a little too much going on.
• The ending was probably my biggest disappointment because as quickly as it started, it felt like it just...stopped. As I said there were a fair few plot-lines and none of them were resolved very well. I was left with so many questions! The one mystery that was solved also seemed to be a little unrealistic and cheesy for me. In an effort to make all of the characters likeable by helping Lucille out, it also made them seem a bit irresponsible.

Overall Conclusion:

As I said before, my feelings are quite mixed with this book. The writing really impressed me because it had such great energy and I enjoyed the fast pace. The plot was quite well thought out too and I really felt for Lucille, the main character, having to juggle so much at once. I didn't dislike Digby but I didn't rally get why the romance had to happen. It felt like an unnecessary stress. Ambiguous endings really disappoint me too so while I had a great start, I left on a bit of a low. It definitely kept my attention throughout though and overall was a fun, light read to get me through a pretty horrible cold!

Book Review (ARC): Deep Blue; Jennifer Donnelly

So here it is, my first read for Netgalley! I was extremely excited to be approved for this particular book, as I'd heard so many good things around the blogosphere from people who had also got hold of advance copies. I was not disappointed. The book is due to be released tomorrow (May 6th, 2014) and I urge everyone to pick up a copy if you can! I'm not entering this one into any challenges so I'll start my review!

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Deep Blue
AUTHOR: Jennifer Donnelly
SERIES: Waterfire Saga (#1)
PUBLISHER: Hatchette Children's Books
PAGES: 352
GENRE: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the Merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and fresh-waters all over the globe.


When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.

What I Liked:

• I haven't really read many fiction books that are set in the world of Mermaids, but if ever there were a book to make me want to read more of them then this would be it! Donnelly's writing style was nice, flowed really well and her world-building was impressive to say the least, full of many unique ideas I haven't seen before. Such impressive skill kept me hungry for more. Seriously, I devoured this book like there was no tomorrow, I was hooked! The plot was full of twists and turns and I didn't ever find myself bored or lacking action as I read it. 
• Donnelly's characterisation was probably the most impressive part of the book. I'll talk about Serafina, who was a really strong and likeable main character in my opinion. I really loved the direction that Donnelly took her in, rather than being a selfish and whiny princess that wanted to escape the marriage and responsibilities that were soon to be placed upon her, she was much more worried that she would fail and disappoint her Mother. In other words, she was more selfless than other characters I've seen in similar positions. It was so refreshing to read! And she only grew as a character, I found myself liking her more and more as the book went on.
• While on the subject of characters, those surrounding Sera were equally as impressive. Despite an interesting romance sub-plot, it didn't overpower the story in any way. This story, for me, focused a lot more on the power of friendship and it's ability to overcome obstacles, and I felt it did this really well. As we meet the other five mermaid heroines, I felt that Donnelly gave me enough information for me to warm to them, but left plenty of room for development as the series continues. What I'm trying to say here is that Donnelly has a great ability to have many threads in her story and balance them really well.

What I Disliked:

• The only thing I can really say that unsettled me originally about the book is the huge amount of Mermaid lore that was thrust upon me at the beginning of the book. Mere pages into the book I had been barraged with more unfamiliar words, politics, history and conventions than I could deal with and I found it a little overwhelming. But it didn't take me long to make sense of it and once I was over the initial plunge into the world of the Mer, I really got into it!

Overall Conclusion:

So if it isn't clear already then I'll lay it out for you. I thought this book was fantastic! I have never got into reading Mermaid fiction before now but this was a wonderful book to start with, and an excellent first book to the series. I did have some initial doubts when I was fed a little too much information, but the information was necessary in order to understand the context of the story and Donnelly makes sure that the information is repeated in case you missed it the first time. What more can I say? The world-building was great, the characters really likeable and I have no doubt that the rest of the series can only get better!