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Book Review UKYA

REVIEW: Salvage by Keren David

I must write a warning before I get into the proper review: my review will not do this book the justice it deserves. Believe me, it blew me away, and it takes a real stunner of a book to do that.

Adopted when she’s very young, Cass doesn’t often thing about her life before, let alone her brother. So when a boy contacts her on Facebook one day, claiming to be her brother, she should ignore it, shouldn’t she? But her adoptive family is falling apart and Cass is drawn more and more to a life unlike the stable and normal one she’s lead so far. Aidan, though, has a past totally different to Cass’, and not all of it has been respectable.

The one thing about David’s books that I love is that she can write about any subject and deal with it in just the right way. Never in this book was there an uncomfortable moment and every single word urged me forward. I read Salvage in a day and couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards. UKYA is known for its gritty topics and this is especially gritty.

One of the themes that most interested me was the class differences between Cass and Aidan. Even though they had the same blood running through their veins, shared the same mother, Cass was privileged and lived with a politician, whereas Aidan had a low-paying job and a girlfriend and her child to support. The differences were always there at the back of your mind and the dissimilarity between the two was clear.

I enjoyed seeing Cass’ naïveté because it helped me to understand Aidan’s life better. I’ve never lived like he does so I think seeing things through Cass’ eyes helped to get to know him more. My mum even says I look like Cass from the back cover, so it was hard not to like her!

Speaking of Aidan, I found him interesting to read about because of the reasons above. I found it fascinating to think that his life could have been so different if he was adopted by the right person. The insight into the life in care and foster homes was thought-provoking and I found it very easy to comprehend.

Salvage was riveting and compelling and I couldn’t put it down. It’s a real eye-opener and I think everybody should read it. It’s a book I think could be taught well in schools and readers will become easily invested in the story. David has produced a masterpiece that I can’t give enough praise to.

Book Review

REVIEW: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

If you’d told me a few months ago that Crown of Midnight would be even better than Throne of Glass, I wouldn’t have believed you. Throne of Glass has been a firm favourite of mine since I read it and so I didn’t know anything could surpass it. But, obviously, Crown of Midnight did.

Crown of Midnight starts a little bit ahead of where Throne of Glass let off and we’re instantly brought back to Erilea and the life of our heroine, Celaena Sardothien. Following on from the events of Throne of Glass, Celaena is working harder than ever.

It was so easy to immerse myself in the world that Maas has created. The world building is so thorough and in-depth that it’s easy to think that you are actually living in Erilea. Imagine my disappointment when I lifted my head up to find that I was sat in my living room!

Celaena is as kick ass as ever and she’s definitely one of my favourite female protagonists ever. In this novel, we really get a sense of who she is and also learn a lot about her life before Endovier and the castle. I think this novel is really important to her character development. I wish I had read the novellas before reading this, but I’m going to be putting the time in now to catch up with them because I’d really like to know more about Celaena’s life before Endovier.

This book sees a lot of the love triangle that we saw hints of in Throne of Glass, and Celaena does make a decision. This book certainly sees a lot of heartbreak! At times I could feel myself wanting to shake the book because some of the scenes were so destroying. For both teams, actually.

The plot has been so carefully created that everything flows at just the right pace. I can’t fault Maas’ timing and precision because everything was perfect.

Crown of Midnight has left me wanting more of the amazing writing, the fantastic characters, and the action-packed and gripping plot lines. It really is going to be torturing waiting another year for the next book.