There was so much riding on my enjoyment of this book because I loved Stirling’s Savant books before I started blogging. Whenever I pick up a book by an author I read previous books from before blogging, I always feel like there’s more pressure to enjoy it, and I’m always more nervous. I really enjoyed Storm and Stone though, so I didn’t need to worry too much.
When Raven Stone returns to her select boarding school after the holidays, she comes back to find that everything has changed. Suddenly nobody treats her same and instead she is shunned. Not only that, but her friend is missing, too. And what about the two new students who seem to have come in the wake of the affair? Raven is rapidly becoming involved in something unlike anything she’s seen before…
As I said above, I did enjoy Storm and Stone but there was just something missing that stopped it from being drop-dead amazing like Stirling’s Savant books were to me. I think the fact that I had heard that this was another Savant book swayed my happiness levels and I kept waiting for some mention of the Savant powers to be dropped, but alas no mentions turned up. I quickly got over it when I realised that it wasn’t a Savant book and I then sank into the story easier.
Although it wasn’t a Savant book, it still included everything I loved about Stirling’s previous books and I raced through it. There’s something about the books that make me want to grab hold of them and give them a massive hug – they have a feel to them that you don’t often find.
I felt so sorry for Raven because the situation she was in wasn’t just your typical bullying. As the plot unfolds, we learn darker things about why Raven is being targeted and it really is quite sinister. When Raven gets to know the two new boys things start getting crazier and suddenly she’s caught up in something unlike anything she’s ever experienced before. Raven was a pretty kickass girl and, particularly towards the end of the novel, we really see her shine. I think she’s an inspiration to anyone who has been bullied or is being because the way she dealt with things was handled well.
Storm and Stone is a book that you’ll just love (I know because I’m psychic), and, although nothing will ever beat the Savant books, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be telling everyone about it. Despite having a few issues with some of it, it’s a book that I’m looking forward to re-reading in the future.
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.
I’ve wanted to read Dead Jealous ever since I read the first reviews when it was released and everybody seemed to love it. Having not read many murder mystery type novels, I pushed it to the back of my brain until, in the summer, I decided that I was going to have to buy it and find out just how amazing it was.
When Poppy Sinclair finds a dead body at the bottom of a lake, and after a previous trauma in another lake too, Poppy takes it upon herself to investigate after police dismiss it as an accident. But Poppy knows that it was murder and she’s going to prove it, even if it costs her own life.
It was so easy to get to know Poppy and there was never the awkward stage you get with some books where you end up thinking, ‘Do I really care about this character?’ Poppy was determined and motivated and I loved reading about her. I want to see more characters in YA like her who don’t sit and do nothing and mope about their lives, but instead learn stuff and are relatable. I wanted to read about Poppy more and more and I really missed her when the novel ended.
I really loved the plot and I was always kept on my toes, guessing what would happen next. I really didn’t expect the ending and I was left reeling and wanting more, more, more! Seriously, I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait until the next instalment is released because I want it right away!
The novel is set at a pagan festival which I loved because I know a lot about paganism and so I loved reading about the festivals and customs and traditions that were all written really well and were brought to life in an easily understandable way.
The mystery part was written really well, with red herrings that caught me out, and an ending that left me speechless. I did not see that coming! There were lots of twists and there was never a boring moment.
With characters that you’ll instantly fall in love with and a plotline that any author wishes they could write, I can’t recommend Dead Jealous highly enough.
I’m so pleased to be welcoming Holly Bourne, author of Soulmates, to the blog today! The post below is a real masterpiece and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it.
I’m half American and, sometimes, I really do feel that way- like I’m culturally split right down the middle.On my USA side, I tend to tell everyone, genuinely, to ‘have a nice day‘ before I hang up the phone, and I really really enjoy eating artificial cheese. Yet, on my British side, I think sarcasm is the best thing ever invented, I self-medicate with cups of tea, and I’m so obsessed with the weather I wrote a whole love story based around it.
Generally I’m happy with my hybrid identity. However, there are times when you have to pick a side and, when I sat down to write my debut novel, I wanted Soulmates to be British…why?
Because I wanted readers to be able to relate to the every-day life…
I love so many American YA novels and yet I can’t always get lost in them. Why? Because I grew up in England so I never took SATs, I never had a ‘Prom’, there were no cheerleaders or jocks or Taco Bells. It’s these little everyday moments in stories that make them believable – and when you read a book, you bring all your own experiences to the page and story. So, with Soulmates, I wanted these to match. I wanted British teenagers (and adult readers) to recognise things like A Level coursework, Cafe Nero, rugby players, cups of tea, beer gardens and the word ‘wanker’. That way, they could more easily imagine falling crazy in love and get lost in the story.
Because British people take the piss out of each other…
We bond by being horrid, and I bloody love that about being British. Since I got my book deal, my friends have sort-of congratulated me – but more used it as ample opportunity to take the piss. One introduced me at a party, saying, “This is my friend Holly, she’s a published author and she’s written a kids version of 50 Shades Of Grey.” I had to spend the rest of the evening swearing that wasn’t true! Or my boyfriend saying: “I’ve come up with a better idea than your book. ‘Trollmates – two trolls fall in love online whilst sending death threats to celebrities.'”
I honestly don’t think you get this I-take-the-piss-because-I-love-you anywhere else other than the UK. And it was really important to me it was in Soulmates. In fact, it turned out writing all the piss-taking scenes, where Poppy and Noah are ripping it out of each other, was actually more fun than writing all their smoochy stuff.
Because Brits really know how to tell a love story…
Soulmates is a self-referential romance book. It’s a homage to the genre, as well as a twist on romantic generic conventions. And, undeniably, the greatest love stories are British. Romeo and Juliet – written by a British bloke. Jane Eyre – British chick. Pride &Prejudice – British chick. Wuthering Heights – British. Even, One Day – British!
I think it’s our repressed stiff-upper-lip tendencies that lend themselves so well to romance. There is nothing more riveting than a love that takes a long time to be. The stolen glances, the repressed feelings, the missed opportunities, the unspoken declarations of affection… MY HEART IS THUMPING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.
Then there’s the fact that the English language is so well-equipped to deal with the sumptuous topic of love. Italian may be beautiful to speak, German may have more logic to it, but English has such an abundance of words! Verbs, nouns, adjectives – our language is so crammed with options that making sense of love and romance has such variety .
Because I’d be in really great company…
This is such an exciting time for YA books by British authors. From the no-topic-is-barred Cat Clarke, the quick and hilarious quips of Holly Smale, to the uncomprehendingly-brilliant Patrick Ness – there is a literary feast of writing talent on the go. And I feel very blessed to be a part of that.
I’m very pleased to welcome the lovely Alexia Casale to the blog today. Alexia wrote The Bone Dragon which I adored and she has written a guest post for me to share today. Enjoy!
Picking which book to write
Most people have hundreds if not thousands of daydreams every day. Some you enjoy once and never return to. Some keep coming back again and again. I suspect that this is how most books start: with a daydream that just won’t let go. One that you return to so often that it gradually expands and develops into a whole world.
I’ve got lots of recurring daydreams. Some are single-scenes, while other have long and complicated storylines. Some are no more than individual incidents or images. Some are to do with more abstract ideas and still others are about relationships.
Often when a daydream recurs to the point that it becomes a potential book idea, I’ll find that the characters have shifted a little, the nature of what they’re after has become more defined and the story has grown far more convincing. These are the daydreams that I spend the most time on, trying to work out what core element or elements make the daydream worth all that time and effort. As I start to understand why I love the daydream, I start discarding minor elements that don’t support the core of the story.
When one of these daydreams finally feels complete, it’s either time to reject it as a potential book… or to start working to get it down on paper. In terms of which to do, the first thing I consider is whether the story and the people in it will appeal to anyone but me. Some daydreams are ways of working out things in our own lives, and not all of those are going to be meaningful or interesting to any other person on the planet.
If an idea isn’t too much about my own life and my own needs, then I start to ask myself if the story is big enough, exciting enough… not just for readers to like it but for me to spend hundreds if not thousands of hours on it.
And finally I ask myself ‘is it ready’? I often get lost when I start writing too early: when I haven’t given the idea long enough to ‘marinate’ in my head. Can I really explain in a few sentences what the heart of the book is? Can I clearly and succinctly describe how the plot works? Do I understand why all the things in the book happen? Is some of it all a bit foggy and vague or do I know how every part connects to every other part? Am I attached to scenes without knowing why? If I can’t answer any of those questions in a satisfactory way, the idea probably needs longer in my head before I start putting words down on paper because otherwise I may end up with a lot of material I care about but shouldn’t use if I want to write the best book possible.
Anyway, this is the point where an idea becomes a serious prospect as a book. Before I know for sure, I have to polish the idea up, shape the corners, work out what happens in the gaps between bits of the story… As I work on these things, it starts to become clear if the idea will actually work on paper.
At the moment I’m having fun with idea development and considering all sorts of projects – many of which I will probably end up writing eventually as they’ve already stood the test of time floating around my imagination. But the question right now is ‘What is Book 3 going to be?’ And I sort of know, though I haven’t made a final, firm decision.
It’s the idea that’s felt ready for a while: the one I’m confident about because I can spell out why I’m writing it, how it works, what the high points are, where the fun is… There are still gaps and issues but I already *know* that none of them are insurmountable: there is enough already in place to write a book I believe will be worth reading. Above all, it’s the book that’s been waiting to be written: the one that has had its hand in the air for a while.
The feeling that this idea has been ‘waiting’ is something I can actually put my finger on because it’s measurable in the way I daydream: this daydream is the one that’s there before all the others whenever I let my mind roam. The rest are ‘on and off’ dreams: I keep abandoning them when I get to a tricky point I haven’t worked out yet. And that tells me they’re not ready, partly because they’re not developed enough but mostly because I’m not committed enough to figuring out those tricky bits… yet. When that starts to change – when I stick at a new idea long enough to work out the problems – I’ll know that idea is inching to the front of the queue.
So if you’re not sure which idea you should turn into a book, start looking at your daydreams. If there isn’t one dream that features more than all the others, one you get being pulled back to, maybe the ideas you have aren’t ready yet. That said, sometimes you have to *make* ideas ready by sitting down and hammering out the tricky bits of your plot, fixing up the plot-holes and working out how to make it all believable. This means sticking with an idea, pursuing it, hounding it until you corner it and can force it to make itself clear… or you realise that, instead of gaining on it, it’s escaping from you. But you won’t know if it’s one you need to let get away until you’ve chased it with a reasonable degree of commitment.
At the end of the day, you have to passionate about a book to have a good shot at writing it well. You’ll hate it so violently and so often before you’re done that unless there’s a lot of love underneath you won’t end up finishing. So never write a book purely because you think it will hit a trend or because you think ‘it’s the right book for X stage in my career’: write the book you care about.
Think about it like a romantic relationship. You can have great chemistry but if you never bother to get to know each other, the relationship will fizzle out… So it is with a great idea that stays vague and formless: good for the odd date/daydream but not for a marriage/book. Alternatively, you might feel that an idea is a good prospect, if boring: if you press ahead, you may end up with part of a book or even a whole book, but the chances that it’ll be really good aren’t great. OR… chemistry can be accompanied by an interest in getting to know each other, little by little, more and more until you know enough to take a leap… provided the chemistry is still there of course.
There is always a leap and it’s important to feel a real drive to take it, otherwise you’re unlikely to make it to the other side of the hundreds, if not thousands, of hours needed to write a novel. So check your chemistry and your understanding of your book idea before you commit to it, but remember that both need work to develop in the first place.
In other words, go forth and daydream. A lot.
About The Bone Dragon: Evie’s shattered ribs have been a secret for the last four years. Now she has found the strength to tell her adoptive parents, and the physical traces of her past are fixed – the only remaining signs a scar on her side and a fragment of bone taken home from the hospital, which her uncle Ben helps her to carve into a dragon as a sign of her strength. Soon this ivory talisman begins to come to life at night, offering wisdom and encouragement in roaming dreams of smoke and moonlight that come to feel ever more real. As Evie grows stronger there remains one problem her new parents can’t fix for her: a revenge that must be taken. And it seems that the Dragon is the one to take it. This subtly unsettling novel is told from the viewpoint of a fourteen-year-old girl damaged by a past she can’t talk about, in a hypnotic narrative that, while giving increasing insight, also becomes increasingly unreliable. A blend of psychological thriller and fairytale, The Bone Dragon explores the fragile boundaries between real life and fantasy, and the darkest corners of the human mind.
If you know me at all, you’ll know that I’m a big champion of UKYA, and Cruel Summer has been flitting across my radar since it was released. Having not read many books like this one, I was a bit hesitant beforehand but I was super pleased when the opportunity to review it came up and I jumped at the chance.
When Janey Bradshaw is murdered on the night of Telscombe Cliffs’ prom, nothing is brought up until her group of friends meet up the summer after in Spain. There’s Ryan, Katie, Alisha, Ben, Greg, and Greg’s girlfriend, Erin. But when events are brought up to the surface again, one thing is made clear: one of the gang murdered Janey Bradshaw, but which one of them was it?
I haven’t read a book in a long time that gripped me as much as Cruel Summer did. One of the things that I loved the most was that it engaged the reader and I was certainly involved; I felt like I was a spectator and was constantly wondering who the murderer was, much like the friends would have been doing.
5 stars is not a high enough rating for this book. I want to create a whole new rating system for it. It’s a book that I’m going to be recommending non-stop and I just want to gush about it.
I really loved Ryan and his way of thinking. He would imagine life as a TV programme in scenes and series and it’s something that, with my wild imagination, I would probably do myself and that was his coping mechanism. I know that sometimes I’ll imagine I’m somebody from a book or a TV show because it’s a way of explaining life and getting through the day. It helped Ryan detach himself from the drama that was going on and I liked that.
Alisha was another of my favourite characters and the novel alternated between following Ryan and Alisha so it was fitting that I loved them both. Alisha was more fiery and spirited than Katie or Erin and I found her a lot more interesting and easy to get to know. I felt comfortable reading about her and wanted to know more. She was one of the reasons for me being so hooked.
Without giving anything away, Dawson is able to write mystery perfectly. There were so many twists and red herrings. I was sure I knew who the murderer was and then something would happen and I would change my mind. There was always an inkling of doubt in my mind whenever I thought I knew who it was and it was easy to put myself into the characters’ minds.
Cruel Summer showcases effortlessly how fab UKYA is and I know that I will be thrusting it into the hands of whoever is brave enough to come near me when I have my bookish head on. Everybody must read this book!
More Than This is the first of Ness’ books that I’ve read and, understanding the hype that comes with his books, I was very nervous about starting this.
The novel starts with the main character drowning. That may seem like a spoiler, but it’s not. When Seth drowns, he wakes up in an empty world; he is the only person there. It just so happens that the place he wakes up is the English town in which he moved from after a horrific incident happened to his younger brother, Owen. Where is he?
More Than This is very hard to put into one genre. I would describe it as a futuristic psychological science fiction thriller because it’s a mish mash of lots of different elements. It worked surprisingly well and I was glad that it didn’t get confusing.
Seth, the protagonist, really grows throughout the novel. His arc is particularly notable because he goes on such a journey. We see him open up and really come into himself. His situation is difficult and Ness has written such an emotional and true character.
I’m trying not to spoil anything in this review because so much goes on throughout the novel that could spoil things later on. I was kept guessing and then Ness would throw something at you that sent you reeling. I think I had whiplash whilst reading this!
I really loved the writing style. Written in third person with flashbacks from before Seth’s death, More Than This wouldn’t have worked any way else. The flashbacks were revealing but didn’t give away too much and having it written in third person meant that you weren’t always stuck in Seth’s head.
I really enjoyed More Than This and will be posting something to do with it next week. It’s something different to the norm and I’ll definitely be recommending it now. It’s not often that you read a book that you completely fall in love with, but this is one of them.
I’m very happy to welcome Emma Pass to the blog today! Emma is the author of ACID which is out in the UK and Spain now and will be out in the US in 2014. ACID is one of my all time favourite books and I can’t stop recommending it. Today Emma is here to talk about the settings in ACID.
2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID – the most brutal, controlling police force in history – rule supreme. No throwaway comment or muttered dissent goes unnoticed – or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a bloody crime she struggles to remember.
The only female inmate in a violent high-security prison, Jenna has learned to survive by any means necessary. And when a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID – and to uncover the truth about what really happened on that dark night two years ago.
It’s the UK, Jim, but not as we know it!
Deciding to set ACID in the UK was a no-brainer for me. I was born here, and have lived here all my life. Although the majority of dystopian novels around at the moment are set in the US, I wanted to explore what life might be like under a totalitarian regime right here in The UK (known in ACID as the Independent Republic of Britain or IRB). Here are just a few of the places in the novel…
London
The London of 2113 is a very different place to the London of 2013. Although it is still the IRB’s capital city, it has been divided into three zones – Upper, Middle and Outer.
If you’ve been chosen to live in Upper, you’re one of the lucky ones. ACID (AKA the Agency for Crime Investigation and Defence, the sinister police force who rule the IRB) decide everything about everyone’s lives: where you live, where you work, even who you marry. But even though they have to live by ACID’s rules just like everyone else, the occupants of Upper are the IRB’s elite, living in luxurious apartments with an unlimited supply of food and entertainment. They have the best jobs, the best clothes, the latest technology and the highest standard of education. They can drive cars and travel freely.
The inhabitants of Middle London, which is separated from Upper by an invisible electric fence to stop anyone trying to get through without permission, have a lower standard of living. Although comfortable, they aren’t afforded the luxuries people in Upper take for granted. Their houses are smaller and facilities more basic. They aren’t allowed cars, so they use the Magtrams – Maglev trams which are now the only form of public transport in London.
In Outer, which is separated from Middle by the Fence, a giant steel wall, life is tough. Here, food is rationed and often, all that’s available is Sub – Substitute food, made from synthetic protein in a lab. Outer’s citizens are more tightly controlled than in Middle or Upper, too – they have to keep to a curfew and are required to watch their news screens, a screen in every dwelling constantly broadcasting ACID reports, for several hours a day, or risk arrest. Crime is rife, despite ACID’s constant observation, and poverty is widespread. The buildings are run down and overcrowded.
Mileway Prison
A giant ‘super-prison’, built to house thousands of prisoners. If you Google ‘American Supermax prison’ you’ll get an idea of what this place is like… only, it’s worse. Mileway is where ACID’s heroine, Jenna Strong, is sent after being accused by ACID of her parents’ murder, and as the only female inmate, she has to toughen up fast.
Clearford and Clearford Library
Outside London, life is even harder. The capital has been made into a ‘model’ city while the rest of the country has been allowed to fall into poverty and disrepair. Clearford is an fictional town, but is typical of the sort of places that exist outside London in 2113. On every corner is a news screen, spewing ACID propaganda, while spotters – remote, mobile cameras – keep watch over everything and everybody.
Clearford has the last library left in the whole of the IRB, although libraries have all been shut down so ACID can control what people read (via eFics, a type of ebook). It shouldn’t be there at all, but money ran out before the town council could demolish it. Jenna stumbles across it when she’s on the run from ACID, and soon discovers it isn’t as empty as it first appears…
About Emma Pass
Emma Pass has been making up stories for as long as she can remember. Her debut novel, ACID, is out now from Corgi/Random House, and THE FEARLESS will follow on 3rd April 2014. By day, she works as a library assistant and lives with her husband and dog in the North East Midlands.
