Title: STORM AND STONE
Author: Joss Stirling
Obtained: Received
from publishers OUP in exchange for consideration for a recommendation
Why I Read It: Review
copy, requested as I loved Stirling's first two books.
Genre: YA
contemporary thriller
Release date: 6th
February 2014
Highly recommended
American
student Raven Stone doesn't like it at her exclusive English boarding school.
People are going missing, and return seeming very different. The teachers pick
on her as a scholarship students, and her classmates hate her - one of them
enough to send her death threats. Just as the mystery starts to deepen, two new
boys arrive. Joe is friendly and charismatic, but it's Kieran's analytical
brain which may be the clue to solving her problems. Although her problems may
be bigger than either of them had realised...
This was a
slow-burner in many ways, and while it didn't grab me with the immediacy of Stirling's
wonderful Finding Sky, it got better and better
as the book went on. I think part of my issue with it at the start was that
neither lead is a particularly easy character to warm to - Raven is prickly and
hot-tempered, while Kieran is extremely analytical and cool. (Although his
Sherlock Holmes style deductions in his first scene are impressive!) However as
the book, and their relationship progresses, they become much easier to like
and I thought the romance was very well-written.
Also, it has
a plot with several twists which was unpredictable and which had me glued to
the book even before I'd warmed to the characters - a real rarity for me;
normally I'm not that bothered about a novel unless at least a couple of the
characters grab me early on. In this case, I was so desperate to find out what
was happening that I raced through it anyway. It helps that Stirling's writing
style is extremely easy to read and her books always rattle along at a cracking
pace! Of course, this meant that once Kieran and Raven had found their way into
my affections, I was even more involved. (Making the climax almost unbearably
tense - I knew from reading her earlier books that I'd have my heart in my
mouth by the end; I think I did so even more than previously here.)
Highly
recommended as a really good read for fans of teen contemporaries and/or
mysteries. Oh, interestingly, while the proof cover proclaims it be a
standalone, Joss Stirling's website says it's a new series - I'd definitely be
interested in reading a follow-up!
Title: HOW TO LOVE
Author: Katie Cotugno
Obtained: Borrowed
from library
Why I Read It: Lots
of really positive reviews floating around the blogosphere for this one!
Genre: YA contemporary
Release date: Already
out
Highly recommended
Reena has
always loved Sawyer, but their eventual
relationship is a messy one. Three years after he disappears from town, he
returns to find Reena bringing up their baby. Can she let herself love him
again?
I've been
having a bit of a bad run when it comes to hugely hyped books recently, with
many proving a bit disappointing (and the major exception to this was the
wonderful This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales; in that case I somehow
missed all the hype!) Because of that, I wasn't 100% sure whether I wanted to
read this, but saw it at the library and couldn't resist. Thankfully, the hype
here is pretty justified - Reena is an excellent narrator; I loved her friendship
with Shelby and the brilliantly complex relationships both Reena and Sawyer had
with their parents. I liked the love triangle (rare for me!) between Reena,
Sawyer and Shelby's brother Aaron, with both guys having their strong points.
(Although I'm not 100% sure Sawyer's were really strong enough to overlook how
much of a jackass he was at times, which is holding this back from Very High
Recommendation for me.)
I was a big
fan of the alternating timeline here, showing Reena with baby Hannah and
dealing with Sawyer's return to the town in the After parts, and Reena first
crushing on Sawyer and then getting into a relationship with him in the Before
parts. It's not a narrative technique I'm a big fan of, to be honest, but
Cotugno gets it just right, and it's a really strong way of showing Reena's
character development. Throw in a strong conclusion and this isn't quite up
there with my top 2013 contemporaries (remember I read LOADS, this is my
sixtieth to be released last year!) but it's not far off at all. Definitely
looking forward to Cotugno's next.
Title: CONFESSIONS OF AN ANGRY
GIRL
Author: Louise Rozett
Obtained: Bought on
Kindle
Why I Read It: I
picked this up a couple of weeks ago (I have a feeling it was only 99p at some
point) thinking it was another book with a similar premise that I'd started a
while ago but never finished. I realised it wasn't and put it to one side, but
when doing the spreadsheet I noticed really positive reviews from Queen ofContemporary and Fluttering Butterflies so gave it a go.
Genre: YA contemporary
Release date: Already
out
Recommended
Since Rose
Zarelli's dad died, she's been angry all the time - especially at her brother,
away at college, her best friend who's desperate to be a cheerleader, and her
mother who barely talks to her. Her life becomes even more confusing when she
kisses Jamie Forta, super-hot older guy whose girlfriend is also a cheerleader.
Can she navigate the perils of high school?
I don't
really feel I can answer my last question there, because while this is an
engaging read with a good lead character, I thought it ended with very little
resolved. The main thread of Jamie and Rose doesn't get much closure on it and
there's various other strands not really tied off either. Despite this, it's
still worth reading and I'm definitely going to be tracking down book 2,
Confessions of An Almost Girlfriend, to see what happens next. The main reason
for this is that Rose is a really good narrator, but I also enjoyed the
chemistry between her and Jamie and I liked Jamie's friend Angelo, who has a
really good heart despite sometimes not knowing the right thing to say.
Well worth
reading despite the disappointing ending, for me. I'm looking forward to the
next book.
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