I read All Fall Down on NetGalley, and was sent a copy of
Spotlight on Sunny by Catnip, in both cases for consideration for a
recommendation. Thanks to the publishers!
Keris Stainton's Spotlight on Sunny is the second in her
Reel Friends series, following on from last year's Starring Kitty, a favourite
of mine. The first book was a sweet, tender romance about Kitty, who was in
love with another girl, trying to navigate a relationship without at first
feeling quite confident enough to come out to her friends. This sequel follows
the same group of friends - Kitty, Sunny and Hannah - but shifts to Sunny's
point of view, and moves the action to London, where the trio take part in a
film-making course. Sunny is happy to be in London but has to keep a big secret
from her friends, as well as doing the course and making a new friend in the
lovely Will.
This is similar to Kitty in many ways - it's a really sweet,
charming read. I particularly like the dynamic between the central trio, who
are extremely close friends despite having very different values - Sunny is a
Muslim and has massively different ideas about boys to Hannah, for example, but
both characters' views are expressed well and non-judgmentally, and they
respect each other despite their differences. I also thought Sunny's
relationship with her parents was very well-portrayed. There's a wonderfully
diverse cast, with wheelchair user Will being great to read about - charismatic
and funny - and even someone who originally seems to be a slightly
stereotypical bad girl shines towards the end as we see more of her character
revealed. I also really loved the way Keris Stainton captured the thrill of
exploring London when you're unfamiliar with it, the setting is brought to life
brilliantly!
Ally Carter's All Fall Down, first in her new Embassy Row
series, sounded like an intriguing read - I like what I've read of Heist
Society and am a huge fan of her Gallagher Girls books. This new series, set in
the fictional country of Adria, follows Grace, the granddaughter of the
American ambassador to the country, as she moves in with him. Three years ago,
she saw her mother murdered by a mysterious scarred man - but no-one believes this,
claiming the death was an accident in a house fire. After seeing the scarred
man again, she's determined to investigate, with the help of her friends.
In a lot of ways this is very good - Ally Carter always writes
excellent action scenes, her character development is superb, and while I
correctly predicted part of the central storyline, there's a stunning ending
which took me by surprise. My only issues with it are that it takes a long time
to get going - the pacing seems off, particularly early on - and the
cliffhanger ending combines with this to make it feel more like a very strong
set-up than a hugely satisfying read in its own right. That said, I'm now
really looking forward to the next book. Chalk this one up as a good read that
could become a great series, I'd say.
(Note: Black Hearts in Battersea is the sequel to The Wolves
of Wiloughby Chase, but with only Simon reappearing, works perfectly well
without you having read the first one. That said, you should still read the
first one as it's brilliant!)
I re-read Black Hearts in Battersea recently, after author
Julia Lee named Dido Twite as her favourite MG heroine in a Top Ten Tuesdaypost on MG Strikes Back - I'd been seriously considering her, but she was edged
out by Stephanie Burgis's Kat Stephenson for me. Actually, the two characters
are similar in many ways. They're both incredibly bold and brave, fiercely
loyal to those they love, and willing to do anything to help them. While Kat
has the advantage of a supportive family, Dido has a much worse-off start in
life, the younger child in a family of Hanoverian plotters determined to
overthrow the King. She'd go on to be the main character in this long series,
but in her introduction here the street urchin has a supporting role to heroes
Simon and Sophie - although she steals the scene every time she appears, with
her fantastic language and the way she stands up for her friends even though
she knows it will get her into trouble with her parents.
Simon, an orphan coming to London to look for his friend
Doctor Field, and Sophie, his friend from the orphanage who's now a maid to the
Duchess of Battersea, are a fantastic pair of heroes, while the Duke and
Duchess of Battersea are adorable characters. As for the villains - wow! I
generally prefer more subtle characterisation, but Aiken is one of the writers
talented enough to just make her evil characters completely and utterly
repelling, and absolutely captivating because of this - you'll spend the entire
book desperate to see them get their comeuppance. As well as the great
characters, it's an incredibly fast-paced read with lots of brilliant twists
and turns.
I've never actually finished the series somehow - very
strange considering how much I loved the first five or six books, and how many
times I've reread this one - but am aiming to do so this year, and will try and
review as I go!
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