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  • Books, General Monty, Lists, Reviews

    Best of 2012: Monty’s Pick

    18.12.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Monty, who is fortunate enough to buy both the YA comics and the YA music, has found this list of best apps of 2012, which contains some incredible creative genius, and also a Monty recommendation:

    Chopsticks, Jessica Anthony.

    “After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As we flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, we see a girl on the precipice of disaster. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to an artistic new boy, Frank, who moves in next door. The farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness. Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song “Chopsticks.”

    “But nothing is what it seems, and Glory’s reality is not reality at all. In this stunningly moving novel told in photographs, pictures, and words, it’s up to the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along…” (goodreads.com)

    Monty adds that it’s “a mish-mash of styles and good on the expectations and pressures of society on teens, contains romance and ends with surprise and mystery – what more could you ask for?”

    Chopsticks is, as Monty says, a “multi-media extravaganza”! Visit the Chopsticks tumblr for more visuals, including a link to the app at the Apple store (for the downloading (note: it’s not a free app)).

    The School Library Journal reviewed both the book and the app.


  • Books, Fantasy, Raewyn, Reviews

    Some terrible magic this way comes

    17.12.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Advent (Advent Trilogy book one), by James Treadwell

    A December night 1537 and a powerful mage boards a ship for England. There is a shipwreck and none survive. What has happened to the box he was carrying? The box with a magic mirror and ring inside?

    Present day: Gavin knows he is different. He still has his childhood imaginary friend, Miss Grey for a start and he dreams very strange dreams. His parents don’t like him and when they get the chance to go overseas, they pack him off to his Aunt Gwen who lives outside Truro, on an estate called Pendurra. But his aunt isn’t there to meet his train and she isn’t in her cottage and when a girl with dead eyes bangs on his door at midnight and then shuffles away, Gavin is certain this is not going to be an ordinary holiday! The next day he meets the owner of Pendurra and his daughter. The very same dead looking girl whom he’d seen the night before but now very much alive. Marina and Gavin spend time exploring, finding strange things happening and finally realise that ‘magic is rising…’

    ~ Raewyn


  • Books, Raewyn, Reviews

    Raewyn Reviews:

    05.12.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Changeling (Order of Darkness book one), by Philippa Gregory

    Luca Vero, the changeling. Or so the people of his village called him, for he was a very brilliant boy and his parents only peasants. The church of 1453 find him, always asking questions and put him to the task of Inquirer into some of the strange happenings the church has become aware of lately. He arrives at an abbey where the nuns are having visions and stigmata are appearing on their hands. All of these things began when the new abbess arrived but is she the evil temptress they think she is? Luca must discover the truth or watch an innocent girl burn at the stake.

    Written by the renowned historical author of The Other Boleyn Girl and many other books, this is an easy read with interesting outcomes and images.

    ~ Raewyn


  • Books, Library Serf, Reviews

    Reader Review by Katie

    22.05.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Catastrophic History of You and Me, Jess Rothenberg

    Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning – Welcome to forever! This enchanting story of 16 year-old Brie starts with her dying and being catapulting into the afterlife. This novel is inspirational, heart wrenching, romantic and difficult to put down. Brie is a relatable and charismatic character who is journeying through the 5 stages of acceptance, with a little help from the charming, off- beat, and gorgeous Patrick who is a resident lost soul. With soaring highs and bottomless lows, this story takes you on the roller coaster ride of the afterlife, in novel which is called “gorgeous, funny and heart-breaking” by Lauren Oliver (New York Times best seller, and writer of Before I Fall). The Catastrophic History of You and Me is a novel I highly recommend.

    ~ Katie, Churton Park


  • Great Reads, Jesi, Reviews

    Starters by Lissa Price

    21.05.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Set after a war where most adults have been killed by a biologogical weapon, the people remaining are mostly either children or teenagers (Starters) or the elderly (Enders). The Starters are unable to work and if an adult doesn’t claim them they can’t get accommodation, and can be arrested if they are caught. Enders are at the other end of the scale. They have health care to keep them alive until well into their hundreds, near limitless wealth and live in huge mansions.

    Callie lives in an abandoned building with her friend Michael and her younger brother Tyler. Tyler is only seven, and unwell but they have no access to any kind of health care and no way of getting help. However, Callie has heard of one way she might be able to earn enough to get them a house and some safety. Prime Destinations run a body bank where Enders can rent the bodies of Starters, be young again, play sports, all that sort of thing. Callie should be asleep while the Ender is having fun being her, but the chip used to control her is defective and she wakes up to find out that the Ender who hired her wasn’t just planning on playing tennis or going dancing – she wants to use Callie’s body to kill someone.

     

    Starters is a really good read, highly recommended if you are looking for more dystopia, and especially if you liked Scott Westerfelds Uglies trilogy.

    Lissa Price’s blog is here.


  • Books, Reviews

    A Disappearance, A Woodpecker and A Missionary

    14.05.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Where Things Come Back, John Corey Whaley

    I can’t remember the last time I got so much enjoyment out of a book!

    Where Things Come Back is made up of two separate narratives which eventually come together in a way I never expected. The first narrative is that of 17 year old Cullen Witter, whose widely-liked younger brother suddenly disappears. While his brother’s disappearance is in the forefront of his mind, the people of the small town he lives in are obsessed with the alleged sighting of a Lazarus Woodpecker, a bird not seen in the area for more than 50 years. The other narrative follows Benton Sage, a young university student who takes up a position as a missionary in Africa but loses his faith and any sense of meaning in his life along the way. It’s very well written and the multiple storylines are interwoven carefully. One issue I had was the narrative perspective change towards the end which came out of the blue. It took me four pages to click to what was going on before I realised it was something clever. There are a lot of smart, witty and heartfelt observations throughout the book as well as a lot of elements to the story, so I look forward to reading it over again.

    I really can’t recommend this book enough!

    ~ Rachel


  • Books, Grimm, Reviews

    From turnip eating peasant to assassin nun

    05.05.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    Grave Mercy, Robin LaFevers

    Ismae is a peasant girl living in 15th Century Brittany. Just after her wedding to a violent pig farmer, Ismae is rescued by the herbwitch who tried to poison her before she was born (but you wouldn’t quibble: the pig farmer is horrid) and whisked away to a mysterious convent. The sisters of the convent of St Mortain aren’t your average nuns. Mortain is merely masquerading as a saint: he’s an ancient god; Death, actually. Ismae is, she learns, a daughter of Mortain; immune to poison and with a natural gift for killing, and the sisters are assassins, using their skills to ensure the Duchy of Brittany remains independant from the looming, malignant France.

    That’s basically the background to Grave Mercy, the first book in the His Fair Assassin series, which is getting great reviews from the lofty New York Times to blogger-reviewers, like here or here. I read the whole book in pretty much a day. It’s an action-packed historical novel with some romance, mystical magic, and a few gory endings, and I liked it!


  • Raewyn, Reviews

    An unbecoming review!

    12.03.12 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

    How is it that Mara escaped the totally destroyed building with a sore head and all her friends died? Who bashed in the head of that dog-beating hulk of a man near her school? What strange things are happening to the wildlife in their new home town? So many alligators dead all at once! Could these incidents be related? And why does she have to be attracted to the best looking guy at school who can only mean trouble!

    A strange and haunting tale of life with amnesia and self discovery.

    ~ Raewyn


  • Library Serf, Reviews

    Best of 2011: Rachel’s Pick

    22.12.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson

    Rory (short for Aurora) moves to London from Louisiana to go to boarding school when her parents get jobs nearby in Bristol. On her arrival, Rory finds out there’s a murderer on the loose who is mimicking the murders of Jack the Ripper from over a hundred years ago. Shortly after she arrives, Rory comes into contact with the killer, but it seems as though she’s the only one who can see him…

    There are a number of times when Rory is confused by British-isms somewhat endearingly, and while suspenseful the novel is also humorous. The first in a trilogy with the next one expected in late 2012!

    ~ Rachel


  • Library Serf, Reviews

    Best of 2011: Andrée’s Pick

    21.12.11 | Permalink | Comment?

    The Golden Day, Ursula Dubosarsky

    “The golden day is a novel set in Sydney in 1967, ending in 1975, about a group of schoolgirls whose teacher bizarrely goes missing on a school excursion, apparently murdered.”–Author’s note. 

    The language in this was lovely, simple and well thought out. A little like Picnic at Hanging Rock.

    ~ Andrée


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