Book Review #714 - One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. 

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. 

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. 

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? 

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them."

My Rating: 5.5/10

This book is described as 'The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars' which I think is a pretty accurate way to describe it. 

The whole premise of 5 people entering detention and only 4 leaving is what initially drew me into deciding to read it but I felt like this premise was not the major focus of the book as the four main suspects had other problems in their lives that had greater focus on them rather than the actual murder.

The book had alternating POV chapters between the 4 stereotypical teenagers. Bronwyn the brain, Cooper the athlete, Nate the criminal and Addy the beauty which sped up the pace of the book. I liked how the characters were made stereotypical on purpose so that over the course of the novel, those stereotypes get broken. 

The teenager that dies in detention was Simon who is described as the outcast. He runs the school newspaper and knows every students dirty secrets, which gives everyone a motive for killing him. 

I loved the whole media hysteria surrounding the murder, as it made it feel more modern and realistic in today's world. 

Throughout the story, as the characters developed it became obvious to me, through process of elimination, who the killer was and the more I thought of that possibility, the more the book made sense and so that ruined the book a little for me. 

I found the end rather rushed, even though I had strong suspicions about how it would end it came rather abruptly with almost no build-up. 

Book Review #713 - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed. 

My Rating: 10/10

I am definitely not a gamer and so I was a little hesitant to read this book but as I had recommended the movie adaptation of this book to my brother who is a gamer I thought I'd check out what I was recommending. I found that this book completely blew me away with how much I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I absolutely loved the world building in this book. It felt completely fleshed out after just the first chapter.

There were countless 80's references that flew completely over my head but they were done in such a away that I felt like I wasn't missing out on anything. I probably would have loved the book more (if that is even possible) had I understood these references though.

Wade Watts was such a reluctant hero but that was what made him so relatable. He also felt very genuine. 

The world inside the OASIS was amazing. The way technology controls the world also seemed like a plausible realistic setting of a future world.

The world outside the OASIS however is not so good hence why people spend the majority of their time in a virtual reality world.

I loved the whole mystery egg, clue solving element to the story. The way it was presented seemed like a video game in itself. 

The main antagonists in this book are called the Sixers. I hated them for obvious reasons but they surprised me numerous times throughout the book at the lengths they went to in order to get what they wanted. 

The massive battle at the end was my favourite part of the book as I loved how action packed and pop culture heavy it all was. 

The overall way the book was presented would make it translate well onto the big screen. 

Book Review #712 - Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories (Wonder #1.5, #1.6 and #1.7) by R.J. Palacio

Auggie & Me gives readers a special look at Auggie's world through three new points of view. Previously only available in ebook, now they'll be published all together--complete with an introduction from the author on how she came to write them--in a gorgeous hardcover package!

These stories are an extra peek at Auggie before he started at Beecher Prep and during his first year there. Readers get to see him through the eyes of Julian, the bully; Christopher, Auggie's oldest friend; and Charlotte, Auggie's new friend at school. Together, these three stories are a treasure for readers who don't want to leave Auggie behind when they finish Wonder.

 

 

My Rating: 8/10

 

 

I absolutely loved Wonder and so I was only so happy to read more about these wonderful character (pun intended).

 

This book contains 3 short stories following side characters from Wonder. All of these stories contained the same unique quality as the novel.

 

The first story followed Julian, the bully who picked on Auggie throughout Wonder. It wasn't that hard to see why Julian is the way he is when you get introduced to his parents.

 

Although it was hard at first to feel anything towards Julian aside from contempt because of the way he treated Auggie, by the end I loved how much he had matured. This was aided by his delightful grandmother.

 

The second story followed Auggie's childhood friend Christopher. I didn't think this book was as strong as the other two, but I did enjoy the flashbacks to Christopher and August's childhood friendship.

 

Christopher had a minimal role in Wonder, but it is obvious that he played a huge role in Auggie's life. I felt that the way Christopher was embarrassed by Auggie at times although not ideal, was realistic for a child of that age and you could tell he was a genuine friend to Auggie.

 

The third and final story followed Charlotte who was one of my favourite characters from Wonder. This story didn't circle around Auggie like the previous two did.

 

Whilst I enjoyed learning more about Charlotte, I did miss Auggie's presence though.

Book Review #711 - Carousel (Carousel #1) by Brendan Ritchie

Nox is an arts graduate wondering what to do with his life. Taylor and Lizzy are famous indie musicians, and Rocky works the checkouts at Target.

When they find themselves trapped in a giant shopping centre, they eat fast food, watch bad TV and wait for the mess to be sorted. But when days turn to weeks, a sense of menace grows.

 

 

My Rating: 5/10

 

 

This book is set in my home town of Perth, Western Australia and even though I have never been to the shopping centre where this book is set (Westfield Carousel) I was familiar with all of the shops mentioned.

 

This book is the author's first foray into novel writing. His author bio says he was previously a screenwriter. This was rather obvious by his fragmented style of writing. For example, one of the main characters is never properly introduced, he just suddenly appears.

 

The timeline of events was also rather confusing. Not far into the book, when I was waiting for some character development or twist it was very casually mentioned that they had been trapped there for a year.

 

I own the sequel to this book and I will definitely get around to reading it just so I can find out what direction this series will go but I'm in no rush to do so.

Book Review #710 - Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

 

A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world--but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart--an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests--or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate. 

 

 

My Rating: 8/10

 

 

I obviously went into this book with it having quite a lot of hype which and I hadn't read a book like that for a while. A number of reviews labelled this book as 'Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland'. This commonly used line both intrigued and worried me as whilst I love Harry Potter (and still consider it my favourite series of all time) I really did not enjoy Alice in Wonderland.

 

I found this book very magical and whimsical both with the story and the with the writing style. I found it hard to believe that this was author Jessica Townsend's debut novel.

 

I wouldn't go as far to say that this book is this generation's Harry Potter as I think that Harry Potter is timeless, but this book was still really enjoyable.

 

For a children's book, I loved how fleshed it all was. The settings were all wonderfully magical and every single character had depth and personality.

 

When I first started reading this book I thought that it was trying to be like Harry Potter as it follows and 11 year old girl who escapes her repressive world by being introduced to a world of magic. But this is where the similarities to Harry Potter ended as this book is charming in its own magical way.

Book Review #709 - 1915 (Australia's Great War #2) by Sally Murphy

The silence was eerie. In the darkness I could just see the mist that swirled around the rowboat. The men in the boat seemed lost in their own thoughts. No-one spoke, no-one made a sound. Somewhere ahead a loud report. A shot? Rifle fire, from the beach, which was only dimly coming into view. This was it. 

When Australia throws its support behind Britain in its fight against Germany, young teacher Stan Moore is one of the first to join up, swapping the classroom for adventure in Europe. But the 11th Battalion is sent with the newly formed Anzac Corp to Gallipoli where Stan is confronted by the hard lessons of war. 

Though conditions are dismal and death is everywhere, so is the humour and bravery that is the true spirit of Anzac.

My Rating: 7/10

I loved how this book included some well known Australian WW1 heroes such as the journalist Charles Bean and the medic on the donkey John Simpson Kirkpatrick. 

I loved this book so much more than the first one 1914. The protagonist in this one is from my home state of Western Australia so that helped but I also felt like we got a greater insight into the life of the brave men in the trenches in this book. 

Like with the first book, enough is shown to understand the true horror and loss of the war, but it is never overly graphic to feel out of place in a YA novel. 

These books blend real historical events with intriguing and relatable characters so well. I loved the letters between Stanley on the western front and his sister Elizabeth back home in Bunbury.

I also found the field hospital really interesting as that is where my great-grandfather spent the majority of his time during the war with illness. It was good to be able to add some personal details to the story in that aspect. 

Book Review #708 - A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck

The unrequited love of the girl next door is the centerpiece of this fiercely funny, yet heart-breaking debut novel.

Fifteen-year-old Matt Wainwright is in turmoil. He can’t tell his lifelong best friend, Tabby, how he really feels about her; his promising basketball skills are being overshadowed by his attitude on the court, and the only place he feels normal is in English class, where he can express his inner thoughts in quirky poems and essays. Matt is desperately hoping that Tabby will reciprocate his feelings; but then Tabby starts dating Liam Branson, senior basketball star and all-around great guy. Losing Tabby to Branson is bad enough; but, as Matt soon discovers, he’s close to losing everything that matters most to him. 

My Rating: 9.5/10

This is a hard book for me to review. I always seem to find it harder to review the books that I really loved, which is how I felt about this book. In fact, this was most definitely my favourite read of 2017.

Matt was a fantastic narrator and protagonist. He was sensitive with an overwhelmingly good heart. 

For the most part, this book is just chronicling Matt's everyday life from his role as Black Bears high school basketball player, the best big brother to Murray and secretly pining over childhood best friend and neighbour Tabby.

I loved the family dynamics Matt has in this book and how not only his parents and brother have accepted Tabby as part of the family but his grandparents have as well. 

Tabby and Matt's relationship starts to change when Tabby starts dating an older, popular athlete at their school - the hardest part of this for Matt is that the guy Liam Branson is actually a really nice and genuine guy. 

The twist in the story comes around 160 pages in and there was absolutely no foreshadowing of it whatsoever and I had avoided spoilers so I found this twist really shocking. 

Without spoiling anything, the events that take place after this twist is the real heart of the novel. The way Matt's family (especially his grandfather) help him out of the loneliness and isolation he finds himself in.  

Book Review #707 - Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.

My Rating: 8.5/10

I actually think I loved this book even more than Illuminae if that is even possible. 

I found that I didn't like Kady and Nik as much as Kady and Ezra but that's the only negative I can think of at the moment. 

I loved how much the story progressed especially in ways that I never ever saw coming. I loved all the new settings and characters as well. 

It took me a little while to get into the book because of the distances style of writing, but once I got settled I read in practically non-stop, all 600 pages. 

This book was action-packed and constantly kept me on the edge of my seat. 

I love how unique the formatting of these books are although it makes me feel a little distanced from the characters and story when I first start reading.