Book Review #574 - Clockwise to Titan (Clockwise to Titan #1) by Elon Dann

My Rating: 3.5/5



Source: Five Mile Press




Buy: The Book Depository




Goodreads

Mo, Harete and Moth are on the run. Chased by the tyrannical forces of the Institute, they follow a line of pylons towards the Other country and the hope of freedom.

Winter tightens its grip and escape seems impossible. As the children weave together stories from their past, present and imaginations, the truth becomes harder and harder to bear. Chased by rabid dogs, hounded by Marshals with guns, and hiding from military helicopters, only the long line of wires and the lure of another way of life pulls them towards their goal.

A story of hope, peril and the fight against tyranny, this brilliant debut is the perfect book for adventurous young readers.

I didn't particularly enjoy this book to begin with but by the end I couldn't put it down and I loved it. 

The book is told from alternating chapters of the three teens whilst they are first in the prison and then the three teens on the run after they have escaped from the prison. 

The two perspectives didn't really blend well together and I felt like it had no continuity to it. I would have preferred to whole story to have been in chronological order. 

I really enjoyed the escape element as it was very suspenseful as I kept waiting for them to get caught. 

When the two perspectives finally merged (roughly 150 or so pages from the end) the book became unputdownable and I thoroughly enjoyed it from then on. 

As I really dislike bookmarking in the middle of a chapter, I wasn't a fan of the length of the chapters. Most of them were around 20 pages long. 

Overall, this book got better and better as it developed and recovered well from its slow start.  

Book Review #572 - How to be Bad by E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski

My Rating: 4/5



Source: The Five Mile Press




Buy: Five Mile Press or 
The Book Depository




Goodreads

When you're tired of being good, sometimes you gotta be a little bad ...

Jesse, Vicks and Mel couldn't be more different. Jesse, a righteous Southern gal who's as thoughtful as she is uptight, is keeping a secret that she knows will change her life forever. Vicks is a wild child: seemingly cool, calm and collected on the outside, but inside she's furious at herself for being so anxious about her neglectful boyfriend. And Mel is the new girl in town. She's already been dismissed as just another rich kid, but all she wants is to get over some of her fears and find some true friends.

But for all their differences, the girls discover they've got one thing in common - they're desperate to escape. Desperate to get the heck out of Niceville and discover their true 'badass' selves! Even if it's just for the weekend ... One 'borrowed' car later, it's time to hit the road and head for Miami. Hearts will be broken, friendships will be tested, and a ridiculously hot stranger could change the course of everything. 

I love road trip books as they are always fun to read. This book was no different even though the characters fought with each other pretty much the entire time. 

The book is told from 3 different character perspectives, told from alternating chapters. Each author wrote for a different character. Although the story translated well from character to character I thought that their voices sounded rather similar. 

The characters were all completely different but they really worked well together. Jesse was the stereotypical religious teenager, whereas Vicks was wild and adventurous and Mel was insecure but wealthy who was desperate to fit in anywhere she could. 

Friendship is a major theme of this book. Not only does the roadtrip mend the relationship between Jesse and Vicks but also created a new friendship with them and Mel. 

Book Review #571 - In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World by Joey Graceffa

My Rating: 3/5

Source: Simon and Schuster Australia

Buy: The Publisher

Goodreads

A confessional, uplifting memoir from the beloved YouTube personality.

It’s not where you begin that matters.

It's where you end up.

Twenty-three year old Joey Graceffa has captured the hearts of millions of teens and young adults through his playful, sweet, and inspirational YouTube presence (not to mention his sparkling eyes and perfect hair). Yet, Joey wasn’t always comfortable in his skin, and in this candid memoir, he thoughtfully looks back on his journey from pain to pride, self-doubt to self-acceptance.

To his fans, Joey is that best friend who always captures the brighter side of life but also isn’t afraid to get real. In the pages of his first book, he opens up about his years of struggling with family hardships and troubles at school, with cruel bullying and the sting of rejection. He tells of first loves and losses, embarrassing moments and surprising discoveries, loneliness, laughter, and life-changing forks in the road, showing us the incalculable value of finally finding and following your true passion in this world. Funny, warm-hearted, and inspiring, Joey Graceffa’s story is a welcome reminder that it’s not where you begin that matters, but where you end up.

I have to admit that prior to receiving this book I had never actually heard of Joey Graceffa. 

I loved the layout of this book. It had bits of advice at the end of each chapter, lists of random things and lots pictures. 

As I have never watched any of Joey's videos before I obviously didn't know anything at all about him prior to reading but I do feel like I got a good grasp of his personality from reading his book. 

I particularly enjoyed the childhood stories as they were interesting and similar to that of some of my extended family. Reading about all the struggles he has been through really enhances how much he really has achieved. 

The chapters about dating etc were a little too involved. For example, whole conversations or texts were listed when just a brief summary would have sufficed. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would but would recommend this book to actual fans rather than someone just wanting to read a memoir. 

Book Review #570 - No True Echo by Gareth P. Jones

My Rating: 3/5

Source: The Five Mile Press

Buy: From the publisher

Goodreads

Eddie is pretty certain nowhere could be more small-town, more boring, and more inconsequential than his home town of the Wellcome Valley. Unfortunately, he is about to be proved spectacularly wrong. 

Eddie's problems start when he sees his teacher getting shot (possibly with an elastic band) and then promptly vanish into thin air. Or maybe they start just a little bit before then, with the arrival of Scarlett, a new girl in town who seems rather too confident and mysterious for your average schoolgirl. She attracts trouble (and Eddie) like a magnet, and she's apparently only interested in two very strange things - protecting the local crackpot scientist, Dr Wolf, and telling Eddie absolutely nothing about what on earth is going on. Because things quickly go from weird to worse for Eddie, and he's about to find himself in the middle of a dangerous battle for the fate of not just himself, Scarlett and the town - but Time itself.

I didn't really know what to expect from this book as I hadn't heard anything about it and was pleasantly surprised by how fun it was to read. 

This book references Frankenstein a lot and as I have yet to read it (it is on my TBR though) many of these references went over my head. It did help though however that many of them were explained. 

This book is first and foremost about time travel, but it was the mystery element that I was most interested in. Eddie's mother died when he was younger in a car accident but information comes to light that suggests that it wasn't really an accident. 

The characters were all likable and fun and they really brought the story to life. 

The time travelling aspect was unique although a little confusing at times although overall I really enjoyed it. 

The short chapters and the smooth nature of the writing made this an absolute page turner and I finished it in next to no time. 

Book Review #569 - Moth to the Flame (Woody Creek #3) by Joy Dettman

My Rating: 4.5/5


Source: Pan MacMillan Australia


Buy: Publisher



Goodreads

Moth to the Flame picks up this epic story and we see Jenny bravely moving on with her life.

She takes refuge with Ray King, a slightly sinister, stuttering boy who disappeared from Woody Creek as a teenager but has now reappeared. 

In return for regular "wifely duties", Ray offers Jenny and her three children sanctuary at his house in Melbourne. For a time, she 

is happy. 

But then Jenny's father - the philandering impresario Archie Foote - storms back into her world and chaos reigns again. Archie recognises Jenny's brilliance and offers her a second chance - a way to escape the domestic drudgery and finally fulfill her dream. But when you have three children, one missing husband and another with a dark secret, dreams have a habit of turning into nightmares... 

The way the second book Thorn on the Rose ended I can't believe I waited so long to return to the enchanting little town of Woody Creek. 

I was a bit disappointed therefore that only a portion (the second half) was set there, the other half being set in Melbourne. 

Although I liked how this enabled us to see just how isolated and behind the times Woody Creek was in comparison to the larger city. 

As Jimmy is one of my favourite characters I liked that he played a pivotal role, but didn't like that he wasn't present much. 

Margot is one of the most irritating characters - she is as equally as bad as Sissy or Amber in the first book. 

I love how quickly this story progresses. It doesn't feel like that many pages ago that Jenny was born and now she is 34 years old and likely to be a grandparent soon (not a spoiler as I am only hypothesizing this). 

I nearly stopped reading this book twice due to plot twists I didn't agree with but couldn't stay away from it for very long as I am very much compelled to finish the entire series. 

Right now there are so many elements going on particularly with Jenny's four children and I am looking forward to when they start to merge. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It could easily have been a five star rating but I just felt that it wasn't as good as the previous two. 

This book starts in 1946 and deals with the post-war era. The way that it ends will make you want to have Wind in the Wires in your hands as soon as possible. 

Book Review #567 - Hammering Iron by L.S Lawrence

My Rating: 2.5/5



Source: Scholastic Australia





Buy: Booktopia





Goodreads






In ancient Greece, sometime between the stories of Homer and the histories of Herodotus, something happened that changed the world. Two brothers, Niko and Paramon, one destined to serve a lord and the other to serve a merchant, are forced apart. One must stay; the other must follow his lord wherever he goes. Paramon is thrown back on his own resources, but will do everything he can to make his own way. And his destiny is to discover a secret that will change everything, a secret that men will not hesitate to kill for.

Since I started reading George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, High Fantasy is no longer a genre that I avoid. 

I am going to split this book into thirds to review as this is how the book is written. 

The first third basically just introduced the characters, the basic premise and the somewhat confusing landscape. I know there was a map at the beginning of the book, but most of the cities mentioned were not even on the map. 

The second third was where my interest in the book started to decrease. 

There wasn't any action apart from Paramon's innovative ideas in sword making. 

There was also an excessive amount of inner dialogue which slowed the pacing of the book. 

This book isn't very character focused. There are not very many characters at all. The protagonist Paramon did not develop much over the course of the book. 

The third portion of the book is also the third location  where the story picks up a bit. This was my favourite portion of the book. 

Overall, I felt like this was predominately a historical book - a what if of the period between Herodotus and Homer's writings with a story weaved around it. 

I didn't feel like these two aspects gelled well together as was necessary to make this book work. As a consequence, I found this book rather confusing. 

Book Review #566 - When You're Back (Rosemary Beach #12) by Abbi Glines

My Rating: 3.5/5




Source: Simon and Schuster Australia





Buy: TBD





Goodreads

Love is a journey - Rosemary Beach is the destination...The future is bright for Reese Ellis. She has Mase Colt-Manning, the man of her dreams, and a family she didn't know existed until her long-lost father arrived on her doorstep in Rosemary Beach. Everything is finally falling into place. While Reese is visiting her new family in Chicago, Mase spends time with his "cousin," Aida, who has worshipped him since childhood. Unrelated by blood, Mase and Aida have been raised to think of each other as family. But when Reese returns, she can tell something isn't quite right. Aida clearly resents Reese and excels at manipulative little games. And though Mase is unsuspecting, Reese knows Aida doesn't love him like a cousin should...

This is the 12th book in the Rosemary Beach series. I had not read the previous 11 books and I had not problems understanding this book. They seem to be more companions to one another rather than follow a continuous plot so don't feel worried about reading them in order. 

This book is first and foremost a romance book. This is not usually my type of book as I prefer romance to be more of a sub-plot but I found that I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. 

As I hadn't read the other 11 books the characters obviously weren't familiar to be but I found that I grasped pretty quickly the dynamics of it all. 

The characters were a little stereotyped but that didn't really bother me as it wasn't that much of an issue. 

The plot seemed a little all over the place. The cousin disappears for a large chunk of the book and didn't turn out to be as big an issue as the synopsis would suggest. 

Book Review #565 - The Sound of Whales by Kerr Thomson

My Rating: 3.5/5


Source: Scholastic Australia


Buy: TBD




Goodreads

Three children are spending their summer on a wild Scottish island. Fraser is desperate for adventure; Hayley is fed up she's even there; while Dunny spends his days staring out to sea. He hasn't said a word in years. But everything changes with the discovery of two bodies on the beach: a whale and a man. Fraser and Hayley see a mystery-adventure to be solved, but Dunny is inconsolable. And in the end, it will take someone who listens to the sea to put it right.

I loved that this book was set in Scotland as it was a very atmospheric setting. I loved that it was set on a small, remote island as the ocean plays a huge role in the book. 

The three main children worked well together as characters even though they were all completely different from one another. 

Fraser, is a native of Nim, the small Scottish island where the story takes place. He is sick of the boring lifestyle Nim provides and craves adventure. 

Hayley, is an American tourist who is unwillingly thrust upon Nim due to her mother's job. She is outgoing and confident. 

Dunny is Fraser's younger autistic brother who doesn't talk. He is mysterious, unpredictable and his strained relationship with Fraser was a fantastic sub-plot. 

The plot was well developed with a lot of twists and turns. The mystery element was great without being overly predictable. 

As you can probably tell from the title of the book, whales do play a crucial role in the story which I loved. 

Book Review #564 - Seven Days by Eve Ainsworth

My Rating: 3/5




Source: Scholastic Australia



Buy: TBD




Goodreads

This bold, compelling and topical story about bullying is told from the perspective of the bully and the bullied. You won't be able put it down until you've reached the conclusion. Jess's life is difficult enough without Kez picking on her – it’s turning school from a safe place into a nightmare. Kez has plenty of problems too but she finds comfort in knowing she is better off than Jess - or so she thinks. A hard-hitting and even-handed look at bullying and the issues facing teenagers today.

This book follows the lives of two teenage girls Kez and Jess. One is a relentless bully and the other is the spineless victim. I loved the split narration as it gave perspective to both sides of the story. 

Bullying is a really important subject and there really needs to be more books in the YA genre addressing this. 

None of the characters really seemed developed enough. The quality of the writing and its style really made up for this though. 

Overall this was a neat, short, captivating read that just fell short on depth. 

Book Review #563 - Thirst by Lizzie Wilcock

My Rating: 4/5


Source: Scholastic Australia


Buy: Booktopia


Goodreads






Karanda Hooke doesn't need anybody or anything. On her way to her sixth foster home, a crash leaves her stranded in the outback with only a backpack, a bottle of water and a faded picture of the mother she hasn't seen in years. This is her chance to escape her old life. There's only one thing in her way... eight year-old Solomon. 



I love survivalist type stories (both fictional and real life) and so I was interested to read this book. 


I loved that it was set in Australia (even if it was the only state I have yet to visit) as being Australian it made it much more easy to relate to. 


The book was a little unbelievable at times especially concerning the fact that a 14 and 8 year old were missing for who knows amount of time and no one seemed to be looking for them. Solomon's encyclopedia type knowledge of the Australian Outback was also a little unbelievable. 


The plot was rather basic. I felt like there needed to be more plot twists. 


I discovered the link between the two children a good 100 or so pages before it was revealed so in that sense it was rather predictable. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I would recommend this book to anyone other than vegetarians or vegans. 

Book Review #561 - Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

A bitter-sweet, coming-of-age novel that's perfect for fans of John Green and Stephen Chbosky.


When he's sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over.

But when he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers - he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn't have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure.


Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about true friendships, ill-fated love and the rare miracle of second chances.



There are so many young adult books around at the moment about sick teens but what makes this book different to those is that the teens in this book aren't given an definite death sentence which means they are all hopeful of recovery. 


The book is told through split narration of the two protagonists Sadie and Lane. They are both completely different yet equally intriguing characters. They complimented each other really well. 


Sadie seemed to accept her predicament and settled well into the environment at Latham House whereas Lane constantly mourned for his previous life. 


The only negative thing I can say about this book is that the ending followed all the previous books I have read in this genre and in that sense it was rather predictable. 


I really liked the setting of Latham House and apart from the constant coughing and the lack of dress code, it seemed like a normal school. 

My Rating: 3.5/5

Source: Simon & Schuster Australia

Buy: TBD

Goodreads

Book Review #555 - Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At 

fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard 

and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful 

husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly

disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life--and 

her relationship with her family and the world--forever.

At once beautiful and terrifying, Still Alice is a moving and vivid 

depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease that is as 

compelling as A Beautiful Mind and as unforgettable as Judith 

Guest's Ordinary People.

My Rating: 3.5/5

I received this book for review from **

I found this book a lot more interesting than I thought I would. Contemporary novels about serious issues are not usually my type of book but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. 

Alzheimer's disease was an illness that I had limited knowledge about prior to reading this book. I wouldn't say I am an expert on it now or anything but I am definitely better informed than I was before. 

What surprised me the most though was how quick the disease took hold and how quickly she went downhill. The way that Alzheimer's just completely took over her life was frightening. 

Because this book is told from Alice's point of view, we (the reader) are given front row seats to the deterioration of the unforgiving disease. 

On top of Alice dealing with her shocking diagnosis and learning how to live with it she also had to deal with the family reactions of her career orientated husband and her youngest daughter. 

The husband irritated me from the very start. He wasn't supportive at all and was selfish the entire time. He would liked to have just pretended that everything was fine as long as it didn't effect his life. 

Lydia, Alice's youngest daughter was the most intriguing character for mine. She wanted a life different from the one her parents had expected of her and wasn't scared of failure. 

I am now looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation. 

Book Review #553 - I Was Here by Gayle Forman

From the bestselling author of If I Stay - this summer's YA blockbuster film.

This characteristically powerful novel follows eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend's shocking suicide.

As Cody numbly searches for answers as to why Meg took her own life, she begins a journey of self-discovery which takes her to a terrifying precipice, and forces her to question not only her relationship with the Meg she thought she knew, but her own understanding of life, love, death and forgiveness.

A phenomenally moving story, I Was Here explores the sadly all-too-familiar issue of suicide and self-harm, addressing it in an authentic way with sensitivity and honesty.

My Rating: 3.5/5

I received this book for review from **

Like with her previous novel If I Stay, Gayle Forman writes about death in an unique way. 

My favourite aspect of this book was the mystery. Why did she kill herself? Who knew about her plans? It was for that reason the ending fell a little flat for me. 

The romance between Cody and Ben was nothing but distracting. I have never been as disinterested in the romantic element in a book than I was with this one. 

I really liked the development of character relationships particularly between Cody and her mother. 

Overall, this is a book about serious and sensitive issues that are a common threat in today's society but in a honest and smart way. 

I also found this book really informative as I now feel better educated on these topics that I previously didn't know too much about or had stereotypical views about.