Tag: YA

I Know What You’re Thinking – Phill Featherstone

~ Eden Haslam ~ Leave a comment

Beth and Cameron meet when they’re children. As they grow up they realise that they have an amazing gift: each can make contact with the mind of the other, a skill that comes in handy when Cameron is kidnapped by a nefarious company. Set in a near future where all adult human genomes are public knowledge, an unscrupulous organisation sets itself up to secretly use living organ donors for rich clients. When Cameron is targeted, Beth – alongside close friends and family – must race against the clock to try to locate and save him. Can she find him in time? Can she free him? And if so, what price must they both pay?

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Review: This was an enjoyable and engaging read. I was a little concerned about the pacing to start with as it throws you in to the action quickly but it maintained this momentum throughout and the high-stakes nature of the story really captures your attention.

I loved the almost sci-fi element of a near future where data is being used for morally questionable scientific procedures. It managed to stay believable whilst taking an interesting view on the possibilities of how data could be collected and used.

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Madness – Paityn E. Parque

~ Eden Haslam ~ Leave a comment

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Synopsis: When Ezra dies, she thinks that will be the end. What she does not expect is to wake up in the Battles, a twisted game where people must kill to earn blood points in order to escape. In the Battles you have unlimited lives, the only way to truly escape the game is death by suicide.

As she figures out to survive, Ezra must decide whether to trust those around her. Allies are lost and gained as time goes on but, as she begins to find her place in this brutal world, Ezra starts to lose herself. When it is kill or be killed morality and humanity seem to become less important and as Ezra gets stronger, the harder it is for her to keep control.

Review: This book is dark, it’s the Hunger Games meets Alice in Borderland with a real sense of hopelessness. Although it does have similarities with various survival game narratives, the plot does not feel too derivative, likely because of the acceptance that there is no escape. The chances of buying your way out of the Battles are so slim, that people need to find a new purpose.

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Embers – Josephine Greenland

~ Eden Haslam ~ 1 Comment

Two siblings, one crime. One long-buried secret.

17-year-old Ellen never wanted a holiday. What is there to do in a mining town in the northernmost corner of the country, with no one but her brother Simon – a boy with Asperger’s and obsessed with detective stories – for company?

Nothing, until they stumble upon a horrifying crime scene that brings them into a generations-long conflict between the townspeople and the native Sami. When the police dismiss Simon’s findings, he decides to track down the perpetrator himself. Ellen reluctantly helps, drawn in by a link between the crime and the siblings’ own past. What started off as a tedious holiday soon escalates into a dangerous journey through hatred, lies and self-discovery that makes Ellen question not only the relationship to her parents, but also her own identity.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Review: My favourite thing about this book was Ellen and Simon’s relationship. It could have easily become gimmicky or stereotypical, especially with the representation of neurodiversity, but instead their sibling relationship was strong and caring. It was nice to see how they balanced each other out – Ellen helping Simon navigate social situations and Simon pushing Ellen out of her comfort zone with his insistence on solving the crime. Also, it was good to see teenage characters being more than simply moody and dramatic.

However, because of Ellen and Simon’s ages, some parts of the story felt unrealistic, such as them being sent on holiday on their own, which takes you out of the atmosphere.

The sense of place is so important to this story and the description of the location and culture was very well done. I could really imagine the places Ellen and Simon were and loved learned about Sami culture through their eyes. Addressing a mystery alongside discussions of aboriginal cultures and heritage added another layer to the story which made it interesting to read.

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Dragonfly Girl – Marti Leimbach

~ Eden Haslam ~ 1 Comment

In this spellbinding thriller and YA debut from bestselling author Marti Leimbach, Kira Adams has discovered a cure for death—and it may just cost her life.

Things aren’t going well for Kira. At home, she cares for her mother and fends off debt collectors. At school, she’s awkward and shy. Plus, she may flunk out if she doesn’t stop obsessing about science, her passion and the one thing she’s good at . . . very good at.

When she wins a prestigious science contest she draws the attention of the celebrated professor Dr. Gregory Munn (as well as his handsome assistant), leading to a part-time job in a top-secret laboratory.

The job is mostly cleaning floors and equipment, but one night, while running her own experiment, she revives a lab rat that has died in her care.

One minute it is dead, the next it is not.

Suddenly she’s the remarkable wunderkind, the girl who can bring back the dead. Everything is going her way. But it turns out that science can be a dangerous business, and Kira is swept up into a world of international rivalry with dark forces that threaten her life.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Review: I really loved this book. So much happens but it doesn’t feel rushed, instead each of the three sections are well-considered and allow for the introduction of a range of locations and characters. Whilst some may find the three sections of the book too disconnected, I felt that they allowed the plot to move forward in a way that makes this story feel very unique.

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The Island – C.L. Taylor

~ Eden Haslam ~ Leave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Synopsis: Whilst on a group holiday with their parents to Thailand, six teenagers – Jessie, Danny, Honor, Milo, Meg, and Jeffers – get stranded on an island after their guide has a stroke and dies. Over the next 6 days tensions rise as the phobias of each of the characters come true and the group turns on each other to try and figure out what is going on and who is to blame.

Review: This story helped remind me why I enjoy YA books so much. It was easy to read, fast-paced and completely gripping – I read the entire thing in one sitting because I was so desperate to see what was going to happen.

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