Audiobook Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Shut Out

Series: None
Length: 7 hours, 19 minutes
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Release date: 5th June 2014
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Goodreads synopsis:

The girls of Hamilton High School are going on strike.

Sick of the rivalry between their boyfriends' American football and soccer teams, Lissa and her friends are determined that the boys won't see any action from them until they put an end to their immature pranks.

But Lissa hasn't counted on a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first ...

I read this one as an audiobook, and I actually think I ended up enjoying the story more because of this. Kate Reinders did a fantastic job of narrating this story – she was expressive and emotive, and despite her high pitched voice, I could tell when she was reading the dialogue of male characters. The performance was enjoyable and I whizzed through the 7 hour, 20 minute audiobook so fast! (Well, in 7 hours and 20 minutes, obviously, but it didn't feel that long!)

Review: My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece

Series: None
Pages: 226
Publisher: Orion
Release date: 1st March 2011
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Goodreads synopsis:

Ten-year-old Jamie Matthews has just moved to the Lake District with his Dad and his teenage sister, Jasmine for a 'Fresh New Start'. Five years ago his sister's twin, Rose, was blown up by a terrorist bomb. His parents are wrecked by their grief, Jasmine turns to piercing, pink hair and stops eating. The family falls apart. But Jamie hasn't cried in all that time. To him Rose is just a distant memory. Jamie is far more interested in his cat, Roger, his birthday Spiderman T-shirt, and in keeping his new friend Sunya a secret from his dad. And in his deep longing and unshakeable belief that his Mum will come back to the family she walked out on months ago. When he sees a TV advert for a talent show, he feels certain that this will change everything and bring them all back together once and for all.

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece is told from the perspective of ten-year-old Jamie, whose older sister Rose was killed in a set of terrorist bombings in London five years previously, and whose ashes now sit in a golden urn on the mantelpiece.
It's the story of life after loss, family and friendship despite differences. It's a coming-of-age story with some seriously dark and deeply sad foundations.
Despite the heaviness of the topics it discusses, however, the book feels almost hopeful. It's set in Ambleside in the Lake District (coincidentally one of my favourite places on the planet) and begins when Jamie is about to start a new school, far from the London home he grew up in.

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys

Series: Raven Boys #1
Pages: 454
Publisher: Scholastic (UK)
Release date: 19th September 2012
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Goodreads synopsis:

Even if Blue hadn't been told her true love would die if she kissed him, she would stay away from boys. Especially the ones from the local private school. Known as Raven Boys, they only mean trouble.

But this is the year that everything will change for Blue.

This is the year that she will be drawn into the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys. And the year Blue will discover that magic does exist.

This is the year she will fall in love.

The Raven Boys is one that I've been wanting to pick up for several years now, but for some reason it never made it to the top of the list. I started reading it at long last because I would be meeting Maggie at YALC and I wanted to have read some of her stuff before meeting her (she's lovely, by the way. If you have the chance to meet her, go do it!). That and I've had friends constantly telling me how much I would love her writing.
I was only a couple of chapters in when I could see just how right my friends were – I could tell early on that I was going to adore the Raven Boys!

Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Series: Truthwitch #1
Pages: 415
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release date: 5th January 2016
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Goodreads synopsis:

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

This book was one of those rare times that I was ridiculously excited to read it, despite having never picked up a book by this author before. It was the kind of excitement reserved for Neil Gaiman, Sarah J Maas, Matt Haig and David Levithan.
It was a kind of excitement that perhaps gave this book shoes that were just a little too big for it to fill. Expectations and hype are dangerous things, and unfortunately, I don't think they gave Truthwitch much of a chance.

Review: The Next Together by Lauren James

The Next Together

Series: The Next Together #1
Pages: 356
Publisher: Walker Books
Release date: 3rd September 2015
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Goodreads synopsis:

How many times can you lose the person you love?

Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again, century after century. Each time, their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.

Spanning the Crimean War, the Siege of Carlisle and the near-future of 2019 and 2039 they find themselves sacrificing their lives to save the world. But why do they keep coming back? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace?

Maybe the next together will be different...

A powerful and epic debut novel for teenagers about time-travel, fate and the timelessness of first love. The Next Together is told through a mixture of regular prose, diary entries, letters, "original" historical documents, news reports and internet articles.

The Next Together is marketed as a sort of time-travel romance, but I’m not 100% sure if that’s entirely accurate. It is a romance, I suppose, in that there is a relationship between the two main characters, Matthew and Katherine, but I wouldn’t say that it’s the main focus of the book. Not really.
The relationship between the two characters seems to be a catalyst for other events throughout history. Each time the characters come together – be it in the 18th Century, or the 21st – they affect the events around them. The story seems to be more about what’s happening around the characters than about the relationship itself, especially as we know that the relationship will happen in one way or another each time they appear together in history.

The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett **Audiobook Review**

The Painted Man
(The Warded Man, US)

Series: The Demon Cycle #1
Pages: 544
Publisher: Voyager
Release date: 1st April 2009
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Goodreads synopsis:

As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night.

I read this as an audiobook, narrated by Colin Mace. I've only recently started getting into audiobooks, and this is actually only the second novel I've listened to in that format (the others being non-fiction titles such as 'Fry's English Delight' and the like). I didn't think I would be able to immerse myself in the story properly if I was to listen to it rather than read it, but I've found that not to be the case – especially with The Painted Man (also known as The Warded Man).

You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour **Review**

You Know Me Well

Series: None
Pages: 256
Publisher: Macmillan Children's
Release date: 2nd June 2016
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Thanks to the publisher for my review copy of this book

Goodreads synopsis:

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, the best-selling author of Every Day and co-author of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green), You Know Me Well is a deeply honest story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.

Although this wasn't my favourite David Levithan collaboration novel, I still really enjoyed it, and I loved the fresh angle that Nina LaCour gave it.
At the very beginning of the book, I was convinced that this was going to be quite similar to the 'David and Rachel' books – boy meets girl at an evening event and they have a one-night adventure where, despite their differences, they begin to fall for one another. But no, this was not that. For one, the boy meets girl had a different purpose – Kate and Mark quickly become friends in order to help the other overcome their separate relationship woes. And another thing? Both of them are gay. That's right – a lesbian in a David Levithan novel! Thank you, Nina! This is a rare occurrence for David Levithan, his books mostly being about gay boys (not that I don’t love David, because I really do!).

The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout **Review**

The Problem With Forever

Series: None
Pages: 384
Publisher: MIRA Ink
Release date: 1st June 2016
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Thanks to the publisher for my review copy of this book.

Goodreads synopsis:

From #1 NY Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes a deeply powerful and emotional story about struggling to overcome your past and find where you belong.

When Mallory was a kid, she was bounced from one horrible foster home to another. At thirteen, a terrible accident got her removed from the group home where she was living to a hospital where she met the parents who would adopt her. But when she starts a new school and encounters an old friend from the foster system sparks start to fly.

I went into The Problem with Forever knowing very little about it. I often quite like to do this – it means that even any details revealed in the synopsis are a surprise, and often that’s a good thing. All I knew about this book was that it’s a contemporary YA about a girl who was in foster care. I possibly knew a little more than that when I first requested it, but that was all I could remember when I did eventually start reading.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon **Review**

The Bone Season

Series: The Bone Season #1
Pages: 452
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release date: 20th August 2013
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Goodreads synopsis:

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

My initial reaction to The Bone Season was definitely one of excitement. I knew it was mostly set in Oxford (albeit an alternative, future version of Oxford), and this being a city I both love and know fairly well, I was looking forward to seeing how it would be adapted for a fantasy novel. I was also quite excited by the idea of different kinds of clairvoyants, or voyants for short. Add to that that the main character was obviously in constant danger just for being what she is ... I was expecting to be immediately hooked. And I was. The beginning was instantly engaging. Straight away you learn so much about Paige, her abilities and how she puts them to use in the criminal underground of Central London, now known as Cohort I. The opening chapters are full of action, and it was fairly easy to get to grips with the world and its inhabitants.

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern **Review**

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Series: Flawed #1
Pages: 400
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Release date: 24th March 2016
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Thanks to the publisher for my review copy of the book.

Goodreads synopsis:

The stunning YA debut from internationally bestselling author Cecelia Ahern.

Celestine North lives a perfect life. She’s a model daughter and sister, she’s well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she’s dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.

But then Celestine encounters a situation in which she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule and now faces life-changing repercussions. She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found FLAWED.

In this stunning novel, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society in which perfection is paramount and mistakes are punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything.

I first read Cecelia Ahern when I was about 17, starting off with A Place Called Here, a book that I really loved. Despite that, though, I haven't really read too many of her books, mostly because I rarely read the kind of books she writes. But when I heard she was publisher her first YA novel, my interest was immediately piqued, and I knew I had to read it. Her style was always easy to get on with when I did read anything of hers, so I expected it to be similar with Flawed. If anything, I think Flawed was even easier to get on with than her adult books, and I was drawn into the story almost immediately.
But it wasn't until things started to go seriously wrong that I became totally engrossed.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken **Review**

The Darkest Minds

Series: Darkest Minds #1
Pages: 488
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release date: 18th December 2012

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Goodreads synopsis:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.

I got the third and final book in this trilogy for Christmas, so I figured it was about time that I started reading the first book, and I'm so glad that this was my first book of the year. 

The Darkest Minds was incredibly easy to get into. I read the first 40 pages without even blinking (okay, maybe I did blink, but it felt like I didn't), and before I knew it, I was totally addicted to the world and its characters. The story is set up really well at the beginning, to the point where I wasn't ever really confused about what was going on; there was just enough information that I had a good grasp of what had happened to the country and how it looked now, after disaster had struck. 

Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers **Review**

Dying to Know You

Series: None
Pages: 288
Publisher: Definitions
Release date: 2nd May 2013
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Goodreads synopsis:

Karl, aged seventeen, is hopelessly in love. But the object of his affections, Firella, demands proof, and poses him a series of questions regarding his attitude to the many sides of love. But Karl is dyslexic, and convinced that if Firella finds out, she will think he is stupid, and unworthy of her, and leave him.

So Karl asks a local writer to help him construct his replies - and an unlikely, but extremely touching, friendship develops between the two men. They both come to learn a great deal about about life from a very different perspective, and when an act of violence shatters their calm, they find their respective appraisal of life shifting in profound ways.

Dying to Know You is perhaps most unique in the way it has been written. When I first read the synopsis, I expected it to be from the point of view of the teenage boy, but it isn't. The entire story is written from the point of view of a 75-year-old man – a writer – and it soon becomes clear that the novel itself is supposed to be a kind of fictional non-fiction.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs **Review**

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1
Pages: 352
Publisher: Quirk
Release date:
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Goodreads synopsis:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

For some reason, now totally unknown to me, I kept putting off beginning this trilogy. Maybe I just thought I wasn’t in the mood for this kind of story, or something equally as silly, but I really wish I’d gotten into it sooner. Though, I suppose you could say that I don’t have to wait for the other two books to be released! That is definitely a plus to getting into this so late – I’m already in need of book two (hurry up, postman)!

The story begins with a series of family tales, passed down from grandparent to grandson. The tales resemble fairy tales in a way, but woven into Jacob’s grandfather’s childhood and filled with monsters and peculiar children. They could easily be taken as metaphorical for the holocaust, which is something that Jacob’s grandfather and his family faced during the war, having being brought up in a Jewish family in Europe, and this is exactly how Jacob sees it once he gets a little older and stops believing in the monsters and the fantastical children of his grandfather’s tales.

All of the Above by James Dawson **Review**

All of the Above

Series: None
Pages: 319
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Release date: 3rd September 2015
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Thanks to the publisher for my review copy of this book.

Goodreads synopsis:

This is a funny and moving love story about friends, first loves and self-discovery by Queen of Teen 2014.

When sixteen-year-old Toria Bland arrives at her new school she needs to work out who her friends are in a crazy whirl of worry, exam pressure and anxiety over fitting in. Things start looking up when Toria meets the funny and foul-mouthed Polly, who's the coolest girl that Toria has ever seen. Polly and the rest of the 'alternative' kids take Toria under their wing. And that's when she meets the irresistible Nico Mancini, lead singer of a local band - and it's instalove at first sight! Toria likes Nico, Nico likes Toria, but then there's Polly...love and friendship have a funny way of going round in circles.

All of the above really does what it says on the tin; there is a lot going on in this story.
It begins when Victoria 'Toria' Grand moves from her previous home to Brompton-on-sea, a dreary, forgotten seaside town, and starts at a new school as the New Girl, which immediately makes her the focus of attention in such a tight community where everyone seemingly know everyone. Making friends is the biggest worry in Toria's life, so when she meets Daisy and her group of friends, she immediately latches onto them, hoping she'll find her 'tribe' in them. After a few weeks of only hanging out with them at Sixth Form and being left to herself on the weekends, she's finally invited out with them.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven **Review**

All the Bright Places

Series: None
Pages: 388
Publisher: Penguin Books (UK)
Release date: 8th January 2015
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Goodreads synopsis:

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all. And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink.

I first read All the Bright Places at the beginning of this year, so this review is coming from having read it through for a second time. Although, obviously, my second reading felt a little different to the first (I remembered the story quite well), it was just as enjoyable, and just as devastating.

Even though I read the book when it was first released, at the beginning of the year, I knew immediately it would turn out to be one of my favourites of 2015, if not one of my favourites of all time.
I was gripped right from the very first chapter – Violet and Finch had wiggled their way into my heart in the first few pages, and not only did they stay there, their presence grew until I felt totally consumed by them. I can usually relate to characters fairly easily, but it’s rare for me to feel quite as attached to characters as I felt with Violet and Finch. I think that’s one of the things that make this story both so beautiful and so heart-breaking.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr **Review**

How to Save a Life

Series: None
Pages: 411
Publisher: Usborne
Release date: 1st September 2012
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Goodreads synopsis:

Jill's life lost all meaning when her dad died. Friends, boyfriend, college – nothing matters any more. Then her mom drops a bombshell: she's going to adopt a baby.

Mandy is desperate for her life to change. Seventeen, pregnant and leaving home, she is sure of only one thing – her baby must never have a life like hers, whatever it takes.

As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn both how to hold on and how to let go, finding that nothing is as easy - or as difficult - as it seems.

Heart-achingly beautiful, moving and funny, How to Save a Life has been named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2011, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2011 and an American Library Assocation 2012 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults.

I bought How to Save a Life on my Kindle maybe about 3 years ago and then promptly forgot it was on there. As much as I love my Kindle, it doesn't live up to the feel of reading a physical book, so the books that I had only as eBooks kind of got forgotten. Recently, though, I have been reading more and more eBooks again, and I went searching through my device for something I had forgotten about. I wanted something where I didn't remember what the synopsis said ... a mystery read, if you will. How to Save a Life is the book that I chose. I'm so glad that I did.

The chapters alternate between two teenage girls, Mandy and Jill, and tell each of their stories, gradually merging them into one. The first thing that struck me about these two characters is how utterly real they are. I was immediately drawn into their lives, and I felt not just like a reader, but kind of like their friend. I was allowed in on their biggest secrets, fears and flaws (of which they have many).
Both girls have suffered in their recent pasts, and as the story develops we see more and more of what has happened to them, particularly Mandy – I could never imagine being in her situation and how terrible it must be.

Angel by L. A. Weatherly **Review**

Angel

Series: Angel #1
Pages: 512
Publisher: Usborne
Release date: 1st October 2010
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Goodreads synopsis:

Angels are all around us: beautiful, awe-inspiring, irresistible.

Ordinary mortals yearn to catch a glimpse of one of these stunning beings and thousands flock to The Church of Angels to feel their healing touch.
But what if their potent magnetism isn't what it seems?
Willow knows she's different from other girls. And not just because she loves tinkering around with cars.
Willow has a gift. She can look into people's futures, know their dreams, their hopes and their regrets, just by touching them. But she has no idea where she gets this power from.

Until she meets Alex…
Alex is one of the few who know the truth about angels. He knows Willow's secret and is on a mission to stop her.
The dark forces within Willow make her dangerous – and irresistible.
In spite of himself, Alex finds he is falling in love with his sworn enemy.

Angel is a pretty hefty book, weighing in at an impressive 512 pages, but the first thing I noticed was that it didn’t feel like a 500 page book. It felt more modestly-sized. I sped through it. I suppose what probably helped with the illusion was the face that I read it as an eBook, where the size of the novel can be judged only by the small percentage at the bottom of the screen. But I didn’t pay too much attention to this for most of the book.

Sophie Someone by Hayley Long **Review**

Sophie Someone by Hayley Long

Series: None
Pages: 256
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Release date: 3rd September 2015
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Goodreads synopsis:

A remarkable tale of confusion and betrayal - and a very special girl called Sophie.

'Some stories are hard to tell.
Even to your very best friend.
And some words are hard to get out of your mouth.
Because they spell out secrets that are too huge to be spoken out loud.
But if you bottle them up, you might burst.
So here's my story. Told the only way I dare tell it.'

Sophie Nieuwenleven is sort of English and sort of Belgian. Sophie and her family came to live in Belgium when she was only four or five years old, but she's fourteen now and has never been quite sure why they left England in the first place. Then, one day, Sophie makes a startling discovery. Finally Sophie can unlock the mystery of who she really is. This is a story about identity and confusion - and feeling so utterly freaked out that you just can't put it into words. But it's also about hope. And the belief that, somehow, everything will work out OK.

SOPHIE SOMEONE is a tale of well-intentioned but stupid parenting, shock, acceptance and, ultimately, forgiveness, written in a brave, memorable and unique language all of its own.

A friend of mine gave me her spare review copy of this book and told me it was a fantastic read and I should definitely read it soon. With a recommendation as stunning as that, how could I do anything else? I made it the next book on my list!

Paper Towns by John Green **Review**

Paper Towns

Series: None
Pages: 305
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release date: 3rd May 2010
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Goodreads synopsis:

Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

My experience of reading Paper Towns was, rather poetically, quite similar to the main character, Quentin's, experience of Margo Roth Spiegelman; my initial image of the book, my expectation of what it was and what it would be like at the beginning, did not match what it turned out to be. But much like Margo, this was not too much of a disappointment; it just took a bit of adjustment.

Sojourn by Jana Oliver **Review**

Sojourn

Series: Time Rovers #1
Pages: 367
Publisher: Dragon Moon Press
Release date: 1st May 2006
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Goodreads synopsis:

Winner of 7 awards including the prestigious Prism Award for Time Travel

London, September 1888. An aged Queen Victoria rules. The threat of anarchy hovers in the air. A new kind of evil lurks in the back alleys of Whitechapel. Enter Jacynda Lassiter, a Time Rover on a mission—find an overdue ‘tourist’ and return him to 2057 before he changes history.

Victorian London is a dangerous place for the unwary. Mysterious shape-shifters haunt the streets, making friend and foe indistinguishable. When a fellow Time Rover is murdered, Jacynda’s mission becomes personal. Can she trust the two gentlemen who come to her aid, or do they harbor their own dark secrets?

In a few days, Jack the Ripper will add to his bloody legacy. But old Jack isn’t the only threat in Whitechapel. Unless Jacynda can outwit a madman, her Victorian sojourn will rewrite history—and end at the point of a blade.

Occasionally I will start a book without reading the synopsis or having known anything about the story in the first place. Sojourn is a fantastic example of when this worked. I started reading it because I’d forgotten my book on a day at work, and decided to remedy the situation by downloading the Kindle App to my laptop and downloading one of my purchased books.
After employing the eeny-meeny-miney-mo tactic, I finally settled on Sojourn. Not that I was upset about this – I read the Demon Trapper’s Daughter series a couple of years ago and adored it, so I had high hopes for Sojourn, even though it seemed like it would be an entirely different sort of journey.