Roxy's Baby by Cathy MacPhail

Date started: 28/3/2013
Date Finished: 30/3/2013
Rated: Five out of Five
Format: Paperback
Series: No
Owned: Yes

I love this book.  I had this book a few years ago and then through unforeseen circumstances I lost it. It was only the other day when I remembered about this book.

Roxys baby is about a 14 year old girl who gets herself pregnant and because she scared of what her family would say, she runs away to london where she meets a couple who tell her that they look after girls in her situation.  Little did she know that their kindness has evil consequences.

I like stories about teenage pregnancy so when I got this as a gift a few years back I was in awe of what I read. Based loosely on a true story, I was shocked on what I read but still read it over and over again.  I was gutted when I lost it and forgot all about it until the other day when I remembered it while buying another book.

While reading, I felt like I was the character and that I was living her life and pacing was perfect as you could follow her life as well as others. I was a bit disappointed about the lack of pregnancy details but I guess it was the questions asked that made the story. I give this five out of five

Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

Date Started: 23/3/2013

Date Finished: 28/3/2013

Rated: Five out of Five

Format: Paperback

Series: Yes

Owned: Yes

OMG!!! This book blew me away!  For a starters I love ballet so any story with  ballet as its theme gets three stars before I even open the first page, but this book just blew me away.

Dance of shadows is about Vanessa (nice to know that some authors use normal names still), who is a ballerina who sets off to the elite ballet school for two reasons; one to dance and two to find out what happened to her sister three years before.  

I had seen this book on the shelf at one shop and made a mental note to add this to my TBR list but by the time I got home I forgot the title...I know I'm not good at remembering titles...so I went onto the site of the shop and went through ALL the books before I found the title and quickly put it on my TBR list hoping that I would buy it ASAP.  Once I had bought it, I put it straight I to my my list of books to read.

As I said before, ballet themed novels get three stars before I even open the cover...the cover is amazing and I hoped it wouldn't disappoint...how right I was...disappointment was the last thing on my mind when reading this.  Throughout the book I was transported to the world of the new york ballet academy and I felt like I was part of the class.  The way Yelena Black described the ballet moves and classes, made me picture the moves perfectly.  It surprised me when I found out that Black isn't a ballerina by trade because the way she described everything in the book perfectly sounded like a professional ballerina.   

The characters in the book were extremely likeable and believable and the way that the story was told in third person made it feel like I was like a fly on the wall listening and watching everything that happened.  The pacing of the story was amazing and flowed fluently as if the days were real and clearly defined.

Dance of shadows is one of those book were I couldn't guess what was going to happen next and that's what I like about books like that, they keep you guessing what is going to happen next.  I was surprised when she mixed in the element of demons into the story...most ballet themed novels are about already established ballets and even though Dance of Shadows had a ballet in it, the demon element was a nice twist and refreshing to read.   I would recommend this novel to people who like ballet and to those who don't...this novel is amazing and that's why I give it Five out of Five

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

Date started: 18/3/2013

Date finished: 23/3/2013

Rated: Three out of Five

Format: Paperback

Series: No

Owned: Yes

Wow!  This book is amazing...well I say amazing but I only gave it four stars.   Why you may ask?  Because some bits of it confused me but not too much otherwise I would have put this as a DNF!

Pretty Girl-13 is about a girl scout who got kidnapped in the woods of her girl scout camp only to emerge three years later and three years older with no memory of the last three years.  Everything's changed for Angie, her mother, her father, her friends, herself!  So she goes to a psychologist who helps her put the pieces together.

This book jumped out at me for two reasons...one, she is a girl scout (I'm a scout...I know scouts and girl scouts are very different but they come from virtually the same family). And two because of the whole missing memory thing.

I had never read anything from Liz Coley so I didn't have any expectations of her writing.   This book is in third person which for me is quite weird because I'm more used to reading novels in first person but I went along with it and wasn't disappointed.  Also the way did her research showed in this book as the whole theme was  about Dissociative identity disorder (DID) or Multiple Personality Disorder.

There was parts of the book where I read it and could tell what was going to happen next and for me that spoilt it because it wasn't as much of a shock  when I was right.  Also some points within the multiple personalities, confused me of what their role was.  

Liz Coley chose to include some themes which could be a bit in appropriate depending on the time and place you read it.  Overall I give this book Four out of Five.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Date started: 16/3/2013
Date finished: 17/3/2013
Rated: Two out of Five
Format: Paperback
Series: No
Owned: Yes


I started reading this book and within two hours I was nearly half way finished.  I have never heard of Maureen Johnson before I watched a youtuber say show it and then I thought it would be a good read...I now know why it has mixed reviews...I am the same...it's not good but it's not bad.

13 Little Blue Envelopes is a book about Ginny, who gets a letter from her aunt explaining to her that she has to go collect a box contains 12 more envelopes and in these envelopes are instructions and items to help her along the way.  Unbeknown to Ginny in the beginning, her aunt is dead and once she knows this, she goes of this mad hunt with instructions in the blue envelopes.

I like this book for two reasons.  1. I like the way we get to read what the aunt wrote instead of Ginny just explaining what they said and 2. It's unlike any book I've ever read.  Unfortunately I didn't like the storyline and I felt like it was a wasted journey when she lost the last envelope and I felt like the whole story didn't make any sense.   I can't see the point of the 'whole go around the world only to end up back where you started' kind of thing and to me that was pointless.  Ginnys character was bland and confusing as to why her real names called Virginia but everyone calls her Ginny...unless I missed that bit...

It's a book I wouldn't recommend and I wouldn't re-read it that's why I and giving it Two out of Five?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Date started: 10/3/2013

Date finished: 16/3/2013

Rated: Three out of Five

Format: Paperback

Series: Yes

Owned: Yes

Phew! In a way I'm glad I've finished this book as at times it was confusing.  I didn't love it but I didn't hate it, its a bit like marmite (which I love) but hey ho, some people love it...some people hate it. Me on the other hand, I'm in the middle. This book is raved about so much and people who have watched the movie rave about it but I don't see the hype (sorry Hunger Games fans)

The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel where twenty- four  contestants (called tributes in the novel) from 12 districts (areas) battle it out to be the victor of The Hunger Games. When I say battle, I mean fight to the death.  Last one who survives, wins.  It is shown to the other districts as they bet for their winner.

I love the idea of the games but its fight-to-the-death approach is a bit much but then again, it wouldn't be called The Hunger Games for nothing if it didn't have it.  I like the kind of books that I couldn't put down but in a good way. This book however was a book I couldn't put down but in the sense of curiosity of what would happen next.

The beginning of the story bored and confused me because I couldn't see how it would move into the actual games but slowly it did and then the pace sped up.  The pacing during the actual games didn't matter as much as when the characters are in the games, time seemed to stand still and that seemed the case with me.  The whole book is set in three parts and I was quite glad to see the last part because to me that signalled that I was only 6 or 7 chapters to the finished.

I didn't connect to the main character (katniss) and I can't seem to put my finger on why that is.  Over all I would this book a three out of five and would read the next books.
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Stacking the Shelves #2

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme created by Tynga's review.. It is a meme allowing other book bloggers what we have bought for that week.

I am altering it slightly by doing this meme fortnightly instead of weekly as this is better for me as I don't buy books on a weekly basis but because of the lack of weekly purchasing, I keep a list of what I want to get in the next fortnight, so expect a lot of books.

Bought

Roxy's Baby by Catherine MacPhail.
Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J Bick
The Innkeepers Daughter by Val Wood (signed by the author)
Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Pretty Girl Thirteen by Liz Coley

Gift

blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris
Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris

These two books were gifted to me by a friends dad to introduce me to the author.

Another Forgotten Child by Cathy Glass

Date Started: 7/3/2013
Date Finished: 9/3/2013
Rated: Five out of Five
Format: Paperback
Series: No
Owned: Yes

I first saw this book and just by the cover I thought it would be a good read, but as soon as I read the blurb, my mind started wondering if I would be able to read it...I bought it anyway knowing that if I didn't buy it the book would be playing on my mind until I bought it...little did I know it would play on my mind regardless.

Cathy, the woman in the story, is a foster carer who has had many foster children and she starts fostering a little girl called Aimee who lived with her mum in a smell, cold flat. Her mum and dad do drugs and Aimee has been on the child protection register since she was born and everyone wonders why she wasn't taken from her mother sooner.

Throughout the story we see a vulnerable little girl who is argumentative and rude, not to mention smells, has head lice and doesn't know hoe to do basic tasks. She has older siblings that had been taken away before Aimee but the question throughout the whole book is 'why wasn't she took away from her mother sooner'. Aimee's mother accuses foster carers of everything and anything just to get her children back and doesn't seem to understand why she hasn't got them back. Throughput the book Aimee divulges some information about her past and because of this, then lies when her mum is about.

This book gives a insight to what the care system in the UK does and doesn't do for children and also shows the reader inside the life of a carer and the troubles they sometimes have to go through with children in care.

This book is a book I won't forget in a hurry. This book is a boom I would re-read over and over again. I give this five out of five...a very interesting and thought provoking book.

Stacking the Shelves #1

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme created by Tynga's review.. It is a meme allowing other book bloggers what we have bought for that week.

I am altering it slightly by doing this meme fortnightly instead of weekly as this is better for me as I don't buy books on a weekly basis but because of the lack of weekly purchasing, I keep a list of what I want to get in the next fortnight, so expect a lot of books.

This week and next I will post but then it will go on to fortnightly. Also this week only, I will be showcasing books that I already bought months ago...in fact it was last year now...but only just brought them out of storage...moved house last year and never got them back out :/

Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews.
Petals on the Wind by Virginia Andrews.
Mud, Sweat and Tears by Bear Grylls.
Madeline by Kate McCann.

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer.

The baby Laundry for Unmarried Mothers.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Another Forgotten Child by Cathy Glass
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Date Started: 26/2/2013
Date Finished: 7/3/2013
Rating: Three out of five
Format: Paperback
Series: The Caster Chronicles (Book 1)
Owned:Yes

I had seen the trailer to the film to this book on the tv and thought I'd read it before seeing it and quite frankly I think I would have rather seen it than sit through nine days reading something I really wish I hadn't picked up...but oh well I got thought it in the end.

This book is about a boy named Ethan who dreams about a girl falling and him having to save her. He swears that they are just dreams until a new girl, Lena, comes to the small town. Now first, I like the idea of a male point of view...it's something different to me as I tend to read books with a female protagonist...not that I deliberately do this...but the way that the books starts I got the impression that it was a female until it started talking about 'hot girls' then I got a bit confused until I read the name and then it all made sense.

Moving on from the characters gender, Ethan then realises that Lena is the girl of his dreams (quite literally) and that she had been having dreams of him...ok I know, you are now thinking of the boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl and they live happily ever after...wrong...Ethan then finds out about her 'dirty' secret and that something is going to happen when she turns sixteen...

The pacing of the book is perfect, as if you was actually living the days the same as Ethan. Seamlessly is the word I'm thinking of. It doesn't jump through time. The downside is that towards the middle it does tend to get a bit weird and confusing and the way that Ethan and Lena can communicate through thought is rather confusing as some conversations they have start out by talking but then it ends with their thought conversation...mind you sometimes they have to so other people don't hear what they are saying. Also I like the fact that the chapters don't go 1,2,3...they are the dates on which the story falls on.

The story does seem to have a romantic side to it but it's rather awkward to read as what fifteen and sixteen year old falls in love? I know it happens but to me it feels weird reading it....but maybe that's because when I was that age I was a loner!!

I feel that somewhere after the middle...like three quarters of the way though the story seems to loose itself a little bit and there was a few time where I had to read the same page three times before I could carry on because it didn't make sense. I feel the ending, or at least the main part of the ending, was full of suspense...like I was there as Lena, feeling her emotions and thinking her thoughts.

I thought the ending was good as to me that opens it up for another book (of which I know there is). Would I read the next book...hmmmm I'd have to see what I think when I read the blurb and a few reviews but over all I'd give it 3 out of five.

Camp NaNoWriMo

There is a thing for writers called NaNoWriMo and it is a writing contest to write a novel in a month...well they have a sister contest called camp NaNoWriMo and it is in April.  I entered the NaNoWriMo back in November and 'won' and now I am going to be entering the camp in April.  I highly recommend doing this if you are a writer as it is great fun and you will be surprised at what you can do.  I surprised myself by doing over 50,000 words (which is the target). In the camp, you get to write the same as NaNoWriMo but this time you get to choose what your target can be.  For example, November is 50,000 words only but with camp you get to choose...mine is 25,000 only because I want to keep reading as well.  You can write about anything that makes you happy.

Happy writing if you decide to join.  The link is below if you want to join.

Camp NaNoWriMo

Wallbanger Review by Alice Clayton

Date started: 18/2/2013

Date Finished: 26/2/2013

Format: iBook

Rating: Three out of Five

Series: None

Owned: Yes

I started reading this as a sample then went onto buying it after laughing so much with the first few chapters.  I read a few reviews on it and found a warning sign attached to it…erotica…to me it’s ten times milder than fifty shades and that it shouldn’t be classed in that genre.

This book is about a woman…Caroline…who had a bad one night stand and lost her ‘O’   She talks to her ‘O’ as if it’s a real person and sometimes that could get a bit cheesy.  She then meets her neighbour who is very active at banging walls…she and her cat Clive, who acts like a real person, go next door to shut him up only to find a very good-looking man.  At first she hates him but then after some match making by her friends, she softens to him.

To me this book was a stop-gap until I found another book…this book was very quick paced and again, cheesy.  I would recommend this book if you like cheese and romance and the romance is very strong yet annoying as sometimes you just want to bang the two main characters head together and tell them to get on with it.  This book is funny and Clive the cat makes some hilarious reading as well as being slightly confusing at times.

The ending wasn’t as good as I thought as it is from the cats point of view.  Overall this book is full of laughs and cheese and I would rate this a three out of five.

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Date Started: 7/2/2013
Date Finished: 16/2/2013
Rating: Five out of Five
Format: Paperback
Series: The Hybrid Chronicles (Book1)
Owned:Yes

Hmmm where do I begin with this book? I guess I should start from when I bought this. I bought this book after seeing someone review this on YouTube and I thought…maybe this would be quite good…and I decided to buy it when I had some spare money…that theory lasted all but five seconds! I was browsing through Waterstones when I saw this book…it was the last book and oh so lonely with no other book by the same author or the same title anywhere near it. I walked nearer to it and I heard a faint noise…”BUY ME” it said to me, I looked around and no one else heard the noise that was now been repeated. I couldn’t let this book down, so I picked it up and gave it a new home knowing full well I would start reading it on the bus home and boy did I not want to put this down.

Starting this book in October, I hoped I could finished it in time for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) that I was participating in the next month. unfortunately it got to the point where I hat do put it down to start my novel. I had only got through a quarter of the book and knew I would go back to it. That didn’t happen. I next picked it up in February and thought to myself that I will get through this book until the very end.

I decided to re-read it and within a week I finished it. This book is the most interesting book I’ve read. It is the first dystopian book I’ve read and it has opened my eyes to the genre.
The novel is about Addie and Eva, hybrids who have not SETTLED. When I say settled I mean the recessive soul in one body hasn’t gone away. Addie and Eva are in the same body but are two different souls. The story is told by Eva, the recessive soul, and she tells us about their past and how they had to move because of the girls.

Addie and Eva meet Hally, another hybrid as well as her brother and they try and get Eva to become more outspoken then she is now. Only problem is the three hybrids, six people if you count all souls, are caught by the government who are trying to capture all hybrids and take them to a psychiatric hospital where they are thrown into scans and tests to prove their status as hybrids. After a few days in the hospital, Addie and eva choose to escape.
The ending to me was a bit of an anti climax as at the beginning of the book I expected the escape to be more climactic than it was.

Kat Zhang wrote in detail of Addie and Eva’s life and the conversations the two souls had brought the book into another dimension. I liked the way the ressesive soul told the story and how Addie added her own bits when needed. I expected some romance in this book and in a way there was…you could see Eva and Ryan (Hally’s brothers recessive soul) connect and how they worked together to escape.

Overall I enjoyed the book as my first dystopian novel and look forward to reading more in the genre.