Review: Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

If you're starting to find that paranormal romance leaves you with that feeling you've seen it all before, Immortal Beloved might just be the book you're looking for. The first chapter of Cate Tiernan's new trilogy takes place in the kind of urban fantasy world we're all accustomed to visiting by now, but the second sees troubled heroine Nastasya fleeing to far less familiar territory. At pushing four-hundred-and-fifty years old, immortal Nastasya still looks like a teenager. Having done her fair share of suffering in her early years, nowadays she's all about the partying. But when her best friend Incy commits an uncharacteristically callous magical attack on a random bystander, Nastasya finds herself questioning the existence she's chosen for the last century. Recalling a chance encounter with a stranger some decades past, she runs away to an immortals' retreat in rural Massachussets. But, she soon finds, she can't outrun her past.

Immortal Beloved is one of those rare examples of a book which far exceeds the rather tame level of expectation its premise creates. We're barely introduced to our heroine, and the first thing she does is run in the opposite direction from the only sign of any real excitement. Then? She hides out in the countryside for the entire duration. As a Cate Tiernan newbie, I think I can be forgiven for my initial misgivings when, a few chapters in, it dawned on me that I was reading a paranormal romance set on an organic farm. Happily, at that point, Nastasya's voice takes a turn for the snarky - and the narrative begins to offer up tiny morsels of her intriguing backstory. While anyone looking for an action-packed read will be disappointed, Immortal Beloved is actually the tale of a fascinating journey of self-discovery. Nastasya's inner conflict is every bit compelling enough to keep the pages turning, and what we eventually get is an intimate story that's surprisingly epic in scope.

Of course, what really drives this one is the strength of the palpable chemistry between Nastasya and her leading man. The man in question is Reyn, a fine example of the hostile-but-handsome variety of love interest. Though this may sound like we're back on well-trodden paranormal ground, Reyn is drawn in shades of grey that add layers of interest and complexity to his interactions with Nastasya. However, there's definitely a point in the story where Nastasya's attraction to Reyn becomes problematic in a way that might be offputting to some readers. In all likelihood, you'll not only wonder whether Nastasya can get past a particular obstacle, but also whether you actually want her to. What I would say is this: keep going. Much as you may fear that Immortal Beloved is on the verge of advocating some seriously messed up gender dynamics, it really isn't. Actually, it's headed in a way more subtle and complex direction that ties convincingly into the novel's greater message.

Unusually for the first book in a trilogy, Immortal Beloved wraps itself up almost as satisfyingly as a standalone novel. That's not to say that you'll escape the obligatory sequel cravings, because this first book sets up some incredibly tantalising storylines that'll make it hard to resist the promise of the second instalment. However, there's just enough closure to leave you feeling that you have actually read an entire novel, and not just part of a really long one.

While undoubtedly marking the beginning of an epic trilogy, Immortal Beloved also has a striking attention to detail that makes its world-building stand out from lesser books in the paranormal genre. Marketed in the UK as a crossover title, the tone and content reads fairly adult for a YA audience. It's somehow fresh and timeless - much like Nastasya herself, in fact. I'd recommend it foremost to fans of the paranormal genre, and also to anyone interested in exploring themes of immortality from a human perspective. If this is you, consider Immortal Beloved one to look out for.

Out: January 6th 2011, UK

Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for providing a review copy of this book. 

Contest winner announcement

As you may recall, before Christmas I held what I imaginatively (!) called my 'Somewhat Random' Contest. The randomly chosen winner is...

Clover

... who I contacted yesterday with the good news, and who seemed super excited about it. :D

Clover was number 67 out of 71 entries, and will be receiving a Harry Potter notebook and a book of her choice.

A big thank you to everyone who entered.

Kindle: the good, the bad, and the oh-so-pretty...

Over the past few years, I've repeatedly toyed with the idea of putting an ereader on my wishlist. When Christmasses, birthdays and half-birthdays (yes, we celebrate those) rolled around, I contemplated the pros and cons of the various options and - until very recently - I just couldn't make up my mind. Back in November, I decided that I'd found the one. I'm not sure whether it was down to friends' testimonials, the enticing selection of available ebooks or some clever advertising, but suddenly... I desperately wanted a Kindle.

Frankly, when I realised that the latest generation of Kindles were black - sorry, 'graphite' - in colour, I have to admit that I was disappointed. Functionality aside, the white finish of the previous versions appealed to my girly sense of style in a way that the new models just don't. And I say this as someone who bought her first ipod because it was pink and shiny and pretty, not because she wanted to listen to music on it.

Santa, it seems, knows how superficial I can be and does not judge me for it. Right after I unwrapped my rather austere looking Kindle on Christmas morning, I also unwrapped a pretty hot pink leather cover to dress it up in. Cute, right? And it'll stop the Kindle itself getting all scratched up in the murky depths of my handbag, which is a major win.

Previously, I've tried to read the occasional ebook on my laptop and found it impossible. It doesn't feel natural to be reading a book onscreen, and the act of trying to read on such an alien, unbooklike format winds up distracting me from the words themselves. Having now read my first entire ebook, I'm happy to report that I haven't had any such problems with the Kindle. The Amazon site tells me that the screen uses fancy-schmancy 'E Ink Pearl Technology' for higher contrast, but what's made it work for me is that the words look... flat. It's like looking at words on a printed page, rather than a computer screen, and that's the difference. It's surprisingly difficult to get used to reading books without page numbers, but the Kindle does keep track of your progress through an ebook in the form of a percentage, which is a little disorientating but just as useful. The Kindle even gives you the ability to highlight passages, dogear pages and make notes on what you're reading, if you're so inclined. Which I am.

What I'm not so enamoured with is the ebook shopping experience. On Amazon UK, you can browse the Kindle bookstore by category - much like you would when shopping for print books. Except, unfortunately, it's not quite that easy. Because when browsing for regular books the 'Children's' navigation menu gives you the option to browse by age range, which is kind of essential when seeking out YA titles to catch your interest. The Kindle bookstore's 'Children's' menu, in contrast, only allows you to browse by genre - and the same goes for shopping on Amazon via your Kindle.

Now, at the risk of sounding like a whiner, I think this is pretty dumb. I mean, Amazon knows which Kindle ebooks are YA: on the website, the 'Children's' front page even shows brief selections for different age groups, including teen. Plus, it's possible to search the full Amazon site for Kindle books in the 'teen' age group using the advanced search function. So, the capability is there. It just isn't, for whatever reason, being used. What I'm finding is that if I want to shop for ebooks via my Kindle, it's easier to search for specific titles. Which is okay for me, as a book-obsessed blogger who has a wishlist of around 500 titles at any given time. But what about all those not-quite-so-obsessive readers who don't already know exactly what's out there? They'll miss out on books they might love. Boo!

That said, there's a surprisingly good selection of ebooks on Amazon UK and even some bargains to be had. While it's a shame that UK customers can't download ebooks directly from the US site, there are still a fair few American titles available, which means that I can pick up a copy of some of my US-only wishlist items way quicker than I could order and receive print copies. Instant > a three week wait, that's for sure.

Overall, there's no way that ebooks would ever completely replace real printed books for me. Let's face it, if I read an ebook I love, I'm going to need to purchase a printed copy for my shelf. I love books, and I love book covers, and an ebook just doesn't have the same charm. Then there's the fact that the review copies I'm offered are generally in printed form - although having a Kindle has tempted me to give NetGalley another try.

However, there's a lot to love the Kindle for. It reads so much better than I ever would've expected, and I love the fact that it's so light... no more hefting hardbacks around on my commute. The ability to take two weeks' worth of reading on vacation without exceeding my baggage allowance? Yes, please. Books to my Kindle in under one minute, whenever the whim strikes me? Okay, this could be dangerous...

Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

In the small town of Gentry, Mackie Doyle is an outsider. For the last sixteen years, he's hidden the truth about who he is: a replacement, left in exchange for a human baby stolen from its crib... and its family. He is the thing that nobody talks about. Monsters like him would usually die within months and be buried in the child's place, but somehow Mackie has survived the iron and the consecrated ground of this world - so far.

Then Tate Stewart's little sister dies, and suddenly Mackie can't ignore the truth any more...

For me, the power of The Replacement stems largely from what debut author Brenna Yovanoff leaves unsaid. Set in the prosperous town of Gentry, it's the story of a community that lives alongside an unnamed supernatural menace they never publicly acknowledge. And just as the people of Gentry refuse to name the creatures who bring their terrible blend of misery and good fortune to the town, Yovanoff refuses to limit the power of her creations by defining them in concrete terms. We soon learn that these creatures steal human children and leave sickly changelings in their place, but unlike the majority of YA paranormal species we never truly know what else we can expect from them or what their limits are.

For all its ambiguity, The Replacement is one of the most genuinely unsettling YA reads I've ever encountered. Paranormal titles are often marketed as 'dark', but when it comes to YA 'dark' is a word that's perhaps thrown around a little too easily. Not in this case. In choosing to delve beneath the surface of his eerie hometown, Mackie brings himself face to face with the reality of his own kind. And as you might expect of creatures who steal human children away from their families and replace them with changelings, the reality is both grisly and unnerving. Those of a weak disposition be warned: this story takes the reader to some deeply unpleasant places. Those not of a weak disposition: prepare for an unforgettable read.

Alongside all this darkness, The Replacement is not without its uplifting moments. It's definitely not the kind of novel I'd describe primarily as a romance, but the relationship between Mackie and Tate is nonetheless a compelling one. Mackie is a boy who has had to hide the truth about who he is for sixteen years, and in Tate - who can no longer keep quiet about what she knows to be true - he finds a girl with the power to change his whole approach to life. As narrator, Mackie makes for a largely believable (if reluctant) hero, although I would have to say that I wasn't quite convinced that a boy who feels his outsider status so accutely would attract the attentions of a queen bee in the way that he does. Still, The Replacement is the kind of book that leaves you with plenty to think about, and the lessons Mackie learns on his journey provide some interesting insight into the way that our own society expresses its values. Most importantly, it's a book about the transformative power of love.

Malevolent and haunting, The Replacement blurs the boundary between paranormal romance and horror with fascinating results. While the plot unfolds at a relatively slow pace, it's the incredibly creepy atmosphere that keeps the pages turning here. It's a striking debut from Brenna Yovanoff, and one that I'd recommend to readers who like their paranormal YA with a little more going on.

Out: January 6th 2011, UK / September 21st 2010, US

Thank you to Simon and Schuster UK for providing a review copy of this book.

Blog tour - Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf by Curtis Jobling

Today sees the start of an (appropriately) epic blog tour for an epic new series. Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf is the first in a new fantasy-horror series by Brit author Curtis Jobling, set for publication on the 6th January 2011.

The UK corner of the blogosphere is set to become extremely buzzy about this one throughout January. You can find full details of the blog tour over at Once Upon A Bookcase, where my blogger buddy Jo has posted the tour schedule in full. With an impressive twenty seven tour stops, the tour will feature a 'Were-Creation Competition Challenge', where a drawing started by Curtis Jobling himself - who is also known as an illustrator - will be sent among some of the bloggers involved to add to. The finished drawing will be up for grabs via a contest at one of the tour stops, so if that's piqued your interest, make sure to follow the tour along for more details.

Summary from publisher's website: 'YOU'RE THE LAST OF THE WEREWOLVES SON. DON'T FIGHT IT . . . CONQUER IT.'

When the air is clear, sixteen year-old Drew Ferran can pick up the scent of a predator.

When the moon breaks through the clouds, a terrifying fever grips him.

And when a vicious beast invades his home, his gums begin to tear, his fingers become claws, and Drew transforms . . .

Forced to flee the family he loves, Drew seeks refuge in the most godforsaken parts of Lyssia. But when he is captured by Lord Bergan's men, Drew must prove he is not the enemy.

Can Drew battle the werecreatures determined to destroy him - and master the animal within?

And check out the trailer below:



Intrigued? You can find out more about Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf at Curtis Jobling's blog and the official website.

News: 2011 blog tours

While I can't quite believe it's going to be 2011 in just over a week's time, my sources tell me that it really will be. I'm trusting them on this, and have signed up to take part in two blog tours during January 2011, which is not that far away. Wow.

The tours are for two Simon and Schuster UK titles that I've recently read and really enjoyed. First up is The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff, which is basically everything I like in a paranormal YA - dark and unnerving and impossible to put down.

The second tour is for Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles. If you happen to follow my twitter account you may have noticed me tweeting excitedly about this one back in November, because I liked it even more than Perfect Chemistry.

Reviews for both titles will be appearing here soon. In the meantime, check out the tour schedules on the official (and gorgeous) tour banners below...

End of 2010 Survey

I love one-off book memes, and this one from The Perpetual Page Turner has been popping up all over the place. I figured since I've been enjoying everyone else's answers so much I'd have a go at it myself. Oh, and I set myself the added challenge of trying not to repeat choices unless it really couldn't be helped.

1. Best book of 2010?
It's a triple tie. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, Trash by Andy Mulligan, and Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty. They're all really different, but I guess what they have in common is that each one has a truly perfect ending. They're also books that have stayed with me, and that I know I'll reread in the future.

2. Worst book of 2010?
Hmmm. This is hard, because if I'm not enjoying a book by the halfway mark I tend to put it down... so I have no idea whether those (and there were a few) would have turned out fabulous if I'd stuck at it. Pass!

3. Most disappointing book of 2010?
I guess Mockingjay. While I easily enjoyed it enough to finish it, (and in fact couldn't put it down) I was disappointed because I'd built it up to be this book of all books in my head, and, you know, that was my own fault for letting the hype get to me.

4. Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2010?
Shade by Jeri-Smith Ready. I was feeling a little paranormalled out until I read this one, and it turned out to be completely fresh and amazing. Loved it.

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2010?
Honestly, it's probably a book that doesn't publish till January 2011: Entangled by Cat Clarke. I was lucky enough to read an advance copy a few months ago, and I'm always telling people about that one. Me: 'Looking for Debut Author Challenge recs? Oooh, you should read Entangled. It's *so* good.' See?

6. Best series you discovered in 2010?
There were so many. But I already know for sure I'll be picking up the next instalments in Jenny Han's Summer series, The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson series by Stephanie Burgis, and the Inside Out series from Maria V Snyder.

7. Favourite new authors you discovered in 2010?
New: Lauren Strasnick and Cat Clarke.
Not 'new' new but new-to-me: Jaclyn Moriarty, Tabitha Suzuma, Jackson Pearce, Lili Wilkinson.

8. Most hilarious read of 2010?
Swapped By A Kiss by Luisa Plaja. Hands down. I adore suspended reality type stories, and the humour in this one is of the laugh-out-loud variety. Which in my experience is pretty rare.

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2010?
Inside Out by Maria V Snyder or Pretty Bad Things by C.J. Skuse. Both total rollercoaster rides, in totally different ways.

10. Book you most anticipated in 2010?
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

11. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2010?
Pink by Lili Wilkinson. Because it's pink. And because the fact that it's pink means so much. But not what you might expect.

12. Most memorable character in 2010?
Billi SanGreal from Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda. Okay, so we've met Billi before in Devil's Kiss, but she's still awe-inspiringly fierce.

13. Most beautifully written book in 2010?
Probably Matched by Ally Condie or Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Both of them are written with an obvious love of language and of literature, and I adore that.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2010?
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. I was actually a little nervous about reading this one. As it turned out, it was a challenging read but I was bowled over by it. (Incidentally, my review for Forbidden is the blog post that has had the most hits here at I Was A Teenage Book Geek this entire year. I like that.)

15. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2010 to finally read?
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. What was I thinking? And now you mention it, why haven't I read the next book in the series yet? Oh, and So Much To Tell You by John Marsden, which is just remarkable.

Book blogging in 2010

1. New favourite book blog you discovered in 2010?
There are so many! And I'm not especially good at judging how long I've been following blogs, but... two favourites are The Mountains of Instead and Inkcrush.

2. Favourite review that you wrote in 2010?
Probably my review of Pink by Lili Wilkinson. Which you can check out here if you haven't already. I got some comment love for that one, and I really enjoyed writing it.

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?
Book blogging: what's the point? It got some fantastically positive comments, and I learned a lot.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else's blog?
This is a hard question, because some bloggers really go above and beyond with their discussion of issues that should be of relevance to our whole community. Standouts: Steph Su's post on What Makes A Good Reviewer, April of Good Books and Good Wine on ARCs, Ari's open letter to Bloomsbury at Reading In Color, and Caroline at Portrait of a Woman's AIDS and HIV in Young Adult Literature Week.

5. Best event that you participated in?
Actually, there were quite a few: The Random House Blogger Brunch, the blogger sneak preview at Walker Books, a blogger meet-up with Lauren Kate (!), the London launch party for Jennifer Lynn Barnes' Raised By Wolves, Oxford University Press' Halloween event. It's been a crazy fun year.

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2010?
Getting to meet up with other UK bloggers. Readers are the BEST people.

7. Best bookish discovery?
The Contemps: a website started by a group of YA authors who write realistic fiction and who all have books being published over the course of a year. Because contemporary is the new dystopia, dontcha know.

Okay, so that was tougher than I expected. I'm sure there are some favourite novels that I've missed out, but that's a lesson to me to be more organised next year.

Thanks to the The Perpetual Page Turner for coming up with such a fun (and surprisingly difficult) survey.

Review: Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

Tall Story is the tale of two siblings who share a parent but have grown up thousands of miles apart. Basketball-loving Andi was born and raised in London after her mother came to the UK as a nurse, whilst her brother Bernardo stayed at home in the Phillipines with his aunt and uncle, awaiting clearance from the Home Office to join them. Their story opens on the day that Bernardo finally lands in the UK, granted his visa and ready to be reunited with his mother, stepfather and Andi. But when he arrives, the family aren't quite prepared for the fact that he's changed since they last saw him. A lot. Now Bernardo is eight feet tall, and not remotely what Andi expected.

Whimsical and unusual, Tall Story blends magic realism with contemporary themes in a tale that's full of charm. Narrated by Andi and her (really) big brother Bernardo in alternating points of view, it's book that offers insight into the immigrant experience from two quite distinct perspectives. One on hand we have Andi, who is both English and half-Filipino, and whose knowledge of the Philippines is limited to one visit as a small child and the things her mother has told her. On the other we have Bernardo, who has waited for years for his family reunion but also finds it difficult to leave his life in the village of San Andres behind. To Bernardo, London is strange and intimidating and thrilling; and to Andi, Bernardo himself is pretty strange.

Aided by the dual perspective, Tall Story explores its themes with pathos and humour. Readers will come to empathise with Bernardo through the chapters he narrates, but they'll also appreciate the more comical way that he's sometimes portrayed from Andi's point of view. Similarly, Andi can come across in her chapters as a little bit of a brat, but Bernardo sees her through more forgiving eyes. The two narrative strands also reflect how different their lives have been until now, as Andi tells a tale of basketball dreams thwarted by her school team's boys-only rule, whereas Bernardo's story of magic and curses makes greater use of imagery and fairytale elements. Like Andi and Bernardo themselves, their stories seem worlds apart at first but might just be headed towards some common ground.

Tall Story is a smart and emotionally satisfying read with definite crossover appeal. It's a book with the power to make readers laugh, cry, and remember what's most important in life. While it's probably aimed at those in the ten to fourteen age group, I suspect that older readers will take just as much from it. Plus, a basketball playing heroine? There just aren't enough of those.

Out: 27th May 2010, UK

Thank you to Random House UK for providing a review copy of this book.

Review: Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick

Whilst on the surface the story of Her and Me and You appears relatively simple, Lauren Strasnick's second novel gradually reveals itself to be complex and layered and full of meaning. Calling to mind those IQ puzzles where the aim is to work out how many small triangles make up one large one, this ambiguous and fascinating tale explores the tangled nature of adult relationships from the point of view of its young adult narrator.

With her parents' nineteen-year marriage shattered by the revelation that her father has been having an affair, only child Alex has been forced to leave the familiarity of her old life and move to a new town with her mother. While she wants nothing more than for things to go back to how they were, she soon finds that relationships are never that easy. Drawn into the twisted world of new schoolmate Fred and his possessive twin sister Adina, Alex finds herself caught up in a triangle of her own.

Unusually short for a YA novel, Her and Me and You (just barely) unfolds in a series of brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it chapters. There's a certain brittle beauty to Lauren Strasnick's understated style, which is startling at first but surprisingly easy to settle into. There are no wasted words here: the characters' pithy, barbed dialogue is framed sparingly but tellingly by Alex's minimalist narration. From casual beginning to the enigmatic final pages, this is a book that packs an emotional punch far above its weight.

Part drama, part coming-of-age story, Her and Me and You sees its heroine coming to terms with the fact that the seemingly straightforward relationships of her childhood can't stay that way forever. Try as she might to hold onto the perfect three of her family unit or the perfect two of her relationship with lifelong best friend Evie, the post-childhood world just keeps on throwing these complex and painful triangles at her. While for the reader this means plenty of conflict and drama to keep those pages turning, it's also a thoughtful look at the love triangle as a motif - questioning our natural inclination to cast characters in this situation as victim or villain. Alex's journey is mirrored by that of the novel's main antagonist, love interest Fred's somewhat unstable twin sister Adina, whose own situation is just as heartbreaking in its own way.

Her and Me and You is a bittersweet and compulsively readable tale that sets Lauren Strasnick apart as one of the most striking voices in contemporary young adult fiction. It's elegant and raw and insightful all at the same time. Pick it up if you're looking for an edgy, intense read that you won't want to put down again.

Out: October 5th 2010, US

Review: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Darkness picks up shortly after the events of the first book in the Caster Chronicles, with a still unclaimed Lena Duchannes grieving the loss of a beloved relative. As the title suggests, this instalment in the series takes us deeper into the shadowy caster realm that lies just beneath the surface of Gatlin, South Carolina. It also sees narrator Ethan and his tormented caster girlfriend torn apart by grief, doubt and the machinations of her formiddable family. Epic in its own right, Beautiful Darkness sees Ethan discovering just how closely his own destiny is entwined with the Duchannes-Ravenwood bloodline, and undertaking a seemingly impossible journey to the heart of the caster world.

Like the previous instalment, Beautiful Darkness is a fairly lengthy tome. It's not the kind of book you'll race through in an afternoon, and nor should you try to. While the first half is slower than molasses in terms of action, that's precisely how its enchantment works: gradually drawing the reader so deeply into Ethan and Lena's magical world that it feels as vivid and alive as the real one outside its pages. Those who persevere with Beautiful Darkness will find reward in its thrilling conclusion, as the characters brought so perfectly to life by Garcia and Stohl are forced to confront the fact that for all of them, life will never be the same again.

Where some readers may take issue with Beautiful Darkness is in the way that the plot doesn't always play by its own rules. As in Beautiful Creatures, part of what makes the caster world so dangerous is the unthinkable ultimatum faced by Lena Duchannes. We're enthralled because the choice she faces is a terrible one, and the book tells us there's no wriggling out of it. That's the danger at the heart of it. However, as in Beautiful Creatures, the plot doesn't quite deliver on this promise. What we get instead is an intriguing twist that changes the rules of the game - but for better or worse? While some may argue that in evading certain consequences the book loses a little of its dark power, others may relish the promise of even higher stakes next time around.

Beautiful Darkness is another brilliant instalment in the Caster Chronicles series. It's richly drawn and luxuriously detailed and definitely one for readers who like to completely immerse themselves in the world of a story. Spiked with a suprising amount of humour amidst the darkness, it's also filled with quirky and ambiguous characters that readers will take to their hearts. Beguiling.

Out: 28th October 2010, UK

A big thanks to Razorbill / Penguin for providing a review copy of this book.

Waiting On Wednesday: A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler

This week I'm 'waiting on' A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler.

From publisher's website: If you could see into the future - would you look?

Jenni Green doesn't have a choice. On her way to visit her best friend, Autumn, Jenni suddenly finds she's been transported exactly one year forward in time.

Now she discovers that in the year that's gone by, tragedy has struck and her friendship with Autumn will never be the same again. But what caused the tragedy? How did Jenni skip a year? And can she find her way back to the past to try to change what lies ahead?

You know what I love? Time travel. It's one of my favourite things. In fact, it might just be edging ahead of my love of dystopia, when until very recently they were even stevens.

What I also love is the premise of A Year Without Autumn, the next book from Emily Windsnap author (and Brit) Liz Kessler. I'm always on the lookout for a good friendship story, and the fact that this one has time travelness thrown into the mix has me desperate to read it. If I could time travel forward a year, I'd pop into the nearest bookstore and buy a copy of this one already because I. can't. wait.

This one hits UK bookstores some time in April 2011. I want!

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

Aussie YA Reading Challenge 2011

Confession time: I love a challenge.

A reading challenge, that is.

I also love Aussie YA. So while I recently swore to myself that I'd only take on one book challenge for 2011 - the British Books Challenge, hosted by my blogger buddy The Bookette - I was clearly never going to be able to say no to the Aussie YA Reading Challenge.

I'm not even sure what it is about Aussie YA I love so much. While most of the Aussie-scribed books I've read fall into the category of contemporary YA, it's not as though they share a tangible quality that I can confidently describe as 'Australian'. It's more an intangible feeling of affinity with the characters and story and setting. It's the curious sensation of identifying with a voice that feels familiar and yet exotic at the same time. It's the fact that the characters might eat Tim Tams at any time. Okay, not so much that last one. But the point is, whatever it may be, I like it. A lot.

So, when I heard that Nic from Irresistible Reads and Nomes from Inkcrush had put their heads together to create the Aussie YA Reading Challenge 2011, all my promises not to take on any more book challenges basically flew out the window. I mean, I would be reading these books anyway. Why not make it official? And besides, I might just find out exactly what exactly that elusive Aussieness is along the way.

For 'international' readers, like moi, the challenge is to read 6 books by Aussie authors during 2011. The first potential choices that spring to mind are:

The Dead of the Night - John Marsden
Take My Word For It - John Marsden
Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta
Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
Girl Saves Boy - Steph Bowe
The Anatomy of Wings - Karen Foxlee
A Little Wanting Song - Cath Crowley
Fury - Shirley Marr
Finding Cassie Crazy - Jaclyn Moriarty
Six  Impossible Things - Fiona Wood
Kirsty Eagar - Raw Blue

The ones in italics are books currently in my TBR pile. As you can see, finding six will not be a problem for me. Incidentally, the Australian reader category requires participants to read twelve books by Aussie authors during 2011. What I'd like to know is, if I make it to twelve can I consider myself an honorary Aussie?

You can find out more about this challenge here at Irresistible Reads. Who's in?

Review: Elixir by Hilary Duff

When Clea Raymond spots a handsome stranger in her holiday snaps, she soon realises there's more to him than meets the eye. What she doesn't realise is that she's about to stumble upon a secret that's been at the edge of her exisence for years: a secret that might just hold the key to her father's disappearance.

On the trail of her missing father, Clea finally comes face to face with the mysterious stranger - and finds he's not such a stranger after all. His name is Sage, and he's quite literally the man of her dreams...

I think it's fair to say that Elixir is paranormal romance given the Hollywood treatment. In actress Hilary Duff's first novel we're treated to filmic storytelling, some memorable set pieces and the kind of corny romantic scenes that'll either make your eyes roll or your heart melt. It's a fairly quick and easy read, so it shouldn't alienate anyone who picks it up simply as a fan of Hilary Duff rather than books in general, and it has a gentle humour that's genuinely likeable. It's fast-moving and just intriguing enough to read in one sitting.

Main character Clea certainly isn't the usual brand of everygirl you often find in teenage paranormal romance. We first meet her partying at an exclusive Paris nightclub, following a jaunt round Europe with her best friend Rayna in tow. Her life until this point has been tabloid fodder, thanks to the public profile of her politician mother, and at the age of seventeen she already has a budding career as a photojournalist. While there are still elements of the everygirl about her - she's a little too nice, not to mention talented, pretty and modest - her jetsetting status means that her story plays out against a backdrop quite different from the usual paranormal settings. So, as well as Paris we get to visit Rio at carnival time and hang out at a shopping mall in Japan. It's a change of scenery that definitely brings freshness and fun to the otherwise-familiar ground of soulmates, love triangles and immortality.

Elixir is the first book in a planned series, and this is evident in the cliffhanger ending of this instalment. Or to put it another way: at the end of this one, I had no idea what had just happened. Seriously. I found myself checking the back of the book in case an extra chapter appeared to clear up all my questions, but to absolutely zero avail. And you know what? I would like the answers to these questions. Yes, enough to read the second book.

I was pleasantly surprised by Elixir. I'd recommend it chiefly to fans of Hilary Duff, of course, but it's also a good choice for readers who like a little glamour with their YA paranormal romance.

Out: October 12th 2010, US / October 16th 2010, UK

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for providing a review copy of this book.

Somewhat random contest

Recently, I noticed that I'd reached a milestone here on the ol' blog. 600 followers, people! I think that's pretty amazing, and since I'm basically thrilled to bits about it I'd like to say thanks to all you followers, readers and commenters.

So: contest time. I have one Gryffindor notebook / journal from my recent visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to give away to one lucky entrant. Sweet, huh?

And, to celebrate the holiday season, I'll also buy the winner a present from The Book Depository: one book, up to the value of £10.

To enter, just fill in the form below. But first please read my privacy policy and check out the contest rules:

• Contest is open wherever The Book Depository ships.
• There will be one winner, who will scoop both prizes, chosen at random using an online randomizer.
• Entrants must be aged 13 or over.
• Entrants aged under 16 must have permission from their parent or guardian, and must provide an email address for their parent or guardian - not their own!
• Multiple entries will be disqualified.
• Followers (old or new) get 2 extra entries.
• Contest closes at midnight GMT on the 23rd December 2010.
• The winner will be chosen, announced and contacted by email by the 28th December 2010. If no response is received after 48 hours an alternative winner will be chosen.
• Details provided will not be used for any other purpose, and I will delete all entry information once the winner has been picked and the prize sent out. 

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

I'll be honest with you: this is going to be less of a review and more of a love letter to a book. It's not my favoured approach, I'll admit, but as I see it there'll be plenty of objective reviews out there and on this occasion I can't be objective. This book is a love letter to readers. It's only fair that I write one back.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares opens in the Strand, New York: the bookstore of all bookstores. It's Christmastime, and a boy named Dash is perusing the shelves just because he can. It's there that he finds a red Moleskine notebook that first sends him on a bookish treasure hunt and then prompts him to enter into correspondence with its author, Lily. Soon Dash and Lily are exchanging messages in the Moleskine, sharing stories and compelling each other to seek the notebook out in hiding places around the city. And before long, they're wondering just what they mean, or might mean, to each other.

As in the much-loved Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is narrated by its leads in alternating points of view, with Rachel Cohn writing Lily's chapters and David Levithan writing Dash's. Less cool and a little more contemplative than Nick and Norah, Dash and Lily share that same sweet brand of hesitant chemistry that soon has the reader utterly convinced that these two would be great together. I have to confess I initially found the hopeful and insecure Lily easier to believe in than Dash, whose unfaltering literariness is probably as unlikely as it is magnificent, but eventually I realised that's kind of the point. There's an element of fiction to everyone, even in real life. This book knows it, and so does Dash.

While Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is both captivating and entertaining, most of all it's a book overflowing with ideas. It's a book that will make you think about language and meaning and the nature of love. At the heart of the story are these complex layered relationships between writers and readers: Dash and Lily, Cohn and Levithan, you and all of the above. All these writers endeavouring to communicate ideas and feelings with their words, and all these readers interpreting them, and it's like a celebration of the whole writing and reading process. And at the same time, it's a moving experience because the words are beautiful and clever and sometimes even fanciful. It's never hard work, because it's witty and full of whimsy, but it asks huge and important questions. What exactly do we love when we love someone? What do they love back? How do we know it's real?

I know not everyone will love this book. I know not everyone will find tears (embarrassingly) welling up in their eyes on the bus on the way to work because they find certain passages so darn perfect. I also know I sound like a complete fangirly dork, and I hope you'll overlook that and pick this one up anyway. Because Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is also a book about taking risks and looking for love even though you might not find it. And you might find it here.

Out: October 26th 2010, US

Waiting On Wednesday: The Thirteen Secrets by Michelle Harrison

This week I'm 'waiting on' the third instalment in Michelle Harrison's brilliantly eerie fairy trilogy, The Thirteen Secrets.

Summary from Amazon.co.uk: Red is now living at Elvesden Manor under her real name, Rowan, and trying to put her past behind her. But staying on the straight and narrow isn't as easy as she had hoped...Hounded by fairy messengers who are trying to convince her to participate once more in the changeling trade, Rowan is haunted by dreams of the Hedgewitch's cottage and the chained-up Eldritch, who threatens revenge against her. Her past is about to catch up with her - can Tanya and Fabian prevent it consuming her altogether?

I adored the first two books in this series, The Thirteen Treasures and The Thirteen Curses, so this one has been on my radar for quite some time. Michelle Harrison's take on fairies is dark and dangerous and filled with enchantment, and her world-building rocks my world. But after seeing the awesome book trailer for the third book, I'm pretty much desperate to read it NOW!



Check out the creepy soundtrack! This one is due to hit UK bookstores on the 3rd February 2011. Roll on the spring.

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

British Books Challenge 2011

Last year, I signed up for a few challenges and the truth is, it all got a bit out of control. While my guess is that I'll probably have completed them all by the end of 2010, I often completely fail at remembering to add my review links at the challenge host site. So this year, I'm trying not to over commit. I'm promising myself that I will only sign up for the British Books Challenge, which is being hosted by Becky a.k.a. The Bookette. Because let's face it, if I can't find time to fly the flag for British authors, I pretty much fail as a British blogger.

HOWEVER, this is by no means just a challenge for the Brits in our little community of blog. Becky has divided the challenge into two categories, Home Grown (for Brits like me) and International Friend, which is for anyone else who wants to support British authors and join in the fun. You can read old or new titles, from any genre, and even read outside of the YA category if you wish. And, Becky has mentioned that there will be awesome prize packs up for grabs in giveaways open exclusively challenge participants. Interested? You can find out more about the challenge here.

The Home Grown challenge is to read and review twelve books by British authors in 2011. I'm not sure yet of all twelve books I'll be reading, but I'm currently most excited about these upcoming titles:

Kiss, Date, Love, Hate - Luisa Plaja
Rockaholic - C.J. Skuse
A Year Without Autumn - Liz Kessler
Pride and Premiership - Michelle Gayle
0.4 - Mike Lancaster
The Iron Witch - Karen Mahoney
Shadows On The Moon - Zoe Marriott

2011? Bring. It. On.

Review: Let It Snow - Three Holiday Romances by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle

I'm not generally a fan of short stories, but I am a big fan of the holiday season. I'm also a fan of Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle, the three authors behind Let It Snow, a collection of festive-themed romances. And while the three stories in Let It Snow are shorter than full-length novels, they're not short short. They're also linked by the fact that the majority of the action takes place in the same small town in the middle of a snowstorm, and by recurring characters, in-jokes and references, making Let It Snow a little more satisfying as a whole than other short story collections I've read.

First up is Maureen Johnson's story, The Jubilee Express, which comes to us courtesy of narrator Jubilee Dougal. Forced to miss her boyfriend's Christmas smorgasboard and catch a train to visit her grandparents for the holidays when her parents are arrested at a shopping riot, Jubilee finds herself stranded in snowy Gracetown in a carriage full of squealy cheerleaders. As you'd imagine from that last sentence, this is a quirky and sometimes over-the-top tale that borders on insanity. It's also hilarious, heartwarming, and über-Christmassy. I loved it, and could quite happily have read an entire novel narrated by wry and witty Jubilee.

The second story is John Green's A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, which sees narrator Tobin and his friends braving the blizzard in a race against time to reach Gracetown's Waffle House, where the squealy cheerleaders from the previous story are taking shelter for the night. It's a little bit zany and a lot funny, with a super romantic twist that more than redeems Tobin from his early cheerleader-chasing shallowness. If you like your humour with a side-order of slapstick, you'll probably like this one.

Lauren Myracle's story, The Patron Saint of Pigs, focuses on newly pink-haired Addie, a barista at Starbucks who is having some major relationship woes. She's recently broken up with her boyfriend of one year, who just so happens to have made walk on appearances in the previous two stories in the collection, and she's about to learn a major life lesson - with a little help from an old lady and a teacup piglet, that is. While this story feels a little more tame than the others, it's an adorable and heartwarming read which also references my all-time favourite Christmas movie, It's A Wonderful Life.

Let It Snow is the book equivalent of a gingerbread latte with whipped cream and sprinkles. It's delicious and Christmassy and probably best consumed when it's cold outside. Each story is pleasingly unique, and yet as a whole the collection stays true to the spirit of this holiday. If you're looking for something to get you in the Christmas spirit, this could well be it.

Out: September 11th 2008, US

How well read am I?

I love one-off memes, so when I spotted this one over at my buddy The Bookette’s blog, I decided to give it a try myself.


Legend has it that the BBC have asserted that the following list will make you ‘well read’, but that the average person will only have read six – six! – of these novels. Sounds like a challenge, right?

The instructions are:

1) Copy this list
2) Bold the books you’ve read in their entirety. (As in, all the way through.)
3) Italicise those you’ve started but didn’t finish, or have only read an excerpt of.
4) Tag other book nerds.
5) Highlight any books from the list you own, but haven’t read.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The King James Bible
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Nineteen Eighty Four (1984) – George Orwell
His Dark Materials – Phillip Pullman
Great Expectations– Charles Dickens
Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk
Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
Emma -Jane Austen
Persuasion – Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne
Animal Farm – George Orwell
The DaVinci Code – Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Atonement – Ian McEwan
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Dune – Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Dracula – Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Inferno – Dante
Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
Germinal – Emile Zola
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession – AS Byatt
Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
Watership Down – Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Bam! I make that 41, which compares pretty favourably with the predicted six. However, I have to admit that I have a BA and MA in English Literature, and quite a few of those 41 are books I studied at Uni. The rest? Mostly children's classics. And I haven't read the last Harry Potter book yet, so I narrowly missed out on number 42.
 
Since I mostly read YA these days, I'd be interested to see how my score shaped up against a similar list for young adult titles. My guess is that I'd do better in terms of books I've read, but I'd have less italicised books.
 
So... has anyone else done this? Feel free to drop your link in the comments.

Review: You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Jenny Downham's second novel, You Against Me, combines all the ingredients of a classic Romeo and Juliet love story with a contemporary edge. Set in the aftermath of one girl's claim that an older boy from the same town has assaulted her, it takes two characters who have every reason to hate each other and instead unites them in one of the most thought-provoking novels of the year.

I have to confess that when I first heard the premise behind You Against Me, I wondered how Jenny Downham would pull it off. Starcrossed lovers are always a popular subject in YA fiction, and I feared that combining teen romance with the story of an alleged date rape could prove to be a problematic fit. In fact, Downham brings the two threads of her story together in a juxtaposition that draws on themes of loyalty, trust and gender dynamics.

You Against Me picks up the day that Tom Parker returns home on bail, pending trial for the assault of Karyn McKenzie - which he denies. Told in a dual narrative structure, the perspective alternates between Tom's younger sister, Ellie, and Karyn's big brother Mikey. Both are living in a nightmare. Mikey feels compelled to seek revenge, but when he knocks at the door of the Parker home it's Ellie who answers. They've never met before, but gradually they develop a bond that causes them to question their own choices so far. Their sweet and fragile love story unfolds alongside all the heartbreak and confusion leading up to the court case that will determine Tom Parker's guilt or innocence in the eyes of the law. Like a negative image of what's happened between Tom and Karyn, the connection between Mikey and Ellie gradually begins to evolve into a physical relationship founded upon mutual respect.

Naturally, their families are an obstacle to this relationship, but they also face the challenge of reconciling their feelings for each other with their own loyalties. As readers, we don't have an easy angle on the truth about what happened between Karyn and Tom that night, and although our questions are answered sufficiently in the novel's closing pages we spend much of the narrative trying to weigh up the characters' different versions of the truth. We're compelled to confront the ways that our preconceptions about gender, social background and appearances inform our own interpretations of events, just as the characters themselves do. There are no easy answers here, and there can't be a neat and tidy ending for everybody, but somehow we're left feeling that the two lead characters make the right choices - and that is enough.

Among the many hundreds of YA titles published this year, You Against Me is one that stands out as a shining example of ground-breaking, powerful writing. It's sometimes hard to read, simply because it's told so honestly and without any sugar-coating of its painful and difficult subject matter. But it's also smart and sincere and compelling, and I sincerely recommend it. Not to be missed.

Out: 2nd December 2010, UK

Many thanks to Random House UK for providing a review copy of this book.

Review: Positively by Courtney Sheinmel

When my blogger buddy Caroline first told me that she was planning a special event to coincide with World Aids Day on December 1st, my thoughts immediately turned to a book I'd been meaning to read for ages: Positively by Courtney Sheinmel. Caroline is dedicating this week over at her (insightful and incredibly smart) blog Portrait of A Woman to the theme of HIV and AIDS in literature, and it's just the incentive I needed to bust Positively to the top of my to-be-read pile. Once you've read my review, please do head over to Portrait of A Woman to check out Caroline's posts here.  

Positively is the story of thirteen year old Emmy, who has just lost her mother to AIDS. Emmy was diagnosed with HIV at the age of four, and has taken regular medication ever since to keep her well. Now, struggling with her grief and her own sense of isolation, she now resents having to live with her father (who doesn't have the virus) and his pregnant wife. Everything in her life seems so uncertain - what's the point of doing her homework or thinking about boys if she doesn't know if she'll even grow up? But then her father sends her to Camp Positive, a charity-run summer camp for girls who have HIV, and Emmy begins to see that she has plenty to live for.

Positively is the story of a thirteen year old girl grieving for her mother, and herself. While I can't deny that this bittersweet novel does have some terribly sad moments, it's written with a lightness of touch that somehow manages to convey the intensity of protagonist Emmy's feelings without relying on sentimentality. Obviously it's always going to be heartbreaking to read about a child in this situation, but Positively is also an uplifting novel. Amidst Emmy's tangle of emotions, glimmers of hope gradually appear - and it's these little breakthroughs that will leave you choked up. There are some scenes that will undoubtedly bring tears to readers' eyes, but they're used sparingly and have all the more impact as a result.

Emmy herself is the kind of character you just can't help but like. She's sparky and spirited, even when she's bottling her grief up and refusing to let anyone in. As a narrator, she's always completely frank in a way that she can't be with those around her, so that even when she's acting out we completely understand why. That said, she does strike me as a quite young thirteen year old, meaning that tweens will probably relate to her slightly more than the YA demographic will.

Of course, Positively is also an educational experience. There are occasional passages that seem rather heavily didactic, but in a way that wasn't as much as a problem for me as it would usually be. Courtney Sheinmel is a great storyteller, but it's also clear that she wants to promote understanding of HIV and AIDS and to set the record straight about certain popular misconceptions. The factual information worked into the novel adds to its authenticity, and I finished the book feeling a lot more well-informed about HIV. Still, this is one character's story, and Sheinmel does make a point of the fact that different people will have very different experiences of living with this disease.

There are no real surprises here: the story is gently paced, and the character development heads pretty much in the direction you'd guess at the outset. However, it's a worthwhile and enriching read. Positively is a novel to be inspired by. It's thoughtful and moving and sensitive, and while it does read young it also has a lot to teach us at any age.

Out: since September 15th 2009, US