Claire Stevens's Blog, page 30

I'll Be Home For Christmas - Various Authors

I’ll be home for Christmas is a collection of short stories from UKYA authors, all exploring the theme of ‘home’.  Relevant, since £1 from the sale of every book goes to the national homelessness charity, Crisis. 
 
So ‘home’ is a fairly broad theme and the range of stories and poems in this anthology is pretty eclectic.  Apart from anything else, it was really interesting to see how different people interpret the word.  There were some authors here whose work I love and some who I’d never heard of and like any anthology, I liked some stories more than others but I can honestly say that there were none that I didn’t enjoy or that I gave up on. 
 
The stories were very British in feel, which was quite nice.  I read a lot of books by American authors, which are great and everything, but it was really good to see homegrown talent being highlighted.
 
And the thing I liked best?  Not all the stories had a happy ending.  In fact, some of them were worrying and sad.  It served as a reminder that actually Christmas isn’t always a happy time, not for everyone (and just as an aside, I think UKYA authors are best at gritty realism).
 
So, here are the short stories featured and my (brief) thoughts:
 
Benjamin Zephaniah – Home and Away.  Super thought provoking poem to get things started off

Non Pratt – Ghosts of Christmas Past. This was kind of sad and thoughtful.

Marcus Sedgwick – If Only in my Dreams.  Completely creeped me out!  In a good way.

Cat Clarke – Family You Choose.  Some friends and I used to do this on Boxing Day.  We weren’t as colourful as the characters in this story, though!

Kevin Brooks – The Associates.  I think I was missing something here - it wasn’t my favourite.

Holly Bourne – The Afterschool Club.  Killer ending to a great story.

Juno Dawson – Homo for Christmas.  This one had me welling up.  Such an adorable love story and a happy ending.

Sita Brahmachari – Amir and George.  Relevant and so, so sad.

Tracy Darnton – The Letter.  This was brilliant - a well-deserved winner - and such a sad ending.

Tom Becker – Claws.  Creepy horror story.  Good, but really gave me the shivers.

Katy Cannon – Christmas, Take Two.  This was kind of sad and sweet - I was glad of a happy ending after the last three stories ...

Melvin Burgess – When Daddy Comes Home.  I love Melvin Burgess and this was a fantastic near-future dystopian.

Julie Mayhew – The Bluebird.  Couldn’t quite get to grips with this one, but it was very poetically written.

Lisa Williamson – Routes and Wings.  Love Lisa Williamson.  I’d seriously read a shopping list written by this author and this was a brilliant story.
 
To find out more about the awesome work Crisis does, go to www.crisis.org.uk
 
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Stripes Publishing and Netgalley.

4 stars

Waiting On Wedensday - Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine and it’s a chance for us all to highlight the upcoming releases we’re eagerly anticipating.  This week, my Waiting On Wednesday pick is Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig.
 
Here’s the blurb:

Flynn's girlfriend has disappeared. How can he uncover her secrets without revealing his own?

Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can't answer, and her friends are telling stories that don't add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January's boyfriend, he must know something.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.

What about you?  What are you waiting for this week?

Slam by Nick Hornby

This book was okay, but only okay.
 
Slam is the story of Sam, a sixteen-year-old boy totally obsessed with skateboarding and the pro skater, Tony Hawk.  Sam meets Alicia at a party and they quickly start seeing each other and almost as quickly stop seeing each other.  Then it turns out that Sam and Alicia have got themselves into trouble, and Sam is suddenly looking down the barrel of having to grow up quite quickly.
 
The plot of the book was okay and centred around Sam coming to terms with the face that he was going to become a dad, but there was nothing really new or ground-breaking.  There was nothing that kept me hooked.  The characters were okay, but not amazing, and their relationship was completely without feels (which was the point, I think, but it doesn’t make for great reading). 
 
There were a few things in the book that I didn’t really get, but some other things that were spot on.  There are a few points where Sam flashes forward into the future and sees what his life is going to be like in a couple of years time.  This was okay, but it didn’t add anything to the plot because Sam doesn’t really do anything with the knowledge he’s gained.  I also didn’t get his imaginary conversations with Tony Hawk (and to be honest, if I was Tony Hawk and was reading this book, I’d be a bit weirded out). 
 
However, there were some things that were spot on.  The way Sam and Alicia are totally absorbed in each other at the beginning of their relationship and how what they think is love gradually fades, and also the way their lives change when the baby comes along - this was so well observed, but I think it would be better pitched at an adult audience rather than a young adult one.
 
Also, I have to say that both Sam and Alicia’s parents were remarkably cool when they found out their teenage kids were becoming parents.  I seriously doubt my own parents would have been so cool if I’d come home and told them I was pregnant at sixteen, or if my brother told them he’d got a girl pregnant.  Sam and Alicia’s parents were very ... unfazed.  Alicia’s mum actually thinks it’s a good thing because she’ll be a young granny, which I felt was a remarkably glass-half-full attitude to have.
 
I’ve read a couple of other Nick Hornby books and while they were fine I never really found anything to rave about.  I hoped this one might float my boat, but sadly no.  Maybe he’s just not the author for me.
 
I got this book at a second hand shop - I took a punt on it, it didn’t blow me away and I’m glad I only spent twenty-five pence on it.  It wasn’t dreadful, but it wasn’t good enough for me to go around recommending it to everyone.

2.5 stars

The Whistler by John Grisham

 
You know when you’re on holiday in Crete or wherever and the hotel has a big bookcase that guests can help themselves to.  Well, if you find a John Grisham book in there, it’s like holiday gold.  There’s a good couple of days of pool-side reading right there.
 
I’ve read about a dozen of his books over the years.  Some I’ve just found ’good’, whereas others I’ve found to be edge-of-seat, eye-popping thrilling.  So I think it’s safe to say I’m a fan.  Not a fangirl, but deffo a fan.  So when the lovely people at Hodder sent me an advance copy of his new book, The Whistler, what could I say except, ‘Thanks very much.’
 
The Whistler is the story of two judicial investigators and the most corrupt judge in US history.  Lacy and Hugo work for the Board of Judicial Conduct, a thing I had not previously known existed, and they spend their days in an underfunded public office, investigating judges who have misbehaved.  That is until Greg Myers makes a complaint about a judge who he claims has amassed a small fortune in bribes from the mafia.
 
The first John Grisham book I ever read was The Firm.  I read it on a driving holiday around Florida and I was literally on the edge of my seat.  For sheer entertainment value, The Firm, A Time To Kill., The Client and The Pelican Brief just can’t be beaten.
 
Was The Whistler as thrilling as The Firm?  No, it wasn’t.  But holding the two books up against each other is a really good way of showing just how much Grisham has developed as an author in the intervening years. 
 
Books like The Firm were amazing, but the thrill factor was based on a huge suspension of disbelief (although because of them I know a lot more about how to hide from the Mob).  The Whistler, on the other hand, gives plenty of suspense and interest but also has a lot of character development and background.  All in all, it felt a lot more ‘real’ than some of his other books. 
 
There were times in The Whistler when the pace slowed, but then the tension would ratchet right back up again and you’re kept guessing right to the end who the whistle-blower actually is.
 
This was a really great thriller and definitely recommended for cosy evenings now that the nights are drawing in.

I received a copy of The Whistler in exchange for an honest review.  Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton.

4 stars

Waiting On Wednesday - This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine and it’s a chance for us all to highlight the upcoming releases we’re eagerly anticipating.  This week, my Waiting On Wednesday pick is This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills.
 
Here’s the blurb:

Sloane isn't expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that's exactly what happens.

Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera's twin brother and the most serious person Sloane's ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins' late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins' lives.

Filled with intense and important friendships, a wonderful warts-and-all family, shiveringly good romantic developments, and sharp, witty dialogue, this story is about finding the people you never knew you needed.

What about you?  What are you waiting for this week?

Saga Volume 1 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples

So, I don’t really read comic books that much.  I’m not against them per se, I just don’t seem to find any that really speak to me, not in the way novels do.
 
Well, Saga looks like it might be the exception to the rule.  I borrowed the first two volumes from someone and within the first couple of pages I was completely hooked. 
 
So the action starts on Cleave, a planet that has been co-opted into a galaxy-wide war between a planet, Landfall, and its moon, Wreath, where two soldiers from opposite sides of the war have fallen in love and deserted their armies.  In the opening scenes they become parents and immediately have to go on the run to protect their newborn daughter because it seems the entire galaxy is after them.
 
This book honestly had it all.  Action, plot, characterisation, humour, great art ...  Colour me completely impressed.  The whole world (galaxy) that Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples have created is unbelievably creative - every few pages I was wowing over another really cool thing they’d produced.  The worldbuilding gives you a perfect amount of insight into the galaxy without it feeling infodumpy.
 
Despite the fact this volume is quite short and you’re only learning about stuff with pictures and dialogue, I thought there was masses of action and a well developed plot.  And the characterisation is brilliant.  Ask me how much I love Alana and Marko.  The answer is: a lot.  And I liked that the whole thing is narrated by Hazel, Alana and Marko’s baby, memoir-style. 
 
The story is a perfect balance of humour and emotion with some bizarre, crazy-imaginative inventions.  My highlights: tree spaceship, lie detector cat, dismembered ghost babysitters, seahorse people, assassins and the coolest husband and wife team ever.
 
5 stars

Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher

«««Mildly Spoilery«««
 
Tess Turner has just discovered something terrible.  She read her dad’s blog and six hundred and seventeen words later her world is kind of coming apart at the seams.  Soon she retreats into a world of silence, communicating only with her plastic goldfish torch, as she tries to make sense of what she’s found out.
 
 
I liked the theme of the book, which was all about identity and how where we come from shapes who we are. There’s also the nature versus nurture debate and the question of what constitutes a ‘real’ parent - the person whose DNA you share, or the person who raised you?  These questions are dealt with in depth, albeit through the eyes of an emotional fifteen year old.
 
And this brings me on to Tess.  Unfortunately I didn’t find Tess very relatable.  I think maybe it’s because she’s only fifteen, and a fairly immature fifteen, but this felt more like an MG novel than YA, especially the internal dialogue with her goldfish torch.  She was a bit self-pitying and instead of just questioning her parents about what she had read (and she seemed to have a fairly strong relationship with her parents, even though her dad was a bit of a prat), she just bottled everything up.  What she found out was shocking, no doubt, and it would have taken some getting used to but at the end of the day she still had two parents who were invested in her.  People go through worse and manage to deal.
 
I don’t know.  Maybe it’s because I’m very much on the side of nurture that I struggled to see Tess’s viewpoint.  Your parent is the person who changes your nappy, sits through your nativity play, tells you you’re gorgeous when you look like a minger, nurses you through chickenpox and norovirus and show up every day.   The casual way Tess ignored everything her mum and dad had done for her (her dad’s knobbishness notwithstanding) annoyed me and after the three amazing characters Annabel Pitcher put together in Ketchup Clouds, this felt a little disappointing.
 
And don’t get me started on the instant, all-consuming fixation on the supply teacher she becomes convinced is her real dad.  Really not sure where that came from.
 
I’ll tell you who I did like, though - Isabel.  She was cool.  I liked her very much.  She was uber geek and proud of it (correct) and funny and loyal.  I was glad she was included in the book, not only because I always like to see non-toxic female friendships but because she reminded me that this author really can do quirky, totally real characters.  Awesome.  More like Isabel, please Ms Pitcher.
 
2.5 stars

Waiting On Wednesday - The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine and it’s a chance for us all to highlight the upcoming releases we’re eagerly anticipating.  This week, my Waiting On Wednesday pick is The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti.
 
Here’s the blurb:

A teenage misfit named Hawthorn Creely inserts herself in the investigation of missing person Lizzie Lovett, who disappeared mysteriously while camping with her boyfriend.

Hawthorn doesn't mean to interfere, but she has a pretty crazy theory about what happened to Lizzie. In order to prove it, she decides to immerse herself in Lizzie's life. That includes taking her job... and her boyfriend. It's a huge risk — but it's just what Hawthorn needs to find her own place in the world.

What about you?  What are you waiting for this week?

A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman

Sarah Winman is an accomplished writer.  There’s no doubt about that.  However, this book is proof that technical skill doesn’t necessarily translate into a good read, in the same way that clumsy writing isn’t always a hindrance to a heart-pounding story (*coughs* Twilight *coughs*)
 
A Year of Marvellous Ways is the story of the improbably-named Marvellous Ways, a ninety-year-old hermit who lives in a gypsy caravan by a creek in Cornwall.  She’s kind of a wise woman, herbal healer type, who gathers oysters and crabs for her dinner and still bathes in the river every day.  Into her life stumbles Freddy Drake, a young soldier still suffering the effects of the Second World War and a friendship grows between them.
 
This book is written in a lyrical, poetic way and while I don’t mind a bit of drifty, airy prose, here it was far too much and at times I struggled to understand what was going on and was constantly having to re-read pages.  This completely pulled me out of the story and made it a chore to read.  Also, bizarrely, the author decided not to use speech marks when people were speaking.  No idea why this should be, but it made dialogue really hard to read, like this:
 
Look who’s come back, said Mrs Hard, chewing on her words as if they were a bridle.
 
So the person chewing on their words could either be Mrs Hard or the person she’s talking about.  Why do authors do this?  It’s like Winman is deliberately trying to alienate her readers.
 
Marvellous was an okay character.  She was very strong and independent, which I liked, but I never really felt like I knew her.  I don’t know, maybe this was what the author intended.  All I can say is when I don’t feel like I know a character it makes it hard for me to care about them.
 
Drake was weak and boring at the beginning.  He grew a bit stronger as the story progressed, but he was still boring.
 
The plot centred around how Marvellous and Drake formed a friendship and kind of saved each other.  There was a lot of back story surrounding Marvellous’s unusual life, which was fairly interesting, but the parts of the plot set in the current day (1947) were flat and uninteresting.
 
I always rate books on how much I personally enjoyed them as opposed to how ‘good’ I think they are and while I think some people might love this book, I’m being generous in giving this two stars, because it really didn’t float my boat.
​
2 stars

Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

Beside Myself is the story of Ellie and Helen, identical twins, who decide one day to swap clothes and pretend to be each other.  Of the two, Helen is the dominant twin and Ellie is slightly weaker one who has learning difficulties and needs looking after.  The problem is, when they change clothes Ellie decides she likes being the dominant twin and doesn’t want to swap back.  Worse still, no one believes Helen when she tries to tell them the truth.  Skip forward twenty-odd years and the two girls are still living their swapped lives.  Ellie (now Helen) is bright, popular and a TV star, whereas Helen (now Smudge) is living in squalor and suffering from mental illness.
 
The only problem I had with this book is, unfortunately, the central conceit.  What I didn’t get was how no one picked up on the fact that the twins had swapped places.  Yes, Helen and Ellie are identical twins, but no matter how identical two children are, a parent would be able to tell them apart. Like, you can’t honestly tell me that those two girls had not one scar, blemish or identifying mark that would have told them apart.
 
Once I got over this however (albeit with a huge leap of faith) I enjoyed the book immensely.  There’s some brilliant characterisation and the plot is great.  It’s a really interesting exploration of how our identity is shaped not only by our innate characteristics, but also by society’s expectations and other people’s preconceptions of us.
 
It’s also a great psychological thriller.  It plays on the old kafka-esque, ‘no one believes me!’ trope and shows a girl’s descent into mental illness and drug abuse when she is forced into a life that she doesn’t want. It’s pretty dark and even when things seem to be going right you have the suspicion it’s all going to turn to merde again pretty soon (spoiler alert: it does).
 
The story alternates between present day and twenty years ago, showing bit by bit the run-up to the current nightmare that Smudge’s life is.
 
All in all this was a really interesting novel and I’ll be looking out for more work by this author.

4 stars