Book-review post!
Thoughts on some recent reads – mix of YA and 9-12s.
Sarah Webb – Ask Amy Green: Wedding Belles
The final book in the Amy Green features much drama as everything changes – Sylvie and Dave are finally getting married, Clover has an opportunity she can’t say no to, and things are rocky for Seth and Amy. This is a warm and funny closing to the series, even though fans will be sad to say farewell to Amy and Clover.
Abigail Haas – Dangerous Girls
Oh, so very twisty. This is Abby McDonald writing a thriller, and investigating a familiar theme for her – media representation of women – with a very dark slant. Our narrator is an American high school senior on spring break in Aruba; when her best friend is found dead she’s accused of murder. There’s a mix of first-person narration and transcripts, and it’s really nicely done – I loved the ending, I have to say. Most pleasing. Looking forward to more in this vein.
Holly Schindler – Playing Hurt
I loved Holly Schindler’s debut; this is a little more straightforwardly romance-y (and a holiday romance at that), which was lovely but did have a little too much of the instant-attraction thing going on. That being said, the characterisation is done really well, and the dual narration works nicely.
Marita Conlon-McKenna – Love, Lucie
Lucie’s mother has just died, and in the year that follows, she writes letters to her mum about what’s going on with her family and how they’re coping. She’s also convinced that she’s still seeing her mum around the place – and wishes she’d stay. The young voice and preoccupations are handled well here.
Elizabeth Scott – Heartbeat (via NetGalley)
Emma’s mother is dead. No. Emma’s mother is braindead, and she’s being kept on life support so that her pregnancy has the chance to come to term. The decision – made by Emma’s stepfather – is not one she agrees with, and it’s killing her to visit her mother in the hospital, there but not-there. When she meets bad-boy Caleb, with his own messy grief still haunting him, it’s the chance for a connection and a new kind of understanding of what she wants out of life. This is a thought-provoking read, although I did find it distressing at times (the parameters are obviously different, but it does call up a lot of the issues about pregnant women and choice and I would have loved it – spoiler – if Emma had been right and her mother had been terrified of pregnancy instead of having an idealised never-mind-me-think-of-the-baby view of things). That being said, fans of Elizabeth Scott will be glad to see her back with a new contemporary read.
