Monthly Archives: July 2012

Review: Silenced by Simon Packham

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I hadn’t heard anything about Silenced, but when Piccadilly Press mentioned on twitter about reviewing a YA thriller, I was really intrigued and was very happy when a review copy landed in my porch. Silenced is a British contemporary YA, telling the story of Chris after his best friend, Dec, dies suddenly in a car accident and Chris loses the ability to speak. He is unable to bring himself to think of the night his best friend died and carries a secret with him.

This book explored grief really then and I thought the scene where an oblivious Chris attends assembly, only to hear about the death of his close friend, was realistic and really well written. In real life, unfortunately, this is not a rarity and I remember myself the assemblies after students died suddenly and tragically when I was school. The utter surprise and shock in that scene in particular was visceral and emotional.

Packham writes Chris’ voice really well and the style is very assured and realistic. I felt at times like Chris acted  younger than his age though, however as this is set after a traumatic incident and I know I would be a wreck in that instant, that may explain it.

After Dec’s death, Chris is pulled between two people: Will and Ariel. Ariel is Dec’s girlfriend, someone Chris didn’t even know Dec was dating, and lives with her hippie mother and is self-sufficient. Will, meanwhile, is the new enigmatic boy in school and full with confidence. This conflict comprises a central part of the novel.

Will was a really interesting secondary character. From the outset, it was apparent to me that there was a lot more to his character and he was not who he claimed to be. Will was obviously, to me, troubled himself, but he was also highly manipulative to Chris and while I knew Ariel would grate on him, I hoped he would go to her rather than Will.

Packham describes grief and the loss of a best friend beautifully and truthfully. Chris felt like a real person and I was desperate for him to admit to himself whatever it was that made him lose his voice.

I thought that the actual twist would be more severe than it was, but on reflection, I believe it was the most true to life twist. The climax of the novel was tense and poignant as the secret was revealed and Chris’ grief became even more visible.

Overall, I think this was an accomplished novel and beautifully depicted the grief process, and teenagers’ approach to death and tragedy. I personally think this novel would be ideal for 12-15 year old readers more than the older end of YA, however I enjoyed it a lot myself and think older teens would take something from it too. This is a solid, well-written addition to UKYA. Silenced is a fairly quick read but one worth reading.

I received a free copy for review from Piccadilly Press and am very grateful for the opportunity. I had never heard of Simon Packham before this and will definitely be keeping an eye out for his previous and forthcoming novels in the future. Silenced is available to buy now.

Amazon UK
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Letterbox Love No.6

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Letterbox Love is a UK based alternative to the popular US In My Mailbox meme and a fun way for British (and non-British) bloggers to share the fab books we may have got this week and all manner of book and bloggish news.  I know I’ve been absent from this for a while again, but I’m going to attempt to be more regular with this, and I’m only including the books from this week so I don’t overload you with pictures and info as I bought a few books recently (though resisted this week, go me!) and received some awesome books for review! This meme is hosted at the fabulous Lynsey of narrativelyspeaking.com

For Review:


The Forsaken- Lisa M Stasse
The Hunting- Sam Hawksmoor
My Brother Simple- Marie- Aude Murail
Maze Cheat- B R Collins
Breathe-Sarah Crossan

So as you can see I got some fabulous books in the post this week. The Forsaken is a dystopian novel set in a world where teenagers have to take a test to see their criminal potential and if they fail are exiled to an island of warring, feral teenagers whose life expectancy is just eighteen! It’s being compared to the Hunger Games and I’m really excited about this one. Many thanks to Hachette Children’s Books/ Orchard for sending me this.
The Hunting is the sequel to the brilliant The Repossession, which I reviewed earlier this year. Awesomely, I have been quoted on the inside cover, however I have to say in that the quote is actually  not from my review, though more articulately says exactly how I felt ;) I’ve started this one already and am so excited to be back with Genie and Rian on their adventures. I’m also interviewing Sam for the blog soon, I just have to finish this book and get my questions for him so do look our for that. A huge thanks to Hachette/ Hodder Children’s Book for sending me this!
My Brother Simple was a surprise from Bloomsbury and is about a boy who takes in his brother, Simple, who has learning difficulties. I’m hoping this will be a great contemporary read and tug on those heart-strings. It’s been translate from French too. I received an extra copy of this and Maze Cheat so I will be doing a little giveaway soon.
Maze Cheat was another surprise from Bloomsbury. It’s the sequel to Gamerunner, which I haven’t read, but from the looks of the blurb I think I can read it in isolation and it does look awesome. I love these sort of computery-real life novels so am excited for this one.
Breathe is Sarah Crossan’s second YA book this year, her debut The Weight Of Water was out in January and received a lot of praise. Breathe is a dystopian novel and about depleting oxygen levels. It sounds amazing and I am so excited to read this (plus I found out Crossan is a graduate of the same writing course as me, so it’s brilliant to see what alumni are achieving to inspire me even more!) Breathe is out in October and is published by Bloomsbury (who I’m very grateful for providing me with such great reading treats this week)

So as you can see I’ve had a fabulous week of books and goodies, what did you guys get? Link me your Letterbox Love, Stacking the Shelves, Sunday Showcase, IMM or whichever meme you follow :)

Review: Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

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Ifirst heard about this book from some of my blogger friends, Casey at Dark-Readers who wrote a great review of this after receiving it at the Mira Ink blogger party and I just had to read it. Luckily, the very lovely people over at Mira Ink’s twitter said they’d send it to me to review.

McGarry’s debut YA novel Pushing The Limits is an edgy YA romance that doesn’t shy of pulling punches. Echo used to be popular, but after an incident she doesn’t quite know the truth about, she has become the girl with the scars. Noah is the typical high school bad boy and when the two meet a reluctant romance starts. While the plot may sound very stereotypical, McGarry’s characters are strongly written and the relationship between Noah and Echo is great.

While it might sound like a book about the same old bored tropes, I found that this was a very engaging read. The mystery around Echo’s scars and in particular, the relationship with her mother kept me hooked throughout the novel and I was desperate to know the truth behind that night. McGarry deals with some very heavy themes and issues, but the romantic aspect for me kept this from being too didactic. I also liked that McGarry showed how a character would be damaged from such an event and didn’t just add it in to make you feel sorry for her, which I was worried before I started might end up the case.

If I’m honest, while I liked the allusions to Greek mythology with Echo’s name and so on, I’m not sure if they personally added anything more to the novel for me. They were secondary devices to the plot and as such I wondered if at times it felt a little superfluous to include them.

I have to agree with my friend Casey’s review though that with all the smouldering tension between Noah and Echo (and there is smouldering, fiery, deliciousness, trust me) I wanted a little more. I’m not saying McGarry should have gone Fifty Shades, but maybe somewhere between that and chastity. I do understand however that younger teens might read this, though for me this novel is ideally placed for 14/15+ and I’m sure they can handle a little more.

McGarry is definitely a YA author to keep an eye out for; I’m very interested to see what she will write next and she certainly can write sexual tension very well. Pushing The Limits will be published on the 2nd August 2012 by MIRA Ink, who very kindly provided my free ARC.

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Review: Clarity by Kim Harrington

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Clare isn’t like the other teenagers in her tourist town in Cape Cod. Her family are psychics and she receives visions of the past from objects she touch others have touched.

Then a girl is murdered in a motel, a tourist, and suddenly the quiet town is in uproar and Clare’s ex’s family need her help and her gift. Clare is asked to unofficially help the new Detective’s son, Gabriel, who seemed to like her until he found she was a psychic.  Not only this but her brother’s behaviour has become suddenly suspicious and he admits he knew the girl and may be a suspect. Clare needs to clear his name quickly and so her assistance in the investigation becomes even more important.

I love crime and paranormal novels, so mixing the two together is always a brilliant combination for me. I loved the idea of Clare’s ability and it reminded me a little of a series I’d loved when I was twelve called Fingerprints by Francine Pascal where the narrator could hear thoughts from fingerprints.  Obviously, the two books were very different but both featured an ability you couldn’t control; something that a single touch of any object might trigger. I think, and I’m sure I’m not alone, this is probably one of the most scary abilities I could imagine because of the lack of control over it you might have. I really loved Clare’s struggles with her abilities and how it hadn’t enhanced her life, but actually made being a teenager more difficult. Clare was a great narrator; she was sassy and brave and carried the novel very well.

I can’t lie, the romantic development between Gabriel and Clare was well-written, but I wanted something to happen with Nate more. It’s a pattern I’ve noticed I’ve found recently in YA that a character not written as the primary, or even secondary, romantic interest compels me the most. It might just be me, or because I felt there was more chemistry and potential to explore the less obvious relationship. I did however really like that Gabriel was not happy Clare was a psychic and did judge her for this, as if he had been accepting straight away it would have lost credibility. I also found the interactions with Clare’s ex, Justin, interesting and a realistic portrayal of their situation as he has made a huge mistake and she struggles to come to terms with whether she should forgive and take him back or not.

Overall, this was fast-paced and a quick fun read that immersed me in Clare’s life very well and I really enjoyed. There was a fair balance between the crime and romantic developments, which I really appreciated. Sometimes, I’ve found books can be too heavy on the romance, when they are perhaps intended to be more focused on the other plot, ie. crime, etc, but this book reached a satisfying equilibrium between the two.

Harrington beautifully evoked the tourist towns in Massachusetts and Cape Cod with the town of Eastport. Though I’ve never been anywhere like there, I felt the town was real and I had a brilliant visual picture and map in my head as I read it.

I will definitely be looking out for more books from Kim Harrington and eagerly await the next book in the series. I received a free proof from the lovely people at Scholastic. Thank you so much! Clarity is available to buy now and comes highly recommended!

Amazon UK
The Book Depository

Review: Dear Dylan by Siobhan Curham

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Dear Dylan was a completely unexpected read for me. I had a vague idea, reading the press release and summary of what it was about, but what I thought would be a very light Louise Rennison style read quickly turned out to be something more.

Curham’s story to publication is worth mentioning. Originally Dear Dylan was self-published, then it won a YoungMinds award and received great reviews leading to it being picked up by Egmont and traditionally published through Egmont’s YA imprint Electric Monkey earlier this year. As someone who is an aspiring, or at perhaps more accurately a fledging author myself, I can’t help but feel inspired by her story and determination.

As a warning, because of the nature of the book and writing a review that explores than just the first couple of emails, I must warn you that there is a mild spoiler in this review. I’ve tried to keep the majority of the plot twists to myself, but this one was essential to review the majority of the book.

Dear Dylan is an epistolatory story told through e-mails. 14 year old Georgie is not looking forward to her Summer; she can’t go to the drama workshop she wants to because her stepdad is making her babysit her sister, her friendships are becoming strained and life at home is not easy. Georgie emails Dylan, her favourite actor on Jessop St (and by the way is a fiction soap where a character dies by being electrocuted by a toaster, most twisted TV death ever, perhaps?) and is shocked to get a reply. However as time goes on, she learns her new emate isn’t quite who she thinks. I don’t want to provide too many spoilers, but it really is impossible to review the book without letting it slip that the respondent is in fact Dylan’s Mum, Nancy, a widow trying to regain something in her life.

Curham’s characters are beautifully developed and it’s rare to see an older woman so well evoked and written within YA. Nan is lonely and misses her husband, but is also able to act as a grandmotherly wise figure to Georgie. Their relationship really reminded me of me and my grandma, who I am really close with, and she was just the character Georgie needed at that time.  I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if the e-mate relationship would work at first, but it did and I was really interested to read at the end with an author interview that it was inspired by George Harrison’s mum writing responses to fanmail and striking up a similar friendship.

I felt that Curham really dealt with the issues she presented well and she didn’t just magic everything better for the characters. There was one moment I was utterly furious at Georgie’s Mum, but Curham explained it well and it was overall exceptionally realistic.

Georgie was an incandescent narrator; full of life, quirky and brilliant. I don’t think her voice will work for everybody however, but if you like the Louise Rennison Angus, Thongs series or Diane Messidoro’s How To Keep A Boy As A Pet I think you’ll love Georgie’s voice.  I think this book is well suited to the younger end of YA but is a fabulous read for anyone! I highly recommend it to contemporary fans.

Dear Dylan is available now and is published by Electric Monkey. I received a free review copy of this book from the author/publisher and am very grateful for the opportunity to review this book.

Amazon UK
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Blog Tour: Shattered Dreams by Ellie James

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So this is a little late in getting online (I wasn’t sure if it was today or tomorrow, but nonetheless it’s here now) and I am excited to share with you a guest post by Ellie James who has just published Shattered Dreams with Quercus as part of the blog tour!

Shattered Dreams is a YA novel with a supernatural twist set in New Orleans. It’s the first in a new series called Midnight Butterfly and is about a sic teen year old girl, Trinity, who has visions. When she sees a girl locked in a dark room and then head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing Trinity has to come forward and try and help find Jessica. It combines paranormal/supernatural atmospheres with crime/thriller themes.

         

Extreme Research 

His bound wrists would prevent him from using his arms to swim, but with his hands holding onto the wood, at least he could keep himself afloat while he kicked. Fifty yards. He could do that.

He grabbed the branch, ran to the dock, and dove into the dark, brutal current.

Hmmm.  Would that work? Is it possible to make your way across a swollen river wearing handcuffs? It sure seemed possible, especially for the resourceful, tough-as-nails bodyguard I was writing for a novel of romantic suspense, but I couldn’t let myself run with the scene, not until I knew. So I did what any dedicated writer would do: I brought rope to my husband and asked him to tie my wrists together. Yeah, I got a look at that, but he (quite happily I might add) obliged, and off I went to the backyard. My husband quietly followed. I found a 2×4 to play the role of the stick, then jumped into the deep end of the pool, fully clothed (couldn’t wear a swimsuit, since poor bodyguard didn’t have that luxury.)  Then I swam. Kind of.  Holding the wood beneath my chest, I kept my head above water and kicked my way to safety, and voila! Presto! I had my answer: If I could do it, surely my fantasy guy could. Dilemma solved!

Research. Sometimes there are no shortcuts.

The Internet is a writer’s best friend. While the thought of research can send you straight back to school and that term paper you didn’t want to write, the reality is getting the facts straight is critical. (Just be careful you don’t end up on the FBI watch list. That’s happened!) We all love making stuff up, but you can’t say a heroine can free herself from being duct-taped to a chair just because you want her to. You need to know if that’s possible. That’s the challenge bestselling author Virginia Kantra faced when she decided to duct-tape herself to her office chair to make sure she really could free herself. Um…she couldn’t. And it wasn’t even noon yet, DH was at work, the kids at school, the phone across the room. So there she sat, in her office, bound to her chair as minutes dragged into hours. Finally her teenage son came home, followed her voice to her office, and walked in on something he’d never imagined walking in on! I would have loved to have seen the look on his face!  Fortunately, being a writer’s son, he immediately deduced that he hadn’t walked in on a home invasion, but rather, his mom doing what all good writers do. Research.

But sometimes research means leaving the house. How else do you find out if it’s possible to escape while handcuffed to a police cruiser?  When romance author Diana Duncan found herself in line at Starbucks behind a uniformed cop, she immediately seized the opportunity to solve a key plot problem. Thrilled, Diana struck up a dialog with the cop and soon found herself out in the parking lot being handcuffed to his car, while her horrified teenage daughter looked on.

For my current YA series, the Midnight Dragonfly books, there’s not one New Orleans locale that I haven’t explored myself, including a late night sprint from Bourbon Street to the levee, to see how fast you could feasibly get from one place to the other. I’ve sat with the psychics and had my palm read, and I’ve climbed the fences and hidden behind trees and…um….sorta gone somewhere no one was supposed to go.  I can’t say where, but the second I learned about This Certain Place, abandoned since Hurricane Katrina, I knew it was perfect for a crucial dramatic sequence. And despite the abundance of YouTube videos about This Certain Place, I knew I had to make a visit myself. I needed to see the swamp encroaching upon the parking lot and the chain link fence (to make sure it could be climbed), the abandoned buildings and…well, I can’t say what else I needed to see, except whether it was true that certain objects were still there after over five years of abandonment. I needed to breathe the air and smell the decay. I needed to see the graffiti and feel the despair.

And I did.

And it was amazing.

I was scared to death, but that’s okay. Knowing that, how frightening it was to be there, how many places there were to hide, the realization that there were probably others there, hiding—watching—only enabled me to add that much more authenticity to the scenes.

And that’s what it’s all about. Authenticity.

Shattered Dreams is available to buy now and my review will be on the blog very soon!

Review: A Witch In Love by Ruth Warburton

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I adored A Witch In Winter, Ruth Warburton’s debut in January this year. A Witch In Winter was a compelling novel about a girl who discovers she is a witch after she performs a love charm on a boy she likes, which she doesn’t expect to work, but does. Of course after the spell wears off and Seth still likes Anna, she is somewhat worried it may be a residual effect of her spell. Having met Ruth twice since then; at the Hachette brunch where I got my awesome proof of this book and it signed, and the Foyles Creative Voices event too and chatted with her on twitter, she is one of those authors I can’t help but really admire and like as a person and write. Plus she is always so lovely, therefore reading A Witch In Love I had both high expectations and the worry that if I didn’t like it, this review would be absolute torture to write. Thankfully, and obviously, I loved it. In fact, I think it’s better than its predecessor and I read the entire book in one day, from on the way home from the Hachette brunch to that evening, and was utterly captivated.

A Witch In Love follows on from A Witch In Winter and unsurprisingly due to the title, focuses a lot on this romantic dilemma. I was really interested when I heard Ruth speak about her writing inspiration at the Foyle’s Creative Voices earlier this year. She heard a radio show which said that in order for a romance novel to work there needed to be a reason they couldn’t be together; wondering whether someone actually is in love with you or is bewitched to certainly fulfils that expectation and is very well explored.

Warburton’s writing is assured and Anna’s voice really felt real to me in this book. While she is worrying about witchcraft and threats from that, she is also not sure whether to lose her virginity or not and is going through very typical teenage problems. My favourite part of the book was the enemy that was set up and all of the historical detail that went into it as a group of anti-witch ‘outhwiths’ who want to find and expose her. There is a scene towards the end that genuinely sent chills up my spine and I applaud Warburton for this and her creepy, creepy moments being mixed in with the more mundane and the excitement of witchcraft.

Warburton really develops Anna and her family history in this book, as she learns a charm was put in place for her to not know about her abilities before she moved. Warburton also really pays attention to making her secondary characters not just feel like props, Seth’s grandfather and Anna’s friends are all great. There’s a bit of a love triangle developing, but I think it’s been handled very well so far and not just been tacked on so I look forward to seeing where Warburton takes it.

Seth and Anna’s relationship was great fun to read. The highs and lows were so realistic and reminiscent of your first relationships and all the confusion and awesomeness happening all at the same time. Seth’s a great character to read and a favourite of mine already.

I love UKYA and this trilogy celebrates and is unashamedly British; from the slang to the tiny little details, this is a brilliant representation of modern Britain, just without the witchcraft (well, as far as I know anyway!) I highly recommend it and I absolutely cannot wait until next year for the final conclusion. By the end of this novel, I was incredibly angry it could just be left there without the next book to immediately read and get my hands on! If you enjoyed A Witch In Winter, I think you will love this addition.

I received a free proof from Hodder Children’s Books and this is my honest review. A Witch In Love is available to buy now!

Amazon UK
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Letterbox Love No.5

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Letterbox Love is a UK based alternative to the popular US In My Mailbox meme and a fun way for British (and non-British) bloggers to share the fab books we may have got this week and all manner of book and bloggish news.  I know I’ve been absent from this for a while, but I’m back, and I’m only including the books from this week so I don’t overload you with pictures and info as I bought a few books recently and received some awesome books for review! This meme is hosted at the fabulous Lynsey of narrativelyspeaking.com

Bought:

A Monster Calls- Patrick Ness
I’ve heard such great things about this book and I adore Ness’ writing and general awesomeness so I had to buy this. It has pretty illustrations, a creepy monster and is pretty much guaranteed to make me sob. The bookseller at Waterstones seconded the recommendation of this at the till and generally she and I always agree on books and she’s lovely, so I have every confidence in this book.

Received for Review:

               

Why We Broke Up-Daniel Handler and Moira Kalman
How To Save A Life-Sara Zarr

Both of this books have been highly, highly anticipated by me and arrived on the same day, making my day a lot more happy and awesome. Both are contemporaries too. I’ve actually finished both books already and I loved them.

I received How To Save A Life from Amy at Usborne and am very grateful for the opportunity to read this. How To Save A Life is just a beautiful read and deserves the hype. It’s out in September and I highly, highly recommend it. I heard about it first on twitter and I know that Tanya Byrne, an author I really like and admire the writing of, said she loved Zarr’s books which popped them straight  to the top of my reading list and this one was a brilliant introduction to Zarr’s writing.

I received Why We Broke Up from Electric Monkey as a surprise and was so happy I did actually squeal. I’ve seen bloggers getting this recently and I was desperate to read it, but didn’t want to ask and appear greedy as Electric Monkey have sent me so many amazing books this year, so when it rolled up at my house – I would landed on my doormat, but I had to answer the door so it’s a lie- it was a great surprise and at a time where I was feeling a bit gross and it really brightened my day. The art is so pretty in it, so so pretty and the book is great and very real.

So as you can see I’ve had a fabulous week of books and goodies, what did you guys get? Link me your Letterbox Love, Stacking the Shelves, Sunday Showcase, IMM or whichever meme you follow :)

Review: Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb

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I’m not much of a historical fiction reader, but when I heard about Witchstruck something told me I should give it a go. There isn’t much historical YA and as it’s so popular in adult form, I was interested to see what it would be like as a YA novel. It turns out that I was right to listen to that vibe about trying it too as it was a brilliant read.

Meg Lytton is a witch and attendant to Elizabeth, half-sister of Queen Mary, who lives in Woodstock under house arrest. Elizabeth is interested in Meg’s abilities and whether the future will hold her ever leaving Woodstock, but it is a bad time to be a witch. The punishment is death, after all. Marcus Dent, a witch finder who wanted to marry Meg, but was scorned, has a closer eye on Meg than ever before. Then there’s the young, Spanish priest bought to Woodstock to teach and aid Elizabeth in becoming a Catholic and sparks fly between Alejandro and Meg.

Witch trials and the persecution of women suspected of being a witch are a topic I find very interesting so I found this book extremely compelling. Meg was a strong character, particularly as she is written in a time when strong females were something people were afraid of. I loved all of the historical details about Woodstock and Elizabeth’s imprisonment and how Lamb built on this factual background to make her novel feel even more real. As it is both a historical and paranormal novel, the ability for the reader to be able to place themselves into the world and suspend their disbelief is incredibly important and Lamb skilfully achieves this. That said, writing a character like Elizabeth who is so iconic was a risk and because of this, and the fact Elizabeth is a fairly central character, this book may not be everyone.

The romantic developments between Alejandro and Meg were well-written and the social restraints for the time appropriate, but on a personal level, and this may just be me, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the priest being a romantic interest. However, this is only my personal opinion here and shouldn’t put you off.

The most standout character is the villain, Marcus Dent, who was genuinely awful in the book and I abhorred. Being able to evoke a strong reaction from the reader is a true testament to Lamb’s abilities.

Witchstruck was exciting and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next book in this series and even giving historical YA and fiction more of a chance than I previously did. Thanks, Victoria Lamb, for opening my eyes to a totally different type of YA. I received a free uncorrected proof of this book for my honest review and would like to thank Emily at Random House for sending it out to me!

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Review: Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

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It’s no secret that I love this series. I genuinely feel that this a series that could have been mediocre but as Vincent constantly takes risks in her writing and surprises her reader is an outstanding read. After If I Die, the fifth book in the series, which blew me away and I thought was about a thousand shades of awesome, I wondered how on earth Vincent could top it. Be warned, there are spoilers for the previous five books in this review. You can’t really review this book without spoiling book five!

Kaylee now has a new job as a former bean sidhe and now immortal being – her job is to hunt out and reclaim stolen souls. However she’s finding her new life hard; coming back from the dead naturally has led to her feeling out of sorts. Luckily, her gorgeous new boyfriend, Todd, has been through it before – a former bean sidhe himself and now a reaper and the two of them literally will have eternity together, which Kaylee admits is very daunting.  Not only that, but a former enemy has returned and now Kaylee has to forget about her difficulties with her new existence and get straight to work saving souls.

One of the reasons I adore this series is how Vincent has built Todd from this very minor character and brother of the romantic interest to a very crush-worthy interest and boyfriend for Kaylee. Nash’s development from perfect boyfriend to addict to ex has been very interesting too as at the start I loved him and by book four I really, really didn’t. This is the first book where Kaylee and Todd are properly together from the start and I loved the two of them; Todd’s trying hard to help her cope with her new role and be her new boyfriend. Nash as well garnered a lot more sympathy in this book, he felt a lot more human to me than in other books and the difficulty in coping with his brother dating his ex, who he is definitely not over, is obvious.

Vincent, once again, proves no characters are safe from death (I mean, she killed Kaylee in the last book, where else can she go from there?) and there are some truly shocking and awful moments in this book. The ending in particular and one particular other scene are particularly difficult to read for this reason.

There’s one book left in this series and I am really going to miss this when it is over. I have every faith Vincent will deliver a brilliant final book, but I am sure I am not alone when I say that I don’t want this series to end. The world, the characters and the fun, action filled plots mean something to me that I don’t know when I’ll be able to finally let go. I can only imagine how Vincent must feel saying goodbye to this wonderful world she has created!

I received a complimentary review copy from the UK publishers, Mira Ink (and by the way can we all just swoon over the covers? Seriously, I don’t these publishers could do a bad book cover if they tried!) and as ever am very grateful and thankful but my review is honest and unaffected by means of receiving the book. Officially, Before I Wake is out on the 6th July, but you can download it on Kindle now if you can’t wait!

Amazon UK
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