Release Date: 05/07/12
BOOK BLURB:
Delilah knows it's weird, but she can't stop reading her favourite fairy tale. Other girls her age are dating and cheerleading. But then, other girls are popular. She loves the comfort of the happy ending, and knowing there will be no surprises. Until she gets the biggest surprise of all, when Prince Oliver looks out from the page and speaks to her. Now Delilah must decide: will she do as Oliver asks, and help him to break out of the book? Or is this her chance to escape into happily ever after? Read between the lines for total enchantment ...
REVIEW:
Whilst I know the name of Jodi Picoult very well, I’m always a little dubious when an author takes a stab at another genre. Don’t get me wrong, there are common traits between quite a few of them but when you’re writing for a YA audience after having written for adults, theres a lot of differences that need to be addressed and whilst some make the transition very well the majority sadly don’t. Such was the case with Philippa Gregory and for me, it’s the same case with Jodi.
The book really didn’t work well for me as a reader, it felt more like forcing the elements together to make it work rather than allowing a certain amount of organic work to take the burden for the writers. Its convoluted, it doesn’t work characters wise and sad to say, I suspect it wouldn’t have made it to print had Jodi not been associated with it.
Add to this a confused set of quandaries, lacking emotional context to allow the characters to grow and all in, this is not a book that I’ll be recommending to others.
Release Date: 29/09/11
BOOK BLURB:
'On the third night after the day her father died, Liesl saw the ghost.' Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice - until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone. That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable. Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.
REVIEW:
A strange and yet beautiful story for the younger reader that takes them on an adventure with a cast of wonderfully weird and eccentric characters as our heroine takes on a quest to return her father’s ashes to the place where they were happiest. It’s cleverly written, its full of twists and to be honest it’s a story that I was never quite sure what to expect as the author had a manner of writing that left you missing the sleight of hand movements just before she pulled the rug out from underneath you.
Add to this a solid pace, a great support cast as well as dialogue that the reader can get along with and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable book. My only problem is that I did wonder if the subject matter may be a little grown up for the reading age to which its aimed, which whilst I enjoyed it left me wondering how many more questions it would cause the reader to ask that they may not be prepared to receive the answers for.
Release Date: 09/06/11
BOOK BLURB:
Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. But danger lurks around the corner, forcing her to return to India where she embarks on a second quest-this time with Ren's dark, bad-boy brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the Tiger's Curse. Fraught with danger, spellbinding dreams, and choices of the heart, TIGER'S QUEST brings the trio one step closer to breaking the spell that binds them.
REVIEW:
Second books can be harder to do than the original, after all you’ve got the initial idea down but now’s the time when you have to step up and prove that you’re not a one hit wonder. Too often this is sadly the case and when you find a series that not only has potential but wonderful delivery then it’s something that’s pretty critical.
Having loved the original release (Tiger’s Curse) I was a little worried about this, would it be as good, would the characters grow and perhaps more importantly had Colleen expended everything with the original. There’s only one way to find out and as such I did the only thing I could. Grabbing a copy I opened and began to read…
Whereas the first book was not only an introduction but a revelation in YA the second takes a separate step forward and introduces a new character so the lead list, that of Dirhen, the moody bad boy brother of Ren, the love interest in the original for Kelsey. Whilst the adventure was still as prevalent within, the characters emotions are the key to this release. Especially for fans of the Vampire Diaries as Ren and Dirhen feel that they take over the Salvatore brothers roles in wonderful descriptiveness. As before the writing is crisp, the characters delightful and when backed with a real humdinger of a story, it’s a title that I really couldn’t put down. I really can’t wait to see how things develop from here.
Release Date: 26/05/11
BOOK BLURB:
Would you risk it all to change your destiny? The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she'd be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that's exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.
REVIEW:
As a reader, for me a story has to take you somewhere, it’s not just about reaching the conclusion but about learning lessons along the way and that’s exactly what Collen Houck has done in this, the first book in the Tiger Saga.
Within the pages is a reasonably paced plot with outstanding characters who grow emotionally alongside the reader as they tale wends its merry way and whilst at the beginning you doubt Kelsey’s ability to handle the strange and unusual she steps up to the role that the fates have thrown her way. It’s handled wonderfully, the characters have real traits alongside desires and when backed up with cracking dialogue and the twist of shape shifters (feline as opposed to the usual canus) it really steps out on its own.
Finally add to this a love story interwoven within with a feeling that eastern myth has also woven its way into this tapestry of words and it was a more than satisfactory book. I’ll look forward to the second book.
Release Date: 01/10/09
BOOK BLURB:
A strange novel for strange young people. Young Samuel Johnson and his dachshund Boswell are trying to show initiative by trick-or-treating a full three days before Hallowe'en. Which is how they come to witness strange goings-on at 666 Crowley Avenue. The Abernathys don't mean any harm by their flirtation with Satanism. But it just happens to coincide with a malfunction in the Large Hadron Collider that creates a gap in the universe. A gap in which there is a pair of enormous gates. The gates to Hell. And there are some pretty terrifying beings just itching to get out ...Can Samuel persuade anyone to take this seriously? Can he harness the power of science to save the world as we know it?
REVIEW:
Having read and enjoyed a number of John’s adult titles, I was interested to see how his writing style would translate to the younger market. Would his solid prose and sense of pace match what the young reader would want and would the characters translate as well to the younger audience?
In short, yes, John has a masters touch in known what his audience want, he delivers great characters, wonderful twists and above all else a story that you can latch onto that will drag you by the coattails to the titles conclusion. Add to this some great dialogue as well as some humour and it’s a title that adults will get as much fun from as the younger reader. All in, this was a real joy to read and the time taken out for the reading pleasure really flew by.
