Review: Wonderland by Juno Dawson

What happens when you fall down the rabbit hole? The compulsive must-have follow-up to CLEAN and MEAT MARKET from bestselling author Juno Dawson

Alice lives in a world of stifling privilege and luxury - but none of it means anything when your own head plays tricks on your reality. When her troubled friend Bunny goes missing, Alice becomes obsessed with finding her. On the trail of her last movements, Alice discovers a mysterious invitation to 'Wonderland': the party to end all parties - three days of hedonistic excess to which only the elite are welcome.

Will she find Bunny there? Or is this really a case of finding herself? Because Alice has secrets of her own, and ruthless socialite queen Paisley Hart is determined to uncover them, whatever it takes.

Alice is all alone, miles from home, and now she has a new enemy who wants her head...

A searing exploration of mental health, gender and privilege, from the most addictive YA novelist in the UK today.

Review: Well this really was a wild ride into Wonderland. This Alice in Wonderland retelling is not for the faint-hearted and this definitely contains care warnings for Self harm, suicide, mental health, sexual assault and drug use. But this book fearlessly tackles issues facing young people today head on and its cast of characters is like no other. If you love books with diverse characters and not your cookie cutter YA contemporary characters then this one is definitely for you. 

I really found Alice intriguing as a main character and I think there is nothing better for an author to make me intrigued by their main character. She is a unique individual and fits the bill of unreliable narrator. She seems like she is snarky and wants to be unlikable but really she is going through a hell of a lot of things as well as just those issues facing every single teenage girl in the world and so it is impossible not to fall in love with her. As a teacher I felt very protective over her but as a reader I loved the adventures that she went on. I feel like I still don't fully know her as a person and I quite like that to be honest. 

I mentioned that this book contains drug use and it is that drug use that over exaggerates this particular Wonderland. I feel like this author sat down and thought, well what if Alice had a crush on the white rabbit and that's why she followed them, what if there was group sex in wonderland, where do Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee land on the spectrum of sexuality? I am just amazed by this world that Juno Dawson has built. 

Not every escapade and every drug fueled party was for me but boy could I appreciate the intricacies of the storytelling and the weaving of the plot and if you want to read something really different and completely daring then this book is for you. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Boys Don't Knit (In Public) by TS Easton

Meet Ben Fletcher, an Adrian Mole for a new generation

Ben Fletcher must get to grips with his more 'feminine' side following an unfortunate incident with a lollipop lady and a stolen bottle of Martini Rosso from Waitrose. All a big misunderstanding of course.

To avoid the Young Offenders unit, Ben is ordered to give something back to the community and develop his sense of social alignment. Take up a hobby and keep on the straight and narrow. The hot teacher he likes runs a knitting group so Ben, reluctantly at first, gets 'stuck in'. Not easy when your dad is a sports fan and thinks Jeremy Clarkson is God. To his surprise, Ben finds that he likes knitting and that he has a mean competitive streak. If he can just keep it all a secret from his mates...and notice that the girl of his dreams, girl-next-door Megan Hooper has a bit of a thing for him...

Review: wow I really totally loved this book. I felt like I was watching a TV show about some unlikely lads and how they all got themselves in and out of trouble. I laughed so much reading this and just generally had a jolly good time. 

I think it was interesting that the whole premise behind this book is that Ben is doing things that are all requirements of his probation and yet I found myself forgetting so often that he had done something wrong and was now dealing with the consequences. I really liked Ben as a character and he really does seem like a decent stand up gentleman. There are even knitting magazines hidden under his bed where you might expect other kinds of magazines to be hiding as well. Ben's friends, as I mentioned above, are also interesting characters. They just remind me of the lads that I went to school with and one of them is even attempting to write a sort of Fifty Shades of Grey spin off novel-how hilarious is that?

This book is very very funny but there are also some decent messages for life in here too. Ben really does grow and change because of his court mandated knitting and community service. He really is a decent person to start with but gains a level of maturity throughout the novel. He also finds out what happens when a lie spirals out of control. There is a little romance in this novel, and not just between Ben's parents (who are very much as embarrassing as a teenage boy's parents should be) and I liked that there was just a smattering of that left in there. Despite the fact that there is some slightly offensive language in there and allusions to sex in some scenes, I think this would definitely be something entertaining for the younger end of the YA audience, with those disclosures in mind. 

This is a very British read, despite me having read the US version and translating certain things in my head as I went along and I loved that about it. I really enjoyed getting to know Ben and his friends and also getting to know a little bit more about knitting and football (soccer). I would definitely recommend this read, it was very funny and thoroughly entertaining!

To get your copy now, click here!

Review: The Cafe In Fir Tree Park by Katey Lovell

Maggie’s café is at the very heart of Fir Tree Park. Business is booming, her lemon drizzle is the stuff of legend, her children are happy and life is good. But she hasn’t had it easy. When her husband Clint was sent to prison, she had to raise Josh and Kelly alone. But Clint can’t hurt them now, and there’s no denying that Paolo, the Italian football coach she spies every weekend out on the green, is more than easy on the eye.

It may be summer outside, but a new arrival in Fir Tree Park sends an icy chill through the café…

Review: I am a big fan of Katey Lovell's writing, I loved her previous novel and am an avid reader of her Meet Cute series and this new offering did not let me down. This is a meaty story with plenty of romance, a bit of diversity and a bit of scandal and intrigue and it all balances out to be an excellent read. This is the perfect summer read as well (I read most of it sitting in the sunshine and was glad I did) because it is set in a park and will definitely make you want to get out there and be at one with nature, or just sit and have a picnic of several different kinds of cake. 

This story features mini story lines for various different characters that all tie together in some way, at first you don't know how but the fact that you know they will eventually makes this a well-paced read because you are constantly reading on to find out what will happen to character A or character B in the next chapter and sometimes you don't find out until a couple of chapters time. I really like Maggie who really does bring everybody together in the form of her cake shop. She serves delicious sounding cakes and is the voice of reason for many of the other characters. She also has a bit of a romantic storyline as well and so I really felt like I connected with her. 

All of the characters are easy to relate to, even those with a bit of a past and that makes this read very easy to get into. I really loved getting to know Pearl and Fern, Kelly and Carrick and it was interesting working out how they were all connected. This is definitely very easy to read because of the way it is structured, the chapters are short and so you don't realise how quickly you are reading, trying to find out how things between and for the characters are going to play out. Overall this was really enjoyable. if this is your first book by this author, then you are sure to have a good time and if, like me, you are a fan then you won't be let down. Definitely read this one now whilst it is still summer and you can go out and enjoy your local Fir Tree Park!

To order your copy now, click here!

Review: The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Two boys. Two secrets.

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl. 

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan. 

When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long…

Review: This book totally blew me away! This was another one of those books that I've heard about so often on Twitter and from other bloggers and so I really wasn't sure whether it was going to be a bit of a let down or whether it really would live up to the hype, it totally lived up to the hype but I think I enjoyed it in my very own way. I literally read this book in one sitting, that;s how much I wanted to just utterly consume it and continue to live in the lives of these characters for as long as possible. 

As you can see from the blurb, this deals with a boy who would much rather be a girl. There are other characters in this book who would also identify within the LGBTQ label and so this is definitely a diverse read. But it is not diversity for diversity's sake, it is not diversity rammed down your throat. This is a book about friendship and family and growing up and self discovery and that is what makes it such a wonderful read. Under this LGBTQ heading there is a lovely heart warming story. A story that just gives you all the feels. 

I love both of the main characters in this book and wanted only the best for them. David is a really likeable person. He has a fab couple of friends who are also awesome characters to read a bout and he is open with them, but not as much with his family. Leo is slightly the opposite of David because he is much more open with his family that he is with his friends, in fact, he would rather not have any friends at all. I loved how strong Leo was and how unlikely his friendship with David really was. 

I found myself drawn into this story and experience the highs and lows of every moment with these characters. I also really liked the relationship that both characters had with their family. This author doesn't push for the perfect family, she creates realistic families and so they were easy to relate to an easy to accept during the reading process. David and Leo were also very realistic and therefore relatable. I liked the fact that this books is set when both of them are at an English secondary school in their GCSE years, I think this gave the books a whole other dimension. 

Even if it is not a diverse read that you are looking for, pick up this book for its fabulous characters and storyline. And if you are looking for your next diverse read, or your first diverse read, then pick this one up because Lisa Williamson has done such a fantastic job!

Get your copy by clicking here!