A safe haven between four realms. The girl sworn to protect it--at any cost. New York Times bestselling author Sara Holland crafts a breathtaking new contemporary fantasy perfect for fans of Melissa Albert and Holly Black.
Hidden deep in the mountains of Colorado lies the Inn at Havenfall, a sanctuary that connects ancient worlds--each with their own magic--together. For generations, the inn has protected all who seek refuge within its walls, and any who disrupt the peace can never return.
For Maddie Morrow, summers at the inn are more than a chance to experience this magic first-hand. Havenfall is an escape from reality, where her mother sits on death row accused of murdering Maddie's brother. It's where Maddie fell in love with handsome Fiorden soldier Brekken. And it's where one day she hopes to inherit the role of Innkeeper from her beloved uncle.
But this summer, the impossible happens--a dead body is found, shattering everything the inn stands for. With Brekken missing, her uncle gravely injured, and a dangerous creature on the loose, Maddie suddenly finds herself responsible for the safety of everyone in Havenfall. She'll do anything to uncover the truth, even if it means working together with an alluring new staffer Taya, who seems to know more than she's letting on. As dark secrets are revealed about the inn itself, one thing becomes clear to Maddie--no one can be trusted, and no one is safe . . .
Sara Holland takes the lush fantasy that captured readers in Everless and Evermore and weaves it into the real world to create a wholly captivating new series where power and peril lurk behind every door.
Review: Firstly I love the cover of this book, it is just stunning and soothing all at once and a beautiful cover that this contains a beautiful world within. I could definitely picture havenfall and its magical properties and that is because of Sara Holland's beautiful writing. It is so descriptive and often really profound, like in this case, 'It occurs to me, Calmly and distantly, that I've thought about things the wrong way. The difference between monsters and people; it's not a divide between Solarians and humans or anything like that, it's what we do'. I liked that it walks that balance between magical and real, I found it easy to picture and definitively believed everything that Maddie was going through.
I love a book with a strong female lead and we have that here with Maddie who aspires to be the Havenfall Inkeeper, responsible for overseeing peace delegations between worlds, when her uncle retires. I like that she has these strong desires and knows what she wants. She is ultimately flawed though and this is where a lot of the plot points come from. Maddie tries to do what she can to solve problems but she really can't always. There is an element of romance in this book and a hint of a f/f/ relationship but it is not the main plot of this one. I would have liked more to have been made of that particular relationship but this is maybe something which will be explored in the next book in the series.
This was definitely light fantasy with a lot of action, some violence but it poses a lot of questions and a lot of dilemmas for our character which I am sure will be picked up in book 2. I liked that there wasn't tons of new information to take in but I don't think that a little more detail would have hurt the pacing at all. Maddie was a good main character but I would definitely like to see a few more memorable characters in book 2 because for me, the setting in the Colorado mountains was what stuck out for me. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes in book 2.
To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US
Time is a prison. She is the key. Packed with danger, temptation and desire - a perfect read for fans of The Red Queen.
In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything - even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.
Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.
There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever ... and possibly the future of time itself.
Review: I'm not normally a massive reader of this genre, I definitely have to be in the mood for it but when I heard the author talk about this book recently, I knew I had to jump in. And I was really pleased that I did. Although this book has fantastical and magical elements to it, the world is not too dissimilar to our world and so there are definitely things that I could recognise. Secondly, this author did such a great job of world building, I could picture exactly where the characters were in each scene and where they were referencing in their exchanges.
I also really enjoyed this book because of the strong female lead. I am a sucker for a strong female at the helm and so, no matter the genre, if you've got that, you've got me hooked, Jules is a great lead, she knows her own mind and she is not afraid to take risks. If she needs to go for something, she is going to go for it no matter what stands in her way. There is definitely more to her than meets the eye and I can't wait to see what she gets up to in the next book!
One of the other things that I enjoyed about this book was Jules's relationship with her father. So often in Young adult literature, we have an absent father or a negative relationship between father and protagonist. These two have a great relationship in this novel and I believe that Jules would do anything for her father and vice versa. I really enjoyed reading about their history as well as their future and it is something that has stuck with me since finishing the book.
I loved the concept of time being something which can be sold and which we have within us and the constraints that that brings society and I really want to see how this is explored further in book 2. This series is sure to be great and even if Evermore is the only other fantasy book I read in the future, I'm sure I will enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed Everless!
To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US
A companion volume to the bestselling The Selection series – extra stories and never-before-seen material. Fans should prepare to swoon!
The achingly romantic and stylish four The Selection enovellas – The Prince, The Guard, The Queen and The Favorite – together in one irresistible volume. Plus exclusive extra content – Art for each of the novellas, a new intro for each of the novellas and 3 brand new scenes from each of the first 3 novels.
Review: I really enjoyed being back in this world. Having read the five novels in the series back to back, I decided to take a break and came back to this one a month later, but immediately I started reading it, I was transported back to a royal kingdom with characters I knew and loved. I read a story a day and binged the bonus materials almost as soon as I opened the book and would really recommend reading it this way!
My favourite story of the four was The Queen, it gave great insight into the character of The Queen but it also gave me a great insight into the whole selection competition! The only one I wasn't as keen on was The Guard (I left it until last) but this wasn't because of the plot or the writing, it was just because I wasn't as big of a fan of Aspen throughout the books and although the author puts a forward about how this story will get you to see Aspen in a new light, I still wasn't sold on him-sorry!
One of my favourite things about this book was the illustrations. I loved the fact that there were drawings spread throughout the book, some before a short story and some throughout the novellas too. They really brought the stories to life and made me think back to when I was reading illustrated books when I was younger, bring back pictures in all books I say! I also really loved the 'Where are they now' section, although I had forgotten about a few of the characters mentioned!
Overall I really enjoyed this read and would love some more selection stories to tie in with the final two books, if that could be arranged please? I think I would recommend reading these in the order they were intended, so if you haven't started the selection series yet, grab yourself a copy of this to read alongside!
Ok this is going to be my review of this series as a whole but I thought I would break it down and do it as one post but book by book with a few comments on each and then a summary of my final thoughts at the bottom for you. Obviously if you haven't read any of this, there may be spoilers in my thoughts for books 2-5 because they are sequels-beware!
I'll also leave the buy links at the very bottom for you.
It’s the chance of a lifetime and 17-year-old America Singer should feel lucky. She has been chosen for The Selection, a reality TV lottery in which the special few compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon’s love.
Swept up in a world of elaborate gowns, glittering jewels and decadent feasts, America is living a new and glamorous life. And the prince takes a special interest in her, much to the outrage of the others.
Rivalry within The Selection is fierce and not all of the girls are prepared to play by the rules. But what they don’t know is that America has a secret – one which could throw the whole competition… and change her life forever.
My Thoughts: So I was worried that I wasn't going to like this book because it has a slight fantasy element to it but I was really wrong about that because the setting for this book has a slightly fantastical note to it, in that it is set in the future, but everything else is totally recognisable and so I often forgot that this was set within the royal household in the future and not just the royal household now. I think the thing that stops it being unreal is that I don't know what it would be like living inside a palace anyway and so it was all cool. This is the book in the series where we really get to know the characters and I was intrigued to meet them all. We don't find out everything about all of these characters but we really get to know the main characters, Maxon and America. We also get to find out about The Selection itself, which it basically a reality TV show to find a wife for the prince, a show which I would so watch! I found this book slightly slower than the rest in the series because of the all the information, but it was in no way an info dump and I still really enjoyed this book!
The second book in Kiera Cass’s #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series, The Elite is a must-read for fans of fairy tales, The Bachelor, and dystopian YA fiction. This sequel to The Selection delivers even more glamour, intrigue, and swoon-worthy romance, and will captivate readers who loved Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Ally Condie's Matched, and Lauren Oliver's Delirium.
Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection, and to win Prince Maxon’s heart. Now six girls remain, and the competition is fiercer than ever. But America Singer’s heart is torn. Is it Prince Maxon—and life as the queen—that she wants? Or is it still Aspen, her first love?
My Thoughts: I would say that this is my favourite book out of the original trilogy. We get to know more about the ins and outs of The Selection itself, more about the royal family and more about the history of the country. I also really liked the fact that we see America's friendships with the other girls in The Selection, now The Elite grow. I think this was the aspect that I liked best about this book. The action in this book also ramps up a notch because there is more suggestion of another war and threat from the rebels. America also becomes a stronger contender in this race because she shows what a powerful female she can be and I think she has really found her groove by the time we get to this book.
THE SELECTION changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. Now, only one will claim Prince Maxon’s heart…
It’s swoon meets the Hunger Games in the third instalment of THE SELECTION series!
For the four girls who remain at the palace, the friendships they’ve formed, rivalries they’ve struggled with and dangers they’ve faced have bound them to each other for the rest of their lives.
Now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown – or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realises just how much she stands to lose – and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.
My Thoughts: This book has action right from the word go as the violence is stepped up another notch. Obviously we know going into this one that this is going to be the end of The Selection process and we will finally find The One, Maxon's wife and future queen. There is quite a lot of unpleasantness in this book though and so I am glad that America showed her true strength in the last book because I wouldn't have thought she would be able to handle things in this book otherwise. By the time i got this far in the trilogy, I really felt like I knew the characters and so when some of them come under threat, I felt genuine emotion and shed a tear or two. I really enjoyed this conclusion and I can see why people felt that this series should have stayed as a trilogy.
Eighteen years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story…but as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.
A new generation of swoonworthy characters and captivating romance awaits in the fourth book of the Selection series!
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed the fact that Kiera Cass added another aspect to this series. I know I am controversial in saying that but this book flips the whole royal family lineage on its head and now it is the princess that has to choose a prince for when she becomes queen. I really really enjoyed this book because I found it really interesting making the comparisons between the first all-female selection, and this new, all-male selection. I think that having Eadlyn as the star of this novel was great. She is a strong, confident girl who definitely knows her own mind and this creates for some brilliant moments in the Royal family. She has some great dramatic scenes and it isn't any less romantic because it is men vying for the crown this time. I really loved revisiting characters from the original selection series as well.
35 suitors entered the Selection. Only 1 will win her heart. The fifth and final captivating novel in Kiera Cass’s #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series!
In The Heir, a new era dawned in the world of The Selection. Twenty years have passed since America Singer and Prince Maxon fell in love, and their daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own.
Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you… and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult – and more important – than she ever expected.
My Thoughts: This was a really strong conclusion to the series and this duology for me but I didn't like this book as much as the crown. I think Eadlyn begins to think about the country and the royal family more in this book than she does her own wants and needs and that's what I liked about her in The Heir so I think that's why I didn't like this book as much as the first. Again I liked having other characters come up and I really liked the suitors that she has left in this book. All the characters felt real and didn't seem like characters from a fantasy novel but characters involved in a fairytale, in a royal kingdom wanting to be kings and queens. There is of course more drama in this book because it is the conclusion to the series and I really liked that. Overall I enjoyed the ending and thought this was a fitting conclusion to the whole thing.
Overall I am really glad I finally read this series. It really felt like fairytale and I felt like I was reading just a little bit of a Disney story mixed in with a reality TV show that would be on TV today. It allowed me to revisit my childhood in terms of the fairytale element of it and yet it indulge my love of some good drama on the TV with the contest element of it. I didn't have massively strong feelings about the characters or events in these books, I think I only cried once. Some of the characters did grate on me a little with their shallow attitudes but overall it was a bit of fun, nothing too taxing and definitely something to read if you're in the mood for a lovely story and some easy to like characters. This was also a great series to read one after the other and I would highly recommend doing that.
After dating the hottest man on the planet, Dillon O’Hara, Libby Lomax has come back down to earth with a bump. Now she’s throwing herself into a new relationship and is determined to be a better friend to best pal, Ollie, as he launches his new restaurant.
Despite good intentions, Libby is hugely distracted when a newly reformed Dillon arrives back on the scene, more irresistible than ever. And when another unwelcome guest turns up on her battered sofa in the form of Marilyn Monroe, Libby would willingly bite her own arm off for a return to normality.
But while she hasn’t been watching, someone else has filled the Libby-shaped hole in Ollie’s life and she realises she could be about to lose something that means everything to her. Libby doubts that Marilyn is the right person to offer her advice, but perhaps she should listen up, before it’s too late…
Review: aww I loved this book so much, I can't wait for the next in the Libby Lomax series. I read this book almost immediately after finishing reading A Night in With Audrey Hepburn, which I also loved, and I think that that was a really good way to do it. If you can I would totally loose yourself in a mini marathon of Libby Lomax and her fabulous friends!
This was a lovely quick read and one you could totally escape into. There are a few events during the course of the book that made me feel a little tense and on edge just because Libby gets herself into such scrapes and I want it all to be better for her, but overall, it is a really light hearted read that you can escape into after work or for an indulgent duvet day!
I really like the character of Libby because she is just so real. She goes through the things we could all go through. Granted, we don't get into such comedic situations as she does, but we've all had that ex that we know should be an ex but we're drawn back to, we all worry about careers and we've all been in the flat that turns out to be not quite what we expected!
In terms of storyline, as with the previous novel in this 'series' you do have to suspend your disbelief slightly to get to grips with the fact that Libby has conversations and exchanges with Marilyn Monroe, wears her bracelet and takes fashion advice from her but overall this is a really sweet story and leaves things fabulously placed for the next book in this series. If you haven't read them yet the now is your chance to catch up because I am sure that the wonder that is Lucy Holliday will be bringing another luscious installment of Libby to our shelves very soon!
Today you guys are very lucky because I have a fabulous guest review on the blog today. One of my students recently read the first 2 books in the Teardrop series by Lauren Kate and loved them so much, she wanted to review them for the blog. Its always lovely to have a young adult book reviewed by a young adult reader and I think you'll agree, her review puts mine to shame!
“Wisdom holds a candle to experience, but you’ve got to take the candle and walk alone.”
Written by Lauren Kate, this book is a sequel to Teardrop. Just as the previous book, Waterfall is about Eureka but the difference from the last book is this one is about Eureka’s consequences for raising Atlantis.
Waterfall is about how Eureka faces her challenges, it’s about how Eureka gets whisked off to the returned land, it’s about how Eureka decides to walk her path (by choosing whether to follow Atlas or to follow her heart) and it’s about how eureka decides to live her life.
Noah’s - AKA Brooks’s - life may be released from Atlas’s control but to him alive is something only Eureka and Ander know how to do. It is a question of life and death in which Eureka has to give up Ander or Brooks.
In the book, Eureka’s relationship with Ander suddenly goes off in another direction because of a hidden reason, which can only be possessed by reading the book.
Cat , Eureka’s friend, plays an important part in the book especially after she finds out her quirk as does Trenton and Eureka’s step-siblings.
The characters from the Teardrop are continued in the book: Eureka, Ander, Brooks, Diana, Trenton, Atlas and Eureka’s siblings but a few more are added on, such as: Solon, Delphine, Gossipwitches and many more.
Unlike Teardrop, Waterfall is mostly set in one or two places: Solon’s cave or Atlantis. Like Teardrop, the book is captivating and is hard to predict the next chapter even if it’s set in mostly one place.
The book is very captivating. It is immensely tense and has a raw energy. The pros for the book, for me, was that it had action and fun but unfortunately it had too much action and was way too tense. The only con about the book is that it’s too intense but hopefully the book will be just right for you with only pros and no cons.
This book is amazingly awesome but I would recommend this book to young adults and teenagers; this book has romance for older people. If you want to read the book, go ahead; my opinion isn’t necessarily required for you but it suit my recommended readers.
So there you have it, Waterfall’s review, I hope you will like the book and my review has given you a sense of direction. Remember, Eureka has been through a lot and will go through some more so read the sequel, if you want to. Thanks for reading!
Today you guys are very lucky because I have a fabulous guest review on the blog today. One of my students recently read the first 2 books in the Teardrop series by Lauren Kate and loved them so much, she wanted to review them for the blog. Its always lovely to have a young adult book reviewed by a young adult reader and I think you'll agree, her review puts mine to shame! “Wisdom holds a candle to experience, but you’ve got to take the candle and walk alone.”
Written by Lauren Kate, this book is about a 17 year-old girl who, if cries, can drown the whole, wide world. Her name is Eureka Boudreaux’s ; she’s Catholic. Her mum died, she committed suicide - but failed - and her dad married again (as if he never cared for Eureka’s real mom). Also, Eureka’s step-mother treated her like rubbish; in other words Eureka has been through a lot but Eureka’s step-sister and step-brother are awesome and kind towards her.
In the book, Eureka meets a stalker,who (claims he isn’t stalking but observing her - “I’m not stalking you , I'm observing. there’s a difference, you know.” - and) says if he ever left her alone, she would die. Eureka’s stalker ,Ander, tells her he has been watching her for a long time and at first he didn’t want to do it but his family, his cult, made him do it. When he describes his family, Eureka realises that they want her dead as she can drown the whole wide world and raise a continent.
Going through adventures, love and betrayal, Eureka has to face a lot (but I won’t spoil your fun by telling the whole story) just as she has done throughout her life. Reka - her nickname- doesn’t want to believe, that just like her mother who had drowned because of a freak, rogue wave, her best friend will betray her, make her cry, make a continent appear, kill her, then die himself. Reka thinks that she can’t trust anyone, because of his and a fortune teller’s prediction, she thinks that she can’t trust Ander, who for so long, has only tried to help. Review: Cliff Hanger is the name for the book; it is one. In the end the book’s story and prediction didn’t exactly came true but one thing is for sure Ander’s cult, the Seedbearers, will stop at nothing to prevent Atlantis’s return so Eureka, Ander, Cat (eureka’s other best friend), Trenton(eureka’s dad), Eureka’s step-siblings and the body of eureka’s dead step-mother have to travel across several seas with a powerful shield to avoid their deaths, knowing that their best friend is out there waiting for the best moment.
This book is consisted of the following characters: Eureka, Ander, Brooks(AKA Noah), Cat, Trenton, Diana, Eureka’s step-siblings, Eureka’s stepmother and many more.
The setting of the book is ever-changing. It starts from in a psychiatry ward to a field outside. You can never guess where the next setting might be which proves it is a cliff hanger.
Teardrop is utterly wonderful. This book is captivating; it took all of my willpower to put it down. It has a raw energy that’s tense but calm. It was the first book I have ever read written by Lauren Kate and it was awesome, it was achingly romantic and unbelievably vulnerable but it was also at the same time heartbreaking and resilient. My view on the book would be really really good as it reaches my level of expectations. I have absolutely no dislikes for the book and I hope you won’t either.
The pace - the fastest timing you can read the book - of the book for me was fast: I completed the book within a day, but it was still a big book (consisting about 400 pages) and it had taken me the whole of the day.
This book is amazingly awesome but I would recommend this book to young adults and teenagers; this book has romance for older people. If you want to read the book, go ahead; my opinion isn’t necessarily required for you but it suit my recommended readers.
So there you have it, Teardrop’s review, I hope you will like it and my review has given you a sense of direction. Remember, Eureka has been through a lot and will go through some more so read the sequel (Waterfall), if you want to. Thanks for reading!
What better way to wrap up a week of Joss Stirling reviews and wrap ups than an interview with the author herself, I'm so very very excited about this interview as I've only recently discovered this lovely author having met her earlier on this year.
Thank you so much to Joss for answering my probing questions and being on the blog today. Without any further ado, I'll hand you over to her!
1. First question-bit of a cliche-how did you get into writing? I always wrote stories to entertain myself as a child and later as a young adult but not in any expectation of getting published. The serious stuff happened when I had my third child. I wanted to offer my oldest (then about 7) a story to show I wasn't only thinking of the baby. That became a finished book and was the first thing I sent out to a publisher. They said yes - eventually - after a long wait.
2. Do you write full time & if so, have you always done this? Yes, full time, and no, this is only what I've been doing for the last 10 years. Before that I was a diplomat and then worked for Oxfam as a policy adviser.
3. Do you have a particular writing style or genre that you prefer? No - I like being able to shift - that's why I write under different names - Joss Stirling, Julia Golding and Eve Edwards.
4. How do you develop your characters as you write, are any of them based on real people? I develop as I write. If there is a real character that I had in mind, it is only a seed and then the character grows from that.
5. What was the inspiration behind The Finding Sky books? The inspiration was my daughter who was reading Twilight on a loop so I decided to break the habit by writing her her own story. I went for a light touch paranormal - no vampires, werewolves, fallen angels etc. as these all seemed to have been done to death. That was the birth of the savant Benedict brothers.
6. What is your writing process-do you map it out first? Write a bit at a time? I map out the initial chapters and the characters and then start writing. I don't like to know exactly how I'm going to get to the end as I enjoy the discovery.
7. How much of you is reflected in your novels? I expect all of my books are fragments of me - they have to be, don't they, as I am the controlling mind behind them.
8. What kind of research do you do before/during writing your novels? I research as I go along. If an overseas location is used, I get the fabulous excuse to travel there and have a snoop around.
9. Do you have any plans to develop this series any further or give us the joy of a sequel to Storm And Stone? That's the plan. I've submitted the next one already. It is called Hunter and Pearl - it's a fast-paced chase story about one of Kieran's friends, Nathan Hunter. I hope to get to Daimon and Joe too.
10. How much attention do you pay to the reviews that you get? I don't read all of them but sometimes people mention a weakness and I'm like 'Oh yeah - let's not do that again'. I try to learn as I know my writing is not perfect.
11. Are friends and family supportive of your writing? Completely.
12. How do you feel leading up to your publication day? A little excited, especially when the real fans start emailing to let me know what they think.
13. Which other authors inspire you or are there any you particularly enjoy reading? I read very widely so I suppose lots of writers inspire me. For example, I'm currently reading James Joyce's Ulysses because I've always avoided it until now and I'm determined to finish it this year. It is hard to pick on a single influence. I learn a lot from reading adult romances and I guess my patron saint is Jane Austen who thought up the most desirable hero of them all (I'm sure you know who I mean!).
14. Finally...what are you working on right now? I'm working on the next one after Misty Falls. I've not got a contract for it yet so I can't tell you much about it but I'm writing it for fun for my daughter who is doing A levels. She gets to hear first which Benedict is about to meet his match.
Thanks very much for joining us today and I can't wait to read the next book!
People used to call them 'friends' and said how they were good for your brain. And then a day came when all that changed . . . when they became our enemy.
Now, anyone found harbouring a rogue imaginary person is in for the Cosh, an operation that fries your imagination and zaps whatever's in there, out of existence.
That's why I wish Klaris Cliff had never shown up. And why I know that proving her innocence is the last hope I have of saving myself.
Review: I was sent a proof of this book to review and read it after having met the author at a fabulous event organised by the publishers. I am lucky enough to have a signed copy of this fabulous cover as well. This book wasn't entirely my taste but I think it was a well written story and such an original idea for a novel. Hearing the author talk about imaginary friends and the research she had done into this area, I could see how much work she had put into this novel. The concept that imaginary friends are banned and they're going to zap children's imaginations in order to remove these friends because they are causing havoc in society it hilarious but also terrifying. When asked about how this reflects society today, the author said that the research into imaginary friends hasn't seen any deflation in the number of children having imaginary friends, but I think that there really is a metaphor for children losing their imagination and creativity because of the technology that they use today compared to the amount of technology they had access to say, twenty years ago, and I think that this is a really good media to explore that issue through.
In terms of the structure of this book, it was definitely a slow burner. It took me a while to get into it. The chapters are really short though which meant that this was a super quick read. At first I felt a little like everyone knew what was going on and who people were except me. When I got to know the characters, however I got much more into the storyline. The story follows main character Joseph trying to prove that Kalris (the imaginary friend of Flea) isn't doing the things she has been accused of, that other people were to blame. The ending of the novel is a belter skeeter ride of him sharing this evidence chapter by chapter and then discovering something even more exciting. The twists and the turns at the end of the novel had me desperate to discover the real truth behind the whole thing!
I wasn't sure about the character of Joseph. He has his best friend who lives next to him, and his dad, but he does seem like a bit of a loner and not very endearing. Having read the book, I see that these character traits were necessary to allow the imaginary friend storyline to take place, but I don't know how many readers will warm to him. Flea was a lovely character, I loved the innocence and belief there and the other members of the Cliff family were just random, I couldn't work out if they were meant to be strange or just perceived as being strange.
Overall I think this was a really original novel and I'm glad I read it because its something really different for me, but I wouldn't say I enjoyed every second of it. I think it will definitely appeal to young adult readers and those who enjoy a smattering of fantasy or dystopia in their reads. I think the pace of the book was good (once it got going) and it won't take many readers more than a couple of days to get through. A really interesting, well-researched storyline.
Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.
But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?
Review:
I have to say right from the beginning, this book wasn’t for
me. I decided I wanted to write a review anyway because a lot of people
recommended this book to me, and I could definitely see why they enjoyed it,
and what a well-written book it is! I also wanted to give my opinion on this
book because, despite not enjoying all of it, I thought it was a great concept
for a book, with strong characters and a well thought-out storyline, and I
listened to this book right to the end to find out what happened!
The whole concept behind this book, there being a town where
everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts, and all the women of the town are
banished once they reach the age of thirteen, I thought was great. I loved the
idea of people being able to hear what each other think and the fact that main
character Todd can communicate with his dog I thought was very amusing! After a
while though, I thought that the idea that your ‘noise’ could give away what
you were going to do next, no matter how much you controlled it, was a bit
difficult and it made it harder for me to follow the book.
Up until Todd meets Viola I was really enjoying this book,
but the fact that she came down in a ship and from another land or town, her
mother and father being dead, it just all became a little improbable for my
tastes. The fact that Patrick Ness has built this whole other world and way of
thinking I think it just amazing, however and I really admire him as a writer.
Also the fact that this is part of a trilogy is pretty impressive too.
I listened to this book on audio book and I thought it was
really well narrated and added to the enjoyment for me. I listened right to the
end, but the ending was a little disappointing from my point of view. This book
is part of a trilogy and whilst I was hoping for some kind of resolution at the
end, the fact this it is part of a trilogy meant that there was no resolution.
The ending is left open, leaving you wanting more and wanting to buy the next
book. Whilst I will not be doing this, I can see why other people would do.
If world built up like this are your kind of thing and you
are more familiar than I am with other races and rules surrounding killing and
living, this will totally be your kind of thing. It was gripping and
well-written but it wasn’t for me!
