Book Review: 'One Of Us Is Lying' by Karen McManus

I thought I'd take a quick study break this afternoon and finish up my back-log of book reviews with this great wee book One of Us Is Lying.

I had seen this book around social media a lot recently, and also on a friend's 'to be read' shelf, and I knew it had lovely red edges haha! So, when doing my first ever order from the wonderful site which is Book Depository (go check it out here - discounted prices on a huge range of books and free shipping worldwide! Best discovery of my summer!), alongside the Ravenclaw 20th Anniversary edition of the first Harry potter and a brand new copy of my all-time favourite classic Little Women, I added a copy to my basket!

I started this book just before I left for holiday and then took it with me and read it by the pool and on the beach. I thought the concept was great, and reminded me, on reading the blurb, of The Breakfast Club (a film which the previously mentioned friend showed me for the first time over the summer), and later revealed itself, at least in my eyes, to also draw on the kind of themes of Gossip Girl.

Brief Summary: 5 completely different pupils are in detention, after being caught with phones in class. Phones which are not theirs, and which they were unaware had been planted in their bags. When one of the students, Simon, has a fatal allergic reaction, the other 4 suddenly find themselves right in the middle of a murder investigation, and desperately attempt to stop the many secrets about them from coming out. Secrets that Simon knew and was going to publish on his gossip blog, giving each of them a motive for shutting him up for good.

The book goes on to explore how this situation affects each of the students, switching narratives between them, how it brings them together, shoves them apart, and changes who they are as people, their private lives, their priorities and the various relationships in their lives.

The 'criminal' aspect is interesting and makes for a good plot foundation. I did unfortunately guess the ending before it occurred (there were only so many suspects!), however, I didn't feel as though this reduced from the quality of the book as, for me, it wasn't so much about the mystery and more about the character dynamics.

I particularly liked the relationship between bad-boy Nate, and geek-girl Bronwyn, as it really emphasised how people's lives can be nothing like what they seem on the surface and we never really know people until we try to, but to be honest this was true of all of the characters and the secrets that tormented them.

Overall, this is a pretty quick and thoroughly enjoyable read which I think really stands out as something a bit different from your usual YA reads. Highly recommended!



Reading Challenge: 14/21

Book Review: 'Wilde Like Me' by Louise Pentland

I feel as though my blog is getting a bit samey and boring because all I seem to write these days are reviews, so I apologise about that! The reason is the reading challenge that I set myself at the start of the year, and the fact that I have really enjoyed spending my free time reading for pleasure more. Maybe I'll do Blogmas again this year to make up for it!

Anyway, Louise Pentland (Also known online as SprinkeOfGlitter) is one of the many Youtubers whose channel I dip in and out of, as in I watch the odd video but I don't follow or watch everything. I knew she was releasing her first fiction book, and it sounded good. But I hadn't thought much of it until the day before publication day when I saw that it was reduced to something like £5 on Amazon, and I couldn't resist treating myself to a gorgeous new hardback!

Once again, I finished this about a month ago, but haven't got round to posting until now.

Brief Summary: Robin is a single mum with a young daughter, Lyla, who has recently started at private school. As Robin's career finally begins to take off after lots of hard work, and the loneliness of single life starts creeping in too, Robyn struggles to keep her life on track and particularly with the never-ending Mum Guilt!

I liked how down-to earth this book was, particularly the day-to-day happenings of family life.

It was a really nice story and you really felt like you knew the characters and wanted the best for them.

However, overall I thought the book was overly descriptive and lacking in terms of plot. There isn't much action or drama in the story, there are several sub-storylines that could become climactic but none really do. Instead, Pentland focuses on greatly detailed descriptions of things which personally I don't feel as though needed quite so many words dedicated to them! I began to get a bit sick of reading about Robin's man-woes and day-to-day household chores and actually found her a little self-centred as a character (which, to be fair, was probably deliberate as the story is meant to be about a woman allowing herself to sometimes put herself first in life, which I do appreciate).

So, to sum up, a really lovely read, perfect for taking on holiday or something, but not personally my favourite read this year!

Catriona x




Reading Challenge: 13/21

Book Review: 'I'll Give You The Sun' by Jandy Nelson

When I was younger (I can't remember how old exactly, but maybe 12 or 13?), my mum bought me a book for Christmas called 'The Sky is Everywhere'. I think she had read a review of it as a good YA book in the Guardian or somewhere. I absolutely loved it, but no one I spoke to had ever heard of it, and so I spent several years telling everyone it was my favourite book (and rereading it many times!).

You can imagine my excitement then, when in early 2015, I realised that the author had actually written another book: 'I'll Give You The Sun'. I bought my copy and began reading it at the end of summer 2015. However, I wasn't very far through when I began university in September 2015, and the book was quickly forgotten.

In the 2 years that followed, I read many other books, and the author became extremely popular when 'The Sky Is Everywhere' was selected for the Zoella book club. I'm, glad that her fantastic talent started getting recognised, but I must admit I was a little disappointed that the book was no longer my own personal discovery!

Anyway, this summer I decided that enough was enough. My copy of 'I'll Give You The Sun', once beautiful with spray painted page edges and everything, was pretty tattered from being carried to many places and never read. So I decided to start again from the beginning and finally read it (although I finished it a while ago... starting back at uni has left me with a bit of a back-log of reviews to get through!).

It took me a wee while to get into, but I quickly fell in love once again with Nelson's style. It's so real, like you truly believe what her characters are feeling.

Brief Summary:  Noah and Jude are twin brother and sister who have always been inseparable, bound by their linked minds and wonderful imaginations. However, when things begin to turn sour between their parents, they drift apart too, and when tragedy hits the family, the two are broken apart. But as they grow apart, grow up, and learn who they are and what the need in life, they realise that all that's keeping them apart are the secrets they've been too afraid to share.

One issue with the book was a lack of chapters (instead, the narrative switched between Jude and Noah at various ages, in order to flip back in forward in proceedings. This was done well, and wasn't too confusing, but didn't allow the book to be split in to small, readable chunks.) However, I did like the variety in narrative, and the cleverness of the plot that failed to reveal what the two characters secrets were too quickly.

The story was complex enough to keep it interesting, but simple enough to follow, and each character was beautifully painted with a back story that helped you feel as though you knew them.

One of the thematic elements was ghosts, and fate, and other spiritual things that I can't day I particularly believe in. However, Nelson was not to heavy-handed in her inclusion of these ideas, and used them simply to shape her characters, rather than to prop up the plot. Therefore I found I could perfectly relate to the desires of the young twins for approval, acceptance, love, strong familial bond, etc.

I could gush about Nelson's amazing descriptive capabilities for ever, but I will simply highlight the opening scene. Discussing a 'coming of age' topic such as bullying is not uncommon among YA authors, but the image Nelson paints is so powerful.

Other issues addressed include pressures surrounding virginity, keeping secrets and telling lies, stereotyping of gender characteristics, mental health conditions/depression, sibling rivalry, suicidal thoughts, alcoholism, and fear over sharing one's sexuality with friends and family (closeting oneself, for want of a better phrase). No one of these is so explicitly stated as to become the centre focus of the novel, but integrated in a way which portrays the darkness that really can be seen in every day life when unsubstantial support is visible, to people of all ages but particularly teens who have experienced trauma or grief. I could talk more about how Nelson addresses each, but I don't have all day and I really would encourage you to read this book for yourself!

Although 'The Sky is Everywhere' will forever remain my favourite, this book is another triumph in YA literature and well worth a read.



Reading Challenge: 12/21