Category: Junior Fiction

capri?

Posted on by Greig

The Summer I Became A Nerd

Leah Rae Miller

the summer i became a nerdA diverting, speedy read, this YA novel is a coming of age story where the lead character is a closet nerd who has carefully constructed a ‘popular’ persona to help her survive the social minefield of school life.
The plot finds her learning to be honest with herself and the people in her life.
This is another one of those Kindle Daily Deal books. Oh the dodgy books you end up reading just because they were a bargain…
It really is nothing special and only worth reading if you’re after something to switch your brain off with.

Rating: B

baz?

Posted on by Greig

Fangirl

Rainbow Rowell

fangirlCath hates new places, new people and new things. Which is a bit of a problem when she’s just moved away from home to study at college. Doubly so when she’s forced to share a room with someone other than her identical twin sister for the first time in her life.
Escaping into writing her popular serial fanfic she struggles to adjust to her new life and to deal with the problems that life throws at her.
This is easily the best YA book I’ve read since The Fault In Our Stars. I really enjoyed spending time in Cath’s head. I’ve read a ton of fanfic in the past year after going crazy for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and I really empathized with her, while recognizing that she’s young and frequently mistaken about how other people thnk and how the world works.
In fact I devoured the book in less than a day.
I recommend this to anyone but especially to those with an interest in YA books or the world of fanfic.

Rating: A

sunset?

Posted on by Greig

Gingerbread

Rachel Cohn

gingerbreadThis tale of a spoiled, troubled teenage girl was a very quick read indeed.
The lead character behaves like a cliched teenage brat and her neediness and lack of self awareness makes her very hard to like despite the care the author takes to show that there’s more to the character.
Only really recommended if you’re looking for a quick blast of YA angst mixed with family stories.

Rating: C

reparo?

Posted on by Greig

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsThis is the first time I’ve read this book since I read it in a crazed four hour sprint on the day of it’s release.
Obviously since then I’ve seen the films they made of it a couple of times so I had a decent memory of the plot.
What surprised me with a more leisurely reading is how powerful certain passages of the book were. In particular the entire sequence of Harry facing Voldemort in the forest and of course the chapter inside Snape’s memories.
The book also wraps things up in a much more satisfying way than the film. I loved that the only thing Harry uses the Elder Wand for is to repair his own original wand.
Despite the pacing issues (a wee bit too long is spent with the lead trio hiding in the countryside) this is actually one of the strongest books in the whole series. It’s certainly a satisfying denouement.
So this wraps up the project of re-reading all the books having seen the films.
Overall my verdict is that the books are better than the films. A couple of the films are downright bad. Even the weakest of the books (Chamber of Secrets, Goblet of Fire) are entertaining where the worst film (Half-Blood Prince) is a total waste of time and talent.

Rating: A-

captain?

Posted on by Greig

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

J.K. Rowling

harry potter and the half-blood princeAfter the sheer bulk of the Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix this entry in the Harry Potter series is a bit of a physical relief. However this is the volume where things to start getting really dark and deaths start to occur ever more frequently.
I’ve read this book twice before – once when it came out and again just before the release of the final book.
Reading it again knowing the events of the final book improved it in ways I didn’t expect. Especially with regard to the cliffhanger near the end. Also it’s only with this read that I really started to get Harry and Ginny as a couple that makes sense.
One important thing to note is that this is infinitely better than the film version; which is an incoherent mess and by far the worst of the celluloid series.

Rating: A-

veil?

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

J.K. Rowling

order of the phoenixI’ve read this, the fifth Harry Potter book, a couple of times before. I read it when first came out in 2003 and then again in 2007.
I started a re-read of the whole series a couple of years ago but I struggled to get past the first few chapters of The Goblet of Fire. I recently discovered that you could borrow the audio book from Edinburgh’s online library service and thanks to Stephen Fry’s narration I finally finished it.
The only problem with the audio book was the sheer length of time it took to listen to, so when it came to Order of the Phoenix I just picked up the physical book.
The distinguishing feature of this particular volume is just how much of the plot relies on main characters being stupid and stubborn. I have to say it’s always a delight to get to hate on Umbridge again. Her selfish, mundane form of low grade evil is so reminiscent of people I’ve known over the years.
If you’ve not read the Harry Potter books before now this review isn’t going to prompt you to start but I do recommend the series as a fine read.

Rating: B+

mutt?

Posted on by Greig

Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins

MockingjayAfter re-reading Catching Fire it was inevitable that I’d go back and read the final volume of the trilogy again.
When I first read the book I read it so quickly that some of the emotional impact was lost on me.
This time round I really felt moved by all the horrors that the characters go through and in particular I keenly felt Katniss’ pain in the scene with Buttercup right at the end of the book.
I know some people are never going to like this kind of dystopian fiction but this is a genuinely powerful book and I think it’s well worth giving a shot even if you don’t think it’s for you.

Rating: A-

ladder?

Posted on by Greig

Insurgent

Veronica Roth

InsurgentThe sequel to Divergent is a similarly entertaining slice of YA dystopian sci-fi.
It definitely feels like a middle volume of a series with a lot of talking and a lot of having the protagonist stuck in dangerous situations that they escape by the skin of her teeth.
Still, a fun read, and definitely recommended if you enjoyed the first book.

Rating: B+

mechanism?

Posted on by Greig

Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins

catching fireThe latest trailer for the film version of this book was released at San Diego Comic Con and it got me slightly excited.
So I dug out my ebook and started reading and you know what? I think I like this book a whole lot more than I did the first time round.
The first person perspective is both the strength and weakness of this series.
It’s a strength because Katniss is such an interesting, damaged person and seeing the world via her naively cynical viewpoint skews the world in novel ways.
It’s a weakness because much of the really interesting stuff that happens – politically, culturally – are events that Katniss doesn’t attend or doesn’t understand.
It’s kind of wonderful that you have to piece together the back story by yourself but sometimes you really can’t tell what’s happened to place Katniss in whatever fresh hell she’s landed in.
What’s interesting about Catching Fire on a second read is how hard Katniss is trying to be empathetic, how much she’s learned from the horror of being in The Hunger Games about valuing the survival of other people.
Despite the many ways she’s been used and abused by the powerful, this is someone in the slow process of growing into a better person before fresh trauma is heaped upon her.
I really do recommend this series. It’s no masterpiece of literature but it is a very enjoyable and thought provoking read with a compelling central character.

Rating: A

malerie?

Posted on by Greig

Struck By Lightning

Chris Colfer

Struck by lightningEntertainingly sarky high school novella by the Glee star.
I bought the book after being entertained by the film’s trailer.
It’s told in the form of the lead character’s diary as he blackmails his way through the school popular elite in order to publish a literary magazine to strengthen his college application.
The story is told for maximum dark humour and with absolutely no interest in making the central character sympathetic.
Not outstanding but certainly worth a read.

Rating: B