Review: The Crossover - Kwame Alexander

‘With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .
The court is SIZZLING.
My sweat is DRIZZLING.
Stop all that quivering.
Cuz tonight I'm delivering’

12-year-old Josh and his twin Jordan have basketball in their blood. They’re kings of the court, star players for their school team. Their father used to be a champion player and they each want nothing more than to follow in his footsteps.

Both on and off the court, there is conflict and hardship which will test Josh’s bond with his brother. In this heartfelt novel in verse, the boys find that life doesn’t come with a play-book and it's not all about winning.

Crossover Series:
Rebound
The Crossover

Visit Kwame Alexander's website for more information

Review:
Not being a teenager and knowing absolutely nothing about basketball, I think it's pretty safe to say I'm not really the target audience for this novel. I love verse novels though and seeing a video of the author reading part of the story had me curious enough to give it a try and I have to say I loved it far more than I expected to and I can see why it's won so many awards!

The story is about twelve-year-old twins who until now have been utterly obsessed with basketball, their father was a professional player who now focuses his energies on training his sons and they're both stars of their school team. It is about so much more than basketball though, it's also about growing up and growing apart, it's about finding your first love and how that changes things, it's about discovering things from your parent's past that you never knew before and it's about learning to deal with an emotional crisis.

Verse novels can be so much fun to read and this is definitely one of the better ones I've come across, the pacing is perfect and the language is clever. I think this will appeal to even the most reluctant reader and I'm handing my copy straight to my 13 year old nephew who I think will love it even more than I did!

And in case you want to watch the video I saw of Kwame Alexander reading from The Crossover here it is:



Source: Received from Andersen Press in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Trump's Christmas Carol - Lucien Young writing as Watt T Dickens

‘I have the best ghosts, everyone says so’

President Ebenezer Trump, a rich old fool whose heart is as small as his hands and whose words are as false as his hair, sits shut up alone in the White House on Christmas Eve. But he is confronted that night by the ghost of Richard Nixon, who warns him that he will be visited by three spirits, all intent on changing his imprudent and miserly ways.

He meets the jovial Ghost of Christmas Past, Bill Clinton, full of fun tales and memories; the spirit who everyone wishes was still the Ghost of Christmas Present, Barack Obama; and the terrifying Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who shows him how abolishing Obamacare will finish off Tiny Tim.

But will Trump heed their advice, and become a good person?

Visit the Trump's Christmas Carol page on Goodreads for more information.

Review:
I loved Lucien Young's Alice in Brexitland parody so of course I jumped at the chance of reviewing his second book, Trump's Christmas Carol. As you can tell from the title this is Young's take on Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol staring president Ebenezer Trump. Told in the same style as the original story (so very different to the previous book) we get to see the mean and miserly Trump confronted by the ghost of Christmas past Bill Clinton, the ghost we wish was Christmas present Barack Obama and a mysterious ghost of Christmas future.

As you'd expect with any story about Trump there is plenty of material to use that just begs to be laughed at - tiny hands, the Russian connection, that video, the constant tweets, the insecurity and ignorance plus so much more. There are appearances from people like Hilary, Farage and Melania to add to the fun. I don't think the humour quite hit the highs of Alice in Brexitland but I definitely laughed out loud several times while reading. I think I'd probably have found it even funnier if I wasn't still so horrified about the state of the world right now and if the future shown by the ghost of Christmas yet to come didn't feel quite so awfully believable.

The book has line drawn illustrations that were just as funny (and accurate) as the text and made a lovely addition to the story.

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: Alice in Brexitland - Lucien Young writing as Leavis Carroll

Lying on a riverbank on a lazy summer’s afternoon – 23rd June 2016, to be precise – Alice spots a flustered-looking white rabbit called Dave calling for a referendum. Following him down a rabbit-hole, she emerges into a strange new land, where up is down, black is white, experts are fools and fools are experts...

She meets such characters as the Corbynpillar, who sits on a toadstool smoking his hookah and being no help to anyone; Humpty Trumpty, perched on a wall he wants the Mexicans to pay for; the Cheshire Twat, who likes to disappear leaving only his grin, a pint, and the smell of scotch eggs remaining; and the terrifying Queen of Heartlessness, who’ll take off your head if you dare question her plan for Brexit. Will Alice ever be able to find anyone who speaks sense?

Visit the Alice in Brexitland page on Goodreads for more information.

Review:
Alice in Brexitland is a hilarious parody that tells the events surrounding the referendum in the form of Alice in Wonderland. Poor young Alice makes the horrible mistake of following David Camerabbit down the rabbit hole and quickly finds herself in a world that doesn't make sense anymore. The tale follows Alice's journey through Brexitland as she is introduced to characters like the Corbyn-pillar, the Cheshire Twat and Trumpty Dumpty. The characters are all instantly recognisable as both the fictional version from the original story as well as the real life politician they represent and they've been very cleverly written to show their biggest personality traits.

The book also includes wonderful illustrations that again follow the format of the originals but have been edited to fit the new characters created for this parody.

I coud have included quotes from practically every page but I've seen a lot of my favourites in other reviews already and I don't want to spoil the best jokes for anyone so I'm going to limit it to just this one:

How doth the politician lie
To burnish his career
And with his bogus slogans try
To bend the voter's ear!

He'll promise in each interview
That perfect joy awaits
And all the while he's screwing you
To help his wealthy mates

I know I'm not the only one who feels a bit like they fell down the rabbit hole in this last year so I laughed out loud the whole way through reading Lucien Young's take on events. This really does highlight some of the most shocking events from British and American politics over the last year and it probably hits a little close to the bone for some of us "remoaners" but if we can't laugh about the state of the world right now I'd probably have to cry and this was the perfect laughter inducer.

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: The Square Root of Summer - Harriet Reuter Hapgood

My heart is a kaleidoscope, and when we kiss it makes my world unravel . . .

Last summer, Gottie's life fell apart. Her beloved grandfather Grey died and Jason left her - the boy to whom she lost her virginity (and her heart) - and he wouldn't even hold her hand at the funeral! This summer, still reeling from twin heartbreaks, Gottie is lost and alone and burying herself in equations. Until, after five years absence, Thomas comes home: former boy next door. Former best friend. Former everything. And as life turns upside down again she starts to experience strange blips in time - back to last summer, back to what she should have seen then . . .

During one long, hazy summer, Gottie navigates grief, world-stopping kisses and rips in the space-time continuum, as she tries to reconcile her first heartbreak with her last.

The Square Root of Summer is an astounding and moving debut from Harriet Reuter Hapgood.

Visit Harriet Reuter Hapgood's website for more information

Review:
The Square Root of Summer is a fabulous debut from Harriet Reuter Hapgood, it's a story about first love, friendships, family, grief and heartbreak and how a death in the family can have such an incredibly huge impact on every aspect of your life.

Last summer Gottie's life was pretty perfect, she was falling in love for the first time, her family was all together and she had a great set of friends but it all fell apart when her grandfather died. With the rock of the family gone her grandfather's death left Gottie, her father and her brother all devastated and while they were struggling to deal with their own grief they lost their connection to each other. If that wasn't bad enough the boy she was in love with walked out of her life at the same time and Gottie was left completely adrift. Now, a year on, Gottie is still struggling to cope, she misses her grandfather but she also misses her friends and what's left of her family because she's been so busy just trying to get through each day that she's pushed everyone away.

This story is beautiful, I loved the way it looks at grief and how it really shows the effect that it had on the entire family. Gottie's grandfather Grey is a huge part of the story even though he's no longer with them and I loved the words of wisdom that Gottie would remember every time she thought of him. I also really enjoyed the relationship Gottie had with her brother, even though he's slightly older than her they've always been close and him leaving to start university just made everything that much harder for Gottie to deal with. All of the friendships and relationships in this book just felt so real, Grey's death didn't just effect their family but had a wider impact because he was such a focal point for everyone he came into contact with. Gottie's best friend Sof has tried so hard to be a good friend but she was upset too and she's tired of being pushed away and ignored, it was heartbreaking to see how far apart the girls were but I loved seeing them rebuild their friendship.

Most of the story has a very contemporary coming of age feel to it but Gottie is a bit of a science geek and she sees the world in terms of numbers and physics equations which I really loved about her. Throughout the story we see regular flashbacks where Gottie feels like she keeps being pulled into wormholes and sucked back in time to the previous summer. It's up to the reader to decide whether she really has found a way to time travel or whether it's her way of coping with the memories that she is so desperately trying to avoid. I loved the ambiguity of it and the way Gottie tries so hard to explain what is happening to her in scientific terms when in reality it's just her brain's way of trying to process everything that happened.

I feel like I could rave on about this book for ages but I don't want to give away the entire plot so I'll stop here. I will say if you're looking for a quintessentially British story set in a sleepy Norfolk village in the height of summer then The Square Root of Summer is perfect. It's a heart warming and funny story about coping with death and finding a way to move forward and I loved every minute of it.

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: Asking For It - Louise O'Neill

It's the beginning of summer, and Emma O'Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy and confident.

One night, there's a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma.

The next day, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She doesn't know how she got there.

She doesn't know why she's in pain.

But everyone else does. Photographs taken at the party show - in great detail - exactly what happened to Emma that night.

But sometimes people don't want to believe what's right in front of them, especially if the truth concerns the town's heroes . . .

A brave, bold and important novel about sexual consent and betrayal, victim blaming and truth in the age of the smartphone.

Visit Louise O'Neill's website for more information

Review:
I honestly don't think I have the words to do this book justice, I've been trying to write this review for weeks now and I still can't seem to put all my thoughts in order but I'm going to give it my best shot and just hope that everyone will just ignore my rambling and read this book anyway. Asking For It isn't an easy read, in fact it's the kind of story that will make any sane person so mad that they want to start throwing things, but it's such an incredibly important book all the same. I honestly want to put this book into the hands of every single teenager I know. In fact I think it should be on the school curriculum because it raises so many important questions and it would be a fantastic starting point for classroom discussions on what is and, more importantly, what isn't acceptable behaviour.

I hate to say it but we live in a culture where victims are constantly being blamed for the actions of their attacker. Women are constantly judged by the way we look, the way we act and we're held accountable for the actions of people who should know better. We've all heard things like "look at that outfit, anyone who dresses like that must be up for it" or "she shouldn't have drunk so much if she didn't want something bad to happen" or "well she sleeps around anyway so why would she have said no this time". I will never understand how people can think like that ANYTHING a girl does makes it acceptable for a man to rape her but that victim blaming attitude is shared by a scary amount of people.

It's all very well to teach teenage girls to do whatever they can to protect themselves (and of course we need to continue to do that!) BUT we should equally be teaching teenage boys that it is NEVER acceptable to force themselves on a girl. It doesn't matter what she's wearing, it doesn't matter if she's drunk or has taken drugs and it doesn't matter if she's slept with 100 other boys - if she's not conscious enough to say yes then the answer is automatically NO. If she says no she means NO. No never, ever means yes and it is completely unacceptable to continue when someone asks you to stop. That should go without saying but unfortunately a lot of people out there fail to understand the basics so let's get a discussion started.

I feel like I've gone off on a tangent but victim blaming and the consequences of sexual assault are at the heart of Asking For It. Louise O'Neill shows us the gritty truth that most of us would rather not think about and she's done it incredibly well. Emma O'Donovan isn't a particularly nice character, in fact I spent the beginning of the book pretty much hating her, she's a typical mean girl - someone who is pretty and popular but who isn't very nice, she's mean to her friends, she judges everyone and she just has to be the centre of attention all the time. I was bullied by girls like her in school so it's no wonder I didn't take to her but in spite of that I still hated seeing what she went through and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I loved the way the author took such a nasty character yet still made my heart bleed for her.

Emma's whole life is turned upside down after she is gang raped at a party, she has no memories of the actual event but photographic evidence was posted all over Facebook and now everyone has seen horrifically intimate pictures of her. Everyone has formed an opinion of her based on what she was wearing, the way she was acting and her sexual history and now even her friends have turned against her. Louise O'Neill does a fantastic job of showing the effect of social media on girls in this kind of situation, both people Emma knows and complete strangers are utterly ruthless in the comments they make and the way they act towards her and that has an impact on Emma's entire family. I could understand how hard it was for her parents to accept what had happened but I absolutely hated the way they reacted to Emma and the complete lack of support she had in the aftermath. Only her brother seemed to be fully on her side but Emma found it impossible to face him or anyone else just knowing he'd seen the pictures of her.

Asking For It is a difficult story to get through but I'm so glad I read it. There were times when it made me feel physically sick and it definitely raised my blood pressure but it really made me think and that's what I loved most about it. Emma is an incredibly realistic teenager and her reactions to what happened to her were obviously well researched and very credible. I'm going to warn you now that this doesn't have a neatly tied up happily ever after ending but it wouldn't have been very realistic if it had. As much as there are things I would have liked to happen differently sadly I think what Louise O'Neill gives us is probably the much more likely outcome. This story is a must read book and I only hope my rambling review hasn't put anyone off reading it!

Source: Received from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: Fans of the Impossible Life - Kate Scelsa

"May we live impossibly," Sebby said when he opened his eyes. "Against all odd. May people look at us and wonder how such jewels can sparkle in the sad desert of the world. May we live the impossible life."

Mira is trying to pretend that she's a fully functioning human - rather than a girl who can't get out of bed for days on end.

Jeremy is a painfully shy art nerd in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school.

And Sebby is the charming gay foster kid who seems to carry sunlight around with him.

For Jeremy, it's as if he has always been expecting Sebby, though they've only just met.

For Mira, she finally feels awake when she's with him.

But Sebby has his own secrets. And it's only together that the three of them can fix their broken selves - and live their impossible lives . . .

Visit Kate Scelsa's website for more information

Review:
I had such high hopes for Fans of the Impossible Life, the tag line "The story of a girl, her gay best friend and the boy who falls in love with both of them." caught my attention the moment I saw it and I was expecting some kind of epic bisexual love triangle or possibly even a relationship that developed between all three main characters. I'm not usually a fan of love triangles but I would definitely put my irritation to one side for a story like that! Unfortunately that isn't what this story is about so I ended up feeling incredibly disappointed. I don't think that's necessarily the author's fault but whoever was in charge of writing that marketing tag line definitely did the book a disservice. Hopefully if you go into it without that same expectation you'll end up enjoying the story much more than I did.

This book is told from three different points of view which should really allow us to get to know all of the main characters but for some reason I never really connected with any of them. The POVs of Mira and Jeremy weren't too bad but the way Sebby's sections were written was completely jarring and the left me feeling completely disconnected from anything that happened to him. His POV should have been the one that moved me most, he was really going through some very tough times, but I felt so distanced from him that I didn't even come to like him that much and I struggled to see why both Mira and Jeremy were so drawn to him. He was supposed to be the brightest character, someone they both adored, but I just didn't feel it.

I didn't really believe in the romance either which was incredibly disappointing. The most realistic relationship was the friendship that developed between Mira and Jeremy, I really felt like they cared about each other and were there for each other but I didn't feel any chemistry or romantic love between them. Sebby was a bit too distant and the way he kept so many secrets and held the others at arms length just didn't work for me. There was also one particular scene between the three of them (possibly the scene that was inspiration for the tag line) that made me feel really uncomfortable, it never quite felt that all three of them were on board with what was happening and it seemed more like their actions sprung from too much alcohol rather than any real desire they felt. I was also uncomfortable about the actions of a certain teacher, he doesn't exactly do anything wrong but he definitely oversteps boundaries and I was extremely upset by the way things played out when they turned to him for help with a major problem they were having. It felt a bit like it was sending a message to teenagers saying that going to an adult for help is just going to make matters worse so you're best off keeping silent and I don't think that's a helpful message to give.

I have to give Kate Scelsa kudos for having such a diverse cast of characters though and she really does touch on some difficult issues. We get some interesting insights into drug addiction, living in foster care, coping with mental health issues, coming from a mixed race family, having two gay parents and even questioning your own sexuality and I definitely enjoyed that about the story. Unfortunately the rest of the story fell flat and it didn't really feel like any of them had achieved much by the end of the book, I was hoping to see them grow up and become more comfortable in their own skins but I was left feeling that they were right back where they started only this time they had become codependent on each other for their survival.

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: All of the Above - James Dawson

It would be neater, wouldn't it, if this was a story about self-harm or sexuality or eating disorders or ridiculously hot bass players, but it's a story about all of them.

Yeah, it's a mess.

And it's about to get messier . . .

When sixteen-year-old Toria moves to the faded seaside town of Brompton-on-Sea she doesn't expect to fall in love once - let alone twice. But life has a habit of pulling you in strange directions, and when it comes to matters of the heart, sometimes you just have to let go, be free, and let love choose you.

Visit James Dawson's website for more information

Review:
James Dawson has such a distinctive voice and he always manages to create such realistic teenage characters, something he proves once again in All of the Above. This is the kind of book I'd like to be able to send back through time and hand to my teenage self, it's a book about self discovery, a book that shows teenagers it's okay to make mistakes, that it's okay to not know who you are or what you want to be as long as you're true to yourself along the way.

This is a story about growing up, it's about friendships that last and ones that don't, it's about first loves and how they're not always forever loves but how that doesn't make them any less important at the time, it's about discovering your sexuality and how it doesn't matter who you're attracted to, more than anything it's a realistic portrayal of what it's like to be a teenager. I'm sure most people will recognise themselves in Toria and her friends, you may not have shared all of the same experiences as her but you're bound to have gone through some of them.

All of the Above is a fantastic book, it tackles a lot of difficult and sensitive subjects and it does it in a way that is realistic without being preachy. It doesn't try to make you think or feel a certain way but it opens up possibilities that you might not have considered before. I really don't want to go into too much detail about what happens in the story because I think you'll enjoy it so much more if you go in without certain expectations but I think you'll fall in love with Toria and her little group of misfits just as much as I did. The characters are diverse and incredibly realistic and I could recognise traits from my childhood friends in most of them. James Dawson has created a story that will stick with you and characters that you'll remember for a long time to come, his writing gets stronger with every new book and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Source: Received from Hot Key in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: One - Sarah Crossan

Grace and Tippi are twins – conjoined twins.

And their lives are about to change.

No longer able to afford homeschooling, they must venture into the world – a world of stares, sneers and cruelty. Will they find more than that at school? Can they find real friends? And what about love?

But what neither Grace or Tippi realises is that a heart-wrenching decision lies ahead. A decision that could tear them apart. One that will change their lives even more than they ever imagined . . .

From Carnegie Medal shortlisted author Sarah Crossan, this moving and beautifully crafted novel about identity, sisterhood and love ultimately asks one question: what does it mean to want and have a soulmate?

Visit Sarah Crossan's website for more information

Review:
I knew before going in that One was going to break my heart but what I wasn't expecting was how beautiful the story would be. I don't tend to read many verse novels, in fact the last one I read was The Weight of Water, also by this author, three years ago but there is no doubt that this writing style can be extremely powerful when done well. Sarah Crossan definitely has the skill to pull it off and One is now my favourite of her novels.

This is the story of conjoined twins Grace and Tippi, they are joined from the waist down so although they each have two arms they only have one pelvis and two legs between them. Their condition has led to high medical bills which the family struggle to pay and it causes no end of difficulties for the girls when it comes to living their daily lives but the pair are overwhelmingly positive in their outlook. It was great to see them both as individuals and the way they work together as a team, they have an incredibly deep bond with each other and although there are times they wish for privacy most of the time they're just happy to be together.

When the girls start school for the first time it was heartbreaking to see how they were treated by the outside world, the cruel remarks don't just effect the twins though, both their younger sister and their parents are also under a lot of extra pressure. School isn't all bad though and for the first time they have a chance to make friends with people outside the family. Grace and Tippi go through so much but they are always a team, they're best friends as well as sisters and no matter what happens outside they always have each other to turn to.

I'm not going to say anything else about the story because I want readers to be able to enjoy it for themselves. It's being marked by Bloomsbury as "The ONE book to read this summer" and for once I'm completely on board with the marketing hype. If you're looking for something a little different, something that will give you an insight into the really rare condition of conjoined twins but is really all about sisterhood, love and friendship, then you really should pick up a copy of One. It's a beautiful book and it's one that has stuck with me in the weeks since I finished reading it.

Source: Received from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews

Me: My name is Greg Gaines. I am seventeen. I am the one who wrote this book. My physical appearance is unsatisfactory, and there is probably a fungus eating my brain. I'm not even sure I'm a human.

Earl: Earl Jackson is the only person who is even sort of my friend. We make mediocre films together. Werner Herzog is our biggest influence. Earl is generally filled with violent rage.

Dying Girl: During my senior year, my mother forced me to become friends with a girl who had cancer. This brought about the destruction of my entire life. If you seriously want to read about that, then I guess this brain-punchingly inane book is for you.

Visit Jesse Andrews' website for more information

Review:
I'm not really too sure what I expected when I picked up Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, obviously from the title you can tell that something terrible is going to happen and I guess I thought it was going to be a fairly emotional story but that wasn't what I got. Instead this was a light hearted and very quick read but while I liked it I didn't love it as much as I had hoped to. The story is full of humour but I'm afraid a lot of it missed the mark for me, I just didn't get it and it almost felt too light hearted considering the sensitive topic it was dealing with.

The characters were okay but I didn't really feel much of a connection to any of them, I guess I just felt like I was being kept at a distance. I think that was partly down to the writing style which consists of very short chapters and quite a lot of scenes written in the form of movie scripts, lists or telephone conversations. The narrator Greg can be quite selfish and insensitive which is something I could have forgiven but I wanted to see him grow up a bit as the story progressed and it didn't really happen. It didn't seem like the events in the book had any lasting effect on him and I would have thought that seeing a friend die would have more of an impact. The antics of Greg and Earl were funny in the beginning but grew old fast and I ended up being disappointed.

To be fair I probably wasn't in the best place when I read this one because we'd just had some very bad news as a family. I think I was hoping for something heart-wrenching like Jenny Downham's Before I Die to help me cry it out and that isn't what this book is even trying to be so I can't blame the story for my expectations. I may have enjoyed it more if I'd picked it up at another time but I have to say I think the book just isn't the best fit for me. I know several people who absolutely loved the story though so would hate to put anyone off giving it a try.

Source: Received from Allen & Unwin in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Being Billy - Phil Earle

Faces flashed before my eyes.
And for every face there was a time that they had let me down.
Each punch that landed was revenge, my chance to tell them I hadn't forgotten what they did.

Eight years in a care home make Billy Flynn a professional lifer. And Billy's angry - with the system, the social workers and the mother who gave him away.

As far as Billy's concerned, he's on his own. His little brother and sister keep him going, though they can't keep him out of trouble.

But he isn't being difficult on purpose.
Billy's just being Billy.
He can't be anything else.
Can he?

Visit Phil Earle's website for more information

Review:
Being Billy is a book that I've been meaning to read for a long time now, it's come highly recommended by most of my favourite UKYA bloggers and now that I've finally read it I can completely understand why they all rave about it. It's incredibly impressive to think that this was Phil Earle's debut novel and I'm excited that I already have copies of his next three books because I can't wait to dive into them.

Billy is an angry young man, something that isn't really surprising considering everything he's been through, he has spent eight years living in care and he feels that nobody really cares about him. The staff may act like they care but they're getting paid to look after him and he's sure they all forget about him the moment they're no longer on the clock. The only constants in Billy's life are his younger siblings, Lizzie and Louie, and Billy would do anything to make sure they are safe and cared for. He's pretty much given up on himself but he wants the best for them so when social services threaten to separate them unless he starts to behave himself he knows he's going to have to try and do something about his temper.

This story absolutely broke my heart, Billy is such an incredibly realistic character (you can really tell that the author has experience as a Care Worker) and his story really makes you think. It's painful to think of the thousands of children who are in Billy's position, children who haven't had the best start in life and who have been rejected or abused by the people who are supposed to love them the most. It's no wonder that some of these kids fight back to get attention or just don't know how to deal with their anger in a healthy way. Billy has no outlet for his feelings so his temper can be explosive but it was incredibly easy to sympathise with him.

What I loved most was seeing how Billy changes from a young man with the world on his shoulder who thinks that everyone is out to get him. It isn't easy but eventually he starts to understand that people do care about him and that they want what is best not just for him but also for Lizzie and Louie too. I also loved seeing his friendship with Daisy develop and I'm excited that we're going to learn more about her in Saving Daisy. I think the thing I probably enjoyed the most was Billy's interactions with the carer Ronnie. Ronnie was a hard taskmaster who didn't let Billy get away with anything but he took the time to build a bond between them. It was obvious how much Ronnie cared about the whole family and even though it took Billy a long time to realise that seeing the change in Billy when he finally did was incredibly rewarding. I have the utmost admiration for carers, it must be one of the most emotionally draining and difficult jobs out there but at times it must be one of the most rewarding ones too.

Being Billy is an incredible story, one that will break your heart one minute but have you laughing out loud the next. It will make you appreciate everything you've got and it might even make you think twice about the actions of some of the kids you used to go to school with. One thing it will definitely do is stay with you. I found myself thinking about Billy many times after I finished the book because he just feels so real to me, he is a young boy you could meet in pretty much any town in England and he wormed his way into my heart and made himself at home there. I can't recommend Being Billy highly enough and I can't wait to read more from Phil Earle.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume

"You have sad eyes, Tiger", he says. "A bright smile but sad eyes." He waits for me to say something. I don't.

Davey's life has been ripped apart by her father's murder. Uprooted and taken to stay in New Mexico with her uptight aunt and uncle, she feels trapped - by their fearfulness, by her mother's grief, by her own anger and pain. Then she meets Wolf - intense, brooding, mysterious Wolf. Without asking questions, somehow he's the only one who understands what she's feeling . . .

A powerful, raw and brilliant novel about love, grief and learning to live again.

Visit Judy Blume's website for more information

Review:
I was a massive fan of Judy Blume as a teenager, at the time there weren't the huge range of YA books that we have now and she was one of the few writers that I could turn to when I wanted to read a book about teenagers with real problems, ones that I could relate to. Recently Judy Blume visited the UK and I got the chance to attend an event with her and I can't tell you how excited I was to meet the author who wrote some of my favourite childhood books. It had been a long time since I'd read any of her work though so I decided to re-read a couple of her books before the event.

The first one I re-read was Forever and while I did still really enjoy it I have to admit in a lot of ways it was quite dated and I'm not sure if teens today would love it as much as I did when I was younger. Tiger Eyes has a different feel to it, although it lacks modern conveniences such as mobile phones and the internet (no those things really didn't exist when I was a child and doesn't that make me feel old LOL), it didn't feel quite so out of touch as Forever did. I'm not quite sure why that is but it doesn't really matter, it just meant that I enjoyed Tiger Eyes as much as I always used to.

Davey is just fifteen years old when her father is murdered during a robbery of their family store. She is completely devastated by his loss and since her mother has completely fallen apart she is feeling lost and alone. Her aunt and uncle offer to take the whole family in so that they can get away from the memories of what happened and Davey finds her life completely uprooted. She's living across the country away from all of her friends and forced to attend a new school where everyone has grown up together and she is the outsider. Her mother and young brother, Jason, seem to be thriving under the care of her aunt and uncle but she is suffocating with their strict rules and more lonely than she's ever been in her life. Can Davey find a way to put the pieces back together and be happy again?

Tiger Eyes is a coming of age story but most of all it's a story of loss and grief, it's about coping with the aftermath of something horrific and realising that life does go on even when you really don't want it to. It's about losing someone you love but it's also about realising how important the people left behind are to you, it's about family bonds and making new friends. There are just so many lessons to be learnt from this book and Davey's story is a heartfelt and emotional one. I grieved with her and I felt her loneliness but I also smiled when she started to move forward in her life and I enjoyed seeing her family learn how to lean on each other in their grief. Although there is a hint of romance it is by no means the main focus of the story but that doesn't matter because this book is so much more.

Whether you're an old Judy Blume fan, like me, looking to recapture childhood memories or someone who has never read one of her books before I would definitely recommend giving Tiger Eyes a try. It's a beautiful story and one that I'm sure will still be relevant in another 30 years.

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: When Mr. Dog Bites - Brian Conaghan

Meet the a-mayonnaise-ing Dylan Mint. He's sixteen and he's got Tourette's. His life is a constant fight to keep the bad stuff in - the words that explode out of his mouth, the tics, the growling, howling dog that tries to escape whenever he gets stressed.

A routine visit to the hospital turns Dylan's whole life topsy-turvy when he discovers that he's going to die next March. It's only August, but still - he has THINGS TO DO. So he makes a list - Cool Things To Do Before I Cack It - and sets out to make his wishes come true . . .

Visit Brian Conaghan's page on Goodreads for more information

Review:
I wanted to read When Mr. Dog Bites from the moment I heard about it, I couldn't wait to read about a main character who suffered with Tourette's syndrome because it's a condition I know so very little about. I absolutely loved getting inside Dylan's head and seeing first hand what it is like to live with Tourette's.

Dylan is a great character and in most ways he is just a normal sixteen year old teen, he likes hanging out with his best mate Amir and he can't wait to get a girlfriend and have sex for the first time, but he also struggles with anxiety and his nerves tend to show in the form of tics, cursing or even growling noises. The more he tries to suppress his symptoms the stronger the outbursts usually end up being and he's learnt that in most cases it's easier to just let go and accept what is happening. He has developed routines and coping methods to try and reduce the occurrences but they have by no means been eliminated.

I absolutely adored Dylan, he is such a sweetheart and I love him like a younger brother, in fact, if he was real I think I'd want to adopt him! He is one of my favourite characters of the year and that's high praise when I've read well over 100 books already. I enjoyed his friendship with Amir and how realistic their school life was, things weren't easy for them but they were always there for each other. Going to a special school means facing prejudices from the rest of the world along with coping with all the other issues that any other school child comes across. We also get to see a lot of Dylan's family life, coping with an absent father who is away in the army while his mum struggles to make ends meet and then there is the issue of Dylan's impending death to worry about. His "cack it list" was hilarious and the way he goes about achieving his goals adds a lot of humour to the story.

I love that Brian Conagham tackled so many difficult subjects - everything from disabilities, racism, bullying, family issues and just generally growing up - but he did it with humour and sensitivity. This book is jam packed with swearing and slang so if you're easily offended then it's definitely one that should be avoided. However if you're willing to go into it with an open mind, if you can remember what it was like to actually be a teenager and if you want a book that is realistic, honest and 100% true to life then you will adore When Mr. Dog Bites.

Source: Received from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: A Kiss in the Dark - Cat Clarke

When Alex meets Kate the attraction is instant.

Alex is funny, good-looking, and a little shy - everything Kate wants in a boyfriend.

Alex can't help falling for Kate, who is pretty, charming and maybe just a little naive . . .

But one of them is hiding a secret, and as their love blossoms, it threatens to ruin not just their relationship, but their lives.

Passionate, moving and gripping, A Kiss in the Dark will make you feel first love all over again.

Visit Cat Clarke's website for more information

Review:
I'm a huge fan of Cat Clarke's writing, she always creates such realistic teenage characters and her stories never fail to pack a punch. I think A Kiss in the Dark might just be her best book yet which is really saying something!

I'm afraid that this review is going to be deliberately vague because this is the kind of story that would be incredibly easy to spoil and I would hate to ruin anyone's experience of reading it. There are so many things I want to talk about when it comes to this novel and it's killing me that I can't discuss them.

Alex and Kate are attracted to each other from the moment they first meet, they have the same interests, enjoy spending time together and slowly but surely they fall in love. In a lot of ways they are perfect for each other but Alex has a secret, one that has the power to destroy their relationship if Kate ever finds out the truth. The reader actually finds out what that secret is fairly on in the story and because the first half of the book is told from Alex's point of view we get to see just how much keeping that secret plays on their mind. Alex didn't set out to deceive Kate but what starts as a small misunderstanding between them soon snowballs into something so huge that Alex has no idea how to fix things.

I spent half of the book just waiting for the truth to come out, you know Kate is going to be devastated and you're hurting on her behalf but you can't help but feel sorry for Alex even when you're wishing that they could have been honest with each other from the very beginning. After the big reveal the point of view switches so you can see exactly how hurt Kate was by Alex's betrayal. It was at this point she does something incredibly stupid as a way of getting revenge on Alex and although I was incredibly angry at her actions I couldn't help but wonder how I would have reacted in her situation. Kate quickly starts to realise how one small lie can snowball way beyond anything you'd have imagined and I think that probably helps her to see things from Alex's point of view. The real question is whether she will do the right thing by the end of the story or will she see her revenge through to the bitter end.

A Kiss in the Dark is a gut wrenching read, I was so emotionally invested in both of these characters and it's very hard to imagine that the outcome of this relationship is going to be anything but heartbreaking which makes even the good times they spend together rather bitter sweet. This is the kind of book that makes you ask uncomfortable questions and I loved it for that. I would like to take a copy of this book and place it in the hands of every teenager I come across, there is a lot we can all learn from Alex and Kate's story and I applaud Cat Clarke for writing such an incredibly emotional book.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Dandelion Clocks - Rebecca Westcott

Dandelion Clocks by Rebecca Westcott will be loved by fans of Jacqueline Wilson, Cathy Cassidy or Annabel Pitcher.

Liv takes us on a journey through her life from "Thirteen Weeks Before" to "Six Months After". We discover Liv's passion for photography, her brother's obsession with sticking to the rules, the stupidity of Moronic Louise at school, and how the family copes as Mum's terminal illness takes hold . . . Guided by Mum's own childhood diaries, Liv finds a new way to live.

This book is real, funny, utterly touching and absolutely heartwarming. Despite the sadness at the heart of the story, every reader will laugh and keep on turning the pages, charmed by Liv and her mum.

Visit Rebecca Westcott's website for more information

Review:
Dandelion Clocks is an absolutely stunning debut novel from new British talent Rebecca Westcott. It is a beautifully moving book that touches on some very difficult subjects - everything from grief and loss through to finding your identity and even living with a family member with Asperger's Syndrome. This is the kind of story that tugs on your heartstrings, it will break your heart and make you cry but it will also leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside and with a huge smile on your face.

Liv is an eleven year old girl with a lot on her plate, she may be the younger sibling but having an older brother with Asperger's means she is usually the one who has to be in control. She loves Isaac and they have a fantastic bond but that doesn't make it any less frustrating having to live her life by all kinds of rules just so that Isaac feels comfortable. I had to admire Liv for how patient she is towards her brother, she is very protective of him and she does her best to help him understand the world around him. Liv's story starts several months before her mother's death and we follow her journey as she tries to come to terms with what is going to happen right through the grieving process until a few months after her mother is gone when Liv is struggling to cope with the aftermath.

This isn't always an easy story to read, it is painful and heartbreaking but at the same time it shows that life does go on. Things don't always turn out the way you want or expect them too but you have to find a way to cope and keep moving forward. Liv finds comfort in reading her mother's diaries, they make her feel less alone and give her a sense of connection even after her mother is no longer there. She also has to help her brother understand what has happened and along with their father they have to make new rules that will comfort and reassure Isaac now that their world has turned upside down. There are some incredibly poignant moments between all of the family members throughout the book and it's a story I'm not going to forget any time soon.

Dandelion Clocks is heartbreaking, emotional, devastating and sad but it is also thought provoking, funny, uplifting and hopeful. It's a powerful book and one I can't recommend highly enough. I can't wait to see what Rebecca Westcott writes in the future!

Source: Received from Puffin in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Trouble - Non Pratt

A boy. A girl. A bump. Trouble.

Hannah’s smart and funny . . . she’s also fifteen and pregnant. Aaron is new at school and doesn't want to attract attention. So why does he offer to be the pretend dad to Hannah’s unborn baby?

Growing up can be trouble but that’s how you find out what really matters.

Visit Non Pratt's website for more information.

Review:
Trouble is published in the UK and the US on the 6th of March 2014. I never usually review books quite so early but I just couldn't resist starting Non Pratt's debut novel. I have to be honest here and tell you that I've known Non for nearly four years now and consider her a friend. I've tried really hard not to let that effect my review but I think it's only fair to mention it.

Trouble is a fantastic coming of age story, it is a book about family, friendships and what can happen when you make a stupid mistake. Hannah is smart, funny and likes to have a good time with her friends. She is also 15 and just found out she is pregnant. Aaron is the new boy in school who tries to keep to himself and is hiding something from his past that he doesn't want anyone else to find out. The two strike up an unlikely friendship and when Hannah realises how much trouble she is in Aaron steps up and pretends to be the father of her baby so he can support her. Now the pair find themselves juggling school gossip, Hannah's pregnancy and revision for their GCSEs.

I have to tell you how spot on Non was when she created these characters, their voices are so authentic that it would be easy to believe that they are real people. Hannah is pretty much the complete opposite of me as a teen but I knew girls who were exactly like her and I loved the fact that Non takes such a realistic approach to teenagers and sex. She doesn't try to hide what teenagers get up to and although she doesn't glamorise it, she doesn't condemn it either. Books about teenage pregnancy can be quite controversial but I think this kind of story is incredibly important and if it makes one girl think twice before having unprotected sex then that's a wonderful thing. We get to see the highs and the lows of Hannah's pregnancy and I loved how true to life her emotions were, it felt like you were going through the experience right alongside her and I admired her for the way she dealt with everything that happened.

As much as I loved Hannah I think Aaron was my favourite character. The story is told from dual points of view so you get to see exactly what he was thinking as he volunteered to be Hannah's baby daddy. You know from very early on that something terrible happened at his old school but it takes quite a long time before he opens up enough to share any of the details. His guilt and hurt over that event is what pushes him into trying to help Hannah, he wants to atone for mistakes in the past and this seems like the perfect way to do it. It was interesting to see Aaron try to fit in at a new school but one of the things I enjoyed most was the friendship be builds with Neville, a resident at the care home where he volunteers. That's another thing that is so great about this novel - the wonderful and well developed side characters.

Trouble is a fantastic debut, one that tackles difficult subjects but does so with sensitivity. It has plenty of humour to lighten the tone but not so much that it makes light of the topics it is dealing with. Non Pratt may be a new name in UKYA contemporary fiction but it's one we're going to be hearing a lot about in the future and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Source: Received from Walker in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback:

Quick Review: Acting Friends - Sophie McKenzie

Acting Friends is a prequel to the Flynn series, written specially for World Book Day 2012. We're now offering everyone the chance to read the story with a free download of the complete book!

Life at her new school is not going smoothly for River. After accidentally making an enemy of the troubled Shaz, she hopes at least to have found friendship with classmates Emmi and Grace. However, when it comes to the boy of her dreams, can River count on any of her friends?

A great introduction some of the characters in the new Flynn series, Acting Friends sets the scene for Falling Fast.

Flynn Series:
Acting Friends (Free Short Story)
Falling Fast
Burning Bright
Casting Shadows

Visit Rebecca Donovan's website for more information

Review:
Acting Friends is a short story that was originally published for World Book Day in 2012 and is now available to read for free on the Simon & Schuster website HERE. It is a prequel to Sophie McKenzie's Flynn series and is set a couple of years before the first book Falling Fast.

It's a cute story that follows River through her first couple of weeks at secondary school. I'm sure most of us remember the nerves of starting a new school, one that seems so much bigger than your last one did and where instead of being one of the biggest kids you suddenly find yourself one of the smallest. I thought Sophie McKenzie did a fabulous job of capturing how lost and alone River felt before she gradually started to make friends. We don't get to see Flynn in this story since it's set several years before he and River meet but you do get to see how she met her friends Grace and Emmi which was really nice.

I'm sure fans of the series will enjoy this story and since it's a free read it might be a good way for people to try the series and see if they want to go on to read the main books. Bear in mind that the characters are only about 11 in this story though so it has a younger feel to it than Falling Fast where they are 15/16. The ebook does also include the first chapter of Falling Fast though so that should be enough of a taster for you to decide.

Source: Downloaded for free from the Simon & Schuster website HERE.

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Review: The Last Minute - Eleanor Updale

9:21 a.m: business as usual on a high street in England.

9:22 a.m: the explosions are heard for miles around, and in the early confusion there is talk of a gas leak, a plane crash, and even terrorism . . . 

The people of Heathwick had been preparing for Christmas unaware that many would die, and the rest would be transformed forever. Travel with them, second-by-second, through the hopes, fears, love, worries, gossip, cruelty, kindness and trivia that dominated their final minute before tragedy struck.

And in the everyday story of an ordinary street, look for clues to what happened - and why.

Visit Eleanor Updale's website for more information

Review:
I absolutely loved the way The Last Minute is written, it was so completely different to anything I've ever read before and I found it practically impossible to put the book down. It reminded me of the TV series 24 except instead of each episode covering an hour long time period each chapter of the story covers one second of the last minute before an explosion rocks the sleep village high street of Heathwick. You know from the prologue that something terrible is going to happen and you're left trying to piece everything together and figure out what causes the disaster.

I found myself constantly asking myself questions as I was reading - Is that person a terrorist or are they just an innocent person minding their own business? Why has that white van just been abandoned in the middle of the high street? Why are drivers such morons when there are roadworks? Why is that plane passenger refusing to turn off their mobile phone? Will the beggar get to the punchline of his joke before the explosion happens? Who is going to survive? I'm not going to answer those questions for you here but if you read the book you'll find out all of that and so much more.

I will say that it took me a couple of chapters to get into the swing of reading the story, you are introduced to a huge number of characters and it took a little while to get everyone straight in my head. Some characters have larger roles than others but it doesn't take too long to get a feel for who they all are. What I liked most was that everyone was so normal, they are everyday people who are just going about their day to day lives with no idea of what is about to happen to them. They have the same problems, thoughts, fears and dreams as the rest of us and although you don't have time to get to know them very well you do become surprisingly invested in their lives. In a way it was actually quite scary to think about how normal everything seemed until the explosion hits, very few people even noticed anything suspicious going on around them and you're watching from the sidelines with baited breath just trying to put all of the clues together.

The Last Minute is an edge of your seat read, the pacing is fast and you know that with every chapter that passes you're a second closer to disaster. I devoured this book very quickly and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from Eleanor Updale in the future. For anyone who has read the book already you really should make sure you checkout the extra information on Eleanor Updale's website. She has created all kinds of newspaper clippings and even an inquiry report to give you more information on exactly what caused the explosion and what happened in the aftermath. Whatever you do don't look at those extras before you've read the book though - it would completely spoil the story for you if you did!

Source: Received from RHCP in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: One Seriously Messed-Up Weekend in the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite - Tom Clempson

Jack Samsonite's fool-proof plan for being amazing at everything (including getting a life, getting into film school, and getting into a girl's knickers)

1. Film a mind blowing, awesome so bad it's good short film about zombies superheroes three idiot friends, which must also include great depth and meaning me kissing a girl on the mouth.

2. Write the world's best university application ever! Write quite a good university application. Just write an application that doesn't make me seem like a nob.

3. Don't get expelled trying to complete 1 & 2.

It can't possibly fail . . . right?

Jack Samsonite Series:
One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane & Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite
One Seriously Messed-Up Weekend in the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite

Visit Tom Clempson's website for more information

Review:
Two years on from the ending of One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane & Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite (OSMUW for short) and our hero Jack is just trying to get through his last year of college, finish his short film for his final project, decide on a university course, oh, and find a girl to kiss! You might not think that sounds too difficult but if you read the first book then I'm sure you'll have some idea just how wrong you'd be. Jack has a unique ability to get himself in trouble, no matter how innocent his intentions are in any situation things always seem to end up getting turned around so that it looks like he's up to no good. And so help him on the occasions when he really is up to no good because he is just bound to get caught!

If you enjoyed OSMUW then you're going to love One Seriously Messed-Up Weekend in the Otherwise Un-Messed-Up Life of Jack Samsonite (OSMUW2 for short) just as much. Tom Clempson has infused this story with the same brand of humour and crazy antics as the first book and it is guaranteed to have you snorting with laughter (I have been known to embarrass myself in public while reading these books). This series definitely has a modern Adrian Mole feel to it and is just so much fun to read that you don't want the books to end. I think one of the things that made me laugh the most was the tribe of pygmy warriors - otherwise known as the tiny year seven students who were evil little monsters.

I don't want to say much more about the story, not because I don't have anything to say but because I don't want to spoil anyone's fun before they get to read it for themselves. What I will say is that I think everyone should give this series a try. If you ever wanted to know what goes on in a teenage boy's head then OSMUW2 will give you a pretty good idea. These books will appeal to both teens and adults - as long as you have a sense of humour and don't mind a hero who swears like a trooper you're going to love Jack Samsonite. I don't know if Tom Clempson has more books planned for this series but if he does they'll be jumping straight to the top of my wish list!

Source: Received from Atom in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Infinite Sky - C.J. Flood

Iris Dancy’s free-spirited mum has left for Tunisia, her dad’s rarely sober and her brother’s determined to fight anyone with a pair of fists.

When a family of travellers move into the overgrown paddock overnight, her dad looks set to finally lose it. Gypsies are parasites he says, but Iris is intrigued. As her dad plans to evict the travelling family, Iris makes friends with their teenage son. Trick Deran is a bare knuckle boxer who says he’s done with fighting, but is he telling the truth?

When tools go missing from the shed, the travellers are the first suspects. Iris’s brother, Sam, warns her to stay away from Trick; he’s dangerous, but Iris can no longer blindly follow her brother’s advice. He’s got secrets of his own, and she’s not sure he can be trusted himself.

Infinite Sky is a family story about betrayal and loyalty, and love.

Visit C.J. Flood's website for more information.

Review:
Ever since her mum left Iris's family has been falling apart, her dad has been drinking too much and her brother Sam has become angry and withdrawn. Iris is only 13 years old but she is the one who is trying to hold them together, she does her best to take care of the house and cook for them all but it isn't easy and she's left feeling sad and alone. The day a family of travellers move onto their land changes everything, her father and Sam are both angry and want the travellers gone but Iris can't help but be curious about them. As she secretly gets to know Trick she realises that her family's prejudices against him aren't true and they form a close friendship that helps them both through some difficult times. As tensions increase between the two families Iris and Trick are caught in the middle but when tragedy strikes who will be the last one standing?

Infinite Sky is the kind of book that doesn't come along very often, one of those stories that touches your heart and will make you shed a few tears but that will also make you smile along the way. It's very clear from the prologue that something terrible has happened, Iris is at the funeral of someone she is close to but you are given no indication of who it is that died. The story then begins several months earlier and you spend the summer watching Iris blossom from a child into a young adult as she falls in love for the first time. At the back of your mind you always know that something bad is coming but that sense of foreboding doesn't make the journey any less enjoyable, in fact I think it is what makes this quite such an addictive read.

I don't want to go into much more detail about the story because I think it is a book that needs to be savoured and is best read with as little knowledge as possible. I'd rather talk about how much I loved the characters, Iris is a young girl that I think most people can relate to. She is going through a difficult time at home and is at that age when you start to question the things you are told and stop believing everything just because a parent tells you it's true. She is learning some hard truths about family and friendship and her experiences help shape her into the woman she is going to become. Iris is constantly being told that the travellers are bad news but she wants to make up her own mind about them by getting to know them. She is smart enough to realise that no family is perfect and that we should react to people based on the way they treat us not because of someone else's prejudice.

I didn't feel we get to know Trick as well as we know Iris, probably because the story is told from her point of view, but we know enough about him to hurt on his behalf when he is bullied and picked on by local teens. The events that unfold towards the end are heartbreaking and I think it was made even worse by the fact that that people who are most to blame are the ones who walk away from the incident unaffected. Infinite Sky is a book that will make you think, it touches on difficult themes but does so in a sensitive manner. The writing is beautiful for it's simplicity and it's hard to believe that this is C.J. Flood's debut novel, I know I'll automatically be reading anything she writes in the future. If you haven't already fallen in love with Infinite Sky then I urge you to pick up a copy as soon as possible, the setting makes it a perfect book for reading on a lazy summer afternoon and I'm sure you won't regret giving it a chance.

Source: Received from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Paperback / Kindle: