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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Review: Being A Boy - James Dawson

Being a boy is hard.

How can you possibly act cool and even think about pulling potential partners when your face is sprouting spots and you're hairy in places you didn't even know you could be hairy?

Luckily, former PSHCE teacher James Dawson provides an uncensored look at puberty, from the social food chain to sex, being a boyfriend and everything in between. With Hilarious illustrations by Spike Gerrell, Being A Boy gives guys everything they need to know to survive - brutal honesty included.

Visit James Dawson's website for more information

Review:
I think it's fairly obvious but I'll say it anyway, I'm not now and never have been a teenage boy, so I don't exactly fall into the target audience for this book. In fact I couldn't get much further from the target audience if I tried so you might wonder why I even picked up a copy of this book in the first place. To be honest the main reason was because I'm a huge fa of James Dawson but I have to admit I was also curious about it too.

Being A Boy is a book that guides teenage boys through the minefield that is puberty, it talks frankly about the changes that they will go through both physically and emotionally and James Dawson doesn't pull any punches. He talks openly and honestly about the good and bad and this is a brilliant resource for teenagers who have questions about everything from talking to girls, first dates, being a boyfriend and even sex. Yes, this book will give teenagers the low down on sex, real sex not just the kind they'll find out about by looking up porn on the internet.

I'm sure that there will be some people out there who are horrified by how detailed this book can be but I think it's a wonderful resource that should be given to every teenage boy you know. This book answers the questions that boys are probably too embarrassed to ask an adult about and dispels the myths that are probably flying around the classroom at school. It gives advice on protecting yourself from STIs or unwanted pregnancy but it does it in an incredibly humorous and non-judgemental way. The whole book is written in that manner and I love that it is so honest about things. The most important message of all is that there is no such thing as normal, it doesn't matter if you're a boy who likes girls, boys or even both. It doesn't matter if you go through puberty before or after your friends do, everyone is different and it's all natural.

Being A Boy aims to fill the gap between what teenagers are taught in school and what they'll discover for themselves using the internet. I dread to think of the kind of things that they uncover by spending five minutes on google and this is certainly a way of making sure they get a more realistic view of sex. That isn't the only topic covered though and I'd say the parts about being a decent human being are just as important, if not more so. The overriding message throughout the book is to treat others as you'd like to be treated yourself, it speaks out against bullying and sexism and is all for equality. As much as this is aimed at boys there is actually a lot of advice on the emotional side of dating that is equally relevant to girls as well and I'm sure most teenagers could learn something from this book.

Source: Purchased

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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

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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

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Review: Harder - Robin York

Caroline still has dreams about West. His warm skin, his taut muscles, his hand sliding down her stomach. Then she wakes up and she's back to reality: West is gone. Before he left, he broke her heart.

Then, out of the blue, West calls in crisis. A tragedy has hit his family - a family that's already a fractured mess. Caroline knows what she has to do. Without discussion, without stopping to think, she's on a plane, flying to his side to support him in any way he needs.

Though they are together once more, things are totally different. West looks edgy, angry at the world. Caroline doesn't fit in. She should be back in Iowa, finalising her civil suit against the ex-boyfriend who posted their explicit, deeply intimate pictures online. But here she is. Deeply into West, wrapped up in him, in love with him. Still.

They thought the odds once. Losing each other was hard. But finding their way back to each other couldn't be harder.

Caroline and West Series:
Deeper
Harder

Visit Robin York's website for more information

Review:
I absolutely loved Deeper, in fact it's one of my favourite books of the year, so you can imagine how excited I was to get my hands on the sequel Harder. It broke my heart when West had to leave Caroline to go back home but I could completely understand why he had to do it and I loved him even more for being such caring and protective brother. Harder picks up the story a couple of months after West broke Caroline's heart, she misses him like crazy and is trying to get used to her life without him in it but when she receives a desperate phone call from him in the middle of the night about a family emergency she doesn't have to think twice, she immediately books herself onto the next flight so she can be there to support him.

The West she finds in Silt is very different to the one she knew though, he's so angry at the world and has a major chip on his shoulder about his family situation and how his life has been turned upside down. You can't really blame him for his feelings, Caroline certainly doesn't, but she finds it incredibly frustrating that he keeps pushing her away when all she wants more than anything is to be there to help him like he helped her. My heart really broke for West in this book, he is under so much pressure from his useless mother and he's trying so hard to do the right thing for his sister Frankie that he forgets that he deserves to have happiness for himself too. He pushes Caroline away because he doesn't want her caught up in his messy life. He doesn't feel that he will ever manage to get away from his past and build a life for himself and he refuses to drag Caroline down with him.

I found myself incredibly angry on Caroline's behalf throughout the first half of the story though. As much as I understood where West was coming from it hurt to see him punishing himself and Caroline when neither of them had done anything wrong. There was one point when West did something so horrible that it put a knot in my stomach and made me feel physically sick when I was reading so it's a credit to Robin York's writing ability that I was actually able to get past his actions and forgive him. She writes his story so well that even though you hate what he did you hurt almost as much for him as you do for Caroline. Caroline's original response to his betrayal was outstanding, she gives him such a talking to and I was cheering her on from the sidelines! I have to admit that I was disappointed that they didn't talk more about the issue afterwards though, I kind of wanted to see West begging for forgiveness but Caroline just brushed it aside and almost acted like it never happened. I guess that makes her a better person than me, well she's certainly less vengeful anyway LOL.

Alongside West's family issues, which I'm not really going to talk about here in detail apart from to say that I loved his little sister Frankie, you also have Caroline's ongoing battle with her ex-boyfriend Nate over the naked pictures he posted of her online. There was nothing the police could do and the college refused to step in so now she is bringing her own civil suit against him. I was incredibly proud of Caroline for facing up to Nate, she held her head high and realised that she wasn't the one in the wrong. I was also pleased that she agreed to help a nationwide campaign about revenge porn, she was working towards raising awareness and along with a senator they were trying to put laws in place to protect other girls from going through everything she went through.

I'm going to admit that I was a little disappointed in the final outcome of things with Nate though, I think that's down to my need to see her get revenge (I'm beginning to think I have a very vengeful side!). I just really wanted to see Nate admit that he was wrong and actually apologise for his actions. It may not have made a difference in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't have removed the pictures from the internet after all, but it would have made me feel better. I guess the whole point of this story is that there is no quick fix in that kind of situation though, Caroline will suffer the consequences of Nate's actions for the rest of her life and nothing will change that. What she can do is recognise that it wasn't her fault, she was a victim in all of this and the only thing she has full control over is her reaction to what happened. She has been able to turn it into something positive by using her experience to fight for changes in the law in the hope of protecting others in the future.

I have absolutely loved this series. It isn't always easy to read and I have been through the emotional wringer more than once in these two books but I have loved every minute of it. Caroline and West's story is hard, it's emotional, painful and at times full of darkness but at the same time it is compelling, powerful and completely and utterly beautiful and I can't recommend these books highly enough. Whatever Robin York writes next will automatically go straight to the top of my wish list.

Source: Received from Piatkus in exchange for an honest review

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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

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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

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Review: Deeper - Robin York

When Caroline Piasecki's ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn't look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defence and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he's shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger - even after promising her dad she'll keep her distance. And on late, sleepless nights, Caroline soon finds it harder to stay away.

Though Caroline and West tell each other they're 'just friends', their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West get, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself - and the easier it becomes to keep the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

Caroline and West Series:
Deeper
Harder

Visit Robin York's website for more information

Review:
I'm a huge fan of Ruthie Knox's adult contemporary romances so when I found out she was writing a NA novel under the pen name of Robin York I put Deeper at the top of my wish list! I'm so glad I did because Deeper is an unforgettable story, one that punches a hole in your chest and rips your heart out leaving you drowning in despair only to slowly put you back together again filling you with love and leaving you feeling hopeful by the end.

I don't think I've ever raged as much as I did reading this book, the behaviour of one of the characters was so horrendous that it actually made me feel physically sick and I was heartbroken for Caroline seeing the things that she goes through. I have to admit that I didn't know a lot about revenge porn before I picked up this book but it's something I find absolutely despicable and I hate that we live in a society where that can happen to people. Not only does it happen but it's not even illegal which just boggles my mind! I have to applaud Robin York for bringing attention to this and doing so in a way that shows exactly what a victim goes through. If you want to find out more about this topic the author includes a link to the End Revenge Porn website at the back of the book and I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

Caroline is just an average 19 year old student before her ex-boyfriend Nate sets out to destroy her. She is intelligent and focused on her studies, she knows exactly what she wants from life and she has spent years working hard to make sure she can achieve her goals. She has been in one serious, long term relationship with a boy she met at school, someone who she thought she was in love with and someone who she trusted would never hurt her. She wasn't happy about the pictures Nate took of her during sex but she wanted to make him happy and she was naive enough to trust that nobody else would ever see them. She thought their break up had been amicable, Nate was even happy to remain friends after she called things off with him and she was too embarrassed to check if he had deleted the pictures from his phone. It was weeks later when Caroline's world imploded - not only had Nate uploaded the pictures to multiple websites and sent links to all her friends and the entire student body of their college but he had also included her name and contact information. Since then she has been receiving anonymous threats by phone and email, she has been harassed by complete strangers and she has watched her dreams of becoming a judge wash down the drain. How will she ever get an internship if potential employers can google her name and find pictures of her naked? What will happen if the links get sent to her family and her dad or grandparents see them?

No matter what Caroline does to have the pictures removed they keep popping up on different websites and who can even guess at the number of people who might have saved them to their personal computers. She has lost all her confidence and everywhere she goes it feels like people are talking about her and laughing. She blames herself, after all she knew all along it was a bad idea to let Nate take those pictures in the first place and she never even asked him to delete them. She questions every tiny decision she makes from the clothes she wears to the places where she shops and the friends she hangs out with - how do you face meeting strangers when you know they could have seen you naked? How do you look your teachers or fellow students in the face after something like that? Caroline may be down but she refuses to completely fall apart, even when she's at her lowest she keeps struggling on - attending classes, doing her homework and scouring the internet for the pictures and doing her best to get them removed from every site she comes across. I can't even begin to tell you how much I admire her for doing that - I think if I'd been in her position I'd have hidden away in my room and never been seen again! It takes guts to go out and face the world with your head held high - especially when you're feeling so terrible about yourself and receiving such horrific threats on a daily basis.

West has known Caroline for a year now but they've never really been friends or socialised together. They may not be close but he despises Nate for what he has done and he is one of the few people to stand up to him on Caroline's behalf. West has a lot of problems of his own so the last thing he needs is the complication of getting involved with someone but he comes to Caroline's defence anyway, he just can't help himself. As the two of them spend more time together as "not friends" they slowly open up to each other and their feelings become more complicated. With West's help Caroline starts to rebuild her confidence, she has a few remaining friends who stuck by her through everything and she slowly starts to widen her circle and to trust in people again. It isn't easy to put her life back together but West convinces her that it wasn't her fault, that she was a victim and Nate is the one who should be punished.

I can't tell you how much I loved this book, Caroline and West's friendship develops so slowly into something more and it was beautiful to see them open up to each other. You'll be happy to know that there is no instalove here - instant lust absolutely but that's followed by friendship long before love gets involved. their relationship is just fantastic from beginning to end and I fell head over heels for West while I was reading! What I enjoyed most though was the way Caroline starts to put her life back together, the way West shows her that the only thing she did wrong was have faith in an arsehole who didn't deserve her trust. There was nothing shameful about having sex with her boyfriend or even in letting him take pictures - the shame lies with Nate for sharing something that was supposed to be private. I have to share my favourite West quote here:

"I think you need somebody to show you you're not broken, how you're beautiful and sexy and if you're dirty it's only in the good way, the way everybody is dirty."

Robin York does such an amazing job of showing the effect Nate's betrayal has on Caroline's life - from the harassment she receives from complete strangers, to the negative comments and slut shaming from people she thought where her friends right through to the embarrassment and disgust from family members. She also shows the positives to come out of it though - the way Caroline finds out who her true friends are, the people who will stick by her and support her no matter what to the way she finds the confidence to fight back and stand up for herself. Deeper is a beautiful love story with an important message to tell and it's one of my favourite reads of 2014. The sequel, Harder, is now one of my most anticipated upcoming releases and I absolutely can't wait to get my hands on a copy. I want to place a copy of this book in the hands of every teenage girl I know in the hope that it will stop just one of them making the same mistake that Caroline did. If you have a daughter then you should buy them this book!

Source: Received from Piatkus in exchange for an honest review

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Deeper by Robin York was published in the UK by Piatkus on the 6th of March and is £8.99 for the paperback. Make sure you check out the other stops on the UK blog tour (find the details in the banner below)

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

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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

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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

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