Book Review: The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

"Problem is: you're stupid, Lucy." I can't help but agree.


Ghosts and Ghouls beware!
The Smallest, shabbiest, most talented
phychic detection agency is back. 

There are strange things happening at one of  London's biggest cemeteries. A sinister coffin has been opened and a terrible phantom set free. 

When Lockwood & Co. investigate, they discover a dangerous relic has been stolen - and it's a race against time before its full power is unleashed...

This is the second book in the Lockwood & Co series and takes place seven months after the first, which I was surprised by considering they is a limited time where they will be able to fight ghosts.

Okay, Lucy becomes real unlikable right at the start of the book with the amount of girl hate she has, this was in the first book, but it's worst in this one: on page 20 she says this about a "She was Blonde, slim and pouty, which would have given me three reasons to dislike her even if she'd been a sweet lass who spent her free time tending poorly hedgehogs." So Lucy doesn't like stereotypical good looking girls, though "She was good-looking, though her jaw was a bit too sharp. If she’d repeatedly fallen over while crossing soft ground, you could have sewn a crop of beans in the chin-holes she left behind." Now this isn't the only description that Lucy gives about someone of her gender: "I also noted a posse of teenage girls, whose shapeless floaty dresses, black eyeliner, outsize bangles and lank armpit-length hair marked them out as Sensitives, Sensitives do psychic work, but refuse to ever actually fight ghosts for pacifist principle. They generally as dippy as summer cold and as irritating as nettle rash. We don't normally get on."

I have issues with the idea of the Sensitives as well, but this tops it off for me: "You miss'- he turned to the Senstive - 'you've clearly had a terrible experience. Are you able to tell me about it?'
This was classic Lockwood. Friendly, considerate, empathetic. My personal impulse would have been to slap the girl soundly around the face and boot her moaning backside out into the night. Which is why he's the leader, and I'm not. Also why I have no female friends". So you're saying all girls are like this. Is Lucy not a girl? I'm mean she could be Trans Boy and not realised, but I don't think that where this series is going. Still hella sexist either way.

You can be a tom-boy without hating on other girls. The thing is Stroud is not a woman, therefore it's not him accidentality giving a character the same trait he has, I guess he could hate stereotypical pretty feminine girls, which if so he should work on that. This is him choosing for Lucy to be against her own gender. This is kinda Society is bullshit where girls are encouraged abandoned feminine quality to fit in with boys, instead of just liking what you like. Everyone is socialised to dislike stereotypical feminine qualities, it's bullshit but it's also hella damaging because it's leads to people denying who they are. So not great for children to be reading.

Also this book is aimed at children, where they not at a stage necessary to question Society's bullshit and I think Lucy is meant to be relatable with this trait, instead of it being a major character flaw. This is the second book and it's only reinforced instead of questioned. Also they no other girl character to really go against this trait. There is no Buffy or Phryne Fisher. You can be a girly girl, nice and a bad arse. There are other female characters introduced, one is her own issue and the other is an adult that's being set up for future books. The main thing is it's not fun to read about a character who hates her own gender. Sexism isn't fun.

While on the Sexist aspect of the book, The Senstives are only presented as girls, and never mentioned again in the book that introduces the idea of them. Literally, just there for Lucy to hate on. The idea that makes them bad as idea is that they don't fight ghost but still help with the destroying of the sources and if they were pacifist they probably see this as helping to kill ghosts. Maybe they see it as them just warning living people of danger, for money. But they presented as girls that don't want to fight. If there was boy Senstives that were introduced with them, then this wouldn't be as much of a problem or even if at any time was spent with them besides this one conversation then we could have something. I guess they could appear in future books but introductions are everything. The idea of Senstives could be interesting, because the lack of information on ghosts and pre-problem ideas would suggest that not all ghosts are bad. Just some ghost want to attack you because they are dicks. Though, all ghosts can kill you in this world so it still seems kinda dumb. We're see.

I really don't like Lucy now. I know she's in her early teens so a dick as a rule, but she especially one with her girl hate and general attitude. The other characters are the same as the first book, there's more of an effect to explore how they work as term now that they've been together for a year. It works well for the plot. Except even I still don't like Cubbins, even with my dislike for Lucy and Lockwood feels like a plot point more than a person. I guess I wouldn't recommend this series for the characters.

This book is more quicker to start going somewhere than the first, which is good, a mystery with a deadline and a race aspect, though didn't have a lot of tension for me. Perhaps if I was more invested in Lockwood & Co. except they are the underdog.I figure out the mystery aspect half way through, but it not stupidly obvious. Still more complicated than some of the adult thrillers I've read. It also has dark magic and cults, digging up bodies in a graveyard so it's good.

I still like this world and want to know what's going on, outweighing the characters. The ghosts are interesting, with horrifying descriptions without just being gore galore with no rhythm or reason. This book felt more now, with alternative tech due to what went down. I'm waiting to know what happened to founding members of the agency because it's only been 50 years and they lived to have children so.. but I guess they're dead.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Smart Skulls. I like the world and the story, the characters are lacking. The thing is this is a kids books and I would hesitate to give this to a child, I would have to give them a lecture about how feminine quality are not bad and that girls that say they have no girl friends tend to be the issue and not the other girls. Girls are cool. These books are clearly aimed at boys, going off the covers, so I was down for tricking them into reading a book with bad arse female protagonist as the narrator, except she not a bad arse, she's a sexist loser. Thanks, Stroud. It's just really disappointing. I will be reading the sequel, hopefully, we'll get some character growth so Lucy stops being such a loser.

Quotes

Page 20, "Kat Godwin, Kippe's right-hand operative, was a listener like me, but that was about all we had in common. She was Blonde, slim and pouty, which would have given me three reasons to dislike her even if she'd been a sweet lass who spent her free time tending poorly hedgehogs."

Page 21, "She was good-looking, though her jaw was a bit too sharp. If she’d repeatedly fallen over while crossing soft ground, you could have sewn a crop of beans in the chin-holes she left behind."

Page 79, "I also noted a posse of teenage girls, whose shapeless floaty dresses, black eyeliner, outsize bangles and lank armpit-length hair marked them out as Sensitives, Sensitives do psychic work, but refuse to ever actually fight ghosts for pacifist principle. They generally as dippy as summer cold and as irritating as nettle rash. We don't normally get on."

Page 80, "With a clatter of bangles, the floatiest and wettest-looking of the Sensitives stepped forward. 'Mr Sanders! Miranda, Tricia and I refuse to work in any sector near that grave until it's been made safe! I wish to make that clear.'"

"'You miss'- he turned to the Sensitive - 'you've clearly had a terrible experience. Are you able to tell me about it?
 This was classic Lockwood. Friendly, considerate, empathetic. My personal impulse would have been to slap the girl soundly around the face and boot her moaning backside out into the night. Which is why he's the leader, and I'm not. Also why I have no female friends."-Sexist to presume all girls are like that, are you like that Lucy.

Page 111, "Problem is: you're stupid, Lucy."

Page 198, "There was a curiously feminine quality to his eyes and mouth that sat oddly with his hirsute frame."

Book Review: We Are Young by Cat Clarke

This book continued the trend of YA coma books I'm reading.

Three People died

and no one's asking why.

But I need answers.

I have to find out

what really happened 

that night.

Back once again with another Cat Clarke book, this time the actual year of publication. Reviews of most of her books can be found here. I found Cat Clarke by her YA debut and I have followed her since. She an auto-buy author. Basically, I really like her writing and have high expectation of her.

This book does involve a band and the main character really like playing music, but it not really a music book. They only have gig practices and only pop artists are named. I mention because someone else said they thought the vinyls indicated it as a heavy music book. No, they broken vinyls that the thing to play attention to and obviously to match Clarke's other books.

Evan Page is suspicious about her Stepbrother's car accident that involved four people that didn't belong to the same circle. Basically, this is a murder mystery involving drugs and spoilery things. I did miss that Evan's last name was Page so I was real confuse when people would call her that. Did she go through a name change and it was somehow not picked up in certain places during the revisions. Nope, I'm just Dyslexic.

Characters and their relationships with each other play a big part. Different families dynamic are explored within Evan own family  and her interactions with the families of those in the car, as she tries to solve the mystery of why.

Within the Band, there is a triangle of Exs with Evan at the centre. Evan is bi, Sid and Daze are friends and that events of the novel explore her feeling towards them. It's a nice addiction. I like it.

This book deals with a lot, most of it going into spoilers. (I do Trigger warnings in my labels). Clarke manages to handle all these well. The ending is slightly preachy, but also was a coherent and is a satisfying ending. With it being a hard subject, there no real satisfying ending of this book.

Overall, I give this 5/5 stars for Earned Guitars. In terms of mystery, I never guess exactly what was going to go down, which I often do and the writing is good as usual. Cat Clarke continues to breaks hearts. Breakfast Tim will stay with me and I will wonder about his career.

I got this book for Review off of NetGalley and is being published by Quercus Children's Books on 3rd of May 2018.

Book Review: Savage Island by Bryony Pearce

Yes, Children trust Mark Zuckerburg and his fictional counterpart.

When reclusive millionaire Marcus Gold announces that he’s going to be staging an “Iron Teen” competition on his private island in the Outer Hebrides, teenagers Ben, Lizzie, Will, Grady and Carmen sign up – the prize is one million pounds … each. But when the competition begins, the group begin to regret their decision. Other teams are hunting their competitors and attacking them for body parts. Can the friends stick together under such extreme pressure to survive? When lives are at stake, you find out who you can really trust…

One of the more boring Red Eyes, as it literally wandering an island for three days. Other stuff happens conspiracy and the risk of maiming. It takes from other Red Eye books (intentionally or not). It's similar to 'Flesh and Blood' and reminds me of Frozen Charlotte because it's on an Scottish Island (one of the Shetland islands, meant to be private island). So Rich, gore and isolation. A bit of 'Sleepless' as well.

I really lacked the motivation to finish this and it's not like it long. There were few hiccups. Ben doesn't have a great relationships with his brother, Will but it pressured into looking after him. Will is some sort of Genius and clearly disturbed. There was an awkward moment for me where I was like "is he meant Autistic?" No, he's a sociopath. I wouldn't say that a spoiler, it clearly what going on and I want talk about it. People often confuse Autism and Sociopathy, despite being different and think having that "oh no" feeling probably didn't help my enjoyment of the book. My own research (after reading this book) said that what Pearce wrote can be accurate, it just awkward for me.

We have the island stuff and tons of childhood flashbacks of Ben being sad. Lots of fun wildlife while you know horror. This format worked well for what Pearce was trying to do. The book stays in Ben's POV so we only know what he knows. It also get repetitive after awhile. A lot of going in circles. 

There's also a dumb romance because people can't just be friends (Okay, that's really just my pet Peeve). The characters are done well and Pearce does an good job of balancing everyone. I think the relationships are part that's done the best, which is good to see in horror when so much is just bodies to get rid of. Though, I did think Carmen being Spanish was pushed a lot at first.

This is sociopaths and conspiracy theorist stuff. If you find most of that stuff boring and overplayed, this probably not the book for you. Obviously, conspiracy theories are hot right now with the youths so makes sense and there's always an online quiz asking if you are Sociopath. Maybe I know too much about Sociopaths and the ones that become killers for this book. I guess most of the target market won't be like that. That being said I've read true crime novels since I could read, but still I probably would have enjoyed this more when I was younger.

I found the ending to be dumb. The END bit I mean. I get the ending for the story Pearce was trying to tell, I saw it coming so stop being invested. There's a twist, I guess it works and Pearce lays down the ground work for it. It's just didn't have much of impact. The Reveal just seemed like a bad business plan and like why?

Overall, I give this 3/5 stars for Geocache Boxes. This was an okay addition to Red Eye series. It makes sense to tackle conspiracies in this series (again), and I do think it might be part of personal taste in what you want your horror to be, if you're like this book. Not so much for me, it might work for you. Having read the all the Red Eye books, I do compare them to one another. This one is kinda in the middle for me. The cover is cooler than the actual book as well, because it's really cool. I just wish I had liked the book as much.

I got this book for review off NetGalley and Stripes Publishing, it was published on 5th April 2018.

Book Review: Unnatural Creatures, stories chosen by Neil Gaiman

Such cute monster on the this cover.
 

THE SUNBIRD

THE MANTICORE

THE WEREWOLF

THE GRIFFIN

Welcome to a menagerie unlike any other, where stories let AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL and occasionally TERRIFYING creatures roam free in your mind.

This is Neil Gaiman's selection of his favourite stories featuring beasts from myth, fable and imagination. Creatures extraordinary, exotic, extinct, living, dead and undead prowl the pages of this book.

BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL IF YOU INSIST ON OPENING IT. 

This is quite a long anthology, but it also contains a few re-publish stories but it writers that audiences are unlikely to be familiar with due to a lot of them being dead or just real old. The illustrations that each story has are pretty good and the formating works well.

Intro by Neil Gaiman, 5/5 stars for being a introduction.

1.
by Gahan Wilson: This was a fun creepy idea, where a stain antagonizes rich people. There's more to the story but I'm not explaining it (well). The way its incorporated into the actual text is cool. 4/5 Stars for poor butlers.


2.The Cartographer Wasps and The Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu: This one was weird, but also great. It's like a politician fable with insects . 4/5 stars for short lives of Bees.

3.The Griffin and The Minor Canon by Frank R.Stockton: This is a story says to be a bad person. Unless people treat you terrible. This writer is dead and this story must have appeared somewhere.   4/5 stars for Tiny Griffins.

4.Ozioma The Wicked by Nnedi Okorafor: A young Nigerian girl can speak to snakes and her community hate her for it until she usefully. 4/5 stars for Brest like waves.

5. Sunbird by Neil Gaiman: This reminds me of that the ep of Angel with the werewolf. It doesn't have a werewolf in it. A society of trying rare foods go after the last thing they haven't tried. 4/5 stars for two feathers.

6. The Sage of Theare by Diana Wynne Jones: This is another story by a dead writer and has character that appears in other works. The creature is an water dragon or something. Is a god a creature? This is a saga of short story, it was good. 4/5 stars for steaming gods.

7. Gabriel - Ernest by Saki: I think this is a story I've read before, but I thought the ending was different. Maybe Mandela effect or I've combined in my head with something else. If anyone wants to tell me what "He had suffered bittern in his study" means, feel free. This is a werewolf story which would have been a spoiler is wasn't so obvious what it was to a modern reader. 4/5 stars for missing sheep.

8. The Cockatoucan by E. Nesbit:I own a collection of Nesbit's stories, mainly because I liked her name and it has a skull on the cover. This is basically Alice in Underland nonsense. Basically, random magic and skinny people are bitter. 4/5 stars for missed omnibuses.

9. Moveable Beast by Maria Dahvana Headley: I liked this story. Set in somewhere in America I guess, called Bastardville so fun. The "villain" is immediately unlikable. Because if someone asked for you to smile (and they're not taking a picture) they're a dick. Also Scottish connection which is fun and fitting. 4/5 stars for Ice Cream insults.

10.The Flight of The Horse by Larry Niven: This involves time travelling to find a horse with a twist so fun. Also another dead writer. 3/5 stars for made gems.

11.Prismatica by Samuel R. Delaney: This your usual quest story, with trickster and princesses. It was long enough to have chapters. There's also a unicorn and a thing in a box. 3/5 stars for my nearest and dearest friends.

12.The Manticore, The Mermaid, and Me by Megan Kurashige: This one is weird. We're back to stories that were written for this book, which two stories ago but feels long. This plays with known hoaxes or are they hoaxes. I would have liked better description of the creatures. The idea was cool. 4/5 stars for museum pass.

13.The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher: This is 80 pages long and some what mature. It was clearly written for an adult audience, not that really matters since this is YA aimed anthology. It just weird having a protagonist that is a hairy German Professor, obsessing over an ex-student. The earliest publication date I can find for this is1969, though I wonder if it was earlier than (that cause it was 1942). 4/5 stars for Communist Allegory.

14.The Smile on the Face by Nalo Hopkinson: This involves trees and negative body image. I wasn't aware of the myth this was based on, which is cool. 4/5 stars for cherry pits. (TW: Sexual Assault).

15.Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson: Beware of bicycles. This was a cool idea from 1958. 4/5 stars for pins.

16.Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle: The Last Unicorn writer brings us a story about death, so fun. Also a party. I like the idea, but it's can 4/5 stars for bad wine.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for monster encounters. I like the diversity with the writers and the creatures they bring with them. Out of the 16 story, only 2 were unique to this collection, but it does show a big variety for authors to discover that older and were my first time reading them most of them so I get the effect to show older work to a younger generation. It was a pretty cool collection, with solid stories. I would recommend if like monsters and short stories or if you want to discover some new, old writers to check out.

Book Review: The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

The truth is that she eats nothing but raspberries.

Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party.
But did you know Alice was sexting Brandon when he crashed his car?
It's true. Ask ANYBODY.

Rumour has it that Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the 'slut stall' in the girls' bathroom at Healy High for everyone to see. And after star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, the rumours start to spiral out of control.
In this remarkable novel, four Healy High students - the party girl, the car accident survivor, the ex best friend and the boy next door - tell all they know.
But exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there's only one person to ask: Alice herself.

Jennifer Mathieu is the author of Moxie which has been talked about a lot. I thought this was the follow up but it's actually Mathieu's debut which makes sense because this does feel more like a debut, potential with room to grow. I think just never been published officially in the UK before, or maybe they have a re-go at it. It was originally published four years ago anyway.

This book is told in multiple points of view in first talking, each talking about what they know of Alice Franklin and their perspectives on the rumours about her. I think this works well and show the show spread of rumours. The characters are given motivates for doing what they do that makes them some what sympathetic sometimes but still pretty dislikeable. Some where rather samey.

I appreciate what this novel was going for. There's this big secret at one point, however, it in a way it supports slut shaming. I think it was meant to be question what you hear, except I don't think it does a good enough of job of saying that. I think would have been better as an obvious lie, or rumour that spread out of control.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for grilled cheeses. I do like this book and it pretty short (I apparently read it in three hours). I get what it was going for with the slut-shaming, it missed the mark somewhat. It does add and support narrative against slut shame, with the emphasis on small town rumours I get what it was meant to be. This was Mathieu debut and know her eventual follow-up Moxie is meant to be geniusly feminist (or something). I did enjoy the process of reading this book (I never know what to say about books with important messages) and if you like a book that tries then go for it.  

I got this book for review off NetGalley and is being published by Hodder Children's Books on 8th March 2018.

Book Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Oh, the world should ended when I was eight. I would have welcomed it (sad, but true).  Or before I was born.

'Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don't let you go around again until you get it right.'


According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - the world's only totally guide  to the future, written in 1655, before she exploded - the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea...

People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it's only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of the Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons - well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel - would quite like the Rapture not to happen.


And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .

This the first Terry Patachatt novel I've read, but I've danced around with Gaiman before. I had been interested to read this book for a while and  the adaption with David Tennant pushed me to read it. I thought the TV adaption was being released sooner than is. It not coming out till 2019 so plenty of time to read this novel before then.

There's a lot characters in this book and jumbles between them all. The Angel and the Demon both being bad at what they meant to do always works.

The plot works well for the story, not sure why 11 year old Antichrist is what you would be waiting for. Wouldn't wait till puberty was finished? Humour I guess.

Is it weird when I finished this book, I immediately thought the ones stars would be a hoot, and they were. "Pretentious" and saying to get rid of characters that are necessary for the plot to work.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for singe corners. This book is relevant and for being almost 30 years (we're all getting so old) it hard to date it really (except it's cds and ipods that turn into the best of Queen now). Well, I'm off to throw some books in a bath or something. 

Book Review: Black Cairn Point by Claire McFall

Is Time Team still on TV?

Two Survivors, One Terrible Truth.

Heather agrees to a camping holiday with Dougie and his friends because she's desperate to get closer to him. But when they disturb a pagan burial site above the beach, Heather becomes certain that they have woken a malevolent sprit. Something is alive out there in the pitch-black dark, and it is planning deadly revenge. 

One year later Heather knows that she was very lucky to escape Black Cairn Point relatively unscathed, but she is still waiting for Dougie to wake from his coma. If he doesn't, how will she prove her sanity, and her innocence? 

Okay,  I'm not sure what this novel is trying to be. A horror thriller I guess.

This book is set in Scotland somewhere and it fun to guess where. They're leaving the city and going through Ayrshire countryside on the M77 and stop in Kilmarnock which is in East Ayrshire. The city has to be Glasgow because that's the only city on the West side of Scotland. Kilmarknock seems like a weird place to stop for booze if staying for the M77 a while longer so must be someone where before Ayr where the M77 stops and becomes the A77. Does anyone care? They going to Stranraer and if you got there in a hour from Kilmarnock you're probably be dead.

Random geography :Strangler isn't in Dumfrieshire.  It's in Wigtownshire. They not even next to each other. Also not a chance you could not successfully hitchkite to Glasgow, even to get to a town with decent public transport would take a while. He would have to find his way to Dumfries or get super lucky. There's are buses, but it's all nonsense.

Heather is bit too impressed by the ocean for someone who lives on an island. The ocean is an hour away and I haven't seen it for months either.

The boys became out being very dislikable, almost straight away...even the love interest. I didn't care much about the characters. I was mostly when do you all die and how?

The book is told in the POV of Heather, in Now and Then. This an affect to have an unreliable narrator in Heather. Except she not really. This is kinda spoilery so skipped if you don't want to be at all. It's just straight up lies and it's never clear what version of events we meant to be getting. It's not satisfying to be given account and then have the Twist on one page. There were meant to be hints, but not enough. It's just hur? I would want to have a proper recount of what actually went down, if this was what you're were going to do.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for dumb fires. I own one of Claire McFalls's other books and still plan to t read it but I'm hoping it was better than this. This novel brings up a lot of questions, to give an obvious twist. It's just fine. 

Book Review: Whispers in Graveyard by Theresa Breslin

This book might have been written for me if only for a few things.If it was Harder core and female lead.

They want me to join them. All I have to do is to reach out to them...

Nobody understands Solomon's dyslexia. The only place he feels safe in the old graveyard, under the rowan tree. But when the workment uproot the tree, a dark and terriflying power is released, and only only Solomon can stop it...

Whispers in the Graveyard won the Carnegie Medal, and has became a modern classic of children's literature.

This book has Graveyard in the title and main character dyslexia. If you've been playing attention then you'll know I am dyslexic (which explains weird spelling and grammer mistakes) and that if book has a graveyard in it I specifically tag it. Also Graveyards because character limits. It's a thing I have been doing since 13 February 2013. So of course, I checked this book of the library.

This book was written purely for Dyslexia by a librarian. I also stopped at Dyslexia so didn't see the modern classic bit. So once I started I checked when this book was written which as 1994.  Two years before Dunblane shooting where at lot of laws changed. It's of its time, but not in a bad way, it was just odd going in thinking this was a modern contempory and not realising that is was when it came out 23 years ago. When I was tiny and cute. So I'm talk a little abit about Dyslexia during this time and whether it get's it right.

So I was dynosis when I was eight meaning sometime in 2001, but had been probably going through tests since 1999 so 5 years after this book was published. Solomon has his eyes tested, colour tested, and hearing. I don't remember getting my hearing tested (nor does my mother). But my eyes were tested several times and remember doing the colour blindness tests a lot. Dyslexia was the thing during time, then it was ADHD (my headteacher was convinced what I had, though I had none of the symtoms). Now it's Autism, which basically means people know what it is in theory but also not at all.

So the writer has done their research. Do I think it is captured well? Not really, but kinda of. So I was dynosised just for having Dyslexia when I was eight, but also then Autism when I was Twenty-Two so my symtoms overlap. The crumsness of Dyslexia is there, but he never get offically dysnosised. There's just a wonder teacher that realises his disability.

My worst compliant about this book is that there's speech by the Wonder teacher that says dyslexia is not a dysabily. Oh, honey I just wrote Disability completely wrong and I will forever miss-spell basic words. I live in a world with google and voice reconsigation software and you didn't know those things were coming. Dyslexia is a Learning Disability. It's a disability. Calling it a difficulty as those two thing don't mean the same thing in this situation, is missing the point. It's like getting upset when someone calls a novel a book. Yes, two different definitions. A book can be a non-fiction or a collection of short stories but novel always come in book form whether e-book, physical or a stack of maginze. Not that last one so much now and the best of those ended in up physical book form. It's ableism. A Disability is something about your body that makes life more difficult for you than people who don't have the disability, that can be how brain processes things or that you can't walk un-assisant. Being Dyslexia obvious never used be a big deal when most people were illiterate and didn't go to school. You were just clumsy and had bad joints (yeah, those are dyslexic symptoms). However, you can be a real disadvantage now. A lot of Daily Life is reading whether that's paperwork or just trying to watch YouTube videos. Disability is not a dirty word. I know this was written over 20 years ago but I don't think enough people realise that now either. I say this as someone who could just passes as a bad speller most of the time and can read most things unaided. It's re-creating the written word I mess up (then there's the Autism and the thing that making my hands go dumb as I try to write this).  Also Beslin made the main character a boy because Statistically more boys have it, so stereotyping then.

There's a lot of other issues going on. Solomon's mother has left the family home due to Solomon's father being abusive Alcoholic and then there's the ghost in the graveyard. Also this book is set in Scotland somewhere. Probably Central Belt. He love his local Graveyard, which is next to Kirk (church) which how I realise that this was set in Scotland. There also an evil entry connected to Scotland's past (go on guesss what it could be linked on, if you know anything about Scottish Supernatural history then you're get it, but I'll leave out because it kinda spoiler). There is a lot for a book less than 200 pages and some stuff does feel underdeveloped. The graveyard and Solomon's home life storylines don't fit that nice together. Hell, the evil enty doesn't even specifically want/need Solomon. Anyone in theory could have stopped it. The plot kinda works, but I think it just need more developed or more character agrency in the plot. Things just kinda come to point and that's that. This book is set in a Primary school so I probably should be less forgiving about the plot but I found it in the YA Section of the library. That was probably a mistake like the time I found R.L. Stine's one adult novel there too.

It has horror elements in it, but it's not scary hence the P5 main character (9 years-old). Horror didn't come to mind till I saw other people call it horror in the review. But I was already desenstive to any horror by the time I was in P5. The idea I like, the excuation not so much. It's fine, some of it works. Someone does die in this...so there's that.

Solomon is pretty defined by his Dyslexia. He doesn't have any other characterisation. The story is told in his POV. Even the Dyslexia side is surface level. No one really does have much characterisation. His dad is probably the one with the most depth. The wonder teacher is unrealistic try hard. Also shows up at student's house which also how you know it was written in the 90s. Pretty sure you can't just take a kid out of his normal class on a hunch, even if his teacher is terrible and kicks him most of the time.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Rowan Berries. I think the dyslexia is really all this book has going for it. Of the other Carnegie Medal winners I have read, it doesn't match up to them. I would like this book if his teacher had Dyslexia. I felt like it was building to that in places but she doesn't. It's an okay portrayal of dyslexia and his homelife is the better part of the book. The magic part doesn't work. I would love a book with magic with Dyslexia or any other disabled character published in the main steam but this wasn't great on the supernatural side. However, this book is less than 200 pages and is worth a read if anything that I have said interested you. While I wanted better it's fine for its intended age group, not amazing but worth the read. 

Book Review: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

If you tell me not to do something, I'm probably gonna do it.

I CURSE ANYONE WHO READS THIS BOOK. 
SCREW YOU, HAPPY READING
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO.

Elmbridge High School burned down. Three Students were killed in the braze, twenty were injured, and one, Carly Johnson, disappeared.

For two decades, little was uncovered about what became known as the 'Johnson Incident'.

UNTIL NOW.

This is another book I requested off of NetGalley years ago and found in the library so decided to finally started reading it. It was really good so I wished it was of the NetGalley unread books I had brought (there's a large collection of them).

This is a really good horror book, with horrifying outcome.  It has a lot of Horror Tropes, Boarding School, insane asylum, magic, ghost demon things. The Main character Kaitlyn has mental illness issues but it some what a question what is mental illness and what is magic. 

There's is a made-up Scottish Magic in this book which I enjoyed. It was really well thought out so much so I started wonder if this was real thing that I had somehow had not heard about it. It's not a real, just really well done. 

The characters are all quite likeable and started to feel panicky about the character's outcome, which is great considering the amount of horrors that don't even try to have likeable or realistic characters. There is an odd romantic relationship and its up to question.
 
This book is told in "discovered" documents, mainly Kaitlyn's diary. It really works for the mystery thriller side of it.

Overall, I gave this book 4/5 stars for Church Pews. I really enjoyed this book and I am going to autobuy Dawn Kurtagich. I would recommend this to any horror buffs out there.

I got this book for Review off NetGalley years ago and it's published by Orion Children's Books.

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Book Review: Eden Summer by Liz Flanagan

Eden is not a Paradise to spend time with.

IT STARTS like any other day for Jess – get up, draw on eyeliner, cover up tattoos and head to school. But soon it’s clear this is no ordinary day, because Jess’s best friend, Eden, isn’t at school . . . she’s gone missing.

Jess knows she must do everything in her power to find Eden before the unthinkable happens.

So Jess decides to retrace the summer she and Eden have just spent together. But looking back means digging up all their buried secrets, and she starts to question everything she thought Eden’s summer had been about ...

This book takes places over a day, with flash backs to the events leading to Eden's disappearance, in first person, with a flash forward about as well.

 Even with everything Eden is dealing with she still comes across as unlikable, especially with the flash back before the event. She has this perfect life, till the terrible thing happens and just come across as spoiled. I only cared about her being missing because the effect it was having on Jess and other characters. Jess is likable protagonist and I felt for the other characters.

This book deals with a lot of complex things including Hate crimes on sub-cultures and grief. It does a decent job of dealing with the topics.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Graveyard Snow. It was a quick read with some punch. I would recommend it for a readathon.

Book Review: Countless by Karen Gregory

Love is random fling on street corners.

'Is there anything that's concerning you?’ Felicity says. ‘College, home, boyfriends?' Though she's more or less smiling at this last one.

I don't smile. Instead, I feel my face go hot. Silence stretches as wide as an ocean.
When I look up, Felicity has this expression on her face like she's just seen Elvis. Slowly, she leans forward and in a gentle voice I've never heard her use before she says, 'Have you done a pregnancy test?'

When Hedda discovers she is pregnant, she doesn’t believe she could ever look after a baby. The numbers just don’t add up. She is young, and still in the grip of an eating disorder that controls every aspect of how she goes about her daily life. She’s even given her eating disorder a name – Nia. But as the days tick by, Hedda comes to a decision: she and Nia will call a truce, just until the baby is born. 17 weeks, 119 days, 357 meals. She can do it, if she takes it one day at a time …[Check if same]

I found this book randomly on the buy one get one free at Waterstones and picked up several times before buying. I'm really glad I did. This is honest heart breaking novel and does so many things well.

Relationship play such a big part of this novel and they are done brilliantly. 
The romance in this book is done very realistic. Its more about their friendship and isolation they both have from their different situations. I loved both Robin and Hedda as individuals and just wanted them both to be happy. Family plays a big part in the story as Hedda has complex relationships with her parents and sister, having practically been kicked out the family home, then realising she pregnant, the responsibility of motherhood comes on her shoulders. We also have Hedda's unit friends that she sees herself reflected and having strong friendships with makes the situation complicated. 

This is an own voices book and I think you can tell when someone has given a character their own battles. I have never suffered from an eating disorder, but I can tell what an honest portrayal of mental illness and how hopeless your inner struggles can be, so there were parts I related. Did I bawl my eyes out? Yes, several times. Near the end I couldn't stop. Crying is good for your mental health, you should read this book and try it out (though, if you triggers you, pick someone else tragedy to do it with). There are no quick fixes with mental health and it nice seeing that portrayal as so many YA books go for the quick magical fix of Romance or miracle clue. I know that's a slight spoiler, but it such a big selling point to this book for me.

This book is written so well. Its from Hedda point of view, upon the day of realisation of new situation. Hedda feels like such a real person, in her bad and good moments.

Overall, I give this book 5/5 stars for mound filled corners. This is one of the few times where reviewing a book made me it rate it higher. This is definitely one of the best books I've read this year.

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Book Review: Straight White Male by John Niven

I wonder if Niven and I will die at the same place too.

Kennedy Marr is a novelist from the old school. Irish, acerbic, and a borderline alcoholic and sex-addict, his mantra is drink hard, write hard and try to screw every woman you meet.
He's writing film scripts in LA, fucking, drinking and insulting his way through Californian society, but also suffering from writers block and unpaid taxes. Then a solution presents itself - Marr is to be the unlikely recipient of the W. F. Bingham Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Modern Literature, an award worth half a million pounds. But it does not come without a price: he must spend a year teaching at the English university where his ex-wife and estranged daughter now reside.

As Kennedy acclimatises to the sleepy campus, inspiring revulsion and worship in equal measure, he's forced to reconsider his precarious lifestyle. Incredible as it may seem, there might actually be a father and a teacher lurking inside this 'preening, narcissistic, priapic, sociopath'. Or is there.

I read this book almost a year ago and due to mysterious internet reasons I can't find the actual review that I started writing for this then. Which means I will be writing this review on the random things I remember from it. I think they're word document somewhere, but I can't find it so... this what we have.

Kenald is the cliché alcoholic middle age writer wishing for better times before he became a rich selfish arsehole, so super likable as he tries to sleep with women only a few years older than his daughter (that summary does involve sarcasm and the choice to call him Kenald for some reason). He's self aware and is doing a lot reflecting on how he end up this way. Kennedy an arsehole, but realistic so he comes off as a flawed character that's spent too much time in Hollywood.

This book deals with Hollywood and academia bullshit as well as the up and downs of life such as addiction and family issues that can't be fixed with money. Kennedy behaviour is often cringe worthy.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Cocaine Wanderings. This is a funny books that fleshed out stereotypes and clichés while being funny and poignant so basically it the sort of thing I love and therefore recommend to people who like like their comedy to come with a punch in the gut. 

Book Review: Unrest by Michelle Harrison

You think a teenage boy would be happy about a girl in his room. 

Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn't slept properly for months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Sometimes he half-wakes, paralysed, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. His doctors say sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless - but to Elliott they're terrifying.

Convinced that his brush with death has attracted the spirit world, Elliott secures a job at a reputedly haunted museum, determined to discover the truth. There, he meets the enigmatic Ophelia. But, as she and Elliott grow closer, Elliott draws new attention from the dead. One night, during an out of body experience, Elliott returns to bed to find his body gone. Something is occupying it, something dead that wants to live again . . . and it wants Ophelia, too . . . 

This is the story of a boy who died and rises again so now the Dead hounded his dreams. Or more like they make him astral project, giving him unrestiful nights.

Elliott makes an likeable, appealing protagonist.The supporting characters are okay, there is a sprinkle of stereotypes as minor antagonists. The romance is somewhat decent. The mythos of the ghosts was done well. It took from a lot of things to have realistic rules that worked for the plot.

I liked the plot mixed with the setting. While it is set at museum, its actually a collection of old buildings making more a fake tour from different time periods. Elliot chooses to work there as they have started during ghost tours at night as the buildings are meant to be haunted. There's also mystery that comes from working at the museum. I enjoyed the journey of this and the solution was fulfilling.

It also deals with grief, Elliot having lost his mum before his accident and his dad failing to cope after she gones.

I listened to the audio book version narrated by Paul Chequer. He did a good job of bringing Elliot to live, this book being in first person.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for drawing henna. This was a decent YA with supernatural stuff.

Book Review: I'll Be Home for Christmas by Various

My recent interaction with the Homeless was two of men swearing people out. Ar...Scotland.

The UK’s top Young Adult authors join together in this collection of new stories and poems on the theme of home.

Contributors include: Tom Becker, Holly Bourne, Sita Brahmachari, Kevin Brooks, Melvin Burgess, Katy Cannon , Cat Clarke, Juno Dawson, Julie Mayhew, Non Pratt, Marcus Sedgwick, Lisa Williamson and Benjamin Zephaniah.

£1 from the sale of every book will be donated to Crisis, the national homelessness charity. To find out more about Crisis, see www.crisis.org.uk

Before reading this book I was concerned that this would be an anthology where the stories didn't match at all with each other. Christmas,  Home and Homeless are the themes I'm guessing the writer were given. This book does contains some writers I really like, one I studied in school and one I have yet to find anything likable about. I wasn't going to request this book, until I realise Cat Clarke was in it and I must read everything she ever published.

Home and Away by Benjamin Zephaniah: This a poem and despite being taught several times how to citizens and write poems I don't feel confident on the matter,  but I still have a  jotter full of Face's quote. It's about how you could become homeless.

Ghosts of Christmas Past by Non Pratt: There are no actual ghosts and this is just a standard contemporary Sam is dealing with now living with his Nan and being awkward with girls. 4/5 stars for Tree Cravings.

If Only in my Dreams by Marcus Sedgwick: returning to the tradition of horror at Christmas and Space. Bit of a cliché plot. Also Also the British don't care about American poems about Christmas. It's written well as always by Sedgwick. 4/5 stars for darkness dreams.

Family You Choose by Cat Clarke: Queer fun. With a character that doesn't speak.  Very nice. Unusual Christmas dinner. Hinting at bigger life. Birthday blues. 5/5 stars for silent cake.

 The Associates by Kevin Brooks: The day in the life of two Homeless men who mainly hassle people. I don't know if I'm missing the point or if Brooks is missing the mark in trying to humanise homelessness. I think this story needs to be fleshed out a bit more, especially as for a day in life, big gaps are hinting at being missing.  Also have no clue by what is meant by the title. 3/5 stars for cliché needles.

The Afterschool Club by Holly Bourne: Rich Boy, Poor Girl, spending time together to avoid going home and do their homework together. I liked the characters in this one and the writing, as well the hinting at the deep issues at play as well as the ones on the surface. 4/5 stars for Coat swapping.

Homo for Christmas by Juno Dawson: The lesson in this story is to use private mode. We also have another uni age character dealing with their sexuality similar to Cat Clarke's story. These two fit together at least, but these one did feel a little more mature than the ones before it.  5/5 stars for Skinful.

Amir and George by Sita Brahmachari: This story deals with the series and current topic of refugee. Its also write in the style of someone whose not good at English (as though it was foreign language to them) which was interesting stab at realism. 5/5 stars for found lemons.

The Letter by Tracy Darnton: Darnton won a contest to be included in this book.
This doesn’t feel like a short story and more like the start up of a novel as the eventful stuff has either happened or about to happen.There's interesting story there, but this glimpse into Amber's life is a small catalyst that hints at several possibility. Though, I can tell from this that Darnton is a skilled writer. 4/5 stars for Bowling shoes.

Claws by Tom Becker: Everything I have ever read before by Becker has been insultingly terrible, at least this was just insulting, but I feel like that Becker liked the title of Claws and was gonna force that to make sense. It was alright, its the "someone does something stupid" version of horror therefore you don't care about the main character which is unsuccessfully. 2/5 stars for fishhooks ribbons. 
 
Christmas, Take Two by Katy Cannon: Heather is being forced to spend Christmas with her Father's new shorty and her monstrous children. Its mostly be grateful and its Christmas so be happy that no one takes you into account when making important decisions, learned all from a romantic encounter. 3/5 stars for forced stockings.
 
When Daddy Comes Home by Melvin Burgess: Nothing says Christmas like a dystopia of Politic Corruption. Interesting in that it comes in the form of a monologue. 4/5 stars for Christmas Tricks.

The Bluebird by Julie Mayhew: A modern fairy tale told in the form of a fairy tale, but modern setting. I enjoy writing confusing sentences. Parents holding their kids captive and a romance that might be a lot more alarming than its meant to be. 3/5 stars for burning chips.
 
Routes and Wings by Lisa Williamson: I really liked this one and does a good job of humanizing Homelessness. 5/5 stars for Bus Fare.

Overall, I give this 4/5 stars for multiple themes. Okay, I get why this book was done and that it for a good cause, but in terms of a coherent anthology most of the stories don't go together. Some of them fit and there could all be sketched to have a theme of home, or at least have the setting of Christmas. I'm probably just way over thinking of this, especially as I'm someone who reads all these genres about the same (except Poetry) within YA. I would recommend this if you're a general YA lover. 

I got this book off Netgalley for review and it is published by Stripes Publishing.

Book Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

I don't even like alcohol. The taste or the effect.

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

Ar the awkward the experience of having a main character with the same name as you. Correct spelling and all. You probably heard about about this book by now, especially as the film adaptation is currently in theatres as I type. The big thing is this has been compared to is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn which I have yet to read, I will compare it to this instead or I might just straight disagree. The question is does meet up to the hype. The answer is mostly 'Yes'.

The novel is mostly told from Rachel present POV with Megan POV of the past. Rachel is drunk often and has blackouts so we can't trust her narrative. Megan just leaves giant chunks out for no real reason other mystery and plot. 

The plot is mostly just Rachel stumbling around drunk. While not being a obvious, it's all very convenient. In terms of matching up all the narratives, they was a point that felt would have been better if we had gotten a vital piece of information in the other narrative and I would have changed them around personally, but each to their own and I'm clearly not a best selling author. I get what the Hawkins was going for but the solution didn't really work for me fully. I just don't buy it. The ending was rather meh.

The characters were okay. They all meant to be flawed and I think this is done in the realistic way. I've seen on Goodreads that a lot of people straight up hated them, but honesty, while they do unlikable and regrettable things I don't get the hate for all of them. I hated Anna, but pretty sure you're meant to. Rachel's ex-Husband Tom is totally unappealing and I don't get why anyone would want him, never mind two women.

I listened to the Audio book with Clare Corbett, India Fisher and Louise Brealey voice acting. I found them to be good and well casted. The only thing that was slightly off putting is when two of the voice actors did completely different interpretation of the same character, especially as I really liked the first one I was exposed to.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for canned gin. I enjoyed listening to this novel. Definitely over hyped but also a decent Thriller novel so I would recommend it if that what you like to read. 

Haunted: Anthology by Various

Not all of these stories have ghosts.

No Summary was given with this book. Spooky.

I found this random Anthology in the library. Yes, it was in the kids section but as always that is not a excuse for the level of bad in these the stories. Most of these authors are unknown to me and none of the stories have made me motivated to go out to find more about the authors I wasn't already aware of before. As always I have review each stories, though this time I didn't review each one straight after listening.

The Castle Ghosts by Joseph Delaney - Spooky castle I saw the ending coming for miles. 3/5 stars for mysterious contents.

The Caretakers by Susan Cooper - This story was ruined for me straight off the bat by the protagonist describing her brother James as "not being autistic but something that has no name". He's autistic. Unless you actually going to give a diagnosis of something else then don't bring up the fact that the character with clearly autistic traits is not autistic. Maybe because an autistic person will be listening to the audio book adaptation of your story and be done with your shit. I don't really rate much besides the 'not autistic thing'. It's yourstandard creepy haunted house/island story. The title doesn't work, it's just a straight up misdirect and think this would have been more interesting from James POV instead of someone with no character traits at all. 2/5 stars for Lake screaming. 1/5 stars for Ableism.

 Good Boy by Mal Peet -  I liked this one. It's  not obvious in execution and creepy concept that would be terrifying. 4/5 stars for dog paws.

The Blood Line by Jamila Gavin - This story contains two actual creepy things: Mirrors and Work houses. Except has really complicated and convoluted way of getting the main character into the story and distracts from everything else. This story could worked, but didn't for me. 3/5 stars for monkey thief.

The Ghost in the Machine by  Eleanor Updale - This one really works as an audio book (story?), though I was promised pictures. I did actually think something had went wrong with my phone when this came on, like it was really weird virus I was listening to while in Waterstones. I also actually felt for the character in this one as well. 4/5 stars for high-tech ghosts.

Songs the Dead Sing by Derek Landy -This is a lot of darker than the other stories (except maybe the first one) in that involves Cult Murder and appropriately I was listening to it while trying to find the toilet in an old building  4/5 stars for lying leaders.

The Beach Hut by Robin Jarvis - This one was okay, it tried, but felt rather cope outy, probably due to this being aimed at kids and adults like to think  kids can't handle the extreme. I found the main ghost in this to be too annoying to deal with and therefore that end the ghostly experience there for me. 2.5 stars for mouthfuls of sea water. Also the voice actor is really whinny sounding.

The Praying Down of Vaughan Darkness by Sam Llewellyn - The framing of this story is unnecessary and doesn't stick to it well. There's a good idea in here but is not done well. 3/5 stars for cheesy breath. 

The Ghost Walk by Matt Haig - This story takes a lot of clichés and doesn't do much with them. Not at all creepy and an bad attempt to tell the Hitchhiker ghost story. What happens in this story could just be someone messing with them. 2/5 stars for pointless umbrella. 

The Ghost Wood by Philip Reeve - Meh. Another featuring dreaming about dogs. 3/5 stars for wood stones. 

The Little Ship's Boy by Berlie Doherty - Dumb and obvious. 1/5 stars for drowning. 

Overall, I give this 3/5 stars for dog clichés. I don't know if the writers were given prompts for this, but the similarity between these stories actually made the worse ones worst. There were some decent stories in here; the majority were just meh. The voice actors varied from good to terrible. I wouldn't recommend this book as a whole but there are some decent stories buried here. A library pick up sort of book.

Book Review: The Memory Hit by Carla Spradbery

You can take the red pill or you can take the red pill? Or how about no pills.

On New Year's Eve, Jess's life is unrecognizable: her best friend is in the hospital, her boyfriend is a cheater. A drug-dealing cheater it would seem, after finding a stash of Nostalgex in his bag. 

Nostalgex: a drug that stimulates memory. In small doses, a person can remember the order of a deck of cards, or an entire revision guide read the day before an exam. In larger doses it allows the user detailed access to their past, almost like watching a DVD with the ability to pause a moment in time, to focus on previously unnoticed details and to see everything they've ever experienced with fresh eyes. As Leon, the local dealer, says 'it's like life, only better.' What he fails to mention is that most memories are clouded by emotions. Even the most vivid memories can look very different when revisited. 

Across town Sam Cooper is in trouble. Again. This time, gagged and bound in the boot of a car. Getting on the wrong side of a drug dealer is never a good idea, but if he doesn't make enough money to feed and clothe his sister, who will?

On New Year's Day, Jess and Cooper's worlds collide. They must put behind their differences and work together to look into their pasts to uncover a series of events that will lead them to know what really happened on that fateful New Year's Eve. But what they find is that everything they had once believed to be true, turns out to be a lie ...

This book involves a fake drug that allows that gives you super memory. It was interesting and featured in the plot well. Though, I would have liked to have more scenes with the the effects of the drug, especially on a minor dose.

The characters are likable enough and have complex relationships with each other. Though, I feel character's action/thoughts were unrealistic.

The ending is unusual but it feels a bit of unnatural conclusion. It's still satisfying because it did make the sense.

Overall, I gave this novel four out of five stars for dreamories. It was good and is worth checking out.

I got this off NetGalley for review and it was published by Hodder Children's Books on 4 June 2015.