Old Magic - Marianne Curley

"The moment the new guy walks into the room, Kate senses something strange and intense about him. Something supernatural. Her instincts are proven correct a few minutes later when, bullied by his classmates, Jarrod unknowingly conjures up a freak thunderstorm "inside" their classroom.

Jarrod doesn't believe in the paranormal. When Kate tries to convince him that he has extraordinary powers that need to be harnessed, he only puts up with her "hocus pocus" notions because he finds her captivating. However, the dangerous, uncontrolled strengthening of his gift finally convinces Jarrod that he must take Kate's theories seriously. Together, they embark on a remarkable journey -- one which will unravel the mystery that has haunted Jarrod's family for generations and pit the teens against immense forces in a battle to undo the past and reshape the future."

Okay so this reads like a very long creative writing project a teenage girl writes in High School. First of all I think I am way to old for the demographic this book was aimed at. Rather than an 18 year old I think this would go down better with 13 year olds. 

It seems to cram every possible YA trope possible into it. The boy with the obscenely powerful  magical abilities he has no idea about, the loner girl, the awful bully and characterless clique, the characterless villain that is about as scary as a grumpy emo. By which I mean he literally wears all black and lives in the creepy dark castle on the hill surrounded by swirling storm clouds. I am not exaggerating. He is just missing the moustache twirl.  

Kate, one of the two main characters, is "not like other girls" to the extreme, in the way that she's an outcast at her school and seems to put herself above other people. This book, like many others, seems to have an issue with typical femininity, and that shows through Kate's treatment of Tasha. There's also the later line of "These poor peasants don't have the skills to procure a curse" which is a whole problem in its own right. She keeps this attitude up until the middle to end of the book, at which point she starts getting attacked, harassed, and kidnapped at every turn and loses all her own agency in favour of Jarrod's own development. She is also so bloody dumb. Kate and Jarrod are always spouting how smart and clever she is when I had to sit there and read her be like “there’s no way the evil villain won’t keep his promise to Jarrod that’s ImPoSsIbLe” and then of course she was proven wrong two seconds later. 

LIKE KATE HE LIVES IN THE MOST STEREOTYPICAL EVIL CASTLE. BLACK CLOUDS, CREEPY BUILDING, CALLED BLACKLANDS, HAS CROWS EVERYWHERE.
HOW DID YOU NOT NOTICE. And she was surprised and two seconds later she complains about not being able to beat Rhauk’s logic.

“Of course you do. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” His eyes narrow, assessing me. “But I will have to do something to stop you from interfering.”
“Noooo!” God, he’s one step ahead of me every time. How can anyone beat this logic?

By using your brain for a grand total of two seconds.Just so so unoriginal. There was also some random time travel thrown in there as well for a really flimsy reason and I really, really don't like time travel. There are way to many variable and people always do it so clumsily. There was no exception here. I kept of thinking, these people are Australian. They have Australian accents. The English noblemen they meet don't have any problem with this and never mention it?? 

Unfortunately the writing was also terribly subpar. Just childish, lacking any subtlety or nuance. We are always being told that Kate is being terribly bullied but the dude literally bullied her twice in the whole book and called her “Scary Face”. I mean come on. Seriously, they’re in high school. High schoolers can insult people way better than that. Give us some credit, okay? My biggest issue with this writing style is how much it just tells me or shoehorns stuff in. So much telling not showing. For an example of the former, Jarrod spends three weeks training and it starts like a page before the chapter ends and part of a two page chapter, and I get nothing except “I GOTTA TRAIN FOR KATE” and suddenly he becomes incredibly despite only being able to teach himself magic????

Characterisation just wasn't existent and nobody had any interesting or original motives. Jarrod's ancestors act like bloody idiots personally. For a family in an area know for religious fanaticism and witch hunting, they where awful chill with Jarrod's very obvious witch craft. Something that was also really weird was how much Kate was referred to as "exotic" by Jarrod. Like yes dude, she is half Asian no need to get a weird exotic fetishization complex on. 

Age Rating 13+. Just a terrible book. I don't think there was any redeeming features. Sorry. 

Sapiens: A Breif History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari

"100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens.



How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?



In Sapiens, Dr Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical – and sometimes devastating – breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, palaeontology and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come?"



Okay so I loved this book.



I like how easy to digest the author makes all of the vast quantities of information. Something he does equally well in Homo Deus.  I have a lot of respect for authors who can present something complex in simple terms. I've always liked the quote attributed to Einstein “If You Can’t Explain it to a Six Year Old, You Don’t Understand it Yourself”. Anyone with a thesaurus can make something seem more dense and complicated than it is; it's much harder to explain something long and complicated in a way that everyone can enjoy.



The book does read like a really exciting and fascinating novel. Harari takes us through the history of human development and migration, through the Cognitive Revolution and Agricultural Revolution. He looks at how currency and coinage developed, the creation of religions, the arrival of imperialism and capitalism, and the history of inequalities and injustices.



I especially like how he presents a relatively unbiased view of events. He focuses on what we know, and is quick to say when something remains a mystery to biologists and anthropologists. When there are conflicting theories, he outlines all the main ones. The only agenda Harari seems driven by is a desire to present the most accurate view of humanity's history.



This book filled me with a sense of wonder. Wonder at how far we've come in just a few millennia; wonder at all the twisting roads of history; wonder at where we could possibly end up. Very informative and easily accessible to many.



Age Rating 15+.

The Black Tattoo - Sam Enthoven

"Jack’s best friend, Charlie, is in serious trouble, possessed by an ancient demon called the Scourge who plans to use Charlie to bring about its evil ends—which, unfortunately, involve the destruction of the entire universe. Now Jack and the butt-kicking, sword-wielding Esme must contend with floating sharks, intelligent jelly, oversized centipedes, gladiator pits, and vomiting bats, all for the sake of saving Charlie from the Scourge.

And, hopefully, saving the universe from total and utter annihilation."

Well wow.. that was not what I was expecting. 

Now I must be honest this book is just a whole bunch of clichés wrapped together with gore and wire. But to be honest I loved it. It was such a guilty pleasure. It was weird and bizarre and gross. I felt like I was reading every video game, action movie and horror all mixed up and narrated by a fabulously sassy narrator. 

The Scourge, (sound's like a nasty illness or a cleaning product, doesn't it?) is a demon and our big bad. He's your typical liquid darkness, I'm-so-evil-I-want-to-destroy-the-universe kinda guy. He has long evil monologues and evil cackles, is patronizing to mortals and has absolutely no motivation. 

The characters are also complete stereotypes of different archetypes but they still all felt real, likable and relatable. The writing was good, vivid and visceral. The fight scene where brilliantly written and where really engaging. 

Eventually the story rises to the climactic massive 'good vs. evil' showdown, sacrifices are made, puppy love blooms, lives are lost, and--spoiler alert--good triumphs all. There are unfortunately some points about it which make for a occasionally tedious read. For instance, a third or so into the book, a second secret society, the Sons of the Scorpion Flail, is introduced, for no apparent reason other than to give the protagonists a few more obstacles to overcome on their way to hell. Never mind the convolutions and contortions the story occasionally goes through as well, again with no other purpose, it seems, other than to drag the story out. I think had the story been written a bit tighter, it would've truly been a rip-roaring tale.

Overall really really worth a read despite the overlong plot. It had me cackling on my bed at times by the silly hijinks going on. It was a nice break from the usual deeply taut YA where everyone has hidden agendas and motivations. It was just a really good bang bang shoot-em up with no plinking of heartstrings. 

Age Rating 14+. Gross and gory but in such an unrealistic way that many younger readers will love it. It won't genuinely make feel uncomfortable. 

The Seven Sisters (#1) - Lucinda Riley

"Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings.

Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela—passionate and longing to see the world—convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski’s studio and in the heady, vibrant cafes of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again."

I was recommended this book by my Grandmother. If that doesn't tell my enough about this book already... 

To be honest while I was reading this, it didn't feel that terrible. I was reading very quickly however, and in a bit of a pain fog. Only when I finally put the book down and thought about the plot did I realise it had some significant problems. 

Firstly lets talk about the writing. It was poor, trite and awfully sentimental. The characters spoke to one another as if they barely knew one another, despite being a family. Then Maia talks to another character, an actual stranger like she has known him all her life. I know this is not impossible but who wants to read it? The characters themselves are limp and unlikable and the stilted writing for the characterisation didn't help. Our heroine was wet, self-pitying, unexplainable dowdy and thoroughly unrelatable. Izabela was boring and lacked any personality other than pining. 
The plot itself was strange and improbable. Pa Salt collecting baby girls from around the world to be brought up in, I kid you not, "Atlantis." I mean... if that doesn't raise alarm bells.

The plot also set out several false trails that were never developed or explained. The mystery of Pa Salt is started but never again hinted or delved into. How did Pa Salt know about the secret romance? What happened to the young boy Izabela rescued? Why did Pa Salt adopt Maia if he knew her grandparents wanted to adopt her? However, if you think I am going to read 5 more books of bad romance and historical fiction to find out, you are sorely mistaken. 

Romance plays a large role in this story, way more than I was expecting, but I unfortunately found the romances of the past and the present to be weak. Izabela and Laurent told me they were in love, rather than allow me to feel much of anything. I don't know why or how they are in love and they never act like they are in love other than having sex. Maia and Floriano have the most stilted conversations, I never saw what made him appeal to her at all or vice versa. It was also very much insta-love, after only know each other for 3 weeks you want to live together? The love story of the past was also something that I had read numerous times before, absolutely no originality or anything even remotely new. 

I did like the setting of 1920's Rio however as it is something I know nothing about. The settings felt rich, fully fleshed out and was actually a redeeming aspect. 

Overall, this book is overly sentimental and trite. The writing was okay in description, terrible in emotion and characterisation. The plot was obscure and unoriginal, the characters bland and weak. 

Age Rating 16+ Izabela is raped by her husband repeatedly. Sex is described and heavily alluded to.

Sea witch - Sarah Henning

"Everyone knows what happens in the end. A mermaid, a prince, a true love’s kiss. But before that young siren’s tale, there were three friends. One feared, one royal, and one already dead.

Ever since her best friend, Anna, drowned, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. A freak. A curse. A witch.

A girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears offshore and, though the girl denies it, Evie is convinced that her best friend actually survived. That her own magic wasn’t so powerless after all. And, as the two girls catch the eyes—and hearts—of two charming princes, Evie believes that she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But her new friend has secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad, or on two legs, unless Evie finds a way to help her. Now Evie will do anything to save her friend’s humanity, along with her prince’s heart—harnessing the power of her magic, her ocean, and her love until she discovers, too late, the truth of her bargain."

Okay, first of all can we just look at the cover for a moment. Isn't it beautiful? Ahhh sigh. 

Well anyway. I just need to say one thing: this book is probably not what you are expecting. It's really a question of how much patience you have, and how easily you can sit through maritime chapters without falling asleep. It's a very slowly-paced book, especially during the first two thirds of the story. Any exciting witchy The Little Mermaid goodness you might be expecting happens in the later chapters, and even then it's pretty subdued.

Though, in many ways, Sea Witch is much smarter than I expected for a YA The Little Mermaid retelling. The story is set in 19th Century Denmark, Andersen's country of birth, and is woven with hundreds of years of Danish history. The Danes, especially under King Christian IV, put many "witches" to death in the 16th and 17th centuries. Henning combines this real fear of witches on land with the story of the sea witch we all know from the Andersen tale (and the Disney remake). I really loved this historical grounding and I found myself googling quite a lot of extra info, especially about the Lithasblot Festival. 

Most of the novel has a small-town atmosphere, the main characters of Evelyn, the witch, and Nik, the prince, were sweet but very typical YA. There wasn't any originality to their characters but they where by no means bad. Much of the story is focused on Evelyn's struggle with her low birth and her friendship with the prince Nik. However this didn't really hit the emotional mark as it was all told, never shown. Not once are the people really shown to be mean to Evelyn so I am left feeling that she is really overthinking it. 

My main disappointment was the plot. I am all for a slow burn book if exectuted well with an original plot but...I was really looking forward to an original story but the story largely unfold the same way as the original tale: a mermaid saves a prince, then goes on to land to try to win his heart in four days. If she fails, she'll be turned to sea form. Evelyn narrates the novel, with third-person chapters recounting the past. The mermaid Annamette bears a striking resemblance to Evelyn's best friend who drowned four years ago and she naturally wants to persevere Annamette's life. However Annemette being evil was pretty obvious and didn't serve as much of a plot twist, certainly not enough to save the lack lustre plot. 

One of the main reasons I loved reading these origin stories for villains is to watch their slow decline onto madness. What events make them, usually innocent and kind, become cruel and sadistic? But that is never explored. Evelyn becomes the Sea Witch but isn't shown to be evil or cruel, just a little disillusioned. Which makes a pretty boring villain origin story. 

Overall an promising take that falls a little short of the mark. However a good typical YA, definitely not going to waste your time if you read it. 

Age Rating 11+. 

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

"This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story is of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his new love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature."

Touted as THE American classic, I think it certainly paints a wonderful picture 1920's America. 

The thing I like most about The Great Gatsby is the absolutely stunning writing and language, the subtleties and the suggestions, the things that are not directly said but are said nevertheless. It’s a true feat of writing and at times it reminded me of a stage piece. The dialogue does not give the answers, but it is the character’s actions and movements (so fantastically narrated) that give the game away: it reveals their internal worlds.

As such this is a book that can easily be skimmed over. The plot is basic and relatively unengaging and consequently I think an inattentive reader has a lot to miss here. It’s all about illusions and false appearances just like real life. The way people perceive us is not how we truly are and sometimes individuals actively work towards creating a desired appearance for the outside world. It’s easily done with enough time, effort and money. What Gatsby creates for the outside is a dream, an ideal life that looks perfect.

However, scratch the surface and it is so very, very clear that not everything is perfect. His supposed “happiness” is hollow and dictated by the whims of society. It is fickle, egotistical and driven by status and all the silly little symbols that go with it. He shows all the signs of the of a severe lack of self confidence. His success is what society demands success to be; thus, no success at all. And even that hollow success is ripped from him in the end. Money doesn't conquer all, it merely increase the spectacle you can fail with. 

Personally Gatsby is awful. I am not against people having ambition but abandoning your parents because they aren't in the social class you want to be in is horrible! He manipulates Nick into doing what he wants and I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew Nick's connection to Daisy when he meets him. Gatsby cannot see what is right in front of him, that he has already made it, he is so wealthy and successful. But because he is always reaching for more he cuts people off. He has no friends or close relationships, no one knows him. His love for Daisy isn't real love, he loves what she represents, the money and power. She is a badge that he has made it and is finally a part of the upper echelons of society. 

Daisy is so weak and pathetic. I do kind of sympathise with her though. Life had a plan for her and she must obey. Marry from the same social strata and party your entire life. She is so bored and disillusioned. As she says with so much money there is nothing to strive for. At such a young age she has already done everything, what is she to fill her life with? Though she really, really should have come to the funeral, but did she actually know he had died?

Through Gatsby’s veneration of Daisy, we not only imagine what so many Americans and people in general, desire (success), but also we see the goal and glittering fixation of all humanity: beauty. And like many Americans in the throes of Capitalism, Gatsby believes that money can buy beauty as well as love. Fitzgerald articulates this disillusionment with haunting force, particularly voiced through Nick’s obsessive repulsion with the extravagant society his social status has allowed him. 

Age Rating 14+. A few adult themes. Domestic abuse, murder and fabulously over the top hedonism. 

The Art of Being Normal - Lisa Williamson

"Two boys. Two secrets.

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan.

When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long…"

As I am neither transgender nor know anybody that is trans I thought it would be interesting to read a book highlighting their issues and struggles. I am deeply interested in the experience of everyone and wanted to get to the nitty gritty emotional heart. However, this isn't what this book is at all. 

There is really very little, actually no, indication or exploration as to David/ Kate's inner struggle. We come into the story when they have already discovered their trans and wish to transition. This means that the emotional heart of the story is gone and I am left reading a common high school YA Drama with a very slight difference. I might sound like I am exaggerating but it has the whole group of misfit friends, main character bullied, mysterious new kid, freaks come together and find a home, happy ending at the end of year winter ball. I mean please really!!! So bloody American and it is set in Britain. 

I had serious difficulties connecting with the characters, especially with David. She is 15 years old if I am not mistaken, but she acts like a 12-year-old. In most situations, David and her friends seemed way too young and immature. Their behaviour was not according to their age. Their lack of depth and complexity added to my inability to connect with these characters and made them seem even more childish. David is also way too pushy. If she were real I probably would have hit her for being so obnoxiously curious. There is something called privacy and difficult topics. I get that she is supposed to get Leo to loosen up and slowly stop hiding behind his walls. But the level of pushiness (that a word?) that David shows is maddening.

I also have some real issues with the way transsexuality was represented at times. First of all, for 98% of the novel, David, who is, in fact, a trans girl is addressed with male pronouns. Even by Leo in his internal monologue after he finds out she's a trans girl and only refers to her as 'she' when she's wearing feminine clothing. Even in private he calls her a he. That's something that really irked me. From another trangender person, it showed a lack of understanding that was just unexplainable. And secondly, Leo's gender is used as a plot twist, which is not what someone's sexual orientation or gender identity should ever be used for. And no, this was not a spoiler, for the exact reason that I just mentioned.

So after reading I have absolutely no better understanding of the emotional termoil or mental confusion that comes from trying to figure out your trans. I got a light hearted teen flick that bored me. 

Age Rating 14+. Leo has an awful family and also describes an extreme bullying event from his past school. Quite a bit of swearing.

Feed - M.T Anderson

"Identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains.

For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires."

I think this book's main function is to make you uncomfortable. To present you with your own reality, the one you are trying to avoid, with an unswerving amount of brutality. 

And, boy, did it make me uncomfortable. It's everything obnoxious about our media-frenzied, frantic-paced, impulse-driven, uneducated-praising society exemplified to the max. In Anderson's worryingly plausible world people are hardwired into corporate feeds that advertise to them according to what they're thinking, feeling, saying, looking at, etc. They chat with each other, watch shows, check the internet, invade each other's privacy, all within their bodies. Schools have quit teaching them facts because all that's accessible at the push of a button-no simpler than that, with nothing more than a thought. All their interactions are interrupted by this internal conversation/shopping/distraction. Through a combination of advertising and ignorance these shallow people don't care that the feeds are destroying them, causing lesions and their skin to litrally fall off, after they've already destroyed the world where they continue to live in vertically stacked suburbs with fake air and fake sun and fake food. They all (adults included) speak in that valley-girl like/dude hollowness, only their words are mega and unit and still plenty of like and f words. 

The writing did take awhile to get used to. The excessive use of slang and the word like, already my worst enemy, was an interesting stylistic choice. I was worried that it would frustrate me, and bring me out of the story but it surprisingly didn't. It really added to the sense of the world and the character. 

I really disliked the main character, Titus. While reading it, I was often disappointed with his choices, but I think he was the perfect embodiment of this shallow world. He doesn't want to deal with the reality of his girlfriend's slow death. It disturbs his perfect life, it distracts him for his shopping. He is so unbelievably self involved that he doesn't think that maybe she needs him there. I loved that Anderson offers no judgment or solution, just shows us this world with all its many flaws and lets it creep under your skin and make you uncomfortable with where the world is headed. 

I do have one gripe. I do wish that Anderson went a little deeper into the world and the horrors of it. But again maybe that was a choice, to show the horror that is so blatently on the surface on the society. 


Age rating 15 +. Some explicit content. A few minor foreplay scenes, mal which is the dystopian version of drugs and some f bombs. 

Frozen Charlotte - Alex Bell

"We're waiting for you to come and play. Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind...Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there's her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn't be there. The girl that died."

This book isn't going to win any awards. It is not a masterpiece of literature with anything new or original in the plot or characters. It was, however, a fun and enjoyable quick read. 

To my surprise, I wasn’t scared by this book. It’s shelved under the ‘horror’ genre, which is a genre that I absolutely do not read. Ever. Even if you beg me to. But this didn’t scare me in the teensiest bit. This book is from the RED EYE group of books, made up of a group of standalones by different authors with similar tones. I really enjoy this group as it is kind of scary and shocking but not full horror. I was, however, captivated by the story and, of course, thoroughly creeped out by the dead dolls.

The story is well-told. Alex Bell keeps things interesting by adding constant action and twists at unexpected places. Plus I can’t complain about the writing.

There really was no need for an unrequited/ maybe requited love tragedy, however. The story would also have worked even without the imminent romance. It’s really not a main focus, so there’s that, but it could certainly have staid completely dead, too. Pun oh so intended.

A terribly clichéd book, as we’ve all probably seen dozens of movies with possessed dolls or read books about them, so there isn’t a great amount of originality from the author’s part, but I can assure you that it’s very much readable. 

Creepy siblings, weird voices, haunted houses, closed off locals, windy and isolated setting, psychotic children. Oh it really has it all. 

Age 13+. Pretty creepy but, I mean, most 13 year olds won't be scarred by it. But if you know you are sensitive, like me, self evaluate.