Fated by Sarah Alderson (Young Adult)

January 2012, Simon & Schuster

320 pages, Paperback

Review copy

Themes: prophecy, chosen one, secrets & betrayal, all is not as it seems, pretty clothes, wonderful aresenal of shiny weapons, isolation, oodles of chases and fighting, strong teen romance, some violence, some humour

Summary from Simon and Schuster

What happens when you discover you aren't who you thought you were? When the person you love is the person who must betray you. If fate is already determined - can you fight it?
 

Lucas Gray is half Shadow Warrior, half human, and a member of the Brotherhood - a group of assassins tasked with killing the last purebred Hunter on Earth before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy. The Hunter's name is Evie Tremain.
 

Evie Tremain is seventeen-years-old, a waitress and has just discovered she is the last in a long line of demon slayers - and an unwilling participant in a war between Hunters and unhumans that has raged for the last thousand years.

Nayuleska's thoughts 

Evie wins my heart because she doesn't start out with special powers, she has to work to get them and survives using the latent talent, help from others and by using her own judgement. A few of the interactions between her and Lucas felt a bit out of place, but please bear in mind I prefer action and adventure over romance. I adore the title given to Evie by the prophecy. This gets a solid 8/10.

Suggested read
Check out Sarah's debut novel Hunting Lila which is full of action and mystery. 

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine (Children's, 10 years +)

1st January 2012, Usborne

224 pages, Paperback

Review copy

Themes: being different, Aspergers, aftermath of a shooting, grief, mourning, understanding emotions, making friends, learning new skills, closure, some humour, lots of humour needed. 

Summary from Usborne

10-year-old Caitlin has Asperger’s syndrome, and has always had her older brother, Devon, to explain the confusing things around her. But when Devon is killed in a tragic school shooting, Caitlin has to try and make sense of the world without him. With her dad spending most of his time crying in the shower, and her life at school becoming increasingly difficult, it doesn’t seem like things will ever get better again.

Nayuleska's thoughts

Life through Caitlin's eyes is enlightening because it made me realise just how complex being a human is. I take undersranding and judging how people feel for granted, and now I appreciate how hard life is for others like Caitlin. This emotional read gets a well deserved 10/10. 

Check out Kathryn's website for information about herself and Caitlin.

Suggested read

Another girl struggling with grief is Kate in Sweet Hearts: Forget-Me-Not by Jo Cotterill. Hers is one of my favourites when it comes to stories about grief. Caitlin's story is matching Kate's on the level of awesomeness.

Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk (Urban Fantasy)

5th January 2012, Penguin

368 pages, Paperback

Review copy 

Themes: magical glyphs, dark magic, seriously evil villains who deserve to be eternally dunked in a volcano, amnesia, lots of pain and hurt, constant surprises, lots of humours, occasional moderate adult content, some swearing, heaps of action, tissues needed. 

NB: Spoiler warning to those who haven't read book 1

Summary from Penguin

Allie Beckstrom knows that there's a price to pay for using magic...

She's suffered her fair share of migraines and gaps in her memory during her time working as a Hound, tracing spells back to their casters. But now Allie's been visibly marked by it with a mysterious iridescent tattoo. She's not only lost all memory of how she got it, but also of the man she's supposedly fallen in love with. Oh, and as usual, she's completely broke. 

So when the criminal magic enforcement division of the police asks her to consult a missing persons case, things start to look up. At first, it seems to be a fairly straightforward way of earning some money but like most things in Allie's life it soon turns into a dangerous mix of underworld criminals, ghosts and blood magic. This time Allie is going to discover it takes more than magic to survive...

Nayuleska's thoughts

Wow! This is fast becoming one of my favourite urban fantasy series. I love how there isn't too much romance, that much of the book is Allie trying to sort out her muddled life....using a bright yellow umbrella with ducks on! She's so cute with that. I'm amazed at how sharply the plot twisted and was quite frankly horrified by the last sentence. I want book 3 now! I'm sure it'll be 10/10 just as this book was.

You can find out more about Allie's adventures on Devon's website. 

Suggested reading

I recommend reading the fast paced book 1: Magic to the Bone

I Don't Believe It, Archie! by Andrew Norris

August 2011, David Fickling books 

124 pages, hardback

Review copy

Themes: bizarre events, feline frolics, thieves, vehicles moving at great speed, huge misunderstandings, constant hilarity, very mild romance

Summary from Random House Children's Books

Odd things happen to Archie every day. Some very odd things. 

On Monday, a piano rolls down the hill and traps his new friend Cyd in her mum's car. And then a lorry tips a load of gravel on top of it. 

At least Cyd finds it exciting. Though of course she doesn't believe that this sort of thing happens to Archie every day. 

Until Tuesday, when Archie finds a dead dog in his pocket. 

Poor Archie. But as he soon discovers, if odd things have to happen to him, it's a lot better if they happen when Cyd's around.

Nayuleska's thoughts

I thought I was accident prone - I'm happy being clumsy and not coping with the seriously weird events Archie deals with! At least by meeting so many people during said events he finds people to help him out of the next incident. 10/10 for this fun read, made more exciting with the hilarious illustrations. 

You can find out more about Andrew and his books on his website. 

Suggested read

For a slightly more serious, yet equally odd boy, check out Too Small to Fall by Morris Gleitzman

Puss in Boots: The novel (Children's, 7 years +)

November 2011, Bantam Children

142 pages, Paperback

Review copy 

Themes: famous fairy tale characters, betrayal, deception, greed, boots, fugitive, cuteness, satisfaction, a few laughs and tears

Summary from Random House Children's Books

Way before Puss ever met Shrek, our suave and furry feline hero goes on a swashbuckling ride, as he teams with mastermind Humpty Dumpty and the street-savvy Kitty to steal the famed Goose that lays the Golden Eggs. 

Includes 8 pages of colour photos.

Nayuleska's thoughts

It took half the book before I got into the story, but I loved Puss's new feline friend. I wish she'd been around in the other stories I'd read when I was little. Puss's loyalty costs him dearly, he is always a gentleman to the end. Long live Puss! This story gets 7/10 - Humpty Dumpty is seriously evil and scares me. I will not be watching the movie. 

Suggested read

For more stories with familiar fairy tale characters, check out Abie Longstaff's The Fairytale Hairdresser: Or How Rapunzel Got Her Prince. (No Humpty Dumpty!)

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (Fiction)

26th January 2012, Fig Tree

144 pages, Hardback

Review copy 

Themes: lies, deceit, fear, travel by sea, death, disease, children, remaining steadfast, not making a fuss, inner strength, resilience, rape (brief mention), loveless marriage, overworked, understanding little English, deportation, culture lost, World War 2, prejudice, persecution, moderate peril, lots of tissues needed. 

Summary from Penguin

In eight incantatory sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the women's extraordinary lives from their arduous journey by boat, where they exchange photographs of their husbands, imagining uncertain futures in an unknown land; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women in their homes; to their struggles to master a new language and anew culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers, raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage and their history; to the deracinating arrival of war. 

Nayuleska's thoughts

This may be a small read but it has had a large impact on me. I needed a tissue from the start - what these women endure for the most part by drawing on their Japanese cultural heritage is phenomenal. Once their dreams are dashed they soon learn how to survive. The way each chapter was written made it sound as if all the women had gathered together and were telling their stories directly to me. This 10/10 book will make you realise just how fortunate you are not to fear going to sleep or worry about disappearing family. 

Find out more about Julie on her website. 

Suggested read

For another heart wrenching tale about a young girl put in a life which was built on illusion, try The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim 

What are you reading? #99

What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Home Girl's Book Blog where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.

Books I've read this week

 

 

 

I Don't Believe it, Archie by Andrew Norris

Children's

(I thought I was clumsy/had strange things happen - Archie has extraordinary events 24/7!)

10/10

 

Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk

Urban Fantasy

(I can't stress how awesome this book is, so much magic and Allie is rather stubborn minded...just like me.)

10/10

 

Rereads

These are the reading adventures I'm undertaking in addition to my weekly reads at that most perfect hour of the day....right before lights out. What better time to settle in with an old (or not so old) favorite....and so the "re-reads" category was born. Currently going through.....

I'm finally past the first page of New Moon by Stephanie Meyer.  Slightly bored while Edward does his disappearing act.....

 

Current Reads

Striker Boy Kicks Out by Jonny Zucker

Children's

(You don't need to like football to like this book filled with suspense.)

Shugo Chara 2

This series is awesome! Such a shame the anime is so expensive - will have to use my imagination to make the characters move on the page. ...