Half Bad - Sally Green

RATING: ★★★.5

People who live in the UK might have heard about the YA Book Prize: it's an award for the best UK young adult book and the winner will be announced in March. However, there is already a shortlist with 10 of the best UK YA books of 2014. Up until March, I will read each of these books (one a week) and post a review - I'm reading the books in the same order as the YA Book Prize twitter account is. 

So from super realistic Lobsters we go to Half Bad, a book set in a world with witches, half-witches and fains (aka us).

Plot

Wanted by no one.
Hunted by everyone.

Sixteen-year-old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled, trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan's only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers—before it's too late. But how can Nathan find his father when there is no one safe to trust, not even family, not even the girl he loves?
 

Nathan as a narrator

Nathan is the narrator of the story and we follow his journey as a half-white and half-black witch trying to live in a society dominated by white witches. He never met his father, Marcus, or any other black witches, but he has been told that they are bad and should all be killed.

What I liked about Nathan is that he wasn't naive. Though he has been raised by white witches, he constantly questions their motives and ideas. Are they really the good ones? How can he know if he never met Marcus? Nathan is constantly struggling with those questions. He is a pleasant narrator to read, though he didn't really stick with me. I felt bad for him (some awful things happen to him), but I never really connected with him. He never seemed that upset about what was happening, so why would I?

The writing

And a lot of that probably has to do with the writing. I enjoyed reading Half Bad and Sally Green's writing never bothered me (trust me, a lot of writing does bother me), but I just didn't really love it either. The first few chapters were amazing: Nathan is completely disoriented and the writing reflects that perfectly. The sentences were short and often didn't make complete sense - exactly what your thoughts would be in the same situation. However, after that, Nathan felt less confusion and the writing became more organised too. I felt like the emotion left the story and I just didn't really care for Nathan anymore. It's hard to say whether it was the writing or Nathan as a character, but I just wasn't impressed.

Fantasy Story

While I am becoming a fantasy fan, I just wasn't super awed with the fantasy elements in this book. I thought the premises wasn't very original, so it was hard to get into the story (good witches vs bad witches blabla). However, once you're in the story, there are some really interesting twists and turns in the plot that make this more than an average YA novel. Nathan does unexpected things and those things don't pan out the way you (or he) thinks they will. This definitely kept me reading, because I honestly couldn't predict the ending until I read it.

Rating

Half bad is really kind of hard for me to rate. I didn't love reading the story, but I did enjoy the original plot. I didn't despise Nathan - I just didn't feel anything for him at all. Would I pick up the second book in the series? Probably not, with all my other options out there. So I think Half Bad will be a 3.5 stars. I said I wouldn't do half stars anymore, but I really feel like 3 is too low of a rating and 4 is too high so I'm going to do it anyway. Half Bad is a decent read, but not my favourite for the YA book prize.

Lobsters - Lucy Ivison & Tom Ellen

RATING: ★★★★★

Find it on bookdepository here. 

People who live in the UK might have heard about the YA Book Prize: it's an award for the best UK young adult book and the winner will be announced in March. However, there is already a shortlist with 10 of the best UK YA books of 2014. Up until March, I will read each of these books (one a week) and post a review - I'm reading the books in the same order as the YA Book Prize twitter account is.

Some books, like Say Her Name, are amazing because they tackle a subject you never thought could be written about in a book. Other books are amazing because they use a subject that is as cliché as possible and then use AMAZING writing to bring originality to the topic. Lobsters is part of the second group of books and is officially one of my favourite reads ever. 

Plot

Sam and Hannah only have the holidays to find 'The One'. Their lobster. But instead of being epic, their summer is looking awkward. They must navigate social misunderstandings, the plotting of well-meaning friends, and their own fears of being virgins for ever to find happiness. But fate is at work to bring them together. And in the end, it all boils down to love.

I think everyone can say that they've read a book that could have been described in exactly the same way. Probably more than one. So when I picked up Lobsters, I really wasn't excited for it - another love story with teenagers that take a whole book to figure out they belong together - great. Been there, done that.

Most realistic YA novel I've read.

But what made this book one of my favourite reads of the year is the fact that the main characters, Sam and Hannah, were so extremely realistic. They are everyday British teenagers who try and figure life out and usually fail pretty badly at it. They have great friends and bad friends, they get good grades and bad grades, they have great vacations and ones that turn out awful. Basically, they go through what every single teenager goes through without any romanticising in the process. 

The book switches between the narration of Sam and Hannah, which means there's something for everyone. I loved reading Sam's point of view, because teenage boys were, and probably forever will remain, a mystery to me. I don't understand what makes them do the things they do, but reading Sam's story made it a bit more clear for me. He made some dumb decisions along the way, but he was very easy to relate to.

I think Hannah is a great narrator for teenage girls reading this. She's insecure about basically everything, but tries to hide it and keep up with her friends. I just wanted to sit her down and tell her that she was fine and that she should dump certain friends (I mean, she has some shit friends), but I think younger readers will appreciate the similarities they'll find with Hannah.

Writing

As I said, the writing makes this book amazing. It is realistic, to the point and made me laugh so many times. You can tell that a female and a male author worked on this book, because both main characters are very distinct from each other (not saying that one author can't do that, but it's just harder!). You immediately know when Sam is talking and when Hannah is talking, which made the book so much more realistic. No 16 year old boy and girl will think the same things, so it was really nice to see their differences.

If you're looking for a book with amazing metaphors and stylistic devices, then this book isn't for you. It was really the simplest writing I've read in a while, but it is supposed to be the thoughts of a teenager, so I think it worked perfectly. And, an extra bonus, neither Sam or Hannah are hipsters! So if you're looking to distance yourself from the "oh I'm such a cool teenager because I'm artsy" trend (which I am), then pick up Lobsters.

Rating

Lobsters was a real surprise for me. I thought James Dawson's Say Her Name had the YA book prize in the bag, but now I'm not so sure. Dawson's subject matter is still more original, but I think there's a real talent in finding a new way to tell a story that's been told before. So five stars - I wish I could even give this book six. Lobsters is my lobster.

Say Her Name - James Dawson

RATING: ★★★★★

Find it on bookdepository here. 

People who live in the UK might have heard about the YA Book Prize: it's an award for the best UK young adult book and the winner will be announced in March. However, there is already a shortlist with 10 of the best UK YA books of 2014. Up until March, I will read each of these books (one a week) and post a review - I'm reading the books in the same order as the YA Book Prize twitter account is. 

I. Do. Not. Like. Horror. And not just what normal people consider horror, but everything that has a semi-dark scene in it in which someone is scared is horror for me. So I was really really really not looking forward to reading Say Her Name for my YA book prize challenge. Like I almost didn't want to do this challenge, because I saw that this book was part of it, but I sucked it up like a big girl and did it anyway. And I must admit that Say Her Name wasn't as scary as I expected - though I had to read it during the day and away from any mirrors.

Plot

Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe is not the kind of person who believes in ghosts. A Halloween dare at her ridiculously spooky boarding school is no big deal, especially when her best friend Naya and cute local boy Caine agree to join in too. They are ordered to summon the legendary ghost of 'Bloody Mary': say her name five times in front of a candlelit mirror, and she shall appear... But, surprise surprise, nothing happens. Or does it?

Next morning, Bobbie finds a message on her bathroom mirror... five days... but what does it mean? And who left it there? Things get increasingly weird and more terrifying for Bobbie and Naya, until it becomes all too clear that Bloody Mary was indeed called from the afterlife that night, and she is definitely not a friendly ghost. Bobbie, Naya and Caine are now in a race against time before their five days are up and Mary comes for them, as she has come for countless others before...

Bobbie and Mary

As a horror-hater, I must admit that I know close to nothing about Bloody Mary. I knew you had to say her name a certain amount of times and something would happen, but I never knew that it took five days or that she appears in reflective surfaces such as mirrors - that's some scary stuff. 

However, this book was readable for me because Bobbie is such a great narrator. Since Bobbie knows next to nothing about Bloody Mary, you don't need to know anything about it to follow the story. And Bobbie is very realistic, which is a tough thing to do in a story that borderlines on completely crazy.

Even though I don't believe in Bloody Mary, Bobbie's journey to believing and realizing what is happening is slow enough that any reader would start believing it too. She's just like you and me, until she says those words and things go from kinda weird to completely utterly weird. Bobbie doesn't just suddenly get scared or tries to scare everyone - she looks for logical reasons and I think everyone would do that. 

Spooky Writing

Of course closely tied to that is James Dawson's writing and it was amazing. I read the book in one day because A. I just couldn't put it down and B. It was so damn easy to read. The sentences are the perfect length, the dialogue is realistic, the teenagers use words that I actually hear teenagers use and he combined all of that with the most original YA topic I have seen in the last few years. I've never read any other books by James Dawson, but they are on my TBR-list after this one.

Scary Factor

The only thing I think might put some readers off is the fact that it's honestly not that scary of a book. I mean, I could read it and my threshold for horror is incredibly low. It spooked me and it definitely made me avoid mirrors for a day, but that was about it. If you are really looking for a super scary horror story, try Stephen King. But if you are looking for some scary elements in a great YA story, Say Her Name is your book. 

Rating

So surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book. It was an incredible original story with a great narrator and amazing writing - so it will be my first five stars of the year!

Salvage - Keren David

RATING: ★★★★☆

Find it on bookdepository

People who live in the UK might have heard about the YA Book Prize: it's an award for the best UK young adult book and the winner will be announced in March. However, there is already a shortlist with 10 of the best UK YA books of 2014. Up until March, I will read each of these books (one a week) and post a review - I'm reading the books in the same order as the YA Book Prize twitter account is. This week was the week of Salvage by Keren David.

When I started reading Salvage I was not impressed. It's the story of Cass and Aidan, who both narrate in turn about their lives and what happens to them. For one, I was sure one of them was going to die, because that's basically why double narration in YA was invented. Secondly, I thought they were both pretty bland and boring (especially Cass). However, I was completely wrong. They're not boring, no one dies (spoiler maybe) and this story just completely warmed my heart.

Plot

Goodreads:

Aidan Jones was my brother. But I couldn't really remember his face. I couldn't remember talking to him or playing with him. He was just a gap, an absence, a missing person.

Before she was adopted by a loving family and raised in a leafy Home Counties town, Cass Montgomery was Cass Jones. Her memories of her birth family disappeared with her name. But when her adopted family starts to break down, a way out comes in the form of a message from her lost brother, Aidan. Having Aidan back in her life is both everything she needs and nothing she expected. Who is this boy who calls himself her brother? And why is he so haunted?

I glance at the paper. There's a big picture on the front page. A girl with dark red hair. A girl with eyes that might have been green or they might have been grey. I sit down and stare at Cass, and it is her, it is. My stolen sister.

Aidan's a survivor. He's survived an abusive step-father and an uncaring mother. He's survived crowded foster homes and empty bedsits. His survived to find Cass. If only he can make her understand what it means to be part of his family. 

Aidan and Cass

So that summary does a great job of explaining what happens in the book. From there on, it's just one big plot twist after another and I do love myself a good unexpected story. 

While I was annoyed by Cass when I started the novel, she really grew on me. She starts off as little miss perfect who is struggling with her parents breaking up. I felt bad for her, but not bad enough to really relate to her - so many people's parents break up, is it really the end of the world? However, as the story progresses, you get to learn more about Cass' life and how her brain works and it makes her so much more relatable. She's a smart girl, trying to cope in a world she doesn't always understand.

Aidan on the other hand kind of made an opposite arc for me. I really liked him at the beginning and started to relate less and less to him as the book went on. He starts off as a guy with an incredibly sad and complicated past. As the book goes on, that past only gets darker and darker. I loved that, but there were some things that didn't really make sense to me (such as his huge fear for a guy named Neal at some point in the story).

You keep on reading

Whether you love Aidan or not doesn't really matter, because the plot is so good that you will have to keep on reading. Every time you think you have the story figured out, there is a new twist that you did not see coming. It makes the 300 pages a breeze to read and I promise you that you won't put it down. Keren David's writing is also so strong that the plot twists are put just at the right times in the novel - you get some room to breathe and enjoy it before being thrown off another cliff in the story.

What I also must mention is that I loved that it was a family story. Most YA books are all about romance and though there is some of that in this story (interracial romance, finally!), the main focus is on how a family heals from certain things that has happened to it. It's original content and it's important young people read those kind of stories too. 

Rating

So overall, this was a very good read. It was original and was writing in an amazing style. But, because I couldn't really relate to the two main characters throughout the story, this is another four stars (I have been in a four stars mood this year, haven't I?). This four stars though is a high,  high four stars and if I did half stars, it would be four and a half. It's an important book and I highly encourage everyone to read it so you can educate yourself about the importance and influence of family - whatever kind of family that may be.

Like this review? Try these from the other YA book prize books!

A Song for Ella Grey - David Almond

RATING: ★★★★☆

Find it on bookdepository 

People who live in the UK might have heard about the YA Book Prize: it's an award for the best UK young adult book and the winner will be announced in March. However, there is already a shortlist with 10 of the best UK YA books of 2014. Up until March, I will read each of these books (one a week) and post a review - I'm reading the books in the same order as the YA Book Prize twitter account is. First up is A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond, which is a week late because I only found the twitter a few days ago.

Sometimes you read a book and you are filled with expectations about the book. You've read on Tumblr how amazing it is, have seen a ton of booktubers talk about it, read about it in the newspaper,.... And sometimes you come to a book with no expectations at all and are completely open to being surprised by a new story.

That was the case for me and A Song for Ella Grey. I'm reading it because it is on the YA book prize shortlist and I must admit that I wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't on that list. The cover is gorgeous, but the description of the plot is too vague to pull me in. 

Plot

Goodreads

"I'm the one who's left behind. I'm the one to tell the tale. I knew them both...knew how they lived and how they died."

Claire is Ella Grey's best friend. She's there when the whirlwind arrives on the scene: catapulted into a North East landscape of gutted shipyards; of high arched bridges and ancient collapsed mines. She witnesses a love so dramatic it is as if her best friend has been captured and taken from her. But the loss of her friend to the arms of Orpheus is nothing compared to the loss she feels when Ella is taken from the world. This is her story - as she bears witness to a love so complete; so sure, that not even death can prove final.

Is anyone else reaction "HUH?", because that was mine. It sounds deep for the sake of being deep and I was very confused by Orpheus being dropped in there. Is it my overdose of Greek mythology or is Ella's Orpheus the one that goes down to Hades and tries to save his wife's life?

Ella and Orpheus : your hipster Greek mythology couple

Turns out that Ella's Orpheus is indeed the very cool version of Greek Orpheus. Ella's friends, including Claire the narrator, are on vacation when a young attractive guys shows up and starts playing his lyre so amazingly that everyone becomes entranced by him. Claire calls Ella and she has a conversation with Orpheus over the phone and as most teenagers do, Ella and Orpheus fall madly in love without knowing a thing about each other.

They even want to get married, though Orpheus never stays in one place for long and seems to have some kind of musical magic. Claire is skeptical of the marriage, but decides to play along. Now, if you know the myth of Orpheus, you can probably imagine how the story will end. But not Claire and Ella. While Claire has some sense of rationality, Ella is completely out of this world. It's justified by saying that "Ella is a dreamer", but really she is just naive and kind of stupid. She acts all mature and intelligent, but makes the worst decisions. Ella is the hipster at Starbucks that runs a Tumblr blog about how life should be and how little art there is in the world - in other words, she's pretty annoying. But a perfect match for Orpheus, who could sit next to her and run a similar blog. He's just as "deep" as she is and is Grease's John Travolta for current 13 year olds.

Claire who?

With two such distinctive and strong personality main characters, narrator Claire kind of falls out of the story. Yes, she narrates the story, but it is really the story of Ella. We know little of Claire, besides that we assume she has some romantic feelings for Ella, but I feel like I knew more about Ella. This was a shame, because Claire has so much potential. She is more realistic, stronger and I would have loved to have seen her figure out what her feelings for Ella are and how to deal with it.

David Almond is as amazing as E. Lockhart

However, what saves this book is the amazing writing. I love writing that is compound and straight to the point, like E. Lockhart's. No words are wasted and yet there is so much information in the story. David Almond masters this writing too, meaning that A Song For Ella Grey reads very similarly to We Were Liars. Even though Ella and Orpheus are annoying, the writing is so beautiful that you don't even notice that you don't like them until you put the book down. I for one read this book in one night and just adored it. The writing takes you on such an immense journey that you'll feel like you're in another world completely. And that's what great books do.

Rating

So the rating for this book is actually kind of hard. While I was reading it, I was sure I would give it five stars; I loved everything about it. It wasn't until the next morning, when I talked it over with my friend, that I realized that a lot of characters in the book are annoying little hipsters and make really dumb choices. I wish the characters would have been more relatable, because with David's writing, this could have been one of the best books I've ever read. It will have to be another four stars, but I can't wait to read more of David's writing.