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.

January Classic: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

Fun fact about me: if something is going on that I really want to be a part of, I usually discover it too late. For example, the 2015 Classics Challenge set up by Stacey over at The Pretty Books (Check out her blog, it's gorgeous and filled with great book recommendations). The goal is to read one classic a month and to blog about the experience. I've always wanted to read more classics and since I'm in a monthly classics book group, I thought this would be a great way to combine the two! So slightly late, I present my January classic: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene. (Click on the link to find out what the story is about if it's new to you - it will direct you to the Goodreads summary!)

WHEN I Discovered This Classic + Why I Chose to Read It

I can't remember a moment in my life where I didn't see a Graham Greene book in one of my parents many bookcases. However, I must admit that I never really noticed Our Man In Havana - maybe because it's so small, maybe because I think the title is really vague and uninteresting or maybe because I was just overwhelmed with choice. I really discovered this classic when my book club voted to make it our January read and I thus had no choice but to read it.

WHAT Makes It A Classic

What makes this book a classic is that it's written by one of the most famous English authors ever. I don't think Our Man in Havana is that famous, but because it's Graham Greene it will always be a classic. Also, it deals with topics that will always stay relevant and will always keep the book relevant. It's about how society works in times of wars and insecurity. It's a satire about English bureaucracy and though it talks about the 1960s, it is still as applicable today. I think that's the quality of a great classic.

WHAT I Thought of This Classic

I'm kinda indifferent to this classic. I've never read any Graham Greene before and I'm happy to have finally experienced his writing, but I don't think the story will stick with me. Maybe I'm not British enough, but I didn't always get the satire and actually felt really bad for some side-characters in the book. Added to that, I didn't really feel bad for any of the main characters. They are all being incredibly dumb and yet get a happy ending (which I know is the point of the whole satire but still). I didn't dislike it, but it just didn't resonate with me in any significant way.

WILL It Stay A Classic

Yes. The answer is really that simple. It's a Graham Greene and people will forever love him and his stories so also Our Man in Havana. And like I said before, I think this book will (unfortunately) always stay relevant, because there will always be wars and bureaucracy issues so people will always keep reading it. 

WHO I’d Recommend It To

I'd recommend this book to anyone that loves spy stories and wants to see them re-invented. It's not James Bond, but it's a parody on James Bond, which can be a great new read for fans. It's also a good book for people who are not used to classics - it reads like a contemporary book and the writing is very easy. You'll finish this book in 2 to 3 hours so it's a great way to enhance your classics knowledge without slaving away for days!

Books I've read in January!

Wow, January - what a month! It might have been all the rain here in London, but I managed to read a whopping 13 books! (Many of them I still have to review)

Here's a list with links to the reviews! Since I split my time between Belgium and London this month, I can't take a picture of all the books together, so this list will have to do! Have you read any of them too?

1. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

2. The Golden Prince by Rebecca Dean

3. Short & Happy (or not) : an Anthology

4. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

5. A Song For Ella Grey - David Almond

6. Salvage by Keren David 

7. The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman (which weirdly suddenly has a different title on Goodreads?)

8. Say Her Name by James Dawson

9. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (review coming this week!)

10. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

11. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

12. Lobsters by Lucy Ivison and Tom Ellen

13. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (yes, I finally started this series!)

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.

I Was Here - Gayle Forman

RATING: ★★★★☆

Find it on bookdepository here 

Gayle, Gayle, Gayle. You are the one true love of the YA community. I haven't met a single reader who didn't enjoy a Gayle Forman book and if you are that reader, you should pick up I Was Here to see how wrong you were. With this book, Gayle shows a new side to herself as a writer and it's too good to not pick up.

Plot

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.
 
When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

Not like other Forman books

What we are used to from Gayle is books that make you cry on every page and though I Was Here is still heartbreaking, it is also very different. The topic is dark and Cody is often very black and white while exploring the reasons why her friend committed suicide. 

You don't want to cry for Cody because you know Cody wouldn't want you to. She's a go-getter and a fighter and she is determined to find out exactly what happened to Meg - and of course there are some amazing plot twists in the way of that.

But if you are a Gayle Forman fan, you will still love this book. Though the topic is darker, the writing is still as excellent as always and the characters are extremely relatable. I am more of a Cody than a Meg, but I think everyone reading this book will relate to one of the two girls.

The mandatory love story

The one thing that left me conflicted about this book is the love story. On the one hand, I liked the connection that Ben and Cody (not really a spoiler, the summary gives it away already) have. On the other hand, I felt like it was a redundant part of the story. There was so much to discover about Cody and Meg and I would have loved to read more about their friendship before Meg died then to read about Cody falling in love with Ben. Cody starts off as a kick-ass narrator who doesn't need a man and though I know falling in love doesn't make you less kick-ass, I feel like the timing was off and the romance was awkward. Cody is dealing with Meg's death - would she really fall for the guy that broke Meg's heart?

Rating

So my final rating is a surprising four stars. This book was amazing and haunted me for days, but I just can't handle the love story in all these YA novels - writers/publishers we don't need those. I Was Here is a gorgeous tale of friendship and I wish it would have been just that. It does show how versatile Gayle Forman is as a writer and I can't wait for her next book!