Review: The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski

Title: The Annihilation of Foreverland

Author: Tony Bertauski

Release Date: December 31st 2011

My Rating: 3/5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads:

When kids awake on an island, they’re told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds.

Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn’t remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He’ll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he’s not insane.

Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed’s dream girl inside Foreverland. She’s stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart’s desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works?

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After receiving the box set What Tomorrow May Bring, I was overwhelmed by the number of enticing plots and didn't know where to start. When I read up on this one however, I new I had to find out more. The blurb was enough to intrigue me, as well as the fact that (I assume) it was loosely related to Peter Pan and Neverland.  This book took me longer to read than anticipated, not for lack of plot but rather because it was amazing in some parts but not so much in others.  There were a number of brilliant of factors that made this story gripping, but at the same time I had some issues that made me hesitant and- truth be told- less inclined to finish. 

Let me start with the plot line. Oh my goodness, this book was creepy as hell. It literally made my skin crawl in parts, what with it's insane story line and nutty grandpa characters. I think I may have developed a slight fear of old men thanks to this book! But the plot was truly unique in my opinion. I loved the idea of the remote island with children who appeared to be the luckiest in the world with their free reign to do as they pleased, but all the while had you questioning what was really going on. The setting was admittedly not the best developed and a little generic but i feel like the actual plot made up for that. I enjoyed following the main character as he made his discoveries and slowly uncovered the truth about Foreverland. 

This brings me on to my next point; the characters. Danny Boy was pretty controversial in my mind. I felt like the author couldn't decide on how old he was, even though we're told he's 13. At times he acts his age, and does what can only be expected from a new teenager, what with his love of gaming and what not. At the same time, I found it difficult to wrap my mind around how at 6 years old he was hacking into computer systems and doing things even an adult would find challenging.  At 6 years old that didn't make him a Prodigy, but more an alien or a robot!  It was just a tad unrealistic is what I'm trying to say. I couldn't particularly connect with him because he felt just a little bit flat in my opinion, and would have benefited from a little more character development. 

Zin was such a brilliant secondary character. I absolutely loved his attitude and his funny lines, and couldn't get enough of him. Where Danny was lacking that thing which made us remember he was just a kid and therefore empathize with him, Zin couldn't be viewed as anything but the brilliant kid he was. He was my favourite character I think. 

I really enjoyed the way that the subplots we started with, such as Reed, the black sheep of the herd, the mysterious redhead and Danny all came together in the end to reveal the bigger picture. 

One other thing that did throw me for a loop a little was the writing. I found myself occasionally getting stuck on a sentence because it seemed out of place or ill-phrased, particularly in the news reportings at the start of the rounds. The constant variation in complexity of language made it feel like the author couldn't decide whether this book fitted into the higher end of children's genre or YA.

Overall, this book didn't quite meet my expectations which were admittedly high due to the beautiful cover and promising blurb, but was still intriguing nonetheless. If the plot sounds like something you would enjoy, and you can ignore discrepancies in language and don't mind a little less complexity,  then I would recommend it to you because the plot was honestly brilliant.


*The box set What Tomorrow May Bring was kindly sent to me in exchange for an honest review*

Review: Nebula by L.A. Sees

Title: Nebula

Author: L.A Sees
Release Date: March 25th 2014
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads: Ree Lindbergh’s dream since she was a little girl is a simple one: to one day travel to Earth. Instead, she’s stuck aboard the Omega Centauri, a spacecraft used to patrol the borders of the Milky Way. Having spent her entire seventeen-year existence on board, Ree is a bit restless. But her mission is important: help keep Earth’s newly discovered alien species, the Bufoanthroid, under control.

By day, Ree enjoys spending time with her best friend, Zac Walker. But when night falls, she is continually tormented by memories of her mother, killed by a Bufoanthroid the day Ree was born.

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I was so so SO happy when this beauty arrived in the post. Let's just take a minute to appreciate the awesomeness that is the cover. Like seriously, it is beyond beautiful. I could just sit and stare at it all day!

As the blurb tells, this book is told from the perspective of our MC,  Marie aka Ree. Ree is a sweet, naive and totally adorable girl who had grown up on a space ship on the edge of the galaxy, where they protect the Earth from the threat extra terrestrial life forms that are called Bufoanthroids. Her best friend is Zachary, and they are the only two on board to have never set foot on earth, having been born on the ship. This affects them in completely opposite ways, with Ree living for the dream of one day returning to Earth, whilst Zachary is more than happy to spend the rest of his days manning H12 ships and protecting the Earth from threats in space.

To me, this book covered 3 main themes:family, friendship, and coming of age. It was done in a way that was sweet and innocent, showing simply the beautiful side of love. It was a warm read and even the villains you couldn't help but just feel bad for.

Ree is a sweet girl of 17 that has to deal with the fact that her mother was murdered the day she was born. It affects her in many ways but she is still so innocent, and doesn't harbour that much hate to be honest. The most important thing in her life is her best friend Zac, and she has to learn to figure out just why she feels jealous when he turns his eyes to the hot girl in their class.

The first half was a little slow for my taste, but it really picked up when Ree started to question what she had, or rather hadn't,  been told and goes in search of answers. The mystery behind her mother's murder and the cloudiness surrounding the day that leaves it unclear as to what exactly happened had me intrigued and reading on and on just wanting to find out what had happened. She acts slightly too immature for my taste, in terms of coming across much younger due to her childishness,  but then that's to be expected when she's the baby of the entire ship.

The plot itself wasn't overly complicated but very captivating,  and the writing kept you hooked and wanting to read on. My only disappointment was the rather quick ending, as I found it slightly anti climatic.

The secondary characters such as Blaire and Zac's brothers were so entertaining, and it was so refreshing seeing these adults from a lone teenagers perspective. They definitely added to the story and gave it a lot of its funny scenes!

In terms of the Sci - Fi elements,  I don't happen to be much of a Sci Fi reader and have only just started getting in to this genre, but this book was perfect for me in that sense because it didn't bog me down with two much sci Fi terminology or elements,  but was still futuristic and awesome!

All in all I adored this book, and found it to be a quick, entertaining read. My actual rating would probably be around 3.75 maybe? But what the heck I just rounded up! Especially considering its only the first in the series. So 4 awesome space stars it is!

*This book was kindly sent to me in exchange for an honest review*

Review: Half-Bad by Sally Green

Title: Half-Bad
Author: Sally Green

Release Date: 3rd March 2014

My Rating: 3/5 stars

 

Blurb on Goodreads: Half Bad by Sally Green is a breathtaking debut novel about one boy's struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches.

You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.

You get sick if you stay indoors after dark.

You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one.

You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen.

All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.

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I gave this book a 3 star rating. That doesn’t mean to say that it isn’t any good because it is, it’s really good. I just feel like there are some issues with this book that prevented it from reaching it’s full potential.

The book isn’t particularly ‘supernatural’ focused, despite being largely about witches. It is more like a life story of the main character, Nathan. Nathan, being the spawn of both a White Witch- the ‘good’ kind- and a Black Witch-the ‘bad’ kind- is a Half Code. He is as far as we know and are told the only one of his kind. Living with his White Witch grandmother and full White siblings, Nathan is under constant scrutiny and mental harassment, with everyone bar his grandmother, his brother Arran and his sister Deborah seeing his Black Witch exterior and failing to look at him as a person to see what he truly is like. He is taught to never mention his father, the most feared Black Witch and that he is to do everything he can to fit in with the White Witches, despite their despising him. As the story follows his journey and we watch him grow, however, we see him start to question what he has been taught, struggle to understand himself and fight for his life as he tries to find a way to receive his 3 gifts and become a fully-fledged Witch on his 17^th birthday.

The plot concept and characters were really interesting and helped differentiate this book from others that may be considered similar. The idea of two opposing sides of witches and its parallels to modern day racism was a fresh take of the whole ‘good vs. evil’ idea. There were plenty of characters and growth for the plot, so it didn’t feel particularly rushed or crammed which was great. I loved the concept of the White Witch council and the portrayal of their questionable values and less than angelic methods. It irritated me that the Black Witches were largely unexplored and that we only had what the White Witches told us to go on, however I’m guessing this was purposeful and that we’ll learn more in time as Nathan does.

Reading through Nathan’s point of view was intriguing. He isn’t particularly intelligent which shows in his thoughts and actions, however he is brave, strong-willed and a little bit desperate which really show in Green’s writing. His relationships are so straight forward in that he is very honest with himself. The people he cares for he cares for a lot, and the people he doesn’t he simply isn’t concerned about. Her writing is something that may not appeal to everyone (it definitely won’t appeal to everyone) and it takes a little getting used to for some I guess, but I personally enjoyed it, although some parts could have used some editing.

The pace of the books was pretty good. It felt a little slow at times which I’m assuming was meant to reflect how the days dragged for Nathan, but for the most part I wanted to read faster and faster, maddeningly curious as to what the hell was going to happen next! I liked how the book starts in the middle of the story, and then takes us back to how it started before we catch up and then continue with the plot. It made the first half a mystery which made it go by a lot quicker for me at least. In terms of characters I felt like there were alot of characters that werent developed rather than fewer characters but with bigger growth. there were charcaters like Arran and Nikita whom i would have loved to know more about and seen a developed a little more.  

My two biggest issues with this book though are the magic and the romance. For a book about witches and Gifts and all the rest of that wonderful stuff, you would think the magical aspect would be greatly developed. This however was not the case. I felt like Green barely skimmed the subject as was necessary when it rose to the surface, but other than that she left it largely untouched. I would have liked to have seen more about the Gifts that the Witches had, how they worked, what they used them for, how they categorised them,  anything that would have shown a little more thought. Instead the only thing I gleamed was the fact that women’s gifts were stronger, potions were popular and Nathan’s dad Marcus ate hearts to steal the gifts of others. That was about as detailed as it got. Even when we met characters like Celia, Mercury and Rose, the most we got was a brief explanation as to what they could do, and a couple of demonstrations. It was a big let-down in that department and had the potential to have been so much better.

The second issue was the romance. Annalise was a character that, on the brief occasions when she was there, aggravated me beyond belief. She was just so unnecessary. She was incredibly flat for a character, with no depth beyond the fact that she saw Nathan for the better person he was. She was so far from what I expected Nathan to be interested in, and was part of the story so briefly that I can’t understand why she was in there at all. This was the kind of book that would have worked perfectly fine without the romance element, probably even better.

Overall, Half-Bad is a book with a great concept and plot, a lot of varying characters (some developed better than others) and for the most part kept me intrigued and wanting to read on. I will most likely be picking up the sequel because I definitely want to know what happens next and I feel like the next book, Half-Wild, will be infinitely better.

Review: Thirteen by Tom Hoyle

Title: Thirteen
Author: Tom Hoyle

Release Date: February 13th January 2014 (I see what you did there!)

My Rating: 3/5 stars


*This book was kindly given to me by Macmillian Children's Books*


Blurb on Goodreads: "Born at midnight in London, on the stroke of the new millennium, Adam is the target of a cult that believes boys born on this date must die before the end of their thirteenth year. Twelve boys have been killed so far. Coron, the crazy cult leader, will stop at nothing to bring in his new kingdom. And now he is planning a bombing spectacular across London to celebrate the sacrifice of his final victim: Adam."

This book first caught my eye as I was perusing the YA section of my local Waterstones. The paperback is an attractively done bright yellow with yellow edges depicting a countdown to thirteen. There is no blurb on the outside, just one single line, creating an air of mystery and piquing my interest. I added it to my Goodreads To-Read List then and there! Naturally I was beyond pleased when I had the opportunity to read this on my Kindle and write a review for it.

This book had plenty of positives and just a couple of negatives for me. The very first thing that hit me as I started reading this book was that it was not at all ‘YA’ material, or if it is then the very young YA readers. The main character Adam and all his friends are thirteen years old or there about. A lot of the issues he deals with (asides from a crazy cult hunting him down of course) are therefore very innocent. I found it almost cute with the way he looked at life and how he felt about bullying as well as his best friend (kind of sort of turned girlfriend) Megan aka Meg. In that sense it was very much a younger children’s book. However, on the flip side, about half way through this book becomes really rather dark and sinister, a lot more so than would be expected in a younger child’s book which is why its YA I guess. This dark, twisted side was actually my favourite half of the book, as the story really picked up and started to live up to it's scary potential that was portrayed in the blurb.

The writing was really great in this book. Hoyle manages to put us into a thirteen year old’s mind set really well, paying attention to the smaller details that allowed us to see Adams horror and fear at the situations he was placed in and the strength he had in getting past that and being extremely brave for a kid. It was a little bit basic in some parts and I felt the descriptions could have been a little more detailed at times but on the whole it kept you reading and even depicted a little of the good old British slang!

The story is set in England, London and I felt that the writer was true to his location and didn’t just skim over the details of the setting. He describes London and weaves iconic buildings and tube stations into the story well, really giving it an authentic feel. The characters were great, both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. Coron was a brilliant crazy cult leader. I loved how Hoyle showed us just how whacky he was, and how he believed everything he said to be true, but at the same time put just enough emphasis on the fact that Coron was in fact crazy and hallucinating. Adam was a really likeable character, and the way he fantasised about being a hero before talking sense into himself was really cute. He was very well rounded and definitely made me feel for him. Also, the recurrence of the number 13 and it's link to just about everything in this book was a great concept and added a feel of superstition to it.

Overall, this book was definitely not what I was expecting, however it was still an enjoyable read with a great plot and characters to match. It is definitely something I would recommend for a younger, male reader who enjoys books such as The Recruit by Robert Muchamore. I’ll probably have to pick this up in it's beautiful paperback form for my little brother!

Come and discuss this book with me at my Bookstagram!