Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton - Review

Where did I get it? My gorgeous friend Lucinda bought it for me for my birthday in January 

What's it about? Megan's friend Hana has died in an accident and ever since, Megan is too shocked to speak. She's bullied at school by old friends Sadie and Grace. Then Jasmine starts at school and Megan gets close to her. I felt like the narrative jumped about too much in time, I felt like there were abrupt endings to conversations that needed more explanation. I didn't like Megan's mum, and I didn't buy that Megan's grandparents were old enough to have met during WWII, especially given that Megan's mum is only supposed to have been 16 when she was born. I liked Jasmine I guess, and her family. I thought the ending was both hackneyed and abrupt. 

What age range is it for? 14+ probably. It's possibly, apart from the death storyline, suited for a younger teen audience too. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Well, kind of. Jasmine and Megan kiss. 

Are any main characters non-white? It's not stated.

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Megan is obviously traumatised from what happened. 

Is there any sex stuff? No.

Are drugs mentioned or used? No. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, since Hana died. 

Are there swear words? If there are, they're infrequent. 

Would I recommend the book? Not really. I didn't find it believable or particularly relatable for a modern teen. It's almost like it was written about 15 years ago. 

How many stars? 3 out of 10. 

Where is the book going now? Not sure, I'll pass it on though. 

The Breeders by Katie French - Review

Where did I get it? Free on Kindle a few weeks ago. 

What's it about? Riley Meemick is a girl in a world where women are sold to the Breeders and forced to carry pregnancy after pregnancy, because girl babies aren't born any more (which is never really explained). Riley's mum escaped, along with Auntie (really related? another escapee? who knows?) and is bringing up Riley and her brother on the outskirts of town when the Sheriff's men attack and kill Riley's stepfather. Riley and Ethan are spared, but then have to go and rescue their mother from the Breeders. It's not a spoiler to say that Riley ends up with the Breeders, even though it doesn't happen for over half the book. 

What age range is it for? 14+ maybe?

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No, although Riley disguises herself as a "bender", which is a genderless mutant - I think calling a person like this a "bender" is a pretty gross and disgusting thing for the author to have done when that word is used a slur. 

Are any main characters non-white? No, although Riley, Ethan and their helper Clay (the brooding hero of the piece) encounter a group of Riders, who try to kill them and want a human sacrifice. I'm pretty sure these people are supposed to be Native American types - they're portrayed as savages in a really disgusting way, they have tattoos and bones through their noses. It's terrible.  

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, and again it's not portrayed well. 

Is there any sex stuff? No.

Are drugs mentioned or used? No 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, many and violent 

Are there swear words? A few

Would I recommend the book? Not one bit. If I could have given it 0 stars on Goodreads I would have. It's a hackneyed story with problematic elements. If you like the idea of this kind of dystopia, I would recommend The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood or The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. There are many many better stories than this tosh. 

How many stars? 0 out of 10

All the Rage by Courtney Summers - Review

Where did I get it? NetGalley - my first one! I signed up, had a browse, requested this, and got permission to have it just a couple of hours later! It's a bit complicated with getting permission for NetGalley to email your Kindle, so persevere if you sign up. 

What's it about? Well, here I sort of need to write two things. This is the official blurb from Summers' website: 

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything–friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her past there. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time–and they certainly won’t now–but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.

However, this description isn't, to me, entirely accurate. We don't see any of the first assault, Romy's rape. By the time we meet here, she's living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is living out a pretty miserable life. She and her mum have moved in with her mum's new boyfriend, Todd. Romy likes work and her co-worker Leon, but hates school and is bullied relentlessly there. There's a big party (which I think is where Romy was raped the year before) and Romy goes. Her ex-friend goes missing, and the stress of it brings everything back to Romy. I had issues with keeping the timeline straight, and I don't think, from looking at Goodreads, that I was the only one

What age range is it for? 15+

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No. 

Are any main characters non-white? Yes, Leon and his family. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, Romy is living with some pretty big mental health problems. Her mum's boyfriend Todd is physically disabled, which some in the town think is fake as an excuse to not work. 

Is there any sex stuff? Yes - HUGE trigger warning for rape and sexual assault, obviously. 

Are drugs mentioned or used? Yes - there's some talk of a date-rape drug. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, it's quite explicit. 

Are there swear words? Yes, lots

Would I recommend the book? Yes, definitely. It's one of the most brutal and unashamed books about rape that I've ever read, so I especially love that it's for a YA audience. I think any reader will love Romy but may be frustrated with her - she finds it very hard to open up to her mum and ask for help. Her relationship with Leon is extremely sweet, and also with Leon's sister. It isn't like the blurb says, but it is fantastically written. 

How many stars? 10 out of 10. It isn't perfect, but it's a fantastic example of YA. 

The Third Coin by J A Howard - Review

Where did I get it? It was free on Kindle a little while ago.

What's it about? Bea Brightman has just moved to New York with her antique seeker father, a man who's been looking for a very special coin for several years. Bea meets Nisha, an unpopular girl in her class, and the two realise they can read each other's minds. Along with Indy, their neighbour, they get dragged into finding The Coin. This is a middle grade novel which attempts to use the legend of King Arthur as its base.

What age range is it for? Anywhere from 9-13. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No. 

Are any main characters non-white? Well, kinda. Nisha is "dark", but whether that translates to actually being a person of colour, I don't know. I kept picturing her as South Asian, though. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Not really. 

Is there any sex stuff? No

Are drugs mentioned or used? No  

Is there any talk of death? Yes, but in an age-appropriate way

Are there swear words? No.

Would I recommend the book? Kind of? I didn't hate it, and it was a quick read. But I didn't love it, either. I felt like a lot of it was pure exposition, I felt like the POV switches between Bea and Nisha were sometimes badly done. I felt like the King Arthur stuff was shoehorned in. The ending was abrupt and the plot twist I guessed early on. 

How many stars? 6 out of 10. 

Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell - Review

Where did I get it? I saw on Goodreads that Kath had liked it because the protagonist is fat, so I scoured eBay for it. 

What's it about? Riley Rose is a rebel. Finding things hard after the death of her mum and her dad's new

girlfriend moves in, she rebels by staying out all night, drinking, going to parties, all of that stuff. Norma, her dad's girlfriend, thinks that Jesus Camp is the best place for her, so she's packed off. There she meets bullies, people who are far too much into Jesus for her liking, and Dylan, who is hot, and who is disabled. She's dead set on rebelling at camp, too, but maybe she's not as much of a badass as she'd like to think. She's unapologetically plus size, which I liked.

What age range is it for? A mature 14.  

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? It's not said 

Are any main characters non-white? Yes, although it's a bit clumsily done. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, Dylan, and it's handled sensitively.

Is there any sex stuff? Yes, two incidences, and I think they're both extremely well written. One is really beautiful, too!

Are drugs mentioned or used? Yes. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, but it's not explicit or gory. 

Are there swear words? A few, not many.

Would I recommend the book? Yes, I liked it. Riley is a likeable character mostly because she is so flawed, and I liked reading a YA novel set in Australia. 

How many stars? 8 out of 10 

Where is the book going now? I'm not sure - I'll probably keep it

A Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - Review

As mentioned previously, I will sometimes review adult books that I think teenagers could read and enjoy. I will try to raise issues as I do with my YA reviews, but all these reviews come with a caveat. Teenagers aren't stupid, and I won't review anything that I think is explicitly too inappropriate for them.

I read A Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks for my book club, and probably would never have picked it up otherwise as its not my usual cup of tea. I really struggled to get into it at first, as the prose style is a bit strange and the narrative is very dense. Once I got through that, I really enjoyed the novel.

Where did I get it? Penistone Library, not far from my house!

What's it about? Eyam in Derbyshire is known as The Plague Village because, when the Plague hit in 1665, the village chose to isolate itself and let no one in or out so that the contagion didn't spread to nearby towns and villages. In Brooks' vivid novel based on these true events, housemaid Anna Frith loses her husband in a mining accident and takes in a lodger to support her family. He dies of the Plague, probably due to flea-infested fabric, and it spreads rapidly. Anna becomes friendly with her employers, the Rector and his wife Elinor, and she and Elinor take over as the village's medicinal women after predecessors Mem and Anys die. 

What age range is it for? 15+ I would say. When Anna gets married, she is 15, and is not much over 19 by the time the novel ends. I think it's interesting for teens to see what someone their age would have been doing in the past - in this case, getting married, having two children, and becoming a widow!  

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Nope. 

Are any main characters non-white? Nope.

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, both. 

Is there any sex stuff? A little bit, but it's not very explicit. 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No, except for natural remedies. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, obviously. A lot of the Plague deaths are gory, and there are several other violent deaths. The bit with the knife on the moor.... was very gory for me, and I'm not usually bothered. There's also some talk about childbirth, so bear that in mind too. 

Are there swear words? I don't think so. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes, I liked it and it was interesting to read about the Plague and about Eyam, and also about how everyone had a job to do in such a village.

How many stars? 8 out of 10, once I got through the denseness. 

Where is the book going now? Back to the library from whence it came! 

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - Review

So, I don't always read YA literature, I probably read half YA and half other fiction. I like literary fiction and I love crime novels (the gorier the better). When I was a teenager I read mostly adult novels, including some which are still my favourites (like 1984 by George Orwell and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath), and I think teenagers deserve access to appropriate adult novels as much as they deserve access to YA literature.

With that in mind, I've decided I will review adult novels that I think are suitable for older teens, and I will flag up content that may be difficult for readers. If you're a parent, librarian, or teacher, I'm sure you can discern whether a particular teen is ready for a certain book - I hope to help that in a small way!

So recently I read Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel and I loved it. I want everyone to read it! I've lent it to my 19 year old Eng Lit student cousin. Here's my review:

Where did I get it? I bought it. 

What's it about? A man playing King Lear dies on stage in Toronto and a trainee paramedic goes to help him, watched by a little girl playing one of the King's daughters. Later, the paramedic is told that a flu has arrived from Eastern Europe and is rapidly killing off the population. Twenty years later, the little girl is now in a travelling Shakespeare theatre company, in a country where only 10% of the population survived and where people have congregated in abandoned towns defended fiercely. The theatre company keeps moving, playing music and performing Shakespeare, in some kind of homage to the past. We learn about the actor playing King Lear and those around him, all of whose stories are woven tightly together.

What age range is it for? 15+, I would think. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yes, although it's not explicit until quite close to the end. 

Are any main characters non-white? Yes.

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, quite a few are after the epidemic

Is there any sex stuff? Very little.

Are drugs mentioned or used? No. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, that's sort of the premise. Some are more violent than others, so be warned for violence. I must also raise a warning for suicide. 

Are there swear words? A few, but not many. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes, definitely. It's a fantastic example of a post-apocalyptic novel (something which I've longed enjoyed) and deserves its place alongside something like The Handmaid's Tale or even the Hunger Games trilogy. If you like those novels, I would recommend this for you. 

How many stars? 9 out of 10 - fantastic. 

Where is the book going now? It's currently with my cousin, but I'll be after it back!