Theatrical by Maggie Harcourt

Published: 28th June 2018
Publisher: Usborne
Pages: 442

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Hope dreams of working backstage in a theatre, and she’s determined to make it without the help of her famous costume designer mum. So when she lands an internship on a major production, she tells no one. But with a stroppy Hollywood star and his hot young understudy upstaging Hope’s focus, she’s soon struggling to keep her cool… and her secret.

Rating:  

With Unconventional being one of my favourite reads of last year, I was waiting for Theatrical with bated breath. Because I'm one of those classic bookish types with no control over their TBR, I'd had it on my shelf for far too long before actually picking it up and reading. But let me tell you, it was lovely.

Clean by Juno Dawson

Published: 5th April 2018
Publisher: Quercus
Pages: 399

Synopsis from Goodreads:
I can feel it swimming through my veins like glitter ... it's liquid gold.
When socialite Lexi Volkov almost overdoses, she thinks she's hit rock bottom. She's wrong. 
Rock bottom is when she's forced into an exclusive rehab facility. From there, the only way is up for Lexi and her fellow inmates, including the mysterious Brady.
As she faces her demons, Lexi realises love is the most powerful drug of all ... 
It's a dirty business getting clean ...

Rating:  

Before I get into this review, it's important that I mention that the book has a lot of triggers in it. For sake of comfort I'm not going to list them all here, but if you'd like more information on what's included for your own wellbeing I'm more than happy to let you know - please dm me on Twitter (see contacts page for the link). I shan't be discussing in detail anything triggering in this review so you should be okay to read it regardless, but if you're worried just don't that's cool, your wellbeing is most crucial!

Floored by Sara Barnard et al.

Rating:

Published: 12th July 2018
Publisher: MacMillan Children's Books
Pages: 320
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

When they got in the lift, they were strangers (though didn't that guy used to be on TV?): Sasha, who is desperately trying to deliver a parcel; Hugo, who knows he's the best-looking guy in the lift and is eyeing up Velvet, who knows what that look means when you hear her name and it doesn't match the way she looks, or the way she talks; Dawson, who was on TV, but isn't as good-looking as he was a few years ago and is desperately hoping no one recognizes him; Kaitlyn, who's losing her sight but won't admit it, and who used to have a poster of Dawson on her bedroom wall, and Joe, who shouldn't be here at all, but who wants to be here the most.

And one more person, who will bring them together again on the same day every year.

I had been waiting expectantly for Floored since the beginning of 2017, what could be better than a load of my favourite YA authors, as well as some I'd not yet had chance to read, all coming together in one book?! Let me tell you I was not disappointed! Floored is a fresh take on a young adult contemporary with a lot of very real characters and I really enjoyed it!

Bookshop Girl by Chloe Coles

Rating:

Published: 1st June 2017
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Pages: 213
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Bennett's Bookshop has always been a haven for sixteen-year-old Paige Turner. It's a place where she can escape from her sleepy hometown, hang out with her best friend, Holly, and also earn some money.
But, like so many bookshops, Bennett's has become a 'casualty of the high street' - it's strapped for cash and going to be torn down. Paige is determined to save it but mobilising a small town like Greysworth is no mean feat.Time is ticking - but that's not the only problem Paige has. How is she going to fend off the attractions of beautiful fellow artist, Blaine? And, more importantly, will his anarchist ways make or break her bookshop campaign?

Bookshop Girl is the perfect quick, summer read! It's light-hearted and fun and let's be honest, it doesn't get much better than a book about a bookshop does it?!

After the Fire by Will Hill

Rating:

Published: 1st June 2017
Publisher: Usborne
Pages: 476
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

The things I’ve seen are burned into me, like scars that refuse to fade. 

Father John controls everything inside The Fence. And Father John likes rules. Especially about never talking to Outsiders. Because Father John knows the truth. He knows what is right, and what is wrong. He knows what is coming.
Moonbeam is starting to doubt, though. She’s starting to see the lies behind Father John’s words. She wants him to be found out. 

What if the only way out of the darkness is to light a fire?

You may or may not have noticed but I've been on a blogging hiatus for a few months and I am pleased to announce that with the end of my undergraduate degree and the help of this book I am finally out of the reading slump of the century and I am back!!

After the Fire had been on my TBR since YALC last year (or maybe longer) and I had heard nothing but good things about it, yet I still didn't pick it up! I'm cross that I didn't read it sooner but equally I think I picked it up at exactly the right time because it's really helped me to regain my reading motivation.

Love, Simon by Becky Albertalli

Rating:

Published: 30th January 2018
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 303
Synopsis from Goodreads: Straight people should have to come out too. And the more awkward it is, the better. 
Simon Spier is sixteen and trying to work out who he is - and what he's looking for. 
But when one of his emails to the very distracting Blue falls into the wrong hands, things get all kinds of complicated.
Because, for Simon, falling for Blue is a big deal . . .

I received a copy of this book through my book club (Liverpool One Waterstones YA Book Club!) which has in no way impacted my thoughts! A big thanks to Penguin for sending us copies 😄


This has been on my TBR since it first came out in 2015 yet for some reason I need got around to it and honestly I was missing out! This book is fun and cute and all round good!

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Rating:

Published: 5th October 2017
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 320
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Scream meets YA in this hotly-anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss.
One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.
International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down. 

Disclaimer: Before I start this post I just want to say that although I will try my hardest to give a review which is spoiler-free, due to the nature of the story there may be some small spoilers in here! So if you want to go into the book with no preconceptions I suggest that you don't read any further than this point for your own peace of mind!


Horror YA romance was always going to be an interesting mixture, so when I picked up a proof of this at YALC I was certain that I'd need to keep an open mind throughout! I haven't ever read a book by Stephanie Perkins before so I can't make direct comparison but I know that this is very different, largely because I imagine most of the others don't have lots of murder in!
I'll admit that I am quite a wimp when it comes to horror/thriller books so I haven't read a huge number and I've seen several reviews saying that people didn't find this terrifying enough for them but personally I think it had enough scary bits and gruesomeness to keep me satisfied! It definitely isn't the scariest book that I've ever read and possibly a bit more suspense would have made it better but it is by no means PG either.

Makani was an interesting main character and learning about her past as well as her current friendship group was something that I really enjoyed and as a group they were quite diverse which is always something I welcome! I also loved Grandma Young as a character too she was good fun and I thought she was brilliant!

Unfortunately I didn't feel like the book gave me enough mystery and the 'reveal' came at kind of a weird point in the plot too which I kind of struggled to get my head around, I suppose this may come from the fact that it's Perkins' first book in this area, or maybe it's just me being too obsessed with Midsomer Murders and being too picky!

The romance between Makani and Ollie was quite fun to read about and it was equally interesting to learn more about Ollie's character but I'm not entirely convinced that it really fitted with all of the gore at the same time? It's the sort of thing that may have made more sense if it was on screen rather than in a book? But I'm really not sure because I can be very picky with my romance anyway!

Overall, There's Someone Inside Your House was a different book to anything which I've read before, it had interesting characters and enough horror-ness to keep me happy! The romance was a bit strange and I don't know if YA Horror Romance is something I would seek out again but it is definitely worth you giving it a try!

Have you read There's Someone Inside Your House? Or any other books by Stephanie Perkins that you think I may enjoy? Let me know any of your thoughts in the comments below!

Editing Emma by Chloe Seager

Rating:

Published: 10th August 2017

Publisher: HQ

Pages: 368

Synopsis from Goodreads: When sixteen-year-old Emma Nash is ‘ghosted’ by the love of her life Leon Naylor, she does what any normal teenage girl would do…

Emma spends the summer lurking in her bedroom, avoiding all human contact (and the shower), surrounded by the collection of chewit wrappers she saved from packs Leon gave her, back when he actually acknowledged her existence…
But seeing Leon suddenly ‘In a relationship’ on Facebook with the perfect Anna, spurs Emma into action and she embarks on a mission to make positive changes to her life (or ‘edits,’ if you will) and vows to use the internet for more than obsessively stalking Leon’s activities! Instead, she will use it for good and noble causes like finding someone who will actually be nice to her, and recording her findings for the rest of the world to see (i.e. BFF Steph and her mum) on her new Editing Emma blog.
But Emma soon discovers her ‘habit’ is harder to break than she first thought – turns out she’s not the only one ‘editing’ herself online (thank you Tinder for finding her mum’s profile, age 35, really?) and that life through an Instagram filter isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. But it could be worse, she could have outed her best friend, accidentally chatted up a 12 year old boy and revealed to the world why Leon Naylor is worth no girl’s time or virginity… oh no wait, that’s exactly what happened…

Big thanks to HQ and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book for review!

I was interested in Editing Emma from the start because I had heard it being compared to Louise Rennison's series which I LOVED and which will always be one of my favourite things to read ever- I owe my love of books partially to her, but I'm digressing. Editing Emma was certainly deserving of this comparison! It's narrative which is told mostly through blog posts is very reminiscent of Georgia Nicolson and it also gave the same easy reading, you-could-read-it-in-an-afternoon sort of vibes which is just wonderful.

Emma is a teenager who's determined to become this new version of herself who is more successful when it comes to dating and general life after a guy completely ignores her when they were meant to be a couple. Emma starts a blog to document the changes she's making, it's brutally honest and hides nothing- it's the only YA book I've read that really talks about masturbation and how like that's a thing that girls do too, and in that way it's super important in helping teens to feel like they're not abnormal for doing such a thing. The book perfectly captures what it's like to be a 16 year old girl and it captures a level of relatable honesty that I only rarely see in books, so I loved it!

It occurred to me as I was reading that I am really not much very much like Emma (putting that largely down to her being very sex positive and me being the opposite, but that's cool) and that's the reason I've not given this a full five bees, just because at times I personally couldn't relate. Despite this I did find it really refreshing to read something that really shows what a group of teen girls are like? They're not all perfect and getting in successful relationships from young ages etc and that's just, truthful, I guess!

Overall Editing Emma is a fab book that I would truly recommend to anyone who is missing their Georgia Nicolson hits. It's hilarious, it's honest and it's just all round good fun.

Have you read Editing Emma? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas

Rating: 8/10
Published: 6th April 2017
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Pages: 272
Synopsis from Goodreads: Sometimes I feel like everyone else was handed a copy of the rules for life and mine got lost.
Grace has Asperger's and her own way of looking at the world. She's got a horse and a best friend who understand her, and that's pretty much all she needs. But when Grace kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, the world doesn't make much sense to her any more.
Suddenly everything threatens to fall apart, and it's up to Grace to fix it on her own.
Whip-smart, hilarious and unapologetically honest, The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas is a heart-warming story of one girl trying to work out where she fits in, and whether she even wants to.


The State of Grace is a really fun and quick read which looks at what it means to 'fit in' through the eyes of Grace, who has Asperger's and sees the world somewhat differently to other people. This is the first book that I've read about someone with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and to read something from a first person perspective was really interesting. It reveals a bit about what life with Asperger's must be like while also making clear that at the end of the day Grace is still just a teenager girl who's trying to learn how to fit in whilst still being herself.

Grace finds herself going through a lot of changes both through the development of her relationship with Gabe and when her mum starts acting like An Idiot™️ while her dad is away for work (Side note: I understood her actions kind of but she just really bugged me a lot, but she was meant to I think). Grace has a lot of stuff going on and the book is all about her trying to muddle through a lot of difficult situations while learning who she is. She is a really well written and complex character who I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know!

The State of Grace also has a beautiful strong female friendship which I am ALWAYS a fan of! Grace's best friend Anna is the friend I always try to be, she's funny and supportive and loves Grace for who she is. Also I loved the relationship between Grace and her horse Mabel! The way that Grace feels loved and understood by her is wonderful and it's just really lovely ahh.

However there were a couple of things with this book that bugged me slightly. I feel like there were a lot of questions that I would have appreciated a more detailed answer too, I can't say exactly for fear of spoilers but one example is this thing that happens with her sister which I feel wasn't fully explained and I personally would have loved to find out how as a family they develop and move forward from it.
The other thing is that some of the relatively major characters I feel didn't receive much description. For example, I don't feel like I really got to know Gabe very much at all, and because Grace is such a complex and beautifully written characters it's such a shame that I don't feel like I got to know the others!
I think this is likely to be due to the short length of the book and personally I would have loved an extra 50 pages to allow for more detailed exploration the other characters are.

I want to make it clear that I really loved The State of Grace and as ASD's need so much more rep than they're currently getting I think it's a super important one to add to your TBR! But I wouldn't be doing my 'job' if I didn't say I thought it was lacking a little something- but the case here is that the extra detail would have made it a 10/10 for me rather than an 8 and I still thought it was amazing - so read it!!

Basically, The State of Grace is a really quick, interesting and beautiful book which gives a bit of an insight into what life with Asperger's may be like and you should definitely add it to your TBR.

Have you read The State of Grace? What were your thoughts on it? Let me know in a comment below!

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Rating: 8/10
Published: 1st June 2017
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 368
Synopsis from Goodreads: 
Yale hopeful Bronwyn has never publicly broken a rule.
Sports star Cooper only knows what he's doing in the baseball diamond. 
Bad body Nate is one misstep away from a life of crime.
Prom queen Addy is holding together the cracks in her perfect life. And outsider Simon, creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High, won't ever talk about any of them again.He dies 24 hours before he could post their deepest secrets online. Investigators conclude it's no accident. All of them are suspects.
Everyone has secrets, right?
What really matters is how far you'll go to protect them.

A big thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.

Warning: I'm going to try and keep this review as spoiler free as possible but it's going to be tricky so tread carefully if you've not yet read it!

Now I like to think of myself as quite a good detective when it comes to murder mystery books, it's very rare that a book actually surprises me with it's plot but One of Us Is Lying did just that and I loved it! I'm also secretly cross with myself because I'm obviously not as good at deductions as I thought I was but we'll move on...

One of Us Is Lying follows the events unfolding after the death of a boy named Simon in a high school detention. The narrative is split between four different characters each with completely different lives but each who has a secret that they're trying to hide. Initially I was worried that I would find it very difficult to get to grips with a narrative split between so many characters but once I got into the storyline it became much clearer who was who and I honestly think successfully writing a book with this many characters is quite an achievement!

It's very difficult for me to write much about my thoughts on the story without posting major spoilers but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read which ticked almost every single box I have for a good book! I really enjoyed the beautiful development shown by all characters, but especially that of Addy who becomes a super strong woman and I'm just really so proud of her!! I mean, there's also some really cute romance and the epilogue made me feel so warm inside and it was wonderful.

There was only one small thing which bugged me and that was the way in which the characters referred to a girl who'd had a suicide attempt and the phrase that was used more than once to describe it (I shan't quote because I don't want to use such a phrase tbh). However, I think this is more a case of something which I find personally upsetting but also something that's a common description and would very likely be used by teens such as those in this book. So it's not like a negative of the book but more a negative of how insensitive people are to mental health issues in real life? I'm not sure if I've put this point across very successfully or not but oh well!

Anyway, One of Us Is Lying is a super fun book with a really good mystery which will keep you guessing (if you figure it out you're much cleverer than me, good job!). It has fab characters and it's just really enjoyable so you should add it to your TBR if you haven't already!

Have you ready One of Us Is Lying? Did you guess 'whodunnit'? If so you should comment so I can bow down to you Sherlock Holmes...

TBR - May 2017

Girlhood by Cat Clarke
This was my first ever approved read on NetGalley (woop woop I'm so pleased!!), it's published on the 4th of May and I'm hoping I'll be able to whizz through it and get a review done asap (I'm cheating a bit as I've already started as I write this but I started it in May and I'm late on this post so it counts right?!). Anyway it sounds super duper promising and the first chapter hooked me it so fast so let's see what happens (and look out for a review!).

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Do I even need to say why I want to read this? I've been excited about it for months and I haven't bought it yet but hopefully I'll get my hands on it so soon. I know it won't let me down because everyone says its phenomenal!

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
As ACOWAR came out yesterday it seems like a good time for me to start catching up! I loved ACOTAR but there were a few bits that left me feeling a bit "?????" but I think they get sorted out so hopefully I'll enjoy it a lot!

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard
Again, I'm late to this one, but having heard such good things about this, and having loved Beautiful Broken Things I'm sure this won't disappoint. It sounds like a really interesting concept and having started to learn sign language at the beginning of this year reading a book with a deaf MC sounds like good fun!

Countless by Karen Gregory
I'm so intrigued by what this book will be like. It sounds like it may be a difficult read because it's got a lot of intense stuff in it (judging from the synopsis!). If its done well I think it could be really important and I'm hoping that I'll love it. I haven't read many books that look at eating disorders and I think it may be a difficult thing to do well but Countless sounds as though it has a lot of potential.

What are you planning to read this month? Any of these? Happy reading whatever you pick up!

See How They Lie by Sue Wallman

Rating: 8/10
Published: 2nd March 2017
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 312
Synopsis from Goodreads:

All’s not well at the Hummingbird Creek wellness resort. No one can see in. No one can get out… 

New from the talented author who brought you Lying About Last Summer: a psycho-chiller to wake up your darkest phobias. If you got to live in a luxury hotel with world-class cuisine, a state-of-the-art sports centre and the latest spa treatments, would you say ‘yes please’? 

Well, that’s kind of what Hummingbird Creek is like. No wonder Mae feels lucky to be there. It’s meant as a rich-kid’s sanatorium, but she isn’t sick. Her dad is the top psychiatrist there. But one day Mae breaks a rule. NOT a good idea. This place is all about rules – and breaking them can hurt you…

I picked up See How They Lie from the library the day before going off on a walking holiday in the Lake District. I had no idea what to expect but having heard good stuff about Lying About Last Summer I was really looking forward to this and it was truly good fun!

It's a difficult book to review because if I say too much I might risk spoiling people which I really don't want to do, so please pardon the somewhat short length of this review - it doesn't reflect how few thoughts I have about it but rather how much I really can't say without ruining the mystery!!

The plot of See How They Lie was super duper creepy, definitely earning itself a seat in the thriller genre! Although it was clear a lot of dodgy stuff was going on the mystery kept me guessing right up until the end and I loved every minute of it! So often the twists in thrillers are easy to guess which kind of defeats the object, so reading something that kept me questioning was fab! So many times I was shocked, looking at what I'd just read and going:

Sue Wallman managed to create a really beautiful setting in Hummingbird Creek, I could really see myself in the book and I really found myself emerged in the setting which added to the suspense and meant I was absolutely flying through the pages.

I'd certainly recommend See How They Lie to anyone looking for something a bit different from the usual young adult contemporary. I haven't read many young adult thriller style books before but I'll certainly be looking out for more of a similar style in the future!

Overall, See How They Lie was just jolly good fun! A really creepy story that I whizzed through in no time at all. I'd definitely suggest that you give it a try, even if you think it's not your thing it may well surprise you.

Have you read See How They Lie? Or know of any similar Young Adult Thrillers? Let me know in the comments below.

All About Mia by Lisa Williamson

Rating: 10/10
Published: 2nd February 2017
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Pages: 361
Synopsis from Goodreads: From no. 1 Bestselling YA author Lisa Williamson, comes another insightful and unputdownable teen drama - All About Mia. A brilliant look into the mind of a teenager stuck in the middle.

One family, three sisters.

GRACE, the oldest: straight-A student. 

AUDREY, the youngest: future Olympic swimming champion. 

And MIA, the mess in the middle. 

Mia is wild and daring, great with hair and selfies, and the undisputed leader of her friends – not attributes appreciated by her parents or teachers. 

When Grace makes a shock announcement, Mia hopes that her now-not-so-perfect sister will get into the trouble she deserves. 

But instead, it is Mia whose life spirals out of control – boozing, boys and bad behaviour – and she starts to realise that her attempts to make it All About Mia might put at risk the very things she loves the most.

By this point, anyone who has read almost any of my posts on this blog or who follows me on Twitter will know that I LOVED The Art of Being Normal. It was by far my favourite read of last year (and I'll literally yell about it at any given opportunity) so when I heard about All About Mia I was super duper excited and let me tell you Lisa Williamson did not fail to live up to my expectations!

I think what I loved so much about All About Mia is that it is so honest, there's no shit here, Mia isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. She makes a lot of mistakes, she chooses to do things and you're yelling at the pages like "Noooo don't do that you plonker it's a bad idea!!" but she is so real. Everything she does in this book I experienced (mostly through other people) when I was a sixteen year old. I've watched people make exactly the same choices that she makes and her motivation for doing so is heartbreakingly accurate for so many teens.

The amount of pressure that Mia is under from school and the expectation she feels she must live up to within her family is arguably the reason for the way that she acts. Despite being only sixteen she's forced to consider her options for the future, it reminded me of how difficult I found it at that time to try and make decisions which everyone told you were life-changing, when you had no idea which direction you wanted to go in. All About Mia gives such an accurate representation of what life really is like when you're going through these things and I loved that about it!

Mia also has a friendship group that is very similar to the group that I found myself in at that age (although we drank less!), each one of the characters she's friends with I could relate to someone I know which I really enjoyed.

It seems to me that All About Mia is just an all-round truthful book. It demonstrates a great family dynamic and what seems to me (an only child with no experience) to show the sibling rivalries, but also the real love that they have for each other deep down. There are moments (I'll keep it vague to avoid spoilers!) when you see that, although all told from Mia's point of view, each of the three sisters envies the other for something and they really do rely on each other throughout the book. There are some really great moments between Mia and Audrey where she gives her younger sister advice about certain things and it just made my heart melt, because despite her own problems she's almost always willing to help out her little sister.

Overall, All About Mia is a beautiful book about the difficulties faced by a teen who feels that she isn't living up to anyone's expectations. It demonstrates wonderfully the value of friendships and the ups and downs of sibling relationships. I truly adored this and no doubt I shall be yelling about it for a long while.

Gilded Cage by Vic James

Rating: 7/10
Published: 26/01/17
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 405
Synopsis from Goodreads: NOT ALL ARE FREE. NOT ALL ARE EQUAL. NOT ALL WILL BE SAVED. 

Our world belongs to the Equals—aristocrats with magical gifts—and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England's grandest estate lies a power that could break the world. 

A girl thirsts for love and knowledge.

Abi is a servant to England's most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family's secrets might win her liberty, but will her heart pay the price? 

A boy dreams of revolution.

Abi's brother, Luke, is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution. 

And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate—or destroy?

Gilded Cage is the first book of the Dark Gifts trilogy.

I received a copy of this from my book club, which has in no way affected my review, these opinions are very much my own.

Set in modern day England in a world where Skilled Equals rule and force the common people to give away ten years of their life as slave, Gilded Cage focuses around the Hadley family as they serve their slave days under one of the most influential Equal families. This book is a really interesting twist on young adult fantasy, that in many ways seems very relevant to the modern world as we know it!

I feel as though I've read several books of a very similar style to this - Red Queen and The Hunger Games to name a couple. Gilded Cage has a really beautiful setting and is an original spin on the magical rich vs poor-style universe and I loved that it's set in modern day England rather than a fictional location. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of that kind of fantasy book as it's definitely not one to be missed! It has a lot of really interesting characters and some twists that will shock you - some of which I was speculating about thinking to myself "nah that won't happen" and they turned out to be true (always the best feeling, right?!).

Although I enjoyed this book a lot I struggled with the romance between Abi and Jenner, it seemed quite forced and felt like, in several instances, this bright and wonderful female character was reduced to just being in love with a boy. However I'm aware that as this is part of a series it may well develop a lot more in the following books. Abi's a really wonderful character and I hope that she'll be able to bloom in herself in the future and become the badass lady I know she could be.

The only other thing I wasn't sure about was the synopsis, which I found somewhat misleading. I don't feel that everything that was mentioned on the cover actually happened? Not to the extent to which it's described anyway, but maybe that's just me! That's not to say that you shouldn't pick it up though because I promise it's a good'un, I just feel as though Abi doesn't particularly face a "terrible choice", that I noticed at least.

Overall, Gilded Cage is a really interesting fantasy book with lots going on in a setting that seems very poignant in today's society. The ending left me with a lot of questions, and although it seemed a little bit rushed in some aspects it's definitely made me want to know more, so I'll almost certainly be picking up book two! I'll be interested to see where it all goes from here, Dark Gifts certainly has a lot of potential.

Unconventional by Maggie Harcourt

Rating: 9/10

Published: 1st February 2017
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
Pages: 464
Synopsis from Goodreads: Lexi Angelo has grown up helping her dad with his events business. She likes to stay behind the scenes, planning and organizing...until author Aidan Green - messy haired and annoyingly arrogant - arrives unannounced at the first event of the year. Then Lexi's life is thrown into disarray.

In a flurry of late-night conversations, mixed messages and butterflies, Lexi discovers that some things can't be planned. Things like falling in love...

I received a proof copy of this from my book club, which has in no way affected my review, these opinions are very much my own!

My first thoughts going into this were that it sounded like good fun, I was buzzing for a story at a convention but I'll admit that I was somewhat apprehensive that I wouldn't enjoy it because I'm not always the biggest fan of contemporaries that centre around romance (I think it's something to do with my potential aromanticism but that's besides the point!). I honestly loved this book so SO much!!

Set at across a number of conventions run by the company Lexi's dad owns, Unconventional is a ridiculously slow burn that's set over a number of months, in various locations. It's just such an enjoyable read and let me tell you, there's something magical about reading a book that's about books and authors and sci-fi-related nerd things!

Unconventional features some truly beautiful characters, all of whom you read and can immediately picture or think to yourself "yep I definitely know somebody like them!" which is something I always look for in a good contemporary. I fell in love with Aidan absolutely and completely which very rarely happens to me and I was left with such a book hangover it's actually quite embarrassing...

As you may have noticed if you've read any of my previous reviews (or if you've ever seen my tweets) I'm a fiend for a good diverse set of characters which I really think that Unconventional delivered on! Especially with the casual mention (I don't think it's really a spoiler?!) that her mum has a girlfriend now! I just loved that it slipped in an LGBT+ mention like it was nothing, like it was -woah hold up one second- normal??? It shouldn't be something that I should have to keep mentioning when I review books because it shouldn't be something that's unusual but I'm seeing more and more casual mention of LGBT+ characters and I love it! 

Anyway overall Unconventional was a super fun, easy and thoroughly enjoyable read with relatable characters who you will definitely love! Check it out because it's wonderful (and leave me a wee comment if you feel the same or otherwise)!

P.s. thanks to Liverpool One Waterstones YA book club for getting us copies of this beauty! 

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Rating: 7/10
Published: 5th January 2017
Publisher: Walker Books
Pages: 384
Synopsis from Goodreads: Jandy Nelson meets Friday Night Lights: a sweeping story about love and family from an exceptional new voice in YA. With a grandmother from China and another from Ghana, fifteen-year-old Wing Jones is often caught between worlds. But when tragedy strikes, Wing discovers a talent for running she never knew she had. Wing's speed could bring her family everything it needs. It could also stop Wing getting the one thing she wants.

Set in 1990s Atlanta, Wing Jones struggles to come to terms with the humongous amounts of heartbreak that life has dealt her and as a result of her latest blow she starts to run in the middle of the night to clear her head and low and behold she's absolutely fantastic at it!
Wing Jones is so diverse it is amazing! There are so many characters of colour (as Wing has both Chinese and Ghanaian heritage), more so than I think I have ever read in a book before which is truly wonderful! And on top of this there's an LGBT+ couple featured, which as you know if you have me on social media is something I am always keen on!

The book features so many different plots and experiences which all weave together beautifully, like, there's so much going on in Wing's life with her family, school, relationships, running etc. etc. and yet it all fits in a completely unconfusing and fulfilling way.

I'm certain I'm not alone in saying that Wing's grannies completely stole the show for me throughout this book. Their constant bickering and yet obvious reliance on each other and their importance at the centre of their family was both hilarious and beautiful. The huge focus on family and supporting one another through tragedy is something that, I think, makes Wing Jones so special.

Further to the heartbreak and general toughness in Wing's everyday life, she also develops a relationship with her brother's best friend, her first ever relationship. Considering the difficult times that they were both going through I believe that their relationship developed well and as naturally as I suppose it could given their situation (shan't disclose because spoilers!). The balance of this romance within the book was perfect, there was enough focus on it for you to feel warm and fuzzy while you're reading it but it didn't become the main focus of the plot which was really great. It had romance but it didn't make it become a romance.

Unfortunately I did have one problem with this book which was such a shame as I really did enjoy it a huge amount. I just found the ending to be so abrupt like there were about 50 pages missing. I haven't read another review where people have expressed feeling the same way but I was left with about a hundred questions and not in a good way? I felt like I had to let go of Wing and her life before I really felt like I was ready to, which frustrated me because I had become so invested! I'm not trying to say that there were plot holes or anything like that, just that I would have loved to have a little bit more to really get a sense that her and her family are getting on alright now, they're muddling through and things are looking up. In my imagination that's certainly what happened anyway! Although I suppose it could be seen as a good thing that we can draw from it what we want for her?

Anyway, overall the was a phenomenally diverse and beautiful story which I'd definitely recommend that you check out! And if you have any similar (or completely different!) opinions to me please pop them in a comment below I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard

Rating: 8/10
Published: 25th February 2016
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Pages: 322
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

I was brave

She was reckless

We were trouble 

Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

Beautiful Broken Things is another one of those books which has been on my TBR for way too long, but I finally got around to it, having heard many good things and I was by no means disappointed!!
It has a beautiful storyline focusing on the importance of strong friendships as well as demonstrating the lengths people will go to for someone who is dear to them.

I'll admit that I found the main character Caddy annoying at times and noticed myself yelling at her "Come on!! What are you doing you plonker!!!???" but honestly I think that it was mostly in a good way. I understood where she was coming from and the reason that she made the choices which she did, even if they did make me cross! It's in this way that I think Sara Barnard really captures such realistic and relatable characters which makes this book so special. I can remember, back when I was 16/17, being in the same position as Rosie at some points, watching someone I care about a lot being swept up and making terrible decisions and saying to them "yes but you get that this is silly right?" but knowing they'll most certainly go and do it anyway!

One of the things I enjoyed the most about Beautiful Broken Things is that it deals with some really serious issues (I shan't disclose for spoiler reasons but ask me if you want to know them for your own safety etc.) in a way that is completely honest and believable. The emotions and reactions that the characters showed to finding out these things were very realistic, from my experience, and it was refreshing to see responses that were so truthful, because let's be honest people rarely understand and are able to say exactly the right things at the right times in real life!

The other thing that I enjoyed about this book is that it isn't all about boys, of course they featured because Caddie is set on getting a boyfriend and losing her virginity - which really frustrated me, I am just so unlike her in this way and there are so many more important things in life!! But the strong friendships between these girls were at the heart of this book and were what made it so enjoyable. There was no real romance, which I know a lot of people appreciate, but for me it was nice to read something where the main character didn't suddenly fall in love and live happily ever after, or spend pages and pages rambling on about how dreamy this boy is (ew no thanks)!

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's focus on strong females and accurate representations of teenagers making stupid choices was honest and I really loved it. I did have issues purely because I clashed in character with Caddy in some ways, but this is by no means a fault of the book I think it just happens sometimes! I can't wait to read A Quiet Kind of Thunder soon and see what more Sara Barnard has for us in the future. If you haven't already, read Beautiful Broken Things - I'm sure you'll really enjoy it.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Rating: 9/10
Published: 3rd October 2014
Publisher: Mira Ink
Pages: 368
Synopsis from Goodreads: It's 1959. The battle for civil rights is raging. And it's Sarah Dunbar's first day of school, as one of the first black students at the previously all-white Jefferson High. No one wants Sarah there. Not the Governor. Not the teachers. And certainly not the students – especially Linda Hairston, daughter of the town’s most ardent segregationist. Sarah and Linda have every reason to despise each other. But as a school project forces them to spend time together, the less their differences seem to matter. And Sarah and Linda start to feel something they've never felt before. Something they're both determined ignore. Because it's one thing to be frightened by the world around you - and another thing altogether when you're terrified of what you feel inside.

Before even starting this book I knew it would be wonderful, it came highly recommended and every single time I mentioned it someone would say "Ah it's amazing!!" which is always a good sign. Also, I know you aren't meant judge a book by it's cover or whatever but when said cover has the quote "Even though she's a girl, even though she's coloured, I want to keep kissing Sarah forever." on it I reckon you're allowed to, right? I certainly did anyway, and I judged correctly because it was everything that I have ever needed from a book ever.

It follows the story of two girls in high school in America during the late 1950s, Sarah is one of the first black students to integrate into a previously all-white school whilst Linda is the daughter of a powerful man who is fighting to maintain segregation. Neither of them want to have anything to do with each other and they would both much rather things went back to the way they were before, despite the conditions of Sarah's previous school being much worse, the aggression that she and her friends must face everyday makes her wish she could go back, but she knows how important their perseverance is for all of their community.
Somehow Linda and Sarah end up working on a school project together, spending more time with each other than they would like, they spend their afternoons arguing about pretty much everything but gradually they both begin to change. Linda in particular starts to see that things aren't quite a clear-cut as her father has been telling her for her whole life and it's interesting to read her side of things - she has so many ideas about the way life "should" be and the way she makes excuses for how Sarah is "different to all the other black people" simply because she is intelligent is just, well, shocking really. Everything that Linda has been brought up and brainwashed into thinking about people of colour is truly irrational and ridiculous and it made me so so angry! Particularly so because whilst reading this you know that this isn't just a story, this happened and is continuing to happen to a certain extent to this day.

The way in which Lies We Tell Ourselves deals with the harsh reality of the racial issues whilst combining this with the story of two girls developing feelings for each other and realising they're not "normal" by their societies' terms is truly brilliant. Without spoiling completely, I just want to also express how much I loved that this wasn't all about coming out and being welcomed by your family or anything, it's somehow more subtle than that and it dealt with sexuality in a different way to most of the books that I've read before which I found quite refreshing.

Lies We Tell Ourselves was a wonderfully honest and diverse novel that I truly loved.

Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

Rating: 9/10
Published: 7th July 2016
Publisher: Chicken House
Pages: 272
Synopsis from Goodreads: Agoraphobia confines Norah to the house she shares with her mother.

For her, the outside is sky glimpsed through glass, or a gauntlet to run between home and car. But a chance encounter on the doorstep changes everything: Luke, her new neighbour. Norah is determined to be the girl she thinks Luke deserves: a ‘normal’ girl, her skies unfiltered by the lens of mental illness. Instead, her love and bravery opens a window to unexpected truths …

An important and uplifting debut from a British author, which tackles mental health issues such as agoraphobia and OCD.

As someone who is battling mental illness and isn't afraid to discuss it, reading a book as honest and heart-wenching as this is a pure joy. Under Rose-Tainted Skies truly manages to find the balance between a beautiful storyline and a painfully truthful depiction of life with mental illness. I went into this book with little knowledge about agoraphobia, despite being someone who strives to raise awareness about mental health issues, but the way in which Gornall describes Norah's struggles with both agoraphobia and OCD left me feeling a great deal more aware (and who doesn't love a book where they learn stuff right!?). Although I can't relate directly to the illness-specific issues which Norah faces in this book, the experiences of panic which are described are something that I can sympathise with. I struggle to understand how someone can manage to explain such an experience within a novel but Louise Gornall does it and she does it so well! It's a truly honest insight into what panic attacks can be like and I hope that everyone who reads this will go away with more understanding about what it is like to experience one (because they don't teach you that stuff in school and it's really important for people to understand!).

The main character Norah is a teen who is dependent on the Internet as her access to the world outside of her room. She only leaves the house to visit her therapist and even this is a huge struggle for her. As we meet her she has just seen that she has a new neighbour, called Luke, she is immediately curious about him but it's incredibly difficult to meet someone when you have the problems that she does. Gradually Luke manages to work his way into Norah's life, despite the huge number of doubts which Norah experiences, and Norah is left to consider factors that she's never needed to give any thought to before now.
It has been quite sometime since I have encountered a character that I love as much Norah, she is so incredibly strong and despite all of the enormous problems that she faces daily she continues to fight. Reading about her courage and bravery throughout Under Rose-Tainted Skies has truly inspired me with my own struggles.

The highlight of this book for me is the fact that this isn't just a book about a girl with mental illness who meets a boy and is suddenly able to overcome the issues which have been controlling her life for years. It's a book about the struggles that come with trying to have relationships, platonic or otherwise, when you are battling mental illness, the difficulties that you face constantly within your own mind which do not go away when you meet someone new, regardless of how intriguing and exciting they are. A concept that it is so important for society to understand.

This book was an absolute joy to read, I whizzed through it eager to see what would happen next and I was never disappointed! Under Rose-Tainted Skies is a beautifully sincere depiction of agoraphobia but it is also so much more than that, it's an amazing book with an amazing storyline and characters that you will definitely fall in love with (Norah's mum is my absolute fave!). I cannot wait to see what Louise Gornall has got to come if this debut is anything to go by. Fantastic!

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Rating: 5/10

Upon starting this book I was apprehensive, I picked it up from the local library on a whim. I had previously looked at it and been somewhat put off by the fact that it sounds like a girl who's mental illness is "fixed" when she meets a boy- something which is quite obviously both offensive and frustrating because it is not that simple! To a certain extent my initial thoughts were proven to be true but I did enjoy Finding Audrey more that I thought I would.

It follows the life of Audrey who is struggling with anxiety disorders and depressive episodes, she left school following an incident (which we never really get to understand) with several classmates which lead to a breakdown. When we meet her she only leaves the house to go to see her therapist and she wears dark sunglasses at all times to avoid eye contact. Audrey's progress in recovery improves when she meets a friend of her brother, named Linus, he challenges her to face her issues and encourages her along the way. Of course, mental health recovery is a difficult journey and as far as Audrey is concerned she has lots of other problems to deal with, not just regarding her mental health but with all aspects of her life.

The book is split between first person narrative and extracts of screen plays from recordings that Dr Sarah, Audrey's therapist, has asked her to make of her life. It focuses a great deal on her family- both parents and two brothers- and the goings on in their home. Somewhat, I think to the detriment of actually getting to know what Audrey herself is like, we get an insight into her family home and the tensions there. There is a lot description of the discussions between her older brother and her mum, who believes he spends too much time on computers (because the Daily Mail told her so) and it almost feels as though they are the forefront of the story, which isn't what I expected but does result in some very entertaining scenes.

I did enjoy this book but I feel that it lacks something that many other books covering the topic of mental illness have managed to grasp. Audrey is suddenly able to overcome her social anxiety when Linus challenges her to do something, even though she had only been making slow progress before meeting him which, as I mentioned, is so annoying and unrealistic! It was a fun read, it did make me laugh, and the development of family dynamics was a joy, but Finding Audrey failed to deliver on the area of mental health issues, which was the main purpose of the book in the first place!

Overall I would recommend Finding Audrey if you're looking for something quick and fun to read this summer but don't expect to come out of it feeling as though you are enlightened on what life with anxiety disorders is like, because it truly does not give as much insight as it could have done. An enjoyable book that, sadly, didn't quite fill the criteria that I was looking for.