Monday, September 21, 2015

A Bunch of Reviews

Title: A Breath of Frost (The Lovegrove Legacy #1)
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Bloomsbury
Goodreads




In 1814, three cousins—Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope—discover their family lineage of witchcraft when a binding spell is broken, allowing their individual magical powers to manifest. Now, beyond the manicured gardens and ballrooms of Regency London, an alluring underworld available only to those with power is revealed to the cousins. By claiming their power, the three cousins have accidentally opened the gates to the underworld.

Now ghouls, hellhounds—and most terrifying of all, the spirits of dark witches known as the Greymalkin Sisters—are hunting and killing young debutante witches for their powers. And, somehow, Emma is connected to the murders…because she keeps finding the bodies.

Can the cousins seal the gates before another witch is killed…or even worse, before their new gifts are stripped away?

Title: Whisper the Dead (The Lovegrove Legacy #2)
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Bloomsbury

Gretchen is struggling with her newfound gift as a Whisperer; the constant buzzing in her ears from detecting spells is more frustrating than fun, especially when she is spending time with one of the Order of Iron Nail's Keepers, the icy but strikingly handsome Tobias Lawless. But while Gretchen tries to hide the truth and resolve her feelings for him, London fades from beautiful and bustling to deathly silent ...Something evil is once again menacing Mayfair, and Gretchen and her cousins must use their powers to prevent a horrible sacrifice.

This second book in the Lovegrove Legacy trilogy is full of dark twists, spellbinding suspense and sweeping romance - perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, Lauren Kate and Ruth Warburton.
Review by Nara

The Lovegrove Legacy so far has been quite the fun read- strong female leads, magic, romance, mystery, drama...it's certainly full of elements that make for a fantastic combination together.

The characters in particular, I think, are quite well developed. The two books so far centre mostly on Emma, Gretchen and Penelope, a group of three cousins who are descendants of a long line of witches. The relationship between the three is a strong one, where it's clear that they're both family and friends. The various romances are probably less solid; although they're not instaloves or love triangles or anything overly annoying, they're also not quite as well developed as I would have liked.

While it had a lot of positive aspects, I do feel like there was an element of it being superficially entertaining, and not really going any deeper than that. There's nothing particular outstanding about the books and the plot isn't overly memorable.

This series is one that you'd tend to read more if you're looking for something quick and fun.

Liked it
Ratings
Overall: 6/10
Plot: 3/5
Romance: 2.5/5
Writing: 3/5
World Building: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 3/5

Title: Cherry Blossom Dreams
Author: Gwyneth Rees
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: Bloomsbury



Sometimes, something happens in your life that changes everything. When Sasha was six, her dad died suddenly and the world changed forever. Now she's twelve, it feels like things are changing all the time: her twin brother hardly talks to her any more, her mum's dating a teacher from school, her best friend Lily keeps going on about boys ... and Sasha doesn't feel ready for any of it. Why can't things just stay the same?

The one place she can escape is Blossom House, her secret place – an old, echoey, overgrown, beautiful, empty mansion, where the only thing that changes is the weather and the flowers in the garden. There's just one problem: it isn't hers. And even a house can have secrets ...
I think this is one of those books I would enjoyed a lot more when I was younger. The tone and themes of the book are very "coming of age", but more so for 12-15 year olds (and possibly younger). Main character Sasha is quite realistic in trying to find her place in the world through a crush on an older boy, the pressure to be "cool", the stress of keeping her mother's secret (that she's dating one of the teachers). Although I did find myself pretty frustrated with her at times, I feel like that's more so because she was so much younger, and I found it a bit difficult to relate to her as a 20 year old.

While I personally didn't overly enjoy it, I do think Cherry Blossom Dreams would still be a great book for middle grade readers.

Liked it
Ratings
Overall: 6/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 3/5

Title: Minus Me
Author: Ingelin Rossland
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: Bloomsbury

"Give this one to fans of Gabrielle Zevin's Elsewhere"—School Library Journal
During a diving competition Linda discovers that she has a rare heart condition and is told that her only hope of surviving is a heart transplant. Sensitive, introspective, and intelligent, Linda refuses to be wrapped up in cotton wool, despite her parent’s wishes. Determined to experience everything a 13-year-old girl should, Linda starts to work her way through a list of all the things she and her best friend wish to do: have a first kiss, go to a pop concert, travel without parents . . . But as Linda starts to tick these off, a mysterious emo boy called Zak appears — and always at the most unexpected moments. And he is happy to accompany her on daring escapades, particularly those that her timid best friend refuses to go on. But is Zak good or bad? And why is he the only one that Linda can share her fears with?
Minus Me is a gripping, addictive novel — written with heart-stopping emotional honesty — from one of Norway’s most acclaimed young adult writers.
Unfortunately, I think I kind of missed the point of this book. It was honestly just really difficult to understand, and it had these magical realism elements which kind of didn't make sense? I feel like the entire book was just confusing and/or cheesy and regrettably, this really wasn't to my taste. There was a plot twist at the end of the novel, some of which I did end up guessing correctly, but other aspects I didn't- so I suppose there was at least one positive in the novel.

On the other hand, the main character wasn't particularly likeable. I guess she was only 13 years old, hence making this book probably a little on the young side for me, but the way she treated her supposed best friend was odd, and I feel like a lot of her decisions were rather foolish. Maybe I should just give her the benefit of the doubt considering how young the character is, and how you're probably going to make some stupid decisions at that age. I don't know.

Well, despite this being a novel from one of Norway's "most acclaimed YA writers", I didn't really enjoy Minus Me all that much. Perhaps there was something lost in translation.

It was okay
Ratings
Overall: 5/10
Plot: 2/5
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Cover: 3/5