The Hit by Melvin Burgess

There is a drug that will help give you the best week of your life. You'll feel healthy and more alive than ever before. Others who have taken it have filled their week with as many extreme life experiences as possible including climbing Everest, consuming huge amounts of alcohol and of course having lots of sex. But as with all things that sound so wonderful there is a catch. At the end of seven days, almost to the second, you will die. There is no antidote, no way of surviving this drug once you've taken it. You get your week and that is it. The name of this drug? Death. Adam has managed to score a date with a gorgeous girl to a concert that will go down in history. The lead singer, Jimmy Earle, is rumoured to have taken Death, but has had to deny the rumours as those in charge fear the consequences if he has. The UK is 20 years into a recession that doesn't seem to be getting any easier. There is a group called The Zealots who seek revolution and who won't hesitate to take advantage of the chaos that ensues after the concert. In the events that follow Adam becomes tempted to take Death himself, risking everything including his family, girlfriend and a future in football. Will he take the ultimate high? Would you?

If you could take a drug that would help you to live the best week of your life before you die, would you? This question was what first caught my eye and got me interested in this book. Most of my friends concluded that they would only take it if they were already dying, the purpose for which this fictional drug was invented. It did spark some fascinating conversations though.

The Hit promised so much and in some ways it delivered. There was lots of action and suspense but things never quite reached a satisfying climax. Adam and Lizzie were reasonably realistic but for a main character I found Adam a bit difficult to like. Lizzie gained a lot more of my sympathy early on and I found it much easier to connect with her. Their emotions are incredibly well written though, making their experiences feel more realistic. Christian was brilliantly written as I genuinely found him an intimidating character and was scared of what he might do next. There wasn't much world building but as the UK riots in 2011 are still reasonably fresh in my memory I didn't have too much trouble picturing the scene. The whole thing felt a bit rushed but on the whole it was a good book. It has that raw and real feel that a lot of books are missing and that will successfully draw in the teenage audience. I am a bit disappointed with the ending (spoiler alert!). I think The Hit would be stronger if it delivered the doom it promised instead of wimping out with a happily ever after ending that also provides a bit of a pro-drug message. This would make the book linger with you that little bit longer but instead by the end I found I wasn't too bothered.

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh as I've read quite a few brilliant books recently and so this one was up against some tough standards. I do think this book will do well though as it has all the things that will appeal to the target audience. There's danger, a romantic interest, a mix of realism with hints of fantasy (every guy dreams of being the hero and saving the gorgeous girl) but most of all there is the question that will draw you in and make you want to read it: would you take a drug that could give you the best week of your life even if it would kill you?

I give it 7/10.

Title: The Hit
Author: Melvin Burgess
Publisher: Chicken House
Teenage Fiction

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Taken from the back of the book:
"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."

So there's been a lot of fuss about this book. A LOT. I've picked it up on several occasions, read the blurb (above) and thought "Meh, doesn't sound that special" and put it down again. I'm not someone who reads something just because everyone else is. The last book I read because it was selling out and a complete must-read turned out to be a massive disappointment. So what changed my mind? In all honesty it was a quiet moment at work that coincided with yet another bit of fuss (the book's been published in the UK since May 2012 and yet it is still creating a bit of noise in the media in February 2013!) and so led me to pick it up and start reading. Page 1 starts half way down the page. By page 2 I was hooked. Literally. There was something about Hazel, about the way she was written, that just drew me in and made me want to keep going and see her story through to the end. She is serious, funny, intelligent, depressed (possibly) and completely real (in a fictional sense). She is a brilliant character to follow through this story. She goes from a point of being the weakest to the strongest without changing. She faces up to her reality without fear but without being sickeningly positive like she's swallowed a self-help library. She is completely compelling. And then you meet the "gorgeous plot twist" and you can't help but like him too. You know quite early on that this book is going to make you cry. It's about cancer, which usually equals doom on the crying front, and then there's young love between two fantastic characters and when you put the two together it's like it's written in the stars so complete is the inevitability of the need for tissues. Yet this book will also make you laugh. It will charm you, make you fall in love with it, break your heart and begin to comfort you all in one.

Green's style of writing is fantastic. He strikes a brilliant balance between humour, love and tragedy. The focus is all on Hazel's point of view but that isn't a negative. It allows you to see the world through her eyes but he doesn't suffocate you or leave you longing for another perspective. He also throws in lots of literary links (a few that I would have missed had I read this a few months ago and probably more that I have missed) such as Beckett's waiting for Godot and Shakespeare calling time a slut (which cues the brilliant line "What a slut time is. She screws everybody.") Overall, The Fault in Our Stars is very well-written, uncomplicated, heart-warming, emotional and devastating. It is a must-read and for good reason. Yes, you will cry but you will also laugh and love Hazel. My only regret is that I put it off for so long and I cannot wait to read more of his books (I sincerely hope they are just as good as this one!). Yes, I have become a John Green convert.

I give it 10/10!

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Publisher: Penguin
Teenage Fiction