Touching the Void by Joe Simpson

In 1985 Joe Simpson and Simon Yates decided to take on the unbeaten challenge of climbing the West Face of Siula Grande, a mountain in Peru. Little did they know the nightmare that was awaiting them. They faced some of nature's fiercest powers including changing weather, extreme cold and mighty cliffs hiding in poor visibilty. Touching the Void is the true tale of the events and psychological trauma they faced.

As you can tell from my blog, I mostly read YA fiction even though I run a floor filled with non-fiction books. This is mostly because I love to escape and get sucked into the author's world when I'm reading and this isn't so easy to do when you're reading something that is factual. It takes me a lot longer to work my way through non-fiction books because they are a lot easier to put down and forget about for a few days. So when I tell you that I was hooked and really struggled to stop reading Touching the Void this should give you an idea of just how good it is!

It took me a chapter or so to get into the book as Joe sets the scene and describes the run up to the climb but once I got used to the style of writing and the setting I found I didn't want to stop. Simpson describes everything so well and I found that I got sucked into the setting just like I do with fiction. At times I could have used a dictionary as Simpson mentions various climbing terms that I'm not familiar with even though I now know a little bit about climbing and so perhaps a glossary would be useful but even this didn't spoil  the book for me. Simpson crafts his and Yates' experiences so vividly that when I read the part where Joe's leg gets broken I literally felt dizzy (I'm really not good with broken bones!). The way that they faced death and overcame truly is powerful and terrifying and towards the end I was so desperate for Joe to reach the camp before it was too late. Even though you know how it will end you still experience the doubt and uncertainty along with Joe and Simon every step of the way.

This is a dramatic and gripping read that tells the story of how two men showed true courage in the face of some of nature and life's toughest challenges. If you like adventure, travel, climbing or a thrilling tale then this book is for you, even if non-fiction isn't really your thing. And even if you're only mildly curious you should give it a go!

I give it 9/10 (because even now I'm not entirely sure I what a crampon is! Perhaps I should invest in the accompanying York Notes...)

Title: Touching the Void
Author: Joe Simpson
Publisher: Vintage
Travel Autobiography/ Outdoor Pursuits

By Any Other Name by Laura Jarratt

Taken from the back cover:
"I picked up the book and thumbed through the pages.
Names in alphabetical order,
names with meanings,
names I knew,
names I'd never heard of.
How to pick? Nothing that would stand out, nothing that would link me to the past -
those were the instructions.
The past.
As if everything that had gone before this moment was buried already.

New girl, new school, new home, new life - everything about Holly is new. That's the point of witness protection; nobody knows the truth. But one wrong move will put her whole family in danger..."

The idea of the story of a girl in witness protection sounded like it could be good as you can imagine the possible danger she could be in as well as expecting the back story as to why she's in witness protection in the first place as being quite exciting. Add in the selling point that it's written by an author who is rumoured to be pretty good and you've got me interested. I am happy to say that for once I wasn't going to be let down!

By Any Other Name is a really good story that is brilliantly written and very gripping especially as Jarratt doesn't feed you everything at once but keeps you hooked by dangling little pieces of information within your grasp and then just when you think Holly is going to reveal something major she snatches it away again! It was done in a way that kept you hanging on without infuriating you and so you just wanted to keep reading.

Holly is your typical teenage girl who finds herself being confronted by some uncomfortable truths and so has to decide what to do with what she learns, growing and discovering who she really is and who she wants to be. She acts exactly as any normal teenager would, giving in to temptation when it becomes too great and then experiencing the regret that goes with it. I really loved her honesty. She has so much more to deal with than most and Jarratt does a fantastic job of writing each issue into the plot. Joe is also brilliantly written. I loved him instantly as he's that darker, more appealing type and by the end he is so warm that he really works his way into your heart. You really go on an emotional journey as you feel the loss and hurt and happiness along with each of these characters. Jarratt's characters really come alive as you read them and they are so beautifully human.

Overall, this is a good, solid read and is perfect for any teenage girl (or woman!) who loves a gripping and emotional novel set in the real world. Plus it's a stand alone novel which is an added bonus these days!

I give it 8/10!

Title: By Any Other Name
Author: Laura Jarratt
Publisher: Electric Monkey (Egmont)
Teenage Fiction

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam are two robber dogs but they're not very good at it. They concoct a plan to steal from their neighbours by luring them to a party and so have to bake lots of yummy food for the neighbours to eat. Once again their plan goes wrong but perhaps they'll stumble across a possible career change instead...

I really adore this book! It's such a happy and fun tale and the illustrations are superb! The characters are so expressive (look, there's even an angry penguin!), the colours are bright and the cakes look delicious!

The use of rhyme works really well and there's the added bonus of spotting the spider on every double page spread - it's not always as easy as you'd think! It's a good story for looking at right and wrong and it really cheered up my colleague who was having a bad day. Nosy Crow have also included a QR code that links to a free audio recording of the book which is pretty good and includes a ping sound to tell your child when to turn the page. It's a really great way to start to introduce the digital element to reading as well as giving you that little something extra. 

The only negative point I can raise is that my colleague accidentally misread the first word of the title as a rude word but hopefully this isn't something children are likely to do as in theory it shouldn't be in their vocabulary!

Overall this is a brilliant picture book and one I'm definitely going to be recommending! It always puts a smile on my face every time I read it :)

I give it 9/10!

Title: Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam

Author/Illustrator: Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton

Publisher: Nosy Crow

Children's Picture Book

Torn by Cat Clarke

Taken from Waterstones.com:
"Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt. Alice King isn't expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish Wilderness, but she's not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares... Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there's Tara - queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she like nothing better than putting people down. Cass decides it's time to teach Tara a lesson she'll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever..."

To tell you how good this book is, let me set the scene for you: It's a Friday night after a long and hard week at work. I've finally succumbed to a bad case of hay fever and have picked up a nasty cold on top of that which has left me feeling wrecked but I have a long day at work ahead of me on Saturday and so I want nothing more than to go to bed and try to sleep it off but I'm not yet sleepy as it's only 7pm. I'm reading another book but tonight I just can't face it because it's been so predictable so far. I spot Torn on the top of my reading pile and decide to start that instead, intending to put it down by 8pm to finally get some rest. As it starts I'm intrigued as Clarke doesn't jump in and tell you what happened on the trip straight away. Suddenly I find that I've run out of pages and it's after midnight. And I'm a little disappointed as I want to know what happens next! Do they all get arrested?! Does Alice make it up with Jack?! It was a true gripping page turner that somehow made me forget just how truly terrible I was feeling!

Clarke's style of writing is really easy to get carried away in. The whole book is fast-paced and done well. The characters are all brilliantly written too. Rae is a girl who keeps to herself and this comes across really well as instead of mentioning that she's like this at relevant points, Clarke doesn't mention her at all or if Alice is thinking of Rae she doesn't suddenly see her standing alone in a quiet corner or something in the way that some authors use to try to portray this type of character. It makes it much more realistic and it really is like you're in Alice's head.

With regards to Alice's head, I had quite an eerie experience whilst reading this novel. Alice was scarily like me! I've never identified with a character so strongly and so it was weird getting an insight into how things could be if I did one or two things differently and was bothered about popularity. (Just to clarify for any friends who read this, I wouldn't have gone along with the prank and would have gone for a teacher!) I love how Alice loves to go and hide in the library. It really was one of my favourite places to escape to and I highly recommend it!

The sequence of events flow really well and until Alice finds out the truth of what happened you can't quite work it out either. The whole way through you really get a sense of Alice's anxiety and it really is easy to imagine that this could happen in real life. You know what Alice is probably going to do in the end as you can tell what kind of girl she is really, but this doesn't take anything away from the story and the way it ends really does keep you hanging and wanting to know more (in a good way!).

This book should appeal to teenage girls (and grownups!) who are looking for a book without fantasy but that remains gripping and full of tension. There is a bit of sexual tension with the adorable love interest but it isn't anything too explicit. It's like the film Mean Girls but with a darker twist. It also contains the warning to be wary of the quiet girl who everyone puts down all of the time as when opportunity comes they might just find a permanent way to get revenge...

I give it 9/10!

Title: Torn
Author: Cat Clarke
Publisher: Quercus
Teenage Fiction

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Josie Moraine is the daughter of a brothel prostitute living in 1950's New Orleans. She works in a bookshop whilst dreaming of escaping The Big Easy and would love to go to college, if only she could get accepted and afford it, but girls like her don't find it that easy to break free from their social situation. When one of her more charming customers is murdered on New Years Eve it sets Josie on a path that threatens to suck her further into New Orleans' underworld.

This book managed that rare thing where it took me by surprise! I had assumed that it wouldn't be that tense or exciting but I found it really difficult to put down. Sepetys writing style really draws the reader in and the short length of the chapters means you find it really easy to keep turning the pages, frequently saying to yourself "just one more chapter before bed." The pacing of the novel is quick but not so much that it rushes through the plot making you feel like you're missing details. You can never be sure what is lurking around the corner! Sepetys creates distinctive characters and weaves them into a vivid world threaded with realism. Right and wrong become slightly blurred as the characters operate in a darker world than most of us are accustomed to and so has slightly different rules. Josie is trying to straddle both this darker world and the high society one that she aspires to, creating a slight moral dilemma that she manages to deal with well and without flinching. Sepetys also creates some very strong female characters which is not something I would initially have expected from a piece of writing set in this time period when men are often presented in history as being much more dominant.

'Out of the Easy' contains all of those elements that help to make a great novel: great characters, a realistic world, love, mystery, betrayal and danger. Each one is crafted very well. It's definitely one I'd recommend reading although it isn't suitable for younger readers. There aren't any explicit sex scenes, swearing or extreme violence but the theme is much more adult as it talks about brothels and prostitution as well as death, illness and the mafia.

I give it 8/10 :)

Title: Out of the Easy
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Puffin

Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman

Kaspar has grown up in a society that prides itself on being one that takes the moral high ground. He signs up to become a Guardian, the group who protect the society against the attacks of the Insurgents. His side have to fight against those who would seek to overthrow the ruling society but unlike the Insurgents, the Guardians never seek to kill or seriously harm those they are protecting their civilians from. A chance encounter with an Insurgent leaves Kapar with some unexpected effects: he begins to see memories that are not his own. As he runs into this same Insurgent again and again he starts to try to make sense of what is going on, only to discover that all is not as it seems. Is it possible that Kaspar and his fellow citizens are being lied to by those who have sworn to protect and rule them?

Once again I feel that the cover for the advanced reading copy is better than that of the finished book. The silver on the plain black background is particularly effective.

I must be one of the only people in the world who wasn't completely bowled over by Noughts and Crosses. I think it's the kind of book I would have enjoyed more if I had read it when I was still at school. However, the cover for the advanced reading copy really drew me in as there wasn't a single detail other than the release date and twitter hashtag and so it piqued my curiosity. Malorie Blackman has also come up a lot at work recently and so I thought I'd give this novel a chance.

Okay so I have to get this out of the way: Why why why must authors resort to such use of swear words so often?! I know, it's partially to reflect the way people speak but is it really necessary? I know plenty of people who rarely, if ever, use swear words and it just really irritates me when an author can't find or chooses not to use a better way of expressing what their characters are saying/thinking! Blackman hasn't been as bad as some but it still didn't add anything to the telling of the story for me. Okay, rant over.

So the best thing about this novel is that it is a stand alone! Woohoo! It is such a relief to have a story begin and end within one book. So much of the teen market is filled with series stories. Whilst these books are good, it becomes frustrating if you can't read the whole series when you want to as you forget details but can't necessarily re-read the previous instalments. Things also become muddled, particularly if two series have similar themes (such as angels or vampires). Blackman probably could have padded this story out to make it more than one novel but it wouldn't have added anything and so I am glad she didn't.

I enjoyed Noble Conflict a lot more than Noughts and Crosses. Blackman isn't trying to force anything that goes against mainstream experience on the reader and so it is much easier to read and get lost in. She creates the world brilliantly. You have no idea where it is set in terms of the real world and this anonymity means you are free to see it how you like without having to picture a country you have limited experience of. For all you know, it could be the future for your own country! The premise is nothing new but it is done well. The plot elements all sit well with the reader. Those that are unfamiliar are not so removed as to be unbelievable. The characters are good ordinary people who's talents are within the realms of the possible (well, aside from the touch-empathy thing). This makes them easy to visualise and connect with. Perhaps Mac lets Kaspar off a bit easily at the end but for once the experience of hope for a happy future is not a huge let down. Of course, everything revolves around Kaspar. He ends up being the one in the thick of things and who figures out the truth. However, I can't get annoyed about this as everyone does it - often there wouldn't be much of a story without it!

The story contained within the pages of Noble Conflict reveals how those in power can have a tendency to misuse their power and become so desperate to hang on to it that they will do terrible things. It also contains the hope that eventually these things will get found out. It is possible to make links to many of history's famous dictatorships. The people of Nazi Germany weren't necessarily aware of the true horrors of the concentration camps. Those in North Korea and China aren't necessarily fully informed of the truth. It makes you begin to wonder just what our government is keeping from us...

Overall, Noble Conflict is well written, fast-paced and has a good plot. It is a novel I would recommend and is suitable for both boys and girls. There is a slight hint of sexuality and, as mentioned above, there are frequent incidents of swearing, yet neither is overdone and are within the limits that are often seen to be acceptable by the majority with regards to the intended readership.

I give it 7/10 :)

Title: Noble Conflict
Author: Malorie Blackman
Publisher: Doubleday
Teenage Fiction

Sever (The Chemical Garden Trilogy) by Lauren DeStefano

Spoiler alert (if you haven't read the first two instalments)! 

Wither: Rhine Ellery is sixteen years old but only has 4 years left to live thanks to a virus that kills females some time after their twentieth birthday and males around their twenty-fifth. With no cure for the virus, the world has lost hope and has begun to fall apart. Young girls are frequently kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to help keep the population alive. Rhine is one of those unfortunate enough to be taken by the Gatherers and sold to a cruel man (Vaughn) to be a wife for his son Linden. Linden already has a wife (Rose) whom he dearly loves but her time is almost up and so his father has bought him the unusual Rhine with heterochromatic eyes, the beautiful Jenna and the very young Cecily, all three of whom have been kidnapped by the Gatherers. Linden is kind to them all and becomes particularly fond of Rhine but she longs for freedom and to reunite with her twin brother, Rowan. With the deaths of Rose and Jenna and the birth of Cecily's son Bowen, Rhine can't help but begin to bond with her new 'family' but she also begins to fall for the servant Gabriel and so desires to help him know freedom too.

Fever: Rhine escapes with Gabriel, and immediately falls into a trap in the form of a twisted carnival where Madame rules. She makes Rhine her star attraction but Rhine is still desperate to make it back to Manhattan and reunite with Rowan. Together, Rhine and Gabriel manage to escape but sorrow awaits Rhine at her former home and then she begins to become increasingly ill even though it is not yet her time to die. Linden's father hunts her down and uses Rhine for his twisted experiments.

Sever (taken from waterstones.com): 'Time is running out for Rhine. With less than three years left until the virus claims her life, Rhine is desperate for answers. Having escaped torment at Vaughn's mansion, she finds respite in the dilapidated home of her husband's uncle, an eccentric inventor who hates Vaughn almost as much as Rhine does. Rhine's determination to be reunited with her twin brother, Rowan, increases as each day brings terrifying revelations to light about his involvement in an underground resistance. She realizes must find him before he destroys the one thing they have left: hope. In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano's The Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future - and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.'

I first read Wither over 18 months ago and Fever a year ago and so I found I struggled a bit to remember what happened. Ideally I think you need to read all three books together to get the full impact and enjoyment from them as I found I was a bit distant from past events by the time I got to read Sever. I really enjoyed Wither but, as with a lot of trilogies, I found that Fever wasn't quite as good. I think that possibly this is to do with the fact that the story moves on from its original setting. You become accustomed to the world that exists in the first main setting and then it all changes and you lose the sense of being fully immersed in that world. The same happens in The Hunger Games, Matched and Delirium (or at least it did for me). Add this to the delay in being able to read Sever and it did ruin the reading experience for me. If I have the time I would definitely love to read all three together, but sadly I can't for the time being and so I'm sorry if this review lets the trilogy down. It also means I'm not really sure how to approach this review. I don't feel able to review Sever on its own but it's been so long since I read the first two instalments that I can't really do them justice with Sever either and so I hope this makes sense!

In Sever you get to know Cecily well but Linden becomes more distant, reflecting how Rhine's relationships with them both changes. Rhine herself remains fairly constant although she isn't as strong a character as she started out and instead goes with the flow a little more, whereas before she was much more pro-active. Throughout all three novels DeStefano manages to get across the sense of hopelessness that Rhine feels at times and you become desperate for it all to work out, yet you cannot easily predict what will happen. When death visits it is unexpected and is thus quite powerful, although DeStefano didn't quite manage to bring out the strength of emotion as successfully. In a way the style of writing makes it seem like Rhine is numb throughout a lot of this book as she experiences certain traumatic events but you almost feel as if she shouldn't be. Like Rhine I found I couldn't help but like Linden's uncle. He's brilliantly written and was a great addition to the cast in this book. The titles also reflect the contents of each novel which makes a nice change as recently there have been a lot of books with catchy titles that don't accurately or easily associate with their contents. Rhine begins to wither when she is trapped in Linden's house in book 1, she develops a fever after her escape in book 2 and there is the severing of various connections in book 3. 

One of the odd things about this trilogy is that it is so involved in the affairs of one family yet is supposed to have repercussions on a larger scale without ever really connecting with those in power. This has the effect of removing some of the realism and so lets the trilogy down a little. Perhaps it would work better if the story stuck with the consequences for Linden's family and left out those for the rest of the country, or went into more depth about those outside of the family to help make the consequences that little bit more believable. I also found the ending wasn't as strong as I anticipated. In the end it was all a bit too easy and there were no real negative consequences even though murder is committed, two characters could potentially have been seriously ill, and everyone wins even when logically they shouldn't be able to have access to certain things. 

Having said all of this, I still really enjoyed the trilogy. I loved the idea of a society that is suffering in this way (in a novel, not in real life!). The helplessness of the characters is brilliantly written and you really do begin to fear Vaughn. The world is convincing. The characters are vivid. Yes it could perhaps have been done better but it is still quite good and is worth a read. Just don't expect to feel all warm and fuzzy and full of soppy romantic feelings by the end!

I give Wither 7.5/10, Fever 6/10 and Sever 6.5/10 and so overall I give The Chemical Garden trilogy 6.5/10 :)

Title: Sever (The Chemical Garden trilogy)

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Teenage Fiction