Popping The Cherry

 So basically this story revolves around the degrading of sex to a meaningless act - an act that if you haven't ever performed it - you're a virgin - it means you're uncool, abnormal, frigid.

Popping the Cherry exaggerated normal life in order to portray how the world is based on images and how people present themselves, and how people perceive something as the way to do it and feel if they don't do it that way they're a total failure.

You only get one first time… From driving tests to relationships, Valentina Bell thinks she’s a failure, with a big fat capital F. At this rate, she’s certain she’ll be a virgin forever. So Lena’s friends plan Operation: Popping the Cherry to help her find the perfect first time. Yet somehow disastrous dates with bad boy musicians and fabulous evenings with secretly in-the-closet guys aren’t quite working out how Lena planned. Soon Lena’s avoiding Operation: Popping the Cherry to spend time with comforting, aloof Jake, her best friend’s older brother ,who doesn’t make her feel self-conscious about still clinging to her V card. But could Jake show Lena that sometimes what you’re looking for most is right by your side? A Forever for the 21st Century.

Although there was occasionally grammatical issues and the odd weird story twist Rowl's novel came together pretty well and made for an easy stimulating read. It isn't like the storyline implies - all about sex - but instead about relationships, drama, expectations, a bit of sex, and well, highschool and the bitchiness it entails!

The characters were well developed - I loved Nathan, the gay best friend - and Jake the love interest was suitably saucy and sultry. Although there were a few awkward 'romance' scenes where it failed to deliver real chemistry Popping the Cherry portrayed high school bullying at its worst and also examined the results of peer pressure and how standing up to people can often make for the best result even if it's the most difficult option.

All in All it is an excellent debut novel from Rowl and I will look forward to her other books. It was an extremely decent length with multiple sub-plots and created a whole micro-life for the characters. It gets a well deserved 4 out of 5 and I'll undoubtedly read it again. It is published by Harlequin (UK) limited and can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for £3.29 (Kindle) and will keep you occupied for a good wee while!

Good Reading!
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Je suis arrivee en France!

Yes, I'm here! I have arrived in France - at half 11 this morning after a 6 o'clock start to get to the airport etc. I am completely exhausted and sitting on my bed, but not before I toured the surrounding neighbourhood with my mother's lovely friend and started to settle in. Who knew flying sucked the energy out of you so much??

Well I had a largely uneventful journey; apart from when my bag was searched by security as they believed I had a bomb in it! Apparently soap and torches shouldn't go next to each other! Woopsie!

I am currently in the beautiful region of Chantilly and I was able to visit the amazing Chantilly Chateau - though we didn't go in as I think I will be doing that this Thursday on my own...... I'm determined to visit the Living Museum of the Horses again (I went when I was very little with my mum and dad!)

Feeling a little homesick but I have brought my cuddly donkey as some-one's blog about ways to cope with homesickness (Yupp, I looked it up, Go Figure!) suggested having something cute and cuddly always make things better when you're down!..... However as I wasn't sure Donkey, as he smells of dog saliva (the puppy won't leave him alone) would make everything better I also bought 3 huge bars of Cadbury Bubbly in Customs as it was on a deal that properly didn't save much but I couldn't resist!

Well must dash as I have a review to write otherwise this blog's other purpose of providing excellent smashing reviews might just fade away and that wouldn't be fair to the world! Also I need to go read up on Paris as I'm meant to be visiting there tomorrow!!! Jelly aren't you??? ;)

Love to y'all
A Bientot!
La petite ecossaise en France!

Time Between Us

Every so often a book comes along that makes you, or at least me, feel proud to be an avid reader of YA fiction. 

It makes me feel like I could show it to my mother, make her read it, and say:

'Yeah, they don't seem so crap now. Do they??' - I don't know about you, but my mum says the books I read are generally crap - she tells me to read The Time Traveller's Wife or Tale of Two Cities. Well, in Time Between Us I feel I have read The Time Traveller's Wife but in modern times, written by a contemporary author. Time Between Us makes for its own classic read, I fell in love.

It's one of those books that just resonates inside you, it seems real, the characters are relatable, touchable, within reach, and you don't want to stop reading. Tamara Ireland Stone created a story I didn't want to end, I would quite happily have read Anna and Bennett's life, their day to day life, as Stone made even the most boring things interesting! Her writing style is simple and the plot itself is simple but she ties it together with a elegance that lifts the story up and makes it shine.

It follows Bennett who can travel between time and places, and Anna who is stuck in Evanstown but dreams of travelling the world. (I know on reflection it's obvious she'd love him!) Anyway Bennett is in Evanstown because someone disappeared in his own time (2012) and he has had to go to 1995 in order to fix it. He warns Anna that he can't stay for long but they still fall in love.

What I loved about Time Between Us was that the novel wasn't fixated on Anna and Bennett, Tamara introduced other characters and gave them back stories and we got to know them, meaning the novel was about more than just A and B's tummy tingling relationship; there were other characters we grow to love. 

Also Time Between Us doesn't involve any villains or evil plots, it simply is the two lovers and how their situation works out for them.

I'm giving Time Between Us a 5 out of 5  and it is published by Doubleday, a division of Random House UK and can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for £5.29 (paperback) and £4.74 (Kindle). Also made my day when I found out there was a sequel Time after Time! Woohoo!

En Bon Lu!

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Teardrop

Teardrop by Lauren Kate made for an interesting read. Although her writing might not be the most spectacular, her characters might not be extremely well developed and likeable, the overall piece makes for an enjoyable, gripping novel. I wanted to read it to the end; I wanted to know what was going to happen; I wanted to see the romance develop (although on this aspect it was very predictable, and was left until the very last pages).

It is an average novel but with enough action, story, intrigue, fantasy to encourage the reader to keep reading and it is hard to seriously pinpoint any one thing that was wrong with the novel, it was just missing something. In other words it was an enjoyable story, a series that I will look out for the next book but not one I will wait for with bated breath. However if you loved the Fallen series, then Teardrop will surely be for you as well.

Teardrop weaves the legend of Atlantis, the drowned mythic city, in a contemporary setting following Eureka (I know, bit of a stupid name - there's also Brooks and Ander.... Sorry Kate but given characters interesting names doesn't make their personalities more interesting). Basically Eureka is from a magical line of Atlantean sorcerers although she isn't aware and if she properly weeps she will cause a flood that will cause the lost city of Atlantis to resurface. However the Seedbearers are committed to preventing Eureka's floods of tears from ever happening and feel the only way to do this is to kill her, kill one to prevent the murder of thousands.

The love triangle between Eureka and Ander and Brooke would have been good if *spoiler* we hadn't guessed that Brooks wasn't possessed by Atlas, the evil Atlantean king (who hardly features bar from the end) and so everything he says some of which is so true is disregarded as the 'evil' talking and Eureka can continue on her boring slightly brattish path as she is right *spoiler end*. That was the major issue I had, none of the characters develop bar maybe Ander but that was just because we actually got to hear him speak towards the ends, rather than him hanging around in corners.

Now I'm going to give Teardrop a 3 out of 5. I keep edging towards a 4 so it's a solid 3.5 but veering towards a 3 unfortunately.... it feels like this was quite a harsh review!  It is published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books. It can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for £6.49 (paperback) or £6.15 (Kindle).

apik maca (javanese)

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Hurt, Tabitha Suzuma

I cried; plain, simple; this book is now sealed with my loving tears. SWMLT.

What I found bizarre about this book was that I hated the writing style for the majority of the novel, it was written in present tense as if someone is watching from the sidelines (so you feel very removed from the situation). Although it proved very effective in the emotional heart-wrenching  sections of the novel, it made the flow of the novel very stilted and it took me a while to get involved in the novel. But most bizarre was that Suzuma's handle of the language is amazing and so whilst hating the way she writes it I love what she writes! Needless to say I was experiencing pretty conflicting emotions as I read this book!

The plot itself was simple but extremely effective, poignant and captivating. Matheo is tipped to  represent Britain in the Olympics next year, he is a world class diver, extremely young and talented, he has an amazing girlfriend, a popular life in school with supportive, rich and smart friends. He has it all until something happens the night after he wins the Nationals and suddenly his perfect world seems full of cracks and Matheo is spiralling downwards into madness, depression and fear. Matheo is now hiding a secret so terrible it could destroy everything, but by keeping it hidden it, in turn, is destroying him.

Revealing his secret would ruin the essence of the novel, Suzuma builds the tension and hypersensitive emotional situation around the hidden secret, the fact the reader is always guessing, and when it is revealed it creates a emotional rollercoaster that left me in tears. And so it is an adventure, a ride, each reader must take for themselves as unaware of what will happen as Matheo himself, as otherwise it will end in an anticlimax; and Suzuma specialises in bringing the novel to a teetering pinpoint of emotions, as the world as we saw it, as events we hear of and don't dare dwell on, crumbles and we are forced into someone else's shoes and we realise that shame, guilt, fear is so wrongly present in the victims when they are really not to blame, yet they cannot believe they are not responsible for what has happened to them.

Suzuma expertly portrays a troubling issue with a sensitivity that stresses the cruel, destructive, violating nature of the secret poor Matheo is hiding because of fear and shame.  I will definitely revisit Hurt as it is a book I think that will get better on a second read though there's no denying it was a whirlwind of emotions even on this first read. Hurt gets a conflicted 5 out of 5, I couldn't decide whether the halting narrative would mean it deserves a 4 but I think on the whole it was a pretty stunning book of gigantic emotional dimensions!

It's published by Bodley Head, a division of Random House Childrens Book UK and can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for £9.09 (hardback) and £8.54 (Kindle).

En Bon Lu! SWMLT.

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Everyday Book Trailer

Hey y'all -
Have a wee look at this book trailer - I've read the book and it was incredible, a review will be forthcoming, - but for the meantime let this whet your appetite!

Harry Potter, or at least the wizarding world, resurfaces :D

In breaking news on Thursday , Warner Bros have announced that they are working with bestselling author J.K. Rowling to create a film based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This will be J.K. Rowling’s screenwriting debut and likely to be set in New York 70 years before Harry Potter attended Hogwarts. The full press release from Warner Brothers along with contact details is below.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (isbn 9781408803011, £4.99) was first published in 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. It is an extensive introduction to the magical beasts that exist in the magical, non-Muggle world. The book is on the reading list for all first year students at Hogwarts and includes an introduction from Albus Dumbledore. Bloomsbury re-issued the book in 2009 with its current cover (attached).

NEWS RELEASES

Warner Bros. Announces Expanded Creative Partnership with J.K. Rowling

Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an expanded creative partnership with world-renowned, best-selling author J.K. Rowling. At the center of the partnership is a new film series from Rowling’s world of witches and wizards, inspired by Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbook “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and the adventures of the book’s fictitious author, Newt Scamander. The announcement was made by Kevin Tsujihara, Chief Executive Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” will be an original story and will mark Rowling’s screenwriting debut. It is planned as the first picture in a new film series. Set in the wizarding world, the story will feature magical creatures and characters, some of which will be familiar to devoted Harry Potter fans.

“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world,” said Rowling. “The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.” (Expanded Rowling quote at bottom of release.)

“We are incredibly honored that Jo has chosen to partner with Warner Bros. on this exciting new exploration of the world of wizardry which has been tremendously successful across all of our businesses,” said Tsujihara. “She is an extraordinary writer, who ignited a reading revolution around the world, which then became an unprecedented film phenomenon. We know that audiences will be as excited as we are to see what her brilliant and boundless imagination conjures up for us.”

In addition to the film series, “Fantastic Beasts” will also be developed across the Studio’s video game, consumer products and digital initiatives businesses, including enhanced links with Pottermore.com, Rowling’s digital online experience built around the Harry Potter stories.

Rowling’s expanded quote regarding “Fantastic Beasts” is below:

“It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.

As I considered Warners’ proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.

Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.

I particularly want to thank Kevin Tsujihara of Warner Bros. for his support in this project, which would not have happened without him. I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it.”

Catch up!

So what y'all been up to? Me? Not much at all. Just been organising my gap year whilst all my friends bugger off to university this year.... right now - I admit it - I'm a wee bit jealous. They're off making friends, partying, joining clubs whilst I, well whilst, I clean dishes. But I'll get to do it next year - it's unlikely there will be a comet hit Edinburgh while I'm away - touch wood! But as of the 24th September I will be situee in France - woop!

I'm off to a horse stud farm in Burgundy - epic - for almost three months...... and I've forgotten most of my French.... oops! So if my posts become few and far between; know I love you all and will give you an in depth catch up when I come home in December! I have stocked my Kindle up with the full Harry Potter series in order to tide me over my estranged months!

Speaking of Kindle, I am now an advocate. I love my Kindle so much! It's so easy to read of it, yeah it hasn't the same aesthetic feeling of a real book or the smell but it does the job and is nice and modest about it. I LOVE IT! Also saved so much room in my suitcase!

Also I  have promised my brother's best friend I would attach a link to his website, Young Perspective, which seems to be a pretty cool set-up of young aspiring journalists blogging and writing as a group under a pretty snazzy paper,  so cruise on by, take a peek, you could always sign up to contribute - why the heck not!
http://www.youngperspective.net/
Do it, you know you want to! Cruise over for a sneak look.

Anyways I'm offski, the Kitten is having kittens and I feel a need to watch kittens be born in gooey gunk - not really but Mum's shouting for me (I don't think I've ever heard my Mums 'quiet' tones!)

Love ya

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Parallel

Parallel by Lauren Miller was a original read following Abby Barnes as she discovers the power of choice and the cosmic effects it can have on everything we know and do.

Your path will change. Your destiny doesn't.

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to a great university, study journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice - deciding to take a drama class in her senior year of high school - changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. 

Overnight, it's as if her life has been rewritten.

With the help of  Caitlin, her science phenom BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality - an Ivy League address, a place on the crew team, a birthday blind date with a cute lacrosse player - is the result of  a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

Parallel was just the book for me, as someone who likes to plan their whole life, who likes to know when and where something is happening, I could relate 100% to Abby. I sometimes think maybe people like me do need a cosmic shift in their life so we can realise what is important - what is right in front of us or what we want to be there. It addresses the important issue of the power of choice and explored that question teenagers kill themselves over - what if I'd done that differently, where would I be now? Would it be better? 

And Miller really puts across the point that we can make the best out of whatever path we take: wherever we chose it; stumbled across it; or got flung from the high flying speeding motorway onto it.

I enjoyed the way Miller made Parallel about Abby Barnes - there weren't any bad guys out to get her, nothing we were running from, it was just Abby, her choices and her life. Also the bonus of having two lives is we get two brilliant stories in one book! I would quite happily have followed either Abby on their lives as they both made for good YA fluffy reads.

There wasn't any one part of Parallel that was WOW! but it was overall a good read and I enjoyed the focus on Abby, her lives, her boyfriends (ooh there was some brilliant romance - very gripping, believable and utterly cheerworthy!)..... I will go back and read Parallel again, undoubtedly pick something up I'd missed and will enjoy it as much as before. It gets a decent 4 out of 5 and can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for £5.75 (paperback) or £5.46 (kindle). It's published by Scholastic and is Miller's debut novel, and a remarkably well put together one for a first novel!

En Bon Lu!

The Paladin Prophecy: Book 1

Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents' insistence, he's made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.

Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and is being followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he's capable of--physical and mental feats that should be impossible--and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia.

Co-creator of the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, Mark Frost brings his unique vision to this sophisticated adventure, which combines mystery, heart-pounding action, and the supernatural.


I loved this book so much, it was such a relief to read a refreshing piece of fiction, a YA novel that wasn't focused on romance, aimed for girls etc. It was a brilliant unisex novel very similar to Artemis Fowl, the Gone series and to some extent The Gallagher Academy, as well as Rick Riordan's  the Percy Jackson series.

I was a bit apprehensive when I saw that Mark Frost had wrote Fantastic Four and co-wrote Twin Peaks,as I couldn't decide how a screenwriter would translate his skills into writing novels for teenagers. However I shouldn't have worried and should have trusted the fact he is already a New York Times Bestselling author. The first book of the Paladin Prophecy series was epic, plain and simple, once I got started I couldn't stop!

What I really enjoyed was Frost's original ideas, I loved the way Frost inserted some of Will (the main character and hero) West's father rules of life all the way through the book, it lent the story structure and also allowed the reader to feel familiar with Will and how his mind works. (My favourite was #17 START EACH DAY BY SAYING IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE. EVEN IF YOU DON'T FEEL IT, SAYING IT - OUT LOAD - MAKES IT MORE LIKELY THAT YOU WILL. #18 IF #17 DOESN'T WORK, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.)

The characters were like-able and weren't placed on such a high plane of perfection that the reader couldn't relate - instead they all had flaws and distinct personalities - Frost was creating characters with enough depth to carry them through the next series. I don't believe any of the characters will become boring as the series progresses instead I believe they will continue to develop under Frost's nurturing careful watch.

*The Paladin Prophecy was also, thank god, a decent length  - over 500 pages of well written addictive story, what else is better?!?!*

The first book in the Paladin Prophecy is granted a saucy 5 out of 5 and is a book for the family, your brother, your dad, everyone. It's published by Corgi a division of Random House Childrens Books UK and can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for £5.99 (paperback) or £4.74 (kindle).

Good Reading! 

Starters

Starters by Lissa Price was a page-turner. Plain and simple. I wanted, needed even, to know what was happening over the next page.  It follows Callie Woodland as she surrenders her body to the Body Bank in return for enough money that would enable Callie to save her and her brother from the grasps of the Marshalls until they turn 18.

However for Callie, something goes wrong in one of her switches with her Renters, she finds herself back in her body halfway through her rental period. Even worse, her Renter is still able to communicate with her, she's still slightly connected to Callie's brain, and they're both fighting for control of Callie's body. A control Callie doesn't want to relinquish as she's discovered her Renter intends to use her body to murder.

This in itself makes for an intriguing rollercoaster ride of a plot, with plenty of twists and turns, but throw in the fact the Body Bank is not all it seems, the political system is completely corrupt, and everyone around Callie aren't who they seem, Starters has enough excitement, thrills and spills, action to fuel several more novels and Callie Woodland definitely deserves a series.

The concept of Starters is extremely well executed and  eerily voice some of those deep fears that horror films and the recent flood of dystopian post-apocalyptic novels have caused to form.  Ever wondered whether the person next to you, is who they claim, who you believe? If you loved Host by Stephanie Meyer than Starters  is the book for you; loved Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins get a hold of Starter; basically it's worth the read. Price expertly develops her characters and plots with an ease that allows each layer to unfold smoothly and allows the reader to really familiarize and like the characters. Well, apart, from the Old Man but we're meant to hate him!

I eagerly await Enders and look forward to reading more of Price's inventive intense stories. She delivers.

Starters can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for (paperback) £5.24 or (Kindle) £4.74. It's published by Corgi an imprint of Random House Children's Books. 5 out of 5 for this seductive, intense original debut novel.

En Bon Lu!

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Alerts to Europe

ALERTS TO THREATS - EUROPE 2013: BY JOHN CLEESE
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya , Egypt and Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed "to "Peeved."
Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.
Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pi$$ed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniforms and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
A final thought -" Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC

Courtesy of my friend on Facebook! Made me laugh so much!

Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

Where to start with Arclight?

I fell immediately in love with the story, the characters, the plot, the setting. The only flaw was the love story, it was too predictable and obvious for my liking. Though to give credit where it's due the love story didn't impede on the pace of the story, my love of the characters themselves or the way the story read.

McQuein has a lyrical gripping way with words that sucks you into the story and make it very hard to leave the story even for a little break. Her whole plot is unique and original from the setting to the characters within the story; you won't find yourself comparing the leading girls or the 'villains'.

Arclight explored many themes but the one that stood out for me, maybe because it was the most prominent and obvious, was light vs dark, good vs bad. Arclight really explored what happens when people don't question what they have been told, when they assume that the bad is really 'bad', it told the typical story of the bad really being the good, or at least less corrupt, than the good had become. Confusing I know, but I can't think I can put it any better! It also explored the issue of identity, which centred around the main character Marina, who through a series of circumstances (which I can't disclose as it would spoil it for you) has to question who she is, and whether she should really be that person. For me Marina as a character came to the wrong decision and I think McQuein could have done a lot more with the situation she created, and it felt like she chose the easy way out, and the way that would make it easier for her to write the second novel, I.E. from a human point of view rather than a Fade.

'I take his face in both my hands, testing the temperature of his skin, the way it feels under my fingertips to see if there's any movement besides his pulse - anything to prove this is Tobin, and not some Fade-riddled imposter.'

Arclight is based in a post-apocalyptic world after a terrifying race of monsters called the Fade have taken over the world. The Arclight is the last refuge for the human survivors, but only as long as they remain in the light. The connotation of the pure human with the light and the 'evil' contaminated Fade with the Dark lended the novel a sense of thrill and danger, as I don't know about you but I'm always a little afraid of the Dark and the monsters hiding in the shadows. McQuein cleverly used the setting to instill the senses of right and wrong, good and bad, and also when the perception of the Fade began to change McQuein managed to make the oppressive Dark a thing of beauty, no mean feat!

The characters are all brilliant to follow, I felt like McQuein played on the fact they were only young and teenagers well throughout the novel as it always infuriates me when the leads are ridiculously self assured, brave and omniscient despite the fact they are in impossible situations. Basically McQuein made them easy to relate to and believe in. The main characters are the confused loner Marina, the only girl to appear alive from the Dark, Tobin, the angry messed up fiercely protective kid, Anne-Marie the only human willing to give the 'freak' Marina a chance and a hand of friendship, and Rue the misunderstood boy from the wrong side of the Light. Together these guys form a gang that we follow through the novel, though Rue is a slight exception, and I look forward to seeing them again in the next installment of Arclight.

Arclight is a good chance to indulge yourself in a more than decent dystopian post-apocalyptic novel of a ..... wait for it..... DECENT LENGTH!!! No stupidly quick ends from this one! And is well worth the trouble. Amazon.co.uk offer it for the bargain price of £5.57 or the amazingly cheap price of £3.84 on the Kindle. It's published by Egmont and please read the guest post by Josin L. McQuein on this blog as well as it gives you a little taster of what Arclight can offer: http://justthisteenager.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/blog-tour-josin-l-mcquein.html   It earns a 5 star and would have been more if not for the slightly unexciting, too predictable, love story. (Although it had its fair share of twists and turns I knew who Marina would choose halfway through the book - however do not let that detract you from Arclight!)


Good Reading,

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