JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man to brave the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people.

Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king.

If Zafira was exposed as a girl, her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed compassion, his father would brutally punish him. War is brewing in Arawiya, and when Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover an artifact that can restore magic and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs-and the prize they seek poses a threat greater than either can imagine.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal is the first book in a new fantasy series set in the fictional, once-magical country called Arawiya — inspired by the Middle East and ancient Arabia. The book is about conquering fear and taking identity into your own hands.

Zafira is a hunter who disguises herself as a man every time she enters the Arz — a dark, dangerous and cursed forest where people have gone missing or deranged. Everyone else avoids the forest, but Zafira hunts inside it to provide for her family, friends and village, and to support herself.

Nasir is a Prince and an assassin, and he’s very good. He’s the son of the cruel and horrid Sultan and Nasir does his father’s bidding without ever questioning his actions or his father’s motives. In a way, he seems to have been brainwashed by his father.

“Nasir took the weapons on his person, along with a rucksack containing a few provisions and a change of clothes. He expected this journey to be quick, no longer than a few weeks. Head straight through the Arz, sail to Sharr, follow the Hunter, and bring back the lost Jawarat.”

I had such high hopes for this book, and I’ve been looking forward to it for months. And whilst the premise is intriguing enough and the characters readable, the pacing is a huge letdown. Zafira and Nasir are given a task right at the beginning of a book — they must hunt down a lost artefact that will restore magic to the land, rid the world of evil, and destroy the cursed Arz forest — but then not much happens for the first half of the book. There’s so much dialogue and so much banter, but not a lot of action or plot.

The prose is a bit up and down — sometimes it’s wonderful, lyrical, beautiful. Other times it’s jilted and awkward, and a little too forced. I think perhaps the story was overwritten and needed a good stripping back in the editing stage.

Additionally, the book is told with dual perspectives and most chapters are really short. There’ll be a tense moment in Zafira’s perspective, and then when we get to a heightened moment, the chapter ends and the POV switches to Nasir. It’s a bit jolting and uncomfortable for the reader, and I think the structure could’ve been improved for a better reading experience.

“Her pulse quickened. Against reason, she wanted to go on the quest. To claim this victory for herself. At the very least, she wanted answers. Could a book really bring back magic? Was the caliph involved? He wasn’t bad. If, somehow, he found out she was a woman, she would find her way around. He wouldn’t chop off her head.”

Grief is a strong theme in the book. Zafira’s father went crazy in the Arz and it led to his death, and she’s still very much traumatised by his passing. And Nasir’s mother recently died, and he’s been left alone to deal with his cruel and evil father. It’s a strong theme that runs throughout the book, and I’m sure many readers will be able to relate to Zafira and Nasir’s grief over the death of their beloved parents.

“For once, she appreciated the fearsome, incalculable strangeness of the Arz that made the men disappear. The two Sarasins could be leagues away, and neither she nor they would ever know it. Such was the Arz. This was why so many people who entered never returned — they couldn’t find their way back.”

This book will appeal to fantasy readers, but seasoned readers. This is not the kind of book to give a reluctant reader, and this is not the kind of book that will keep the attention of someone who doesn’t read often. The pacing is too slow and the characters a little too one-dimensional.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

We Hunt the Flame
Hafsah Faizal
May 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox

Biz knows how to float. She has her people, posse, her mum and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, and who shouldn’t be here but is. So Biz doesn’t tell anyone anything. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she doesn’t tell anyone about her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface – normal okay regular fine.

How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox is a captivating debut novel about a young teenager who is struggling to cope with the death of her father. The book explores mental illness, grief, family, relationships, and sexual identity.

Biz’s father died 10 years earlier, but she sees him all the time. At school, at home, in her bedroom. He speaks to her and they spend time together, and she blames herself for his death. Both of them share a history of mental health — her father was ill for a long time, and was often absent. Biz is very much like her father, struggling to cope with her undiagnosed mental illness. She often feels like she’s floating, and like she can’t control her life or her decisions.

17-year-old Biz is both strong and fragile. Her mental illness and depression manifests itself in the form of hallucinations, panic attacks and disassociations. She’s an unreliable narrator, because others remember conversations differently to how she told us the conversations went. She suffers from memory loss, or perhaps she’s blocking out her memories because it’s too painful to process what’s happening to her.

“The new guy’s name is Jasper Alessio. He is tall and narrow. He has a strange gait, a limp, like his right leg is too slow to keep up — a stubborn dog not done with its walk. He has longish hair like everyone else. It goes over his eyes.”

Biz is on a journey to better understand herself, but she’s also on a journey to better understand her father. Along with Jasper, her new friend from school, the two pair up to discover — both metaphorically and literally — more about Biz’s dad and where he came from.

The biggest strength of the book is the writing. It’s exquisite — gorgeous sentences crafted to perfection. You can’t help but sit and finish the book, devouring each chapter and paragraph. There’s a poetic rhythm to Helena’s words. They flow so easily, and the writing is so lyrical and beautiful.

“The twins pull on their uniforms and complain about their socks (too tight! too itchy!). Mum assembles a limp salad for lunch and tries to find her car keys. Sylvia calls – I haven’t spoken to her since class ended. She’s rung me and I haven’t replied, but today I see her name on my screen and in a rush of birthday goodwill, finally answer.”

How it Feels to Float also explores sexual identity. At the beginning of the book, Biz has just kissed her best friend Grace, but the feelings are unrequited. Biz isn’t sure of what (or who) she wants, but this isn’t a central focus of the story. She’s not sure of her sexuality, and that’s okay. It’s not something she needs to figure out right now, but when she’s ready.

“A heart is a mystery and not a mystery. It hides under ribs, pumping blood. You can pull it out, hold it in your hand. Squeeze. It wants what it wants. It can be made of gold, glass, stone. It can stop anytime.”

How it Feels to Float is an honest portrayal of life with mental illness. The book will appeal to all readers, young and old. The writing will lure you in, but the characters will keep you enthralled. It’s a gorgeous book — well worth the read.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

How It Feels To Float
Helena Fox
May 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

River Stone by Rachel Hennessy

Pandora, of the River People, wants more than her village can provide. When disaster comes to her people, Pan has the opportunity to become their saviour and escape her inevitable pairing with life-long friend Matthew. She wants to make her own choices. Deep in her soul, she believes there is something more out there, beyond the boundaries, especially since she encountered the hunter of the Mountain People.

A story of confused love, difficult friendships and clumsy attempts at heroism, Pan’s fight for her village will bring her into contact with a whole new world, where the truth about the past will have terrifying reverberations for her people’s future survival.

River Stone is the first book in a new dystopian YA series from Australian author Rachel Hennessy. The story is about survival and bravery, but it’s also about family, legacy and expectation.

At first, I thought The River People were a cult. The village is small, ruled by a male elder, and teenagers are told who they are to be paired with. They don’t get to choose who to have children with, and who or what they want isn’t really taken into consideration.

It all seemed very cultish, and I guess it kind of is, but in a dystopian setting. Most of the world was wiped out after a mysterious virus started infecting people, and The River People are just doing their best to survive and continue procreating so that they don’t die off. In the blurb, it says “when disaster comes to her people”, and I half expected that to be a mass suicide like you see in cults, but I was just overthinking it. Pandora’s people are struck down with the mysterious virus and it’s up to Pandora and her friends to travel into the city and find the cure.

“Caro chews on a large piece of meat. He and Bayat have prepared a piece of the cougar on a long, whittled spear which they’ve placed over there pit, held up by two forked branches driven into the ground. They have turned it sporadically over the course of the afternoon and then carved slices off it.”

Young readers will be drawn to Pandora’s resilience, determination and strength. She’s worried for her parents, but she’s also worried for her village. She doesn’t want to let anyone down and she certainly doesn’t want to fail on this mission.

Pandora has to navigate this new world if she’s going to succeed. But she also has to navigate a love triangle, and the group of friends she’s traveling with. Tensions rise and friendships are damaged.

“At the very least, the training had ensured I could just keep up with Bayat and as we sped along the path to the caves, I realised my muscles were stronger than they’d ever been.”

As an adult, I picked up on a few things about the plot that I thought could’ve used some work. Firstly, there’s a lot of travel involved in this book, which is something most commonly seen in the second book of a series. Travel is very important in fantasy or dystopian fiction, but it can also be a little boring. I certainly felt like the travelling in River Stone could’ve been condensed, or sped up.

Secondly, I found it awfully convenient how easy it was for Pandora and her friends to gain the Mountain People’s trust. Things seemed quite….easy for the team. They’re trained in both information and combat, and they’re given pretty much everything they need to succeed in their mission. It seemed a little unrealistic.

But, I’m an adult. Whilst I certainly think teenagers are at risk of getting bored of the travelling, I don’t think Pandora’s quick connection with the Mountain People will deter young readers.

River Stone entertained and intrigued me enough to want to read the sequel. The premise is refreshingly unique, and whilst the plot is a little slow at times, and the pacing lagging, I think teen readers will be enthralled by the story. I recommend this for readers aged 11-15.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

River Stone
Rachel Hennessy
May 2019
Midnight Sun Publishing

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

From the author of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender comes a haunting maelstrom of magic and murder in the lush, moody Pacific Northwest.

When Rona Blackburn landed on Anathema Island more than a century ago, her otherworldly skills might have benefited friendlier neighbours. Guilt and fear instead led the island’s original eight settlers to burn “the witch” out of her home. So Rona cursed them. Fast-forward one hundred–some years: All Nor Blackburn wants is to live an unremarkable teenage life.

She has reason to hope: First, her supernatural powers, if they can be called that, are unexceptional. Second, her love life is nonexistent, which means she might escape the other perverse side effect of the matriarch’s backfiring curse, too. But then a mysterious book comes out, promising to cast any spell for the right price. Nor senses a storm coming and is pretty sure she’ll be smack in the eye of it.

The Price Guide to the Occult is a young adult fantasy novel from Leslye Walton, about a young girl and her journey towards facing up to her villainous mother.

Nor is the youngest of the Blackburn women, cursed for generations. She just wants to lead a normal teenage life, until she stumbles upon a book — written by her mother — that can cast any spell. She’s thrust into a world she doesn’t fully understand, and her evil mother — who once tried to kill her — returns into her life to wreak havoc.

Truthfully, I don’t see this novel holding the attention of a child or teenager. It struggled to hold my attention, and I’m in my late twenties. The prose is very descriptive, which at first made me admire the book, but after a while, I realised the book is actually just very overwritten and the pace very slow. The book sits at 278 pages, and if it were any longer I think I would’ve given up before the end.

“Nor watched her mother’s blood inch its way across the roof, then stop. Weakened and defeated, Fern slumped to the ground as Nor breathed a shaky sigh of relief. Perhaps the madness was finally over.”

Despite the ominous setting and the murderous plot, the stakes never felt high enough in the book. The characters never felt realistic or complex enough for me to sympathise for them, and the villain never scary enough for me to fear her. Additionally, I never really warmed to the love story or the romance of the book.

My favourite part of the book was the prologue, however it’s about Nor’s ancestor Rona and so the rest of the novel isn’t about her.

“Nor was dreaming again. In her dream, she was standing in a cold and unfamiliar room. The walls and floor were made of stone. The room had a foul door to it, a mix of rot and decay, and the metallic scent of blood. The only way out was a winding stone staircase.”

The pacing is one of the major reasons this book didn’t work for me. It takes a long time before the conflict between Fern and Nor arises, and the book weaves between past and present so often that it’s easy to get confused by events.

This book has an amazing backstory. A truly wonderful prologue. But unfortunately the rest of this book wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Price Guide to the Occult
Leslye Walton
April 2019
Walker Books Australia

The Secret Runners of New York by Matthew Reilly

‘The windows on all the skyscrapers are smashed…
No power, no lights, no people…
It’s a parallel New York of some kind.’

THE COMING END
When Skye Rogers and her twin brother Red move to Manhattan, rumours of a coming global apocalypse are building. But this does not stop the young elite of New York from partying without a care.

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?
And then suddenly Skye is invited to join an exclusive gang known as the Secret Runners of New York.
But this is no ordinary clique – they have access to an underground portal that can transport them into the future.
And what Skye discovers in the future is horrifying.

RUN! AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
As society crumbles, Skye and Red race to figure out how to use their knowledge to survive the impending annihilation, they soon discover that the chaotic end of the world is perfect time for revenge…

The Secret Runners of New York is a new standalone YA novel by well-known Australian author Matthew Reilly.

When Skye Rogers moves to Manhattan to attend an expensive private school, she befriends a group of popular girls. One of the girls — Misty — has an amulet that allows them to be transported approximately 20 years in the future, where they can run beneath Central Park.

Skye is shocked to find that 20 years in the future, the world is a wasteland. After some time, the group work out that on St Patrick’s Day in the present year, a doomsday, apocalyptic-style event had occurred that destroyed the earth.

“It was like I had been knighted or damed or whatever the hell the female equivalent of being knighted it. Both at school and outside it, Misty ushered me into her inner circle. I was in.”

Reilly’s world building is really strong, and the premise of the story is intriguing and interesting to the reader. However, this book wasn’t for me. There’s so much potential for this to be an amazing book but it fell flat.

Reilly’s shift from adult protagonists in his other works to a teen protagonist in this book isn’t the main issue.

The main issue is the lack of backstory, character development and authentic voice. The pacing is really fast, making the reader feel like the story is skipping important information, and also making us feel like the book is really rushed.

The characters are adequate, but two-dimensional. The love story feels forced and there’s very little chemistry between the characters. It feels like the romance is there because it should be, rather than needs to be. Additionally, the plot was too easily signposted and the ending very predictable.

“Even though it was only my second time inside the tunnel, it felt like my third. I think I’d mentally appropriated Red’s initial run as my own. And this run was actually more of a walk. It was not the late-night scramble that my first one had been with the larger group.”

Fans of Matthew Reilly’s previous works will discover this book, but may not necessarily enjoy it. This strays too far from his other works and is not the strongest of his collection. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t think this book successfully captures the teenage female voice, or the teenage female experience.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Secret Runners of New York
Matthew Reilly
April 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

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