JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony by Chris Riddell

Lord Goth is throwing a music festival at Ghastly-Gorm Hall, with performances from the finest composers in the land. Ada can’t wait, but it’s quite distracting when her grandmother is trying to find her father a fashionable new wife, there’s a faun living in her wardrobe and Maltravers is up to his old tricks. Ada must make sure everything goes to plan, and luckily help is at hand from a very interesting house guest . . .

Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony is the fourth adventure for Ada and her friends at Ghastly-Gorm Hall. This is also the final book in the Goth Girl series, filled with plenty of spooky adventures and musical goings-on.

“After breakfast, Ada and Emily went upstairs to the extra-long gallery, a high-ceilinged room that ran the length of the central part of Ghastly-Gorm Hall. On one side of the gallery, light came streaming in through the large windows, and on the other side was a stack of paintings in gold frames waiting to be hung on the wall above.”

One of the best things about this book is its package — it’s hardcover, silver foiled, and the edges of the pages are coated in bright green. The book is also quite small, like a handbook, so it is a quick, easy read. The book shines, and it’s so beautiful when you first see it. I can imagine kids seeing this in the bookstore and automatically reaching for it purely because of how gorgeous it looks. Additionally, Chris Riddell’s work is wondrous. He has a real art for sketches and writing witty, imaginative stories.

You don’t need to read the other Goth Girl books in order to understand this one — I actually didn’t realise this was the fourth book in the series and I was able to follow along really easily. This is a standalone story.

“The broken wing was Ada’s favourite part of the house. It was full of rooms with forgotten and unused things in them, and Ada loved exploring it whenever she had the time.”

What I love most about this book is that Chris uses his writing and his drawings to poke fun at real life. There are characters in the book based off Simon Cowell and Taylor Swift, and there’s an orange-faced man named Donald Ear-Trumpet who is a caricature of President Donald Trump:

‘I’ve come all the way from New Guernsey,’ said an orange-faced man. His elegant wife was sitting under an awning beside their streamlined wooden caravan and looked rather bored. They were both wearing gumboots.
‘The name’s Donald Ear-Trumpet,’ the man said. He had what looked like a raccoon-skin hat on his head and two sticks grasped in his tiny hands and was trying to light a fire by rubbing them together.

Chris Riddell appeals to readers of all ages — his books are whimsical and magical and they really engage the reader in their manic, mad-cap storylines and their colourful cast of characters. The book is elegantly produced, but also masterfully written.

This book is aimed at children aged 9-11, but adults will enjoy reading this just as much as kids. There are a lot of jokes in the book that children may not understand, but grown-ups definitely will. And this book has so many gorgeous illustrations that sometimes you want to take it slow so that you can really enjoy the whole experience of reading it.

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

Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony
Chris Riddell
October 2017
Pan Macmillan Australia

The Burning Girl by Claire Messud

Julia Robinson and Cassie Burnes have been friends since nursery school. They have shared everything, including their desire to escape the stifling limitations of their birthplace, the quiet town of Royston, Massachusetts.

But as the two girls enter adolescence, their paths diverge: while Julia comes from a stable, happy, middle-class family, Cassie never knew her father, who died when she was an infant, and has an increasingly tempestuous relationship with her single mother, Bev. When Bev becomes involved with the mysterious Anders Shute, Cassie feels cruelly abandoned.

Disturbed, angry and desperate for answers, she sets out on a journey that will put her own life in danger, and shatter her oldest friendship.

At its core, The Burning Girl is a story about childhood friendship and community. But, additionally, it’s also an exploration into the complexities of childhood friendship and how often they alternate between fragile and strong. Like with any friendship, each person sees it only through their own eyes, so things can go amiss and misunderstandings can unfold and they can be a catalyst for a fractured friendship.

“You get to middle school, and you think about these things. The world opens up; history stretches behind you, and the future stretches before you, and you’re suddenly aware of the wild, unknowable interior lives of everyone around you, the realisation that each and every person lives in an unspoken world as full and strange as your own, and that you can’t ever hope entirely to know anything, not even yourself.”

The Burning Girl is written in first person from the point of view of Julia, so we never really know as much about Cassie as we’d like to. We only know what Julia knows, either from her first hand experience or from stories that other people have told Julia. The two girls grow apart as the years pass, but they do remain friends. They share jokes with each other and they reminisce on summers they spent together, and adventures that they had. It’s hard for Julia to see Cassie deteriorate, because she wants to help her. But at the same time, Cassie holds back from her and so it becomes hard for Julia to know what to do.

“Cassie’s father was as much a myth as the drowned boy. Not in the sense that he might not be real, but in the sense that she’d never actually known him. Or rather, that she couldn’t remember him.”

I found Julia to be a passive character. She was always commenting on everyone else in the narrative, and we never really got a sense of who she was. I finished the novel feeling like Julia wasn’t even a character, and instead, she was just this omniscient narrator presenting us with a story about other people.

Julia befriends a classmate called Peter. She always liked Peter, but he did date Cassie for a time and so Cassie at times feels like she can trust him and tell him things she hasn’t told anyone else. Julia likes to keep tabs on Cassie and so through Peter, Julia is able to fill in any gaps she has. Over time, Julia and Peter bond over their mutual concern for Cassie and their determination to help her.

“After that, we’d speak often on the phone, maybe even a few times a week, a strange friendship, rarely face-to-face in the beginning. There wasn’t, in our middle school lives, another way for us to spend time together.”

Cassie’s life really begins to deteriorate after her mother Bev starts dating a new man. Cassie never feels comfortable around him and after he moves into their family home, he starts restricting Cassie’s access to social media and technology and he starts to police what she wears and who she talks to. It’s suffocating for Cassie.

“Here’s what I believe,” she said. “I believe he was looking for us — for me. I believe he found out about the youth group because of our photo album online. And then he figured out about the Bible study, and Mom, and then he came there. He doesn’t even live in Royston, for fuck’s sake. He lives in Haverhill, and he works in Haverhill.”

The only thing Cassie can cling to in order to feel in control of her life is the memory of her father. But, she soon realises that her perception of things has been incorrect.

Friendships that we form when we’re young can have a monumental affect on our childhood and adolescence. Female friendships in particular can influence — positively or negatively — who you become as you get older. Those friendships can be supportive, but they can also be tumultuous, exhausting, and challenging. I think female readers will be able to relate to Julia and Cassie a lot more than male readers.

“Sometimes I felt that growing up and being a girl was about learning to be afraid. Not paranoid, exactly, but always alert and aware, like checking out the exits in the movie theatre or the fire escape in the hotel.”

The Burning Girl explores the complexities of female friendship — they may falter or they may fracture, but there are all these different layers to childhood friendships that don’t quite match a friendship formed later in a person’s life. I recommend this book to literary fiction lovers. It’s a character-driven story, not necessarily plot-driven. Read this for the masterful writing and the careful, slow-build illustration of Julia and Cassie.

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

The Burning Girl
Claire Messud
September 2017
Hachette Book Publishers

Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth

Tash has to follow many rules to survive in Tibet, a country occupied by Chinese soldiers. But when a man sets himself on fire in protest and soldiers seize Tash’s parents, she and her best friend Sam must break the rules. They are determined to escape Tibet – and seek the help of the Dalai Lama himself in India.

And so, with a backpack of Tash’s father’s mysterious papers and two trusty yaks by their side, their extraordinary journey across the mountains begins.

This is a wonderful debut novel from Jess Butterworth. Set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Tibet, Sam and Tash escape the mountains after Tash’s parents are arrested by the Chinese police. The kids are carrying a coded message from Tash’s father and the resistance, and they embark on a long, arduous journey to India in search of the Dalai Lama. Tash and Sam believe that the Dalai Lama will help Tash get his parents back.

“We move silently through the alleys, away from the patrol. My shoulders and neck ache from the weight. We pass the Yak stables. Eve sticks her head over the half-door. She watches me with her dark eyes and sniffs with her big nostrils. Her pupils are wide; she knows something is wrong. I wish I could take her with me.”

The book consists of extremely short chapters, which is perfect for kids who can’t read for too long without being distracted. There are decorative illustrations lining the pages and chapter title pages, which make it a beautiful children’s book for older middle grade readers.

“Have you had any more ideas about the code?’ I whisper to Sam.
He shakes his head.
‘Come and eat,’ says the younger man, ushering us back to the truck. I shove the letter back in my pocket.”

Jess’ prose is very choppy and abrupt, allowing the story to move forward at a fast pace and helping to keep the reader interested. It’s also very evocative writing. The sentences string together effortlessly and the dialogue is extremely realistic.

“The last row of soldiers passes and we lie and wait until they’re far enough away. I watch a spider rotating in its web from the vibrations.”

This is a children’s book that is both enjoyable and informative, allowing the reader insight into the political relations in Tibet and India. People might think this book could be a little heavy for young readers but I found it to be the opposite – Jess Butterworth has written a children’s novel where the topic is really accessible to readers. It doesn’t beat them over the head with it. At the end of the day, this is an adventure story. It may be about two children fleeing their homes in search of safety, but it’s also a tense, fast-paced adventure. And at times, there are a few mysteries involved that kids will love reading about and trying to decipher.

“I wonder just how many people are in the resistance and think about the different reasons they might have joined. I know I’m not the only one with parents in prison.”

This is a great book for kids who want adventure and journeys to read about, but also those kids who struggle to stay focused on a book and need something that doesn’t have overly long chapters. The writing is wonderful and so are the characters and the story. The beauty of the book is the simple way it tackles the topic. It certainly opened my eyes, and I imagine it would other readers as well.

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

Running on the Roof of the World
Jess Butterworth
June 2017
Hachette Book Publishers
Children’s Book for Ages 9-12

The Ones That Disappeared by Zana Fraillon

Kept by a ruthless gang, three children manage to escape from slavery. But freedom isn’t just waiting on the outside.

Separated, scared and looking after a small child, Esra will do whatever she can to reunite with her friend Miran, who was captured by the police – the police who she mustn’t trust.

Hiding in the shadows of the forest, Esra is found by a local boy, a boy with his own story. Together they will create a man out of mud. A man who will come to life and lead them through a dark labyrinth of tunnels until they finally have the courage the step above ground. Until they finally have the courage to speak their story. Until they finally have the courage to be free.

The Ones that Disappeared is the latest YA novel by the Carnegie-shortlisted author Zana Fraillon. It’s a powerful tale about three trafficked Syrian children searching for freedom and hope. Across the world, millions of children are the victims of human trafficking. Zana takes an issue that people no doubt think is ‘far away’ and brings it into our hands. The book is set in Australia.

‘Be careful girl,’ he said, his voice growling like Orlando’s dogs. ‘Most people won’t tolerate a mouth like that. Better hope I don’t tell Orlando he needs to shape you up. Better hope I don’t tell Orlando he should sell you on. I know people who would pay a good price for a girl like you.’ Then he jammed my face into the bricks and held it there, watching.

This book follows three trafficked children: Esra, Miran and Isa. They have done different types of jobs since leaving their families and their home, and they’ve often suffered beatings if their work was not deemed to be of an acceptable standard.

Their job is to take care of opium plans, but then something goes wrong — a fire starts and the police turn up and Miran gets captured. Esra and Isa run away along the river, taking shelter in a cave.

“I move back to the wall and pull Isa over me, my arms wrapping him tight. I look at Skeet again, his face burning into my brain. His toad opens an eye and stares straight back. I won’t tell him, this boy, this Skeet, that when he talked of his circus, filled with toads, it made me remember.”

Zana’s writing is poetic and lyrical, with flowing sentences and brief but realistic dialogue. It’s a short read, despite the topic that the book explores. There’s a bit of magical realism in the book. Esra and Isa meet a young boy – Skeet – who is ignored by his alcoholic mother, and the three of them craft out a Riverman from things they find along the bank. And then the next day, that Riverman is real and he leads them down into the tunnels of the town in an effort to save Miran from their captors.

This is a book about survival and bravery, but also about hope and courage. Esra and Isa are desperate for freedom and Zana shows us that it’s worth fighting for what you want, even if what you’re fighting for is something that is a basic human right. And Skeet is searching for something more. At times, it feels like he’s searching for family. And at other times you feel like all he wants is love and someone looking out for him.

This book is daring because young audiences may struggle to grasp the scope of these experiences in the world, however, Zana has done a wonderful job of taking the issue of child slavery and presenting it to readers in an accessible way. There are some fantasy/magic realism elements to this book, particularly with the Riverman who comes to life. But the book is also very literary and poetic. This book gives voice to the often forgotten victims of child slavery here in Australia.

I stand up, my hand on Isa’s shoulder and look down at the voice. He’s old. A white beard, knotted and dirty, and a jacket wrapped tight protecting him from the rain. He’s standing with his hands on his hips, staring at us with hard in his eyes.

The Ones That Disappeared does drag a little bit in the middle, with slow pacing and some stagnant conversation that allows the reader’s attention to slow. But Zana is not glamourising anything and her intention is to shine a light on trafficking and how scary and dangerous it is for these children.

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

The Ones That Disappeared
Zana Fraillon
June 2017
Hachette Book Publishers

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

She’s a soldier.

Noemi Vidal is seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.

He’s a machine.

Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

Defy the Stars is the first novel in a new fantasy/science fiction duology by Claudia Gray. It’s an action-packed, galaxy-hopping story about a teenage girl Noemi and a robot/machine boy Abel travelling from planet to planet so that Noemi can save her home planet of Genesis.

“In three weeks, Noemi Vidal will die — here, in this very place…Every single one of them volunteered, but none of them is truly ready to die…And the Masada Run will be their greatest sacrifice. It’s a suicide mission — though no one uses the word suicide. Seventy-five ships will strike at once, all running at the same target. Seventy-five ships will blow themselves up. Noemi will be flying one of them.”

At first, the world and setting is a little hard to wrap your head around. Noemi is a fighter pilot on planet Genesis and has been trained to killed even the most skilled of mechs (robots). During Noemi’s practice for the Masada Run, she discovers an Earth spaceship that was abandoned during the last war. Aboard that abandoned ship is Abel, an advanced mech who has been trapped for 30 years alone.

She raises one dark eyebrow, trying to joke despite her obvious tension. “Shouldn’t you watch your feet instead of mine?”
“The grid’s pattern is static and stored in my memory. I could walk through the store blindfolded.”
“Of course you can.”

The book alternates point of view between Abel and Noemi, and Abel is my favourite character of the book. He’s witty, hilarious, quick, and provides great comic relief from the plot. He is programmed to recognise Noemi as his superior, so he’s forced to help her travel through the universe in an effort to save her planet from destruction.

He does so, then rises from his station. “Before we receive final landing clearance, I should change clothes.”
“Why? You look, um, nice.”
“I dressed to suit what I assumed would be our cover story, that of wealthy travellers arriving at a Kismet resort. Our new cover is that we are baldly in need of work. Therefore, we should look impoverished, or at least unfashionable.” Abel pauses at the door to study Noemi again. “What you’re wearing is fine.”

There are some religious underpinnings in the book that at times seem unnecessary and confusing, but they don’t do too much to detract from the overall plot.

The highlights of the book are the pacing and the characters. Defy the Stars moves really quickly, with the characters moving between planets and working quickly to save Genesis. Granted, there were a few times in the book where I’d lost track of why they were where they were. It felt like a James Bond movie – how did he know where to go and what was he doing there again? But I think this is the kind of story where you just kind of have to roll with it.

Whilst Abel outshines Noemi for most of the novel (she’s a bit bland at times), they compliment each other really well. They’re likeable, relatable and they’re incredibly independent characters that readers will really enjoy reading about.

“It’s a good story, one that holds up to repetition. This is fortunate for Abel, who has now been trapped in the Daedalus for almost thirty years…Burton Mansfield is a genius, the creator of all twenty-six models of mech that currently serve humankind.”

If you get confused at all whilst reading the book, go back and reread chapter one. You may not know it at the time, but Claudia Gray explains pretty much everything you need to know in those nine pages. I found it super helpful to re-educate myself about the Masada Run and the relations between Earth and Genesis and the role that Noemi plays in the history of the galaxy.

“If my suggestion earlier gave offence, I apologise.”
She shrugs. “You’re programmed to say that, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Figures.

Claudia Gray brings the story together really well, using action to propel the story forward and bring it to a satisfying yet intriguing end. She sets up the sequel really well, and I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next. I recommend this to younger readers who are looking for something fun and exciting.

Defy the Stars (Constellation #1)
Claudia Gray
May 2017
Allen & Unwin Publishers

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