JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The City of Secret Rivers by Jacob Sager Weinstein

An exciting subterranean London adventure, the first in a middle-grade trilogy.

Hyacinth Hayward has recently arrived from America and is having difficulty adjusting to her new surroundings, especially being in the sole company of her eccentric mother. Everything feels strange. Very strange. And it gets stranger the day she accidentally unleashes the power of a secret river running through London. To prevent a second Great Fire, Hyacinth needs to retrieve a single, magically charged drop of water from somewhere in the city sewer system. Along the way she encounters an eclectic cast of characters – the shambling, monstrous Saltpetre Men who kidnap her mother, the Toshers who battle for control of magical artefacts and a giant pig with whom she has a tea party. The clock is ticking – will she figure out who to trust?

The City of Secret Rivers is fun to read, with mad cap adventures and a fast-paced invitation down into the depths of London’s underground rivers.

The author actually did a lot of research whilst writing this book, which he talks about in the Author’s Note. The book features a lot of illustrations throughout the pages, which I think kids would love.

“During the creepiest and most disgusting day of my entire life, I thought I had handled everything pretty calmly, all things considered. But now there were rats swarming over my body, and all I could do was shriek really intelligent things like ‘Aaaaaaaa’ or ‘GET OFF GET OFF GETOFFGETOFFGETOFF’
The rats didn’t listen.”

The protagonist is a sassy, fast-talking young girl who embarks on the crazy journey under London to save her mother.

This book is supposed to be for children aged 9-12 but I definitely feel like it wouldn’t be suitable for some kids who fall into that lower age bracket. Some of the things that happen in the book (one character tries to kill another by slitting their throat) seem a little too much for young children, and I thought those parts of the novel should’ve either been diluted or cut out completely. Additionally, I feel like children’s novels should contain character names that are easy to pronounce. I’m an adult and I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce Hyacinth or Oaroboarus. Surely kids might struggle as well?

I think children who are avid readers will love this book, because they’ll stick with it to find out what happens to Hyacinth’s mother. But for children who struggle with reading, I don’t think this is the book to give them.

“I had never really thought much about what kind of spiral staircase I prefer, but as we got higher and higher, I started thinking about it more and more. Some spiral staircases have walls on both sides. Those, I decided, are the right kind.”

I felt like this story was too chaotic — too disjointed and fast-paced. I understand some kids might find this exciting, but so much was happening that I couldn’t quite take the time to understand or appreciate the characters. Everything was moving so fast and there were so many things being thrown at the reader in each chapter, that I felt a little lost throughout the book and the characters weren’t really that memorable. I got the end of the book and most of the plot was lost on me, and I didn’t feel overly attached to any of the main characters.

I think Jacob Weinstein has done a good job of bringing together a unique storyline, I just wish he’d taken out some of the ‘twists’ and ‘adventures’ and filled the book with more characterisation and depth.

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

The City of Secret Rivers
Jacob Sager Weinstein
August 2017
Walker Books Australia

The Making of Christina by Meredith Jaffe

Interior designer Christina Clemente is caught off guard by an intense affair with her charismatic client. Jackson Plummer quickly becomes the cure to Christina’s loneliness and a surrogate father to her young daughter Bianca.

When Jackson suggests moving to a run-down farm in the mountains, Christina is uncertain about uprooting their lives in the city. She soon forgets her hesitation, absorbing herself in restoring the rambling century-old house, Bartholomews Run, and becoming obsessed with solving its mysterious history.

But while living on the isolated farm, her once effervescent child transforms into a quiet sullen teenager and Christina increasingly struggles to connect with her. Because Bianca has a secret. And the monstrous truth threatens to destroy them all.

The Making of Christina is an emotionally charged exploration of family abuse. Told from a mother’s perspective, this novel switches between past and present and centres around the relationship between Christina and Jackson Plummer.

The first chapter of the book positions Jackson Plummer as an untrustworthy character. It is one month before Christmas, and we meet our protagonist Christina. She is visited by a woman named Sarah Plummer, who reveals she is dying. She’s come to talk to Christina following Jackson’s trial and how Christina should learn to forgive herself for what happened to Bianca. Sarah is Jackson’s ex-wife, who Jackson cheated on when he first met Christina. We later learn that Christina and Jackson were engaging in an affair for years before he left Sarah and their three children.

‘My children have taken this thing with their father very badly. Ashleigh’s out of control,’ Sarah begins.
‘Simon, well he’s cut from the same cloth as his father.’
Christina glares over the paddocks.
‘Oh I didn’t mean like that.’ Sarah’s hands flutter. ‘I meant hard, uncompromising, well, you know.’ Her smile is grim.

We soon start to piece the pictures together. Particularly when Sarah talks about how Jackson did the same thing to her son Josh:

Sarah continues, ‘Anyway, the point is, I assumed it had to be Ash because she was always daddy’s little girl. Because she was highly strung and unpredictable. She fitted the stereotype…all the time it was Josh….I didn’t realise until after the trial when he tried to hang himself.’

This is not a spoiler, and in fact we find all of this out within the first 6 pages of the book. It’s very clever of Meredith Jaffe. It means there’s no shocking twist or cliff-hanger later in the book. In fact, it’s one of those plots where we know more than what the protagonist does and we can see things from a different perspective.

The Making of Christina navigates between past and present. In the present, Jackson has been sentenced to prison for what he did to Bianca, and Christina is trying to move on with her life and rebuild her relationship with her daughter. Christmas is fast approaching and Christina is hoping Bianca will honour her promise to come home for the holidays.

In the past, we find out all about the relationship between Christina and Jackson Plummer. We go right back to the beginning when Christina first meets Jackson. Christina has a young daughter – Bianca – and has split from Bianca’s father. Jackson seems charming and a perfect gentleman. The two begin a heated affair, and in total are together for 13 years. But as the years pass by, we learn that things aren’t always what they seem. As Bianca hits her teenage years, they move to a rural property called Bartholomews Run. There, the family are isolated and Bianca’s life seems to deteriorate. She’s withdrawn and she’s not sleeping. Christina tries to understand what is wrong, but she can’t seem to see the signs.

“Thoughts jostled inside her head. Was it just her? Every time she tried to interact with her daughter, Bianca ran like a scalded cat. Christina had no basis of comparison, no way of knowing if this was a normal relationship to have with a teenage girl or whether she was a terrible mother.”

It is a little frustrating that Christina seems too distracted or too trusting and completely misses what I believe are major clues to what’s going on between Jackson and Bianca. But I guess that’s the point, isn’t it? This happens all the time in real life and yet family members have absolutely no idea. This book is an exploration of family abuse, but also family relations and blind love.

Meredith Jaffe is a really talented writer. The characters are constructed so well that you feel like you know everything about them, and the plot is well-paced and suspenseful. I really loved reading this book, and I thought the author has written something really marvellous.

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

The Making of Christina
Meredith Jaffe
August 2017
Pan Macmillan

Team Hero 1: Battle for the Shadow Sword by Adam Blade

Welcome to Hero Academy! Join Jack and your other new classmates at this secret school, where the lessons are more exciting than Maths and PE. But when a portal from the evil underground realm of Noxx is discovered beneath the school, Team Hero needs your powers. The next invasion is upon us!

Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun reading this and I’m about twenty years older than the intended audience!

Jack Beacon is a school kid with scaly hands that he keeps hidden in gloves. His classmates tease him, until he manages to stop a moving car simply with his hands. Before he has time to work out what’s happening, a woman named Miss Steel finds Jack and brings him to Hero Academy. He joins other classmates who all have different types of powers. Here, they train and learn how to defeat the evil underground realm Noxx.

“With low mutterings, the students edged forward. Jack gasped as he saw what lay within the wall. It wasn’t a pool at all but a pit. At its base were horribly life-like statues, moss-covered and flaking. There were skeletons wielding swords and things like giant bats, wings speed as if about to fly away.”

Team Hero is actually really fun. Adam sure knows how to end each chapter with suspense and intrigue! The book is filled with illustrations, making it easy for kids to read. The chapters aren’t too long and the words aren’t too difficult. I’d say this book is perfect for kids who have just started learning to read chapter books, so age 6+

This book, with its comic-strip type illustrations, actually reminded me of a lot of animated kids shows I watched as a kid. The combination of superpowers and an academy would no doubt really draw a young reader in.

“Then Jack felt it too, through the soles of his feet — a tremor, then a rumble. Within the low stone wall, the statues began to tremble. Jack set the bike down quickly.”

Battle for the Shadow Sword is the first book in the Team Hero series. There are eight books coming out in total.

I recommend this to parents who are looking for something adventurous for their young child to read. Given that I loved reading it and I’m an adult, at least a parent would enjoy reading it to their child (after all, it’s always good if the parent actually likes the book as well as their kid).

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

Team Hero 1: Battle for the Shadow Sword
Adam Blade
July 2017
Hachette Book Publishers

Living the Dream by Lauren Berry

Emma is a rising star at the marketing firm she works at as a “creative,” but would have trouble describing what exactly it is she does all day. She pours most of her actual creative energy into a popular blog that all of her friends agree is brilliant, but she has yet to make a cent on it.

Clem is a massively talented screenwriter just back from New York, where she picked up a fancy graduate degree in film. But until she convinces an agent to take on her masterpiece script, she’s stuck hostessing at the bar she frequented as an undergrad, and the only calls she’s getting are about bills past due and overdrawn bank accounts. In their ironclad friendship both girls find a reliable break from the post-collegiate absurdities and indignities that seem to abound in life right at the moment they feel they should finally be getting it all together.

Perfect for young, creative readers who feel like they haven’t yet accomplished what they set out to do, Living the Dream is about two women in New York City who are working jobs they hate so they can pursue their dream on the side.

Emma wants to be a writer, and Clem wants to be a screenwriter. But when they both live in New York City and can’t seem to get anyone to take them seriously, their lives are far from what they expected them to be.

Emma was the more likeable of the characters, working full-time in corporate advertising and on the side publishing her writing on her blog. I felt like she was a realistic character, because most creative people need a full-time job so they can pay the rent and feed themselves. Until they ‘make it’, their creative passion probably isn’t going to make them a lot of money.

“She pressed the button on the back of her computer and waited for the techno sigh that signalled the start of the day. She typed in her password (Fresh_He11) and shoved her jacket under the desk. (DEAR ALL, Please keep your coats and bags out of sight and NOT on your chairs as they are unsightly. Thx.)”

Clementine was quite the frustrating character. Yes, she’s a talented screenwriter. But she’s not an overly smart person and I don’t feel like she has a lot of common sense. She also seems really ungrateful. She moves around between work and doesn’t try hard to actually earn any money, constantly borrowing money from her family and living at home. She also seems to immediately spend whatever money she does earn.

“Clem sat in front of the rickety piece of crap her mum called the computer and stared at her bank balance. She was fucked…Malcolm had offered her a temp job at his company, and she had politely declined. She needed some income, fast.”

There’s not much plot to this book, so I think it’s more of a character-driven story. I think it’s also got a niche target market – young creatives who understand Emma and Clem’s struggles.

I would’ve liked to have seen some of Emma’s writing incorporated into the book. She doesn’t have much luck with her love life, but it provides material for her blog…except, we never get to read what she’s posting. I think this would’ve been an easy way to bring more humour into the book.

There are definitely some humorous moments in this book, and young women will be able to relate to the characters and some of the situations that they find themselves in. Whilst the book is lacking a plot, it’s not a hard read. You don’t feel like you’re forcing yourself to keep going. This is quite a light, fun story featuring two determined, talented women.

“For the next couple of hours, Emma sat on a bench with Ross, who told her she even looked hot vomiting off a tree.”

I think if you’re someone who has ever felt ‘stuck’ in your life, whether that’s with love or work, then you’ll really enjoy this book. I also think millennials will really get Emma and Clem’s struggles. It’s definitely for adults though, because I don’t think teenagers would enjoy this book as much. They’re probably not the target readership.

Living the Dream is for all those undiscovered geniuses out there, waiting to be discovered.

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

Living the Dream
Lauren Berry
July 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

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