JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Winning will make you famous.
Losing means certain death.

The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The ‘tributes’ are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.

When 16-year-old Katniss’s young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

Ah, The Hunger Games! A cult classic and a Hollywood movie franchise. How have I not reviewed this on the blog before? I recently reread the entire series and have found myself swept back up in the Panem world, fighting for Katniss and feeling empowered by the development of the series (even though I know everything that happens).

The Hunger Games is a post-apocalyptic YA series set in futuristic North America. At the centre of the series we have Katniss Everdeen — she is strong, resilient, smart and a fighter. She must use her wits to survive in the games, where the last person standing wins. You either win or you die, and Katniss is determined to live. She hates the Capitol more than anyone.

When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble.

The Hunger Games is rather violent for a YA book series, but I think that’s one of the reasons readers love it so much. After all, you can’t have the main character entering a fight-to-the-death tournament and not have gruesome fights featured in the book.

The high action plot is what I really loved about this book. I was desperate to keep reading to find out how Katniss was going to survive, but also how our other favourites were going to do in the games. Suzanne Collins was able to build most of the book around what happens in those games, drawing out power play and alliances but also showing us how the Capitol manipulates the games to make it entertaining for those in the Districts who are watching.

To confuse my enemies, I start a fire with plenty of green wood. Even if they think it’s a ruse, I hope they’ll decide I’m hidden somewhere near it. While in reality, I’ll be tracking Peeta.

One of the strengths of this book are the friendships and the side characters. Haymitch and Effie bring hilarity to an otherwise solemn and melancholic plot line. Katniss’ friendship with Rue in the games allows us to see an endearing side to Katniss, who at times can come across a little plain. And of course, Katniss’ friendship with Peeta is one of the things driving the book. Their budding friendship is the focal point of the second half of the book and we learn so much about their characters through their actions when they’re in the games.

“Where is Haymitch, anyway? Isn’t he supposed to protect us from this sort of thing?” says Peeta.
“With all that alcohol in him, it’s probably not advisable to have him around an open flame,” I say.
And suddenly we’re both laughing.

There’s a lot of hints about what’s the come in the series, particularly with the surprise ending. Collins does well to explain the world to us as we need to know things, so we don’t feel like there’s an info dump and we also don’t feel like there’s too much information we’re not privy to.

The Hunger Games heavily relies on its first person narration, with Katniss being extremely honest with the reader and providing as much backstory as possible but also divulging her feelings and her doubts to the reader. At times, she can be a little overwhelming for the reader. I often found myself skimming paragraphs that were really just her reflective thoughts. I was mostly there for the plot and yet the book felt so heavy on character development that I felt myself getting a little tired by Katniss towards the end. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a fantastic protagonist. She’s just a little much in this first book.

If you haven’t yet read The Hunger Games, this book is really for everyone. The characters are fantastic and the plot is addictive. And I also encourage people to read this if all they’ve seen are the movies. Suzanne Collins provides so much information and backstory that needed to be cut from the films so there’s a lot you can pick up from the books if you haven’t yet read them.

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
September 2008
Scholastic Press

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love — she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness-except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny, flirtatious, and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back.

There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker, Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

Written by the author of the wildly successful Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda, The Upside of Unrequited is a sweet story about a young girl who has always had crushes but never boyfriends. Her closest relationships have always been with her sister and her two mums, but now there are two boys in her life who appear to be interested in her. This is new territory for her.

The Upside of Unrequited explores love, loss, family, friendship and growing up. It’s a coming of age story for someone who already appears to have everything in order. Because whilst Molly is strong, smart and beautiful, she’s at times insecure and worried and she lacks confidence.

Not all readers are going to relate to Molly in the same way. Some readers may not be as interested in the romantic side of the book as others, but there are a lot of other elements to this book that are really important for readers. Yes, a huge part of the novel may be about Molly trying to get a boyfriend (which in itself is a little bit frustrating because it tries to highlight that a girl can only have self-worth if she finds herself a boyfriend). But it also symbolises how hard it can be for a teenager if he/she feels like everyone else has accomplished something and you’re the one falling apart. Molly feels like everyone else has finished the race and yet she’s still at the starting line.

This book is also about growing up, and at times, growing apart. Once Molly’s sister Cassie gets a girlfriend, Molly starts to feel like she’s being cast aside. Like she’s not as important to Cassie anymore. She doesn’t quite realise that as you get older, you’re going to have to share the people in your life once they start forming relationships. The Upside of Unrequited teaches us that growing up can be tiring and overwhelming, and that not everything is always going to be easy.

“And now Cassie’s being mysterious, and it’s really fucking weird. Normally, when she hooks up with someone, she’s bursting with the details. She’s a kiss-and-teller. Maybe that’s awful, but it’s just a part of the hookup process for her. She told me once that a kiss isn’t a kiss until she tells me about it. Me, specifically.”

I personally liked Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda better, but this is still an enjoyable read. It’s also a quick read, for those of you looking for something relatively short and fast-paced. This book also teaches readers that sometimes the guy you least expect is the one who is the most suited to you. Sometimes being friends first helps you build that foundation that can lead to a relationship. Sometimes being friends first means you will be dating the person that you have the most things in common with. And for those of you who are also fans of Becky’s first novel, you should know that Simon DOES make a small cameo in this book!

If I had to point out anything about the book that I didn’t like, it would be the dialogue between Molly’s mums, Patty and Nadine. Yes, it was hilarious, witty, funny and wonderful, but it felt young. Their mums often sounded like teenagers themselves and so sometimes I felt like Becky didn’t fully capture their age in their dialogue.

“Dude, no,” Nadine tells him. “Banana’s gone. You’re SOL.”

“Hey,” pipes Nadine, “don’t let her bring that Schulmeister kid. They’re still broken up, right? Because I do not need my doorstep darkened by that little shitwiper on my wedding day. Nope to the nope.”

Despite this, I did love how present Nadine and Patty were in the novel. In a lot of young adult novels, parents are either dead, missing, or have run away and abandoned their children. It was nice to read a young adult novel where the parents had such a strong presence in Molly’s life.

One other aspect of the book that I didn’t necessarily agree with was this idea that you need to have a boyfriend to be happy, or that you need to have a boyfriend to be like everyone else. It made Molly appear quite self-absorbed at times, which I didn’t like. I would’ve liked it better if Molly realised that she can be happy alone or happy in a relationship and that she didn’t need one or the other to truly be herself.

I recommend this book to young adult lovers. It’s quite cute and sweet, and so if you’re not a regular young adult reader this may not be the book for you. However, if you’re looking for a quick read with a great romance and a great family dynamic, then this is a book you should pick up when you next go to the bookstore.

The Upside of Unrequited
Becky Albertalli
April 2017
Penguin Teen Australia

Stars Across the Ocean by Kimberley Freeman

1874: Only days before she is to leave the foundling home where she grew up, Agnes Resolute discovers that, as a baby, she had been abandoned with a small token of her mother: a unicorn button.

Agnes always believed her mother had been too poor to keep her, but after working as a laundress in the home she recognises the button as belonging to Genevieve Breckby, the beautiful and headstrong daughter of a local noble family. Agnes had seen Genevieve once, in the local village, and had never forgotten her.

Despite having no money, Agnes will risk everything in a quest that will take her from the bleak moors of northern England to the harsh streets of London, then on to Paris and Ceylon. As Agnes follows her mother’s trail, she makes choices that could cost her dearly. Finally, in Australia, she tracks Genevieve down. But is Genevieve capable of being the mother Agnes hopes she will be?

This historical fiction novel by Kimberley Freeman moves between past and present. The book opens in the present (no specific year mentioned) with a young woman named Victoria travelling from Australia to England to assist her ill mother, who has had an accident at work and is currently in recovery. Victoria helps her mother recover some documents from her workplace and then she finds a letter from the 19th century. It’s a letter from an unknown woman to her child that she gave away. Victoria reads the letter and becomes enthralled in the circumstances surrounding it.

The letter then abruptly cuts off and the novel takes us back to Agnes Resolute’s story in the mid 19th century. She is on a desperate search to find her birth mother and this search takes her to London, Paris, Ceylon and then on to Australia. It’s a novel about loss, love, identity and family.

Even though Harriet adored me, even though she didn’t believe women should be so constrained as we are, she used all the words I expected. ‘Improper’ and ‘unsuitable’: even ‘shocking’ and ‘indecent’.
‘Emile Venson is a carpenter,’ she said to me at the end. ‘You cannot fall in love with a carpenter.’

Kimberley Freeman has crafted an enjoyable historical fiction novel. The transition between past and present is smooth and not confusing at all, and the writing is effortless. The storyline keeps readers on their toes and eager to find out more, and the huge cast of characters are interesting to read and engaging for the reader.

Agnes spends almost the entire novel following Genevieve Breckby, an allusive woman that Agnes believes is her mother. Genevieve is hard to track down. First, Agnes travels to London and works for a time with Genevieve’s sister Marianna and Genevieve’s son Julius. And then she continues to follow the woman’s trail all the way to Australia. Kimberley Freeman constantly flicks between past and present as Victoria finds out more information about the illusive woman who has written this letter. The reader then finds out all the circumstances of the birth because the actual story is being detailed intermittently as well.

Agnes’ heart fell all the way to her toes. This house did not look inhabited, just like the house in Colombo. That meant she was miles and miles from anywhere, without means to return to the village — and, quite honestly, barely any idea which way the village lay — and evening was approaching.

I felt like Agnes wasn’t a hugely likeable protagonist. She came across extremely naive and there were a few parts in the novel where I could sense exactly what was going to happen. When she decides to sleep at the abandoned train station, I knew she was going to wake up to find that her suitcase had been stolen. And when she arrives in London and is accommodated by Madame Beaulieu, I could tell that Beaulieu was a running a brothel and would no doubt be an antagonist in the novel. Everyone seemed to know it but Agnes, and when Madame Beaulieu took her purse and wouldn’t give her back her money, I was not at all surprised.

“After her encounter with Monsieur Valois, she was more certain than ever that she would not sell her body as Madame Beaulieu wanted her to, and no amount of vile menial work would have her change her mind. She could endure it; it wasn’t forever.”

I know that Agnes is supposed to be in her late teens, but Kimberley dropped a lot of hints and things then became a little predictable. Agnes’ nativity became a little exhausting, thus making her an unlikable character. The ending to the novel, which I won’t give away in this review, was also something that I found predictable. I picked the ‘twist’ about 100 pages into the book, feeling like Kimberley made it too easy for the reader and that there were a lot of hints and comments that gave away the ending.

I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction — while it has some flaws, it is interesting and enjoyable. Kimberley has illustrated all of the different settings so well; she has captured the feel and atmosphere of each location with great skill. And as far as historical fiction goes, Stars Across the Ocean is intriguing and engaging and you’ll want to read until the end.

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

Stars Across the Ocean
Kimberley Freeman
May 2017
Hachette Publishers

Troubadour by Isolde Martyn

Forced to flee the English court after the lecherous King John attacks her, Adela, the queen’s hairbraider, finds employment in the entourage of Lady Alys. Alys is on her way to marry the Lord of Mirascon, a fiefdom in southern France. However, the south is under threat from Pope Innocent III’s military crusade against the heretics.

After trying in vain to rally his fellow lords against invasion, Richart, Vicomte de Mirascon, makes an alliance with King John. A political marriage to the Lady Alys – the king’s discarded mistress – will allow Richart to safeguard his people from a merciless land grab and cruel slaughter.

When the bridal party is ambushed, Adela is mistaken for her dead mistress by the people of Mirascon. Adela knows she must tell Richart that she is not his betrothed, but as she is dragged deeper into the deception, she is also powerfully drawn to the beleaguered man trying to protect his people and his culture. As the savage army marches south, can Richart and Adela overcome a web of deceit and treachery and evade the bonfires of the crusaders, or will their land of troubadours and tolerance be destroyed forever?

At first, this novel is a case of mistaken identity. Adela is mistaken for the dead Lady Alys and finds herself engaged to the one man she’s been hoping to unite with since she met him at the English court: Richart. She’s happy she’s with him, but she desperately wants to tell him the truth. And then quite early on in the novel, Richart finds out for himself. The two are separated. And then it becomes a novel about survival and uncovering betrayal.

Adela is a strong, resilient character, capable of surviving even in the most dire of times. Isolde Martyn has crafted a fantastic protagonist for this book, drawing us in with her plight and her dimensional construct.

“After she had scrubbed the first of Lady Alys’ underskirts, she sat back and drew her hand across her perspiring brow. Her presence had disturbed the stream’s tiny dwellers but now a damselfly clad in iridescent armour returned, then a trio of water skaters came skimming back, anxious to reclaim their manor.”

Troubadour is a lengthy book with plenty of action and plot and underpinned by truly wonderful characters that I loved reading about. I was enthralled throughout the book, eagerly turning each page to keep reading and thoroughly enjoying every chapter. The book is filled with historical information and an engaging cast of characters. This novel has betrayal, love, trickery, and gutsy courage – everything you could want in a historical fiction novel.

Adela and Richart are star characters, as are Maud and the hilarious Derwent. Right from the beginning, you’re backing Adela. You want her to succeed and flourish and you want her to survive. She’s young and naive, but she’s also strong and intelligent and compassionate.

“Adela received him courteously, but she would have preferred to swim a filthy moat rather than describe the massacre again.”

There were a few times in the book that were heavy with historical information and I felt like it was hard to grasp. A lot of the book is based on actual events and so a lot of explaining and information dumping was needed in order for the reader to get the historical significance of what was happening. I did, at times, feel like Isolde could’ve woven the historical information into the book a little more seamlessly so that it wasn’t as confusing and heavy for the reader to understand.

What I loved most about this book is that it’s a standalone, unlike a lot of other epic fantasy books where there are a minimum of six books in the series and it’s a huge investment to keep going. This novel had perfect pacing and was the perfect length to keep me entertained, and the conclusion to the novel was satisfying and engaging. I loved that this was just one novel and not a long-winded series that you had to read to find out the fate of the characters.

I recommend this to fantasy lovers and those of you who love Game of Thrones, but I also recommend this to readers who are perhaps looking to dabble in a bit of fantasy and don’t want to commit to something too heavy. This is a really enjoyable read, and I would highly recommend Isolde Martyn.

I received a copy of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Troubadour
Isolde Martyn
March 2017
Harlequin Publishers

The Road to Winter by Mark Smith

Since a deadly virus and the violence that followed wiped out his parents and most of his community, Finn has lived alone on the rugged coast with only his loyal dog Rowdy for company.

He has stayed alive for two winters—hunting and fishing and trading food, and keeping out of sight of the Wilders, an armed and dangerous gang that controls the north, led by a ruthless man named Ramage.

But Finn’s isolation is shattered when a girl runs onto the beach. Rose is a Siley—an asylum seeker—and she has escaped from Ramage, who had enslaved her and her younger sister, Kas. Rose is desperate, sick, and needs Finn’s help. Kas is still missing somewhere out in the bush.

And Ramage wants the girls back—at any cost.

The Road to Winter feels like a crossover between young adult fiction and adult fiction. It’s got the apocalyptic setting and the teen romance of the usual dystopian YA thriller, but it has the intrigue, uniqueness, and plot development of an adult novel. All ages will love this book.

Mark Smith doesn’t shy away from dark topics. When Finn helps a young girl, Rose, who was being held captive, it becomes quite clear what her captives were doing to her. It also becomes clear how important it is that Finn saves her sister Kas from that same fate.

I really loved this novel. It may have been a slow burner, and it may have taken a bit for me to warm to Finn, but in the end I grew to love the setting and the premise and I think Mark did a fantastic job of drawing the reader in. Nothing frustrates me more than an end-of-the-world novel where everything seems to work out for the protagonist/s. In The Road to Winter, not everything works out for our main characters, which makes everything seem more realistic. It makes the dangers and the antagonists seem more realistic and in turn, it made me more invested in the story.

“Something that kept me in touch with my old life. It’s dangerous, not because of anything in the water but because of what’s on the land – who might arrive in town while I’m caught up enjoying myself. But it’s a risk that’s worth taking to stay sane.”
-FINN

Mark has done a great job of establishing the secluded Australian setting. At times it feels quite claustrophobic, and this does wonders for engaging the reader. Angowrie is the small coastal town that Finn grew up in. His parents are dead and it’s just him and his dog. Even when he ventures out to try and find Kas, there’s an eerie, haunting atmosphere that envelops the novel and really draws the reader in.

Unfortunately, there were a couple of (very little!) things that I disliked about the novel. Initially, Finn just seems to be hanging around. He surfs during the day, hunts his own food and hangs out with his dog. This seems a little too good to be true. If the world really had been wiped out by a virus, wouldn’t you be motivated to find allies? To find more food? Surely rabbits aren’t always going to be around for you to capture and eat. And even when Kas and Rose come into the story, there are a few times where everything seems a little too relaxed.

Another element of the story that I found a little underdeveloped was the budding relationship between Kas and Finn. They go swimming together and their relationship suddenly blossoms with a kiss. It wasn’t built up too much prior to this so I found myself quite confused.

Despite these two things, I did really love this novel and I really want to see where Mark takes the story. I recommend this to young readers who are looking for the next dystopian/apocalyptic read for their shelves.

I received a copy of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Road to Winter
Mark Smith
June 2016
Text Publishers