JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

The ancient world of magic is no more. Its heroes are dead, its halls are ruins, and its great battles between Light and Dark are forgotten. Only the Stewards remember. For centuries they have kept vigil, sworn to protect humanity if the Dark King ever returns.

Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run in London, pursued by the men who killed his mother. When an old servant urges him to seek out the Stewards, Will is ushered into a secret world, where he must train to fight for the Light in the oncoming war.

As the Dark King’s return looms, reborn warriors begin to draw battle lines. But when the young descendants of Light and Dark step into their destined roles, old allegiances, old enmities and old flames are awakened. Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the calamity that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own.

The first book in a new YA fantasy trilogy, C.S. Pacat’s Dark Rise comes highly anticipated. Set in 1821 London, teenager Will is on the run from his mother’s murderer – successful trader Lord Simon Crenshaw. Soon, he’s entangled in a world he knew nothing about, under the protection of an ancient order. Dark Rise is quite the clever story because you find yourself questioning who the real villain is the entire way through.

Dark Rise feels like it honours classical fantasy whilst also incorporating a lot of unique elements and surprising plot events that mean you don’t feel like the story is predictable. C.S Pacat twists familiar tropes to make them much more inviting for the readers. There were certain deaths I never saw coming, and some character revelations were teased throughout the book and I missed them – I think all readers will love this book, not just readers of YA.

“Justice had talked about Tom like—
Like he was a monster. Like he’d hunt a woman down and kill her. Like he served a dark power, and did it willingly. A horror rose up in her.”

Written in third person, C.S. Pacat’s writing is stripped but impactful. She offers enough insight into the minds of her characters but largely keeps the majority of the story to dialogue and action where it shines.

Credit must be given to the way she only pivots her story around her core characters, without falling into the trap of including/mentioning secondary characters too often in scenes – this can be confusing for the reader when there is a large cast of characters present, and I often find myself going back through the pages and needing to re-read.

C.S Pacat has set herself up for an explosive second book. Themes include family, destiny, friendship and courage.

“The gathered men were uneasy, shifting in the repressed silence. The three too-pale men swung silently down off their horses, their single black pieces of armour faintly repelling. Those left on the banks were shooting nervous glances from them to James and back again. Will felt it too, a strange pressure growing in his chest.”

Admittedly, elements of the novel’s structure were a little disjointed for me. We switch POV between the main characters, but sometimes it didn’t always feel necessary. Katherine, Simon’s fiancé, gets only a few chapters in her POV and it didn’t feel like a seamless jump.

Towards the end, when she comes back into the storyline, there have been so many significant things that have happened that we weren’t privy to, it felt like the reader was left on the out. Being more involved in Katherine’s turning point as a character likely would’ve made her contribution seem more worthwhile, and it certainly would’ve helped me connect to her as a character.

Finally, the presence of Elizabeth in the story could’ve been more dominant. She doesn’t appear until right at the end where she actually matters, and because we don’t really know who she is, I felt nothing for her.

“Cyprian was too perfect, riding straight-backed in garments that seemed to repel the mud of the marsh. He was one of two Stewards who were younger than the others – Will’s age – and he and the girl were dressed differently too.”

Recommended for fantasy readers, and suitable for younger audiences. Readership skews 13+

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

Dark Rise: Dark Rise #1
C.S. Pacat
October 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

It’s Not You, It’s Me by Gabrielle Williams

A literally life-changing novel about time travel, soulmates and serial killers that asks a very big question: Can you ever change your fate?

Holly Fitzgerald has inexplicably woken up inside the body of an LA teenager called Trinity Byrne in 1980 – trapping Trinity in Holly’s forty-year-old body back in Melbourne, 2020.

Mind. Officially. Blown.

Holly finds herself navigating a brand-new body, family and cute boy next door – not to mention rock band that might just make it, and potential kidnapper. Meanwhile, lies intersect with truth, hurtling both Holly and Trinity towards a dangerous fate as the connections between them grow deeper and stranger than either could have ever imagined.

Freaky Friday meets Pretty Little Liars — if the Liars were an all-girl punk band from the 1980s.

Gabrielle Williams’ latest YA novel It’s Not You, It’s Me is a soul-swap story predominantly set in the 1980s. When forty-year-old Holly — who lives in 2020 — wakes up in the body of 16-year-old Trinity in 1980, she must learn to manage this new identity whilst figuring out why she’s been swapped in the first place. What does she need to do and how can she get back to her own body?

It’s certainly an interesting perspective to focus on for a YA novel — centring the story on the 40-year-old rather than the 16-year-old. But to be fair, when we do come in contact with Trinity it’s clear she’s quite unfriendly and bitter, and I probably would’ve hated reading an entire book about her anyway. It’s nice to see her humble out a bit.

“Holly couldn’t pretend. This wasn’t her life. None of it was. Deep down in her gut, in her soul, she knew this wasn’t who she was. Holly didn’t know how to behave with a dad. She hadn’t grown up with one. What happened when you had a dad? What sort of things did you talk about?”

Focusing on Holly’s perspective allows us to focus on the plot, rather than the character. Holly is wise and intelligent, and her journey is more about finding out why she’s been body-swapped, and what she can do to improve Trinity’s life. Over time, we come to realise how lonely Holly’s childhood was — an absent mother, no father. By stepping into Trinity’s shoes, she gets to experience the love of a family and the comfort of feeling like she belongs. It’s a nice touch.

Another interesting element to the story is how Gabrielle explored muscle memory and unconscious reactions. In many situations, Holly is able to ‘be’ more like Trinity and is able to tap into memories rather suddenly.

The pacing is consistent and appropriate, and tension builds in the second half as Holly’s life nears danger. Whilst Gabrielle probably could’ve increased the presence of the Mariposa Murder in the first half of the novel — the fear and concern — I still really enjoyed Holly’s progression in the novel.

“She strummed the strings, trying to get a feel for the instrument. She was going to make a fool of herself. But as she started tinkering, her fingers took off with a mind, or a memory, all their own. Her body was plucking the strings, listening for tone, adjusting the tuning pegs…”

Admittedly, I would’ve loved a bit more reference to the 1980s — pop culture, fashion, lifestyle. Perhaps these things are light on because the YA readership weren’t alive in the 1980s and so they may not necessarily respond to these elements, but I would’ve loved just a bit more sense of place. Holly waking up in the 1980s lends itself to quite a bit of humour and quirk, and this novel does feel like it has room for a bit more.

The only other element of the novel I struggled with was the initial scenes when Holly wakes up in Trinity’s body. Because the story is written in third person, Holly is referred to as Holly, but Trinity is frequently mentioned, and introspection allows for Holly to talk about Trinity a lot. After the first few chapters you’ve got it, but initially? I was quite confused.

“Holly wasn’t ready for the outside world yet, even if it was only coming in through the phone line…Holly’s instinct was to hang up the phone and deal with the consequences later. But if she didn’t talk to this girl, the mom would know something was up.”

Quirky and original, It’s Not Me It’s You is recommended for a YA audience. Readership skews female, 12+. The ending is particularly enjoyable.

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

It’s Not You, It’s Me
Gabrielle Williams
September 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

In Carry On, Simon Snow and his friends realized that everything they thought they understood about the world might be wrong. And in Wayward Son, they wondered whether everything they understood about themselves might be wrong.

In Any Way the Wind Blows, Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha have to decide how to move forward.

For Simon, that means deciding whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages — and if he doesn’t, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she’s smuggled a cursed American Normal into London, and now she isn’t sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough.

Any Way the Wind Blows takes the gang back to England, back to Watford, and back to their families for their longest and most emotionally wrenching adventure yet. This book is a finale. It tells secrets and answers questions and lays ghosts to rest.

The third and final book in this young adult trilogy, Rainbow Rowell’s Any Way the Wind Blows brings Simon and Baz’s story to a close. It provides closure for Simon’s origin story, as well as the other characters we’ve met along the way.

Strengths include humour and wit, and the existence of magic in the story and how it develops over the course of the novel. Interpersonal relationships and emotional intelligence is also another strength, as characters start to cross paths again and are forced to confront deep-rooted insecurities.

“I thought maybe Snow didn’t want to share a bed with me because he was afraid I’d bite him in my sleep. But apparently that’s fine! Bloodletting is fine – intimacy is the real taboo!”

This final book in the series will please fans of the series who have been holding out for some Simon and Baz romance. But to be perfectly honest, this book has a pretty non-existent plot. It feels like it’s been written purely to serve the fans, and it wasn’t necessarily written because it needed to be. Hardly anything happens, and the novel is mainly driven by dialogue. The mystery comes in quite late in the novel and is solved rather fast. The ‘villain’ in the book doesn’t hold enough presence in the novel, and is not intimidating enough for his role.

The best part of the book is the moments of humour peppered throughout the chapter, but they’re few and far in between. And the novel moves between so many different characters, it gives a bit of whiplash. I feel like those who have read the first two books will be interested in seeing how it ends, and the writing is certainly accessible enough to make reading this quite easy, but overall, this is quite a disappointing conclusion. The plot was so limited it actually felt like book 2 in a trilogy.

“It wasn’t quite like that. I didn’t chicken out. It was more like I got overwhelmed. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Baz had said and how I needed to talk to him. Immediately, it felt like some window was closing. It was probably already closed, and I’d need to break it open.”

There were certain elements of the characterisation that didn’t quite ring true. Baz and Simon are really horny for each other in this, which is fine, but a lot of the book is about Simon trying to mature and have a real relationship and the introspection feels fleeting and overlooked at times. Any moments of tension or clashing pass over so quickly, you wonder why they had to happen in the first place.

Also, if my memory serves me correctly, Simon was quite anxious and shy about his feelings for Baz in previous books. And in this book, he’s gone from 0-100?

“The good thing about my aunt’s terrible flat is that I can do some light hunting without even leaving the building. I just have to dispose of the empty rodents when I’m done.”

For readers who are up to date with the trilogy, it’s nice to see how the story ends. But this is not the explosive finale that I anticipated. Readership skews female, 14+

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

Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3)
Rainbow Rowell
July 2021
Pan Macmillan Book Publishers

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:
Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes – for a fee.
Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
Really cannot stand the new Australian jock at school, Alexander Brougham.
Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

But when Brougham catches Darcy in the act of collecting letters from locker 89 – out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service – that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she’s not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could possibly go wrong?

Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper is her second contemporary YA novel, once again set in the halls of high school and exploring sexuality, friendship, family and budding romance. Earlier this year I read Only Mostly Devastated. and loved it, so I’ve been excited to read this next one from Sophie.

The concept is enticing — Darcy runs an anonymous advice service for fellow students, and she’s very good at it. But when her secret is discovered, she teams up with an unlikely classmate to help him win back his ex-girlfriend. Young readers will devour this one.

“I sent back a text to Brooke. What I wanted to say was abso-fucking-lutely she could come over, as soon as possible, and in fact, she could also move in, and marry me, and mother my children while she was at it, but my extensive study in relationships had taught me wild obsession wasn’t cute.”

Perfect on Paper features bi-sexual representation, and issues around queerness and identity. The chemistry between Darcy and Brougham is evident from the beginning, setting up a really sweet love story between two unlikely allies.

As with her last book, Sophie’s strength lies in her first person narration. We get an immediate and all-encompassing sense of who Darcy is based on her voice and her narration. She’s flawed, yes, and she makes poor choices when she’s blinded by love, but her heart is in the right place even when her mind isn’t. Over the course of the novel, Darcy comes to understand the importance of being honest and owning up to past mistakes. The fallout may be damaging, but in the long run, it’s best for everyone.

Sophie captures that ache you felt as a teenager when the person you loved didn’t feel the same way — even adult readers will be able to relate to Darcy in this way. I think, deep down, Darcy knows Brooke doesn’t like her in that way, and it’s devastating. Darcy is so good at advising others on how to pursue their interests, but she can’t follow her own advice. She struggles to work up the courage to communicate with Brooke about how she’s feeling.

“He held eye contact with me, and I felt like maybe I should be waving, or something? But what if Finn noticed, and asked how we knew each other? And then what if Brougham told him, and Finn told literally everyone he’d ever met, and then my whole life fell apart?”

Darcy’s inner turmoil and emotional pain about not being ‘queer enough’ felt a little underdeveloped in the plot, and subsequently its resolution at the end of the novel felt a little rushed.

Additionally, some of the conversations in the novel ran a little long, and the banter a little dragged out. Whilst conversations felt relatable and authentic, some of them could’ve used some trimming to make scenes more succinct.

“As usual, getting a message from Brooke made me feel like the law of gravity had declined to apply to me for a beat. She was obviously thinking about me instead of doing her homework. How often did her mind wander to me when she started daydreaming? Did it wander to anyone else, or was I special?”

Tender and charming, Perfect on Paper is suitable for teenage readers. 12+

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

Perfect on Paper
Sophie Gonzales
March 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

Cuckoo’s Flight by Wendy Orr

When Clio’s town in Bronze Age Crete is threatened by seafaring raiders, she faces the greatest sacrifice of all. Can Clio, her herd of horses and a new young friend find a way to change their destinies?

When a raiders’ ship appears off the coast, the goddess demands an unthinkable price to save the town – and Clio’s grandmother creates a sacred statue to save Clio’s life.

But Clio is torn between the demands of guarding the statue and caring for her beloved horses. Disabled in an accident, she must try to put aside her own grief at no longer being able to ride – and in the process, save a friend’s life and stop a war.

Cuckoo’s Flight is Wendy Orr’s third middle grade novel set in the Bronze-Age Mediterranean, following on from Dragonfly Song and Swallow’s Dance. Whilst this is the third novel set in this time period, and there is some overlap in characters and history, you don’t need to read the other two novels to be able to read Cuckoo’s Flight.

The setting is one of the strengths of this novel, as well as the seamless transition between prose and poetry that readers will recognise from Wendy’s other works.

Wendy captures the era with accuracy and thorough research. Immediately, you’re swept up in Clio’s saga. She’s tenacious, resilient and strong, brave and confident. She doesn’t conform to what the community expects of her, and looks for alternate solutions. She’s self-driven, but she’s also a great teacher of others. She doesn’t let her disability — a stiff, twisted leg from when she fell off a horse as a young girl — stop her.

“Clio can’t imagine life without her grandmother. She knows that only the gods live forever and that all other living creatures — birds, beasts and people, dragonflies and dolphins — will return to the Great Mother one day.”

Wendy’s Bronze Age trilogy are all female-centric, with young female characters as the protagonists. They are all disadvantaged in some way. Perhaps they’re physically disadvantaged, or they’re an outcast in society. Perhaps they’re poor. Wendy crafts her protagonists so that readers can watch them rise above what others expect of them. Young readers will feel reassured that bravery and courage will always save the day.

Whilst this may appear to be an adventure series, a rollercoaster of a journey for all the characters involved, there’s a lot of heart and depth to these novels. They’re multi-layered and offer insightful characterisation — all readers will find something to love within these books.

“The gully at the river’s bend
carved from the steep bank
washes silt to the water
trapping the pebbles from the creek above —
gravel and silt forming a ledge
across the river, nearly to the other shore.”

Admittedly this story takes a bit longer to engage with the characters than the previous two works. I felt like the opening started in the wrong place. We’re thrust into Clio’s life a little too chaotically, and it does take a few chapters for the reader to settle into the story. Additionally, the pacing in the novel is quite fast so we don’t have a lot of time to really sit with the characters. Cuckoo’s Flight is very much a plot-driven novel.

“On her wooden stage in the dim light of the courtyard, with the east mountain looming darker behind her, the Lady begins to sing. Slowly, slowly, she calls the sun up from behind the mountain into the pale sky. Blinding the audience, streaking the sky with pink and gold, the miracle of sunrise happens again.”

Imaginative and enticing historical fiction, Cuckoo’s Flight and its two predecessors will engage any young reader.

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

Cuckoo’s Flight
Wendy Orr
March 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers