JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story.

My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.

Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.

I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.

I really don’t.

Finally. A YA novel about something other than sex, drugs and alcohol – a novel that I could recommend to a 12 year old without their mother needing to read it first to check it’s appropriate. My respect goes to Alice Oseman, who is only 19 years old and managed to write this clever, insightful, and completely-relevant-to-today’s-society story.

The main character is refreshingly pessimistic and enjoys spending time by herself and avoiding social interaction with others. Tori is believable, three dimensional, and realistic to teenagers today. Her ‘too cool for school’ classmates remind me of my high school experience and had me laughing that teenagers still act like that. Do high school girls still talk about which celebrity they find hotter? Is that still a thing?

‘Solitaire’ was a very unique plotline, but the blurb didn’t give any information about that. In case you’re wondering, Solitaire is an online blog that orchestrates pranks on people at Tori’s high school, and then publishes evidence of it on the blog. At first it’s harmless, but then it goes too far and people are hurt.

I read this in only a few hours, because Tori’s voice is conversational and real and I couldn’t quite put the book down. This novel incorporates technology and social media and highlights how dominant it is in a teenager’s life. I recommend this book not just to teens or tweens, but to anyone who has ever attended high school.
My Score: 9/10

The Not So Secret Emails of Coco Pinchard by Robert Bryndza

Coco Pinchard was never a single thirty-something. She married young, had a son, and put her dream to be a writer on hold. Now her first novel is published. Husband Daniel has greyed nicely into a silver fox, and son Rosencrantz is grown up. It should be time to enjoy life. That is, until the annual family Christmas when her hideous mother-in-law Ethel comes to stay, and Coco opens her gift from Daniel. It’s not the jewellery she chose, but an iPhone. This marks the start of Daniel’s mid-life crisis and she catches him in bed with a younger woman.

The iPhone becomes a confessional of sorts, through emails to her friends Chris, an ageing trustafarian and Marika a slightly alcoholic schoolteacher. Coco documents her seemingly endless (and often entertaining!) run of bad luck. Then she meets the hunky Adam and she’s back in the world of dating as a single forty-something…

This book is well-written and engaging, and the book maintains the reader’s interest (which is hard to do when the book is made up entirely of emails). It does take a bit to familiarise yourself with the characters in the story – they don’t have common names (*cough* Rosencrantz *cough*) and it takes a bit to warm up to them.

I do think the ‘trigger’ – Coco finding Daniel in bed with someone else – needs to happen sooner in the story. It takes a little too long to get there, and the reader is left wondering, ‘so what is going to happen in this story?’ for the first 25 pages. The best piece of writing advice I’ve ever been given is ‘start on the day that’s different’. This story needs to start a little closer to the day when Coco finds out Daniel is cheating, so that the reader is engaged from the start.

The dialogue is well written and Coco’s life is a strong reminder of Bridget Jones’ Diary. Although sometimes things happen to Coco that seem a little farfetched and even if it happened to Bridget Jones, it’d be a little unbelievable. Robert has written this novel well, and Coco’s voice is spot on for a woman her age. The plot is well-paced (although at times a little slow moving) and events seem to unfold in a natural, believable manner.

My Score: 7/10

Darkness on the Edge of Town by Jessie Cole

When a stranger crashes her car outside Vincent and Gemma’s bush home, their lives take a dramatic turn. In an effort to help the stranded woman, father and daughter are drawn into a world of unexpected and life-changing consequences. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN is a haunting tale that beguiles the reader with its deceptively simple prose, its gripping and unrelenting tensions, and its disturbing yet tender observations.

I’ve had ‘Deeper Water’ (Jessie Cole’s latest novel) on my reading list for a while now, but thought it was best to read Jessie Cole’s earlier work first. The cover drew me in. I’ve been reading fantasy lately, and the ominous and melancholic atmosphere evoked from the cover really seemed like it would be a nice change.

This book is genius. It’s more character driven than plot driven, and reminds me a lot of Margaret Atwood’s earlier work. Vincent and Rachel are three dimensional and realistic characters, and dialogue is definitely the strongest part of this story. Gemma seemed a little stereotypical, especially as the book progressed, and I think Jessie could have dialled back Gemma’s point of view and featured more of Vincent’s perspective.

This story is dark and frightening and I couldn’t put the book down – I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys literary books. Some readers may think that nothing much actually happens in this book, but the exploration and development of character is more than enough to produce a good story. The point of view shift between Vincent and Gemma helps propel the story forward and is a refreshing change. Now that I’m familiar with Jessie Cole’s writing, I’m going to pick up a copy of ‘Deeper Water’.

My Score: 9/10

White Tiger by Kylie Chan

Book One in the Dark Heavens Trilogy

When 28-year-old Emma Donahoe becomes a nanny to John Chen’s daughter, Simone, she does not expect to be drawn into a world of martial arts, magic, and extreme danger, where both gods and demons can exist in the mortal world.

Emma gradually realises that John Chen is no ordinary businessman and that nearly all the demons in hell would like to see him dead. John and his American bodyguard, Leo, begin to teach Emma their particular brand of martial arts and special defensive techniques … they also begin to realise that there is something that is different about Emma but exactly what it is, nobody can say.

For the first 80 pages, this novel reads like a romance. Emma accepts a full-time nanny position and can’t quite suppress her feelings for the father. At first it’s intriguing and I wanted to keep reading to see what happened, but then Emma appeared a little needy and at times, she seemed 18 and not 28.

The martial arts/fantasy side of the novel is well written, and John Chen’s character is developed and three dimensional. Kylie should be commended on the humour between Emma and Leo, Simone’s bodyguard. This book will please fantasy readers because it presents an interesting, fantasy/magical take on martial arts and Chinese mythology. Even though the novel is quite long (a little too long), it is fast-paced and the tension developed in the story is engaging for the reader.

I also loved that Kylie’s novel is inclusive of many different types of characters and promotes equality, which is something that I had read before picking up the book. White Tiger consists of characters of different ages, genders, cultural backgrounds, and sexual orientation, and that is quite rare for a fantasy novel. Actually, that’s quite rare for any novel.

My Score: 8/10

The Giver by Lois Lowry

 

Jonas’ world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

I won’t lie. I picked up this book because the ‘major motion picture’ is about to come out, and I was curious. A lot of people seemed to read this in high school, and until the movie trailer was released, I’d never heard of this book. And to think of all the books I had to read in high school that I didn’t enjoy, and here was this book that I would’ve loved to have read in high school.

This novel is fast-paced and has an intriguing premise. It is a great children’s book and I can see why kids would love it. However, in saying that, the book probably could’ve been double the size and helped to fill in a few gaps that I noticed. I read this in a few hours and I wanted to know more about The Giver’s memories and about Jonas’ reaction when he finds out what ‘releasing’ entails. I think that there isn’t enough stylistic development between when Jonas makes this discovery and when he runs off with Gabriel.

Although the novel is fast-paced, at times it was a little too quick. The novel is supposed to take place over approximately one year and I didn’t get that from the text. It seemed like one month, maximum. And I feel like the social dynamic between Jonas and The Giver could’ve been explored more, but since this is children’s fiction, Lowry can get away with it.

My Score: 8/10