Title: Song in the Dark
Author: Christine Howe
Publication: February 21, 2013 by Penguin Australia
Format, pages: Paperback, 216
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

Where do you end up when you have nowhere to go, and no one to turn to?

Paul isn’t thinking clearly. After destroying a series of relationships – with his friends, his flatmates, his mum – he finally hurts the one person he cares about most of all. And then he runs away.

An extraordinary and heartrending story of love, betrayal, addiction and hope.

Christine Howe’s debut novel Song in the Dark is a book of tough and mature themes definitely written for a mature young adult audience. It’s nice to know that some authors write to not squeeze into what’s popular within the age group such as young protagonists, cliched romances, and genre trends, but write matters that have meaning and levels of emotionality that you wouldn’t see elsewhere. Song in the Dark is one of those, but sadly for me, I didn’t quite connect with the book. I mean, it was good. But as it was written in third perspective it was hard to connect with our main character Paul as he hurts people he loves, family and friends, and runs away to recover at a rehab treatment centre for his marijuana addiction. I felt incredibly distant from him because of it; maybe it’s because I’m the polar opposite. If it were written in first there might’ve been a difference in the way I felt about this book. Despite it being short and a quick read I had skimmed about 30% of it and that’s really a shame.

Thanks to Penguin Australia via NetGalley for the egalley to review.

• • •

Title: Shadow Kiss, Vampire Academy #3
Author: Richelle Mead
Publication: November 13th, 2008 by Razorbill
Format, pages: Paperback, 348
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

It’s springtime at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn’t been feeling quite right. She’s having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all… might be seeing ghosts.

As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose’s forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line – and choose between the two people she loves most.

Richelle Mead has soooo many passionate fans the world over for her Vampire Academy series and I think I slowly am becoming one. I’ve taken my time – even if poorly – with this series and it’s a goal to finish the series this year. Shadow Kiss, the third instalment in the series, was packed with thrilling if not emotional moments, especially the ending between Lissa and Rose. It’s such a genuinely complex relationship between friends and one of the best I’ve read; there’s a lot of depth and history to their friendship that you don’t see anywhere else. It’s at that ending that it explodes and Rose and Lissa ricochet their own ways, and it’s funny how it’s both their faults. I look forward to reading the next three in this series following Rose and the path she takes to find Dimitri. This was a great instalment and the next books seem like they’re just going to cascade down on me.

• • •

Title: Pandemonium, Delirium #2
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publication: February 28th, 2012 by HarperCollins Children’s Books
Format, pages: Hardcover, 375
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Romance
My Rating:  

“So what was your name before?” I say, and she freezes, her back to me. “Before you came to the Wilds, I mean.”For a moment she stands there.

Then she turns around.

“You might as well get used to it now,” she says with quite intensity.

“Everything you were, the life you had, the people you knew… dust.”

She shakes her head and says, a little more firmly, “There is no before. There is only now, and what comes next.”

After falling in love, Lena and Alex flee their oppressive society where love is outlawed and everyone must receive the “cure” – an operation that makes them immune to the delirium of love – but Lena alone manages to find her way to a community of resistance fighters. Although she is bereft without the boy she loves, her struggles seem to be leading her toward a new love.

‘Ixion’s not a place for friends. They die or they leave. On Ixion you need allies.’

Title: Shine Light, Night Creatures #3
Author: Marianne de Pierres
Publication: November 1, 2012 by Random House Australia
Format, pages: Paperback, 239
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopia
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

Ixion. The island of ever-night.

If she had a choice, Naif wouldn’t go back. But her friends will die if she doesn’t find a cure for the badges that are slowly killing them, and her brother is there, fighting against the Ripers who hold everyone in thrall. And Naif has knowledge that might save them all.

First she must solve the mystery of Ixion’s eternal night. Then she must convince everyone – rebels and revellers alike – to join her cause. And all the while, she must fight the urge to go to Lenoir – her greatest love, her mortal enemy.

The secrets of Ixion must be revealed. The evils must be stopped. A new dawn will come.

When you get a book, begin reading immediately, and devour it within a matter of hours, then that book must be juicy and gripping and excellent. Shine Light was one of those books. After reading Burn Bright and Angel Arias last year, all I wanted to do was find out how everything concluded – Naif’s conquest, the Ripers’ ruination, the night creatures’ survival… and Ixion’s illumination. I wanted to know more, experience more, discover more; and I sure did get more than I had hoped.

Shine Light was a fantastic final instalment in the Night Creatures series. If you had any questions or speculations from the previous two books then have no fear. Answers slowly come to light as we journey from Ruzalia’s airship to Danskoi, beginning to end. Have you ever wondered why Ixion was forever, eternally in darkness? Shine light, burn bright, and READ THIS BOOK, baby bats, because then you will learn why. Marianne de Pierres bleeds the pages of Shine Light with wonder, pleasure, knowledge… and most of all, hope for a brighter world.

In Shine Light Naif and those she befriended along the way in Burn Bright and Angel Arias return to Ixion to uncover the many secrets and mysteries that have been buried beneath the feet of its ignorant and carousing youth and veiled behind a sky of darkness. As Naif and crew learn about the truths of Ixion, so does the reader – truths continue to spring from the pages, like mice triggering traps for some wanted goodness they rarely ever come across. And once Naif and co. do, they use their new-found knowledge to bring good, hope, and light to Ixion.

This series has a splendid cast of characters; each character changes in ways we do not expect them to, especially in Shine Light. I loved the addition of Liam in Angel Arias, and to learn more about him and the person he is – or was – in Shine Light was great, as well as his relationship with Suki (Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!) and the overarching role he played/s in Ixion’s past, present and future. One character that changed considerably was Lenoir. Lenoir sacrificed a lot to help Naif and company achieve what they set out to do, even if it harmed him. After all, there is no good without sacrifice. And sacrifice he sure did. And Naif and Jarrod and Emilia… all the feels!

Shine Light was complete; the Night Creatures series is complete. However, when I reached the end of this book I was a bit surprised. Sure, I was surprised at everything that happened in the last thirty or so pages, but I was really surprised at how fast the final pages and climax was; it came and it went. I just wish there was more conflict, that it was drawn out, and that there was something… more. It concluded all too fast considering how much of the book focused on uncovering the truths and righting them. It ended great, just not the great I was expecting. But I still really, really enjoyed it! And the very end – I. Loved. It! I continue to wonder what happens next (I found it quite reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera, however that is just my interpretation). If there’s ever an opportunity to return to Ixion, I’ll be there with streamers in my hands and bells on my feet.

Other books in the series:

• Burn Bright (March, 2011)
• Angel Arias (October, 2011)
• Shine Light (November, 2012)

Don’t miss the upcoming Shine Light Blog Tour – With A Difference!

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
(Lumatere Chronicles #1)
My Rating:  
Goodreads | Book Depository

Finnikin of the Rock is recommended for those of you that enjoy reading fantasy with the likes of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling. It is a fantastic addition to the fantasy genre that moves flawlessly between the travelling that goes on in the book, the introduction of new characters and new lands/parts of Skuldenore, the gripping violence and bloodshed, and the great romance that unravels slowly and develops through the pages. This book holds such believable characters, albeit fantasy, pulling you into the lives and struggles of the Lumaterans as they try to take back their stolen lands of Lumatere. Looking forward to devouring Froi of the Exiles and then soon Quintana of Charyn. Fans of Melina Marchetta will be satisfied, even those who don’t like reading fantasy.

•••

Winter’s Shadow by M.J. Hearle
(Winter’s Saga #1)
My Rating:  
Goodreads | Book Depository

Winter’s Shadow was a fantastic debut by M.J. Hearle. It had a fresh take on the paranormal genre for YA and although the creatures and the paranormal aspect has links to others, it is separate and unique in itself and like nothing you have read before. It has this Gothic feel to it that you will not be able to suppress as you read. Your heart will be pumping and your mind will be pounding from the screeching cats, the towering shadows, the falling buildings, and the love that develops between Winter and Blake and his mission to keep her safe. [Only available in Australia.]

•••

This Is Shyness by Leanne Hall
(This Is Shyness #1)
My Rating:  
Goodreads | Book Depository

This Is Shyness is different, different as in unique as in you haven’t read anything like it. This books holds elements of contemporary set in a fantasy world of a world that is somewhat dystopian. You can’t genre-fy this darling! And you wouldn’t want to after you read it. Shyness deserves its own genre called “Where The Sun Don’t Shine.” This is the type of book where you have to focus entirely on as you follow the perspectives of Wolfboy and Wildgirl (of course they’re not their real names) through Shyness and discover what this city of darkness holds while you also learn about each of their lives as they discover each other’s truths slowly in the duration of this one night adventure. I have Queen of the Night waiting to be read and I’m looking forward to revisiting Shyness as the first time I went I got lost a little. [Only available in Australia.]

•••

Enticed by Jessica Shirvington
(Violet Eden Chapters #2)
My Rating:  
Goodreads | Book Depository

An enticing – hehe pun! – sequel to Embrace with heaps more action, more travels – this time to Jordan and Mount Nebo – and an extension of what we were introduced to in Embrace. Violet and Lincoln’s relationship endures a few more hurdles from external factors which these factors propel this story forward. I want to read Emblaze now so I can be transported to Santorini Bay already! Luckily I got it waiting for me and luckily I can experience the beauty of Santorini Bay through this book and Jessica’s natural writing. Violet’s character continues to shine through in Jessica’s words. Enticed is released in the US in September, with Emblaze in March. Make sure you get your orders in if you loved Embrace because I’m sure you will devour the rest of the series. [Watch video chat I had with Jessica Shirvington here.]

•••

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My Rating:  
Goodreads | Book Depository

What do I say that hasn’t already been said before? The Book Thief is a literary masterpiece that deals with the struggles and sacrifices endured through World War II and the relationships that must be established in order to make it through even the worst and most darkened and calamitous moments in our lives.

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•••

The Industry by Rose Foster
(The Industry #1)
My Rating:  
Goodreads | Book Depository

The Industry is a promising start to a thrilling new series by Aussie debut author Rose Foster.  Michael Grant blurbed on the cover and you all know that I’m a big fan of him and his work so of course I wanted to read another thriller like that of BZRK. Kirra’s journey from breaking this code on the net to being abducted to learning what she is and what The Industry is – the thrill-ride never ends. It’s like you yourself are being injected with the Balcescu drug, the drug that is injected into Kirra by Latham and his evil gang to force her to crack codes although she doesn’t want to. I bet this could make a great film. It’s got plenty of gun-involving actions scenes for the boys, and a romance for the girls that develops between Kirra and fellow detainee Milo.

The beginning 100 pages was a bit slow for me though but that must’ve been the beginning of the roller-coaster where you are pulled up to the sky before being released down the steep decline once you reach the very top. Did take a bit to get into it. A major problem I had with The Industry was that I felt it would’ve been executed far better if it was written in first-person. I suspected the forthcoming twists pages before they were revealed and I guess that was due to third-person narrative. I just believe it could’ve been stronger, more suspenseful, and more immediate if it were first-person. Despite that, Rose Foster has created her own “world” of criminals if you would want to call it that and if you liked BZRK by Michael Grant I bet you will enjoy The Industry too. The sequel The Estate will be released next year. Thanks to Lara at HarperCollins for a copy to review. [Only available in Australia.]

Title: The Reluctant Hallelujah
Author: Gabrielle Williams
Publication: February 22, 2012 by Penguin Australia
Format, pages: Paperback, 220
Source: Publisher
Finished on: February 16, 2012
My Rating:  

But there I go, getting ahead of myself. Skipping straight to the part where I was front-page news and they were calling me Dorothy, instead of starting at the beginning…

When Dodie’s parents go missing just as final year exams are about to start, she convinces herself they’re fine. But when the least likely boy in class holds the key – quite literally – to the huge secret her parents have been hiding all these years, it’s up to Dodie, her sister, the guy from school, and two guys she’s never met before, to take on the challenge of a lifetime. So now Dodie’s driving – unlicensed –to Sydney, and being chased by bad guys, the police, and one very handsome good guy.

Goodreads || Fishpond

If you have read Beatle Meets Destiny you would know that Gab Williams knows how to find that perfect voice for her characters. In The Reluctant Hallelujah Dodie is given this distinct voice that changes over the course of the book, which becomes influenced by the decisions and actions she has to make and commit to while on this quest and road-trip. Of course you’re going to be frantic and stressed when you’re final Year 12 exams are just a couple of days away. In addition to this, you’re going to feel like you’ve been run over by a truck ten times over when you discover that your parents have been hiding a family secret right under your nose and you have to move this “secret” to Sydney days before your exams in which you’ve barely studied for, you have to care for your sister which you hardly like to spend time with, drive a car without a license with a couple of guys you know nothing about, and all you have on your mind is being convicted as a criminal and sent to jail when you’re just doing a job you’ve been urged and told to do – fated to do.

What a life – rather mad few days – Dodie has to plow through. Oh and don’t forget when she becomes a hot, emotional wreck once she falls for one of those guys – just another load of weight packed onto the cross she already struggles to pull along. (Who likes my analogy? I sure do!) Obviously you can understand where I’m coming from when I say Dodie has this unique voice. Who wouldn’t be? And add in those witty comments of hers, we have here a young Australian – like any other – about to sit their final exams; emotionally unstable and just about to implode with stress about one’s own future, but witty enough to hide the weight of everything that’s on their shoulders and the sacrifice she has to make for her parents.

Now you know I like to ramble on about books that I love (proof above), but you don’t know – or maybe you do – that I tend to get a despicable love for those authors who have an uncanny ability to transport you right into the thick of everything, into the shoes of the main characters. What also helped in The Reluctant Hallelujah’s case was that I could picture Gab’s scenery in Melbourne, Gippsland, and along the coast to Sydney, as I’ve seen it myself.

If you’re worried that this book will demean religion and faith or be sacrilegious to the point that you think God will disown you or set you alight like a vampire or creature of the night if you even touch or purchase the book, then you are clearly wrong. Gab Williams deals with the idea of religion and faith in such a way that it is reverential, and this clearly shows through her writing, through her characters – although a bit jokey – and the themes and resemblances explored.

Put simply: The Reluctant Hallelujah is an inventive yet insightful view of faith among today’s young people, and with it, a coming-of-age story that teaches us to make sacrifices in our lives for the greater good: for family, for yourself, for your love. This is a book you must read if you love your road-trip stories but bare in mind it ends in a tragedy like no other, a sacrifice like no other… The Reluctant Hallelujah is a love story like no other (just try to keep your ruby slippers with you at all times).

Hey all! Hope everyone’s weekend has been going splendidly.

I just wanted to spread this new Facebook page that a few of us Aussie bloggers have begun titled, ‘WORDS OF OZ’. The point of it is to keep you up to date on all news, happenings, events, new releases, debut authors, etc. in Australia. You don’t need to be Aussie in order to like it and participate. There are a number of books that are only available in Australia, and it is with this page that we endeavour to share with you these wonderful titles that so many of you overseas have already been enjoying.

So, if you wouldn’t mind, please go and show your support to us, as we begin this next phase in helping new and old Aussie authors celebrate and promote their amazing books. And also those publishers in Australia as well. HERE.

Titles: Days Like This
Author: Alison Stewart
Published: August 1, 2011 by Penguin AU
Thanks: Penguin AU
Pages: 308
Rating: 
More? Goodreads

She has to escape.
But who else is out there?
And can anyone survive days like this?

I want to go back to the days when life made sense. The days before our parents became strange; before the warming ate away at all the living things in the world; before The Committee and their Blacktroopers. Before the Wall.

Lily is a prisoner in her own home. Forced to stay inside by The Committee and guarded by their increasingly distant parents, Lily and her brother Daniel are beginning to ask why. Then, when Daniel disappears just before his seventeenth birthday, Lily knows she is next.

What makes books more interesting for the readers is when it has a setting close to home. What made me want to read Days Like This was that it was set in Sydney, but a very different and changed Sydney than that which we know of today. No matter if it was set in Perth or some unknown shanty town in the country, I would have still been filled with excitement because it is set in Australia. Sure, there’s many contemporary books set down under, but not really much of dystopian, the current ‘thing’ growing in YA. We really haven’t had any dystopian story set here since John Marsden’s Tomorrow series. Alison Stewart gave us as Aussie readers a view into a damaging and corrupt society which could be a possibility for many of us in the future.

Days Like This is set in a dystopian Sydney where the Commitee controls. Rapid climate changes and disastrous natural disasters strike, immediately dumping those in the outer regions into poverty. Desperate people begin to seek refuge in the city, in need of food, water, shelter; the bare necessities. But the Committee cuts those without wealth and relations in order to successfully sustain its resources by using the Blacktrooper security force to build a wall around the city. Disobeying the Committee is not something you would want to do.

Lily, her twin brother Daniel and young sister Alice are lucky to live within the Wall. However, not all is what it seems. Their parents begin acting strangely and soon after, Daniel disappears before he turns seventeen. After the medications they are forced to take and the bracelets forced to wear to avoid them from escaping, Lily knows that something is wrong. That she could be next if she doesn’t escape. But she knows nothing about whats beyond the Wall where her answers lie. Surviving is all that it takes to find her brother and return for Alice too.

From the beginning I had a fondness for Lily. She exhibited traits which we find most endearing in a protagonist. Although stubborn and strong, she is benevolent to the point that she would risk her own life to not only save those she loves, such as her brother and sister, but rather those she had only just met. I loved this about her; a person for others. But at times it seemed like she was trying to always be ‘the hero’ than just being her ordinary self.

At times the plot is slow and steady but it isn’t until the last third that it takes a turn for the worst and packs an explosive punch. And yes I understand that this world is dealing with environmental issues and climate change and what not, and yes Alison wrote a thrilling, dramatic, intense, graphic tsunami scene, but what I found almost hard to believe from a ‘reality perspective’ is that the tsunami hit at the exact moment when Lily and co. were doing their ’thing’. Besides that, Alison’s description of these devastating scenes were easy to visualise. Walls of water towering over the city. Sydney Harbour being engulfed by water. The terror and devastation in its wake. I found myself caught up in the story just wanting the devastation to end. And then it subsided and I was finally relieved to breathe again.

Overall, Days Like This was a cunning new dystopian for Australian readers to devour, which packs a punch in all the right places. However, I don’t believe it needed the epilogue that it has as it felt cheesy after experiencing a whirlwind of a ride just beforehand. Without the epilogue, it would’ve left us craving for more and given us the chance to think what will happen next, rather than being force-fed an ending such as that. I wish I hadn’t read the epilogue and that is final.

What do you do when you’ve just lost three of your best mates?Who do you turn to when your life is suddenly bound to a wheelchair?

Dan has dodged the Reaper again. If he were a cat, five of his nine lives would be gone—when his mates didn’t even get second chances. He’s still grieving their deaths when he’s dragged on a family holiday at a remote island lighthouse.

Left alone, at what feels like the end of the earth, Dan starts sensing a mysterious girl. Is she a dream? Or has he somehow hooked into the spi

rit world?

The lighthouse logbook helps illuminate some of the girl’s tragic story but Dan will have to dig deeper to find answers and the inspiration to embrace life again.

Tim Pegler gets inside the minds and hearts of teenagers and captures their voices—spot on.

5. Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood

This has been a title which I have been eyeing for a while whenever I’d go into the bookstore but I just wouldn’t go out of the store with it in my hands after the usual hour or so browsing I do sometimes. However, after hearing about this novel by Fiona Wood herself once again on the YA panel at The Emerging Writer’s Festival and reading a few reviews, this now definitely piques my interest. In Six Impossible Things there are amazingly well-written characters and overall, an amazingly well-written story, according to…all…resources I’ve read.

Fourteen year old nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a reversal of family fortune, moving house, new school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and an impossible crush on Estelle, the girl next door. His life is a mess, but for now he’s narrowed it down to just six impossible things…

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So I’m going to leave you with these five titles to fantasise about in your dreams; of you swimming in them. Next time we meet for this feature, well…..you’ll just have to see! Hope you enjoyed this post and will enjoy more of them in the future.