The First Move by Jenny Ireland

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

4/5 stars

This was super cute. Kind of enemies to lovers but the high school version 😂

Juliet is worried about school. She's just had to start using crutches full time for her arthritis and she's worried about people's reactions. Thankfully there's a new guy at school, Ronan, transferred for one year only. Juliet thinks he's arrogant and has attitude, her childhood best friend Tara is obsessed with him.

Ronan has changed schools to avoid some classmates he associates with bad times. Ronan has a secret obsession with chess so joins a site where you can play virtual matches and chat. He gets matched with a user name PRETTYBASIC and the pair bond.

As I'm sure you've worked out PRETTYBASIC is Juliet, and when they eventually realise they go to the same school she is naturally worried that whoever he is will be put off by her disability.

There are certainly some ups and downs along the way but this is a super cute story with some great characters.

Stef Out x

Every Little Piece of My Heart by Non Pratt

Every Little Piece of My Heart – Non Pratt

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read June 20

I want a sequel! I loved this and my heart is full! So much representation: race, sexuality, family, personality, disability. I loved how real and flawed the characters were and how they all came together. I loved that Sunny ended up becoming a central character, younger siblings all too often end up being forgotten, left behind, or treated like crap, so it was really refreshing.

Oh I guess you want a little on the plot and not just general gushing! Sophie is left a package by her best friend Freya (who has left suddenly and we never meet her) which once unwrapped contains instructions for the package to be delivered to Win (older sister of the aforementioned Sunny), once she opens there's instructions to deliver to someone else... In between we get flashbacks about how these characters know Freya and how they each have their own view of her.

If I have one criticism it is that Ryan and Lucas’s voices were a little too similar, although I don’t think that was helped by my reading the book in chunks thanks to it only being available in a format that I could only read on my PC or phone. I guess even a tablet would be easier if I had one LOL!

5/5 stars

Stef Out x

Amy and Matthew by Cammie McGovern

Amy and Matthew – Cammie McGovern (Also known as "Say What You Will")

Read March 20 - Library

There are so few novels with disabled characters at the centre that this was so needed and refreshing. It wasn’t sugar-coated at all. Amy was also intelligent, something disabled people are rarely allowed to be. Matthew – one of the students hired to be her peer helper – is trying to avoid his own problems. OCD. His illness helps him avoid making friends despite wanting them. Seeing their friendship grow and evolve was really enjoyable and I liked that they were flawed: Matthew had serious avoidance issues and Amy could be selfish. Again, like so many books I found the ending lacking.

4/5 stars

Stef Out x

Floored by Sara Barnard

Floored – Sara Barnard + Others

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read Oct 19

I loved the concept for this and the fact that it’s a collaborative novel (I’m assuming one person wrote each character to give them a unique voice and then another to do plot, tie things together etc) is a really unusual thing.

Six teenagers of vastly different backgrounds end up sharing an elevator and then an experience that connects them forevermore… I loved learning more about each character throughout the book and seeing them grow and mature such as Kaitlyn’s acceptance of her gradual loss of sight and Hugo’s struggle to be more than his wealth. The only thing is it could have done with being longer and having a more rounded ending.

4/5 stars

Stef Out x

The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap

The Rules of Seeing – Joe Heap

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read May 19

Nova was born blind. For her life is good, she can speak five languages, works as an interpreter for the Metropolitan Police and can apparently tell when someone is lying just by the sound of their voice – a skill sadly under-used. One day her doctor brother tells her about an operation that can give her sight! Nova is torn but eventually agrees. Recovering in hospital she crosses paths with Kate, the wife of one of her police colleagues, who is having struggles of her own. We then see their growing closeness combined with Nova struggling to understand the “rules” of sight such as glass being see-through and reflective. Overall a really unique concept that drew me in and swept me along.

5/5 stars

Stef Out x

Brave Enough by Kati Gardner

Brave Enough – Kati Gardner

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read Jan 19

This book was beautiful and real and genuine and heart-breaking! It is so rare for there to be a book about teenage illness that has the main characters survive (I’m looking at you TFIOS)! Cason is a prima ballerina studying at a top conservatory under her strict, distant mother – the director. All she knows is dance until an injury that’s not just an injury puts a stop to everything. She has bone cancer.

On the ward she meets Davis, a cancer survivor who is back on the ward volunteering as a community service type thing whilst struggling to overcome drug addiction. The pair meet and slowly manage to help each other. This was so accurately written and reading the author’s notes at the end you realise why – she too has survived childhood cancer.

5/5 stars

Stef Out x

Book Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

This was a lovely heartwarming story that all kids should read. It's true kids struggle with people who look different but hearing the perspective of someone who is and what they feel and go through should help a lot.

Auggie was so genuine and beautifully written, his voice was young but mature and I loved his growth throughout! Only a few things bothered me, while I loved Via's chapter, her boyfriend's (whose name I've forgotten) and Miranda's seemed more pointless, and Jack's, honestly it would have been better being single persepective.

I wish they'd been more specific regarding Summer's background, she's physically described as being blonde if I recall yet mention is made, referencing a photo, that she's biracial. I feel like it would help kids who struggle with dual identity to know what she is specifically. Summer is such a great character, kind and implied to be smart, that she'd be a great role model for kids reading this book.

Overall I loved this book and it's writing and I wish it had been longer but I understand it covers a single school year.

Stef Out x