The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

I loved the concept for this book, the whole waking up dead thing was fascinating! I really enjoyed that this was a teen thriller, it was like nothing I've read before.

The characters were all great and I loved all of their interactions. I really enjoyed how different suspects were hinted at and found myself second-guessing everything. The diner sounded epic! I loved the sound of the music wall and they were great about picky customers.

The only letdown was that while the reveal was great and I wouldn't have guessed who is was, the whole thing went down a little too quick. The ending on the whole was a little abrupt.

Stef Out x

Believe Me by JP Delaney

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

So twisty! It kept me guessing until the very last page and even then I was still like "What?".

Claire was a fascinating character, so intriguing and I enjoyed reading about her history. Patrick was interesting. I liked how you never knew what was true and what wasn't. I didn't really like the constant talk of the poems and what they might mean. I don't care what they mean just get on with the story.

Stef Out x

P.S. This review was written weeks if not a couple of months after reading the book. Evidently a very bad decision as it has ended up rather brief...

Blank by Sabrina RG Raven

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

This started out as a 5, then I thought a 4 and by the end it had dropped to a 3. The ending was disappointingly open and apparently with no plans for a sequel.

The characters were a mixed bag, I liked Darnell and loved Zale but Almara was flat and under-developed, she had very little growth compared to the others. The world-building was rich and interesting and perfectly set-up for scope to expand into a series. I loved the authors take on the soulmate idea and I highly appreciated the inclusion of gay characters.

Edited to add: The author has since commented on my Goodreads review saying that there is now a sequel in the works!

Stef Out x

Bookshop Girl by Chloe Coles

I am so sorry I haven't updated in a while. Work has been rather busy to say the least and all reviewing/blogging motivation went out of the window. Needless to say I now have a bit of a backlog to post... 11 including this one. Whoops! Oh well on to the review!

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Paige is awesome! I loved her go-getter attitude and her unwillingness to let things slide. Her friendship with Holly was fab, I loved the way they supported each other and even the one blip they had was minor.

I loved the characters in the life-drawing class, especially Sue, she was a hoot and a great support to the girls! It was obvious fairly quickly that Blaine was not a good guy but it was great seeing him get his comeuppance. My main criticism was that the book seemed very short.

Stef Out x

The Weight of a Thousand Feathers by Brian Conaghan

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

This book was interesting and bland at the same time. I loved the relationship between Bobby and his mum - who was absolutely amazing by the way - and Bobby and Danny. The MS stuff was well-written and appeared to be well-researched which was in stark contrast to Danny. It was like "Hey here's my headcase brother who is bad enough to go to a special school but we don't want a diagnosis for him." What was that about?

Bobby's friendship with Bel seemed quite hollow and under-developed and feelings or not how do you not tell your best friend that you're gay? Also the group stuff was very weak and seemed like just an awkward way to meet Lou. I didn't like Lou, he was a manipulative liar who used Bobby.

I hated the ending and how Bobby involved Danny, everything after seemed kind of muddled. How did they handle the authorities, especially with Bobby still being under 18?

Stef Out x

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

This was a tricky one. I loved Xiomara and her fiery attitude. I loved that most of the cast were non-white. I loved Xiomara's relationships with her friends and even - though strained - her family, it was so authentic and there was clearly love in the struggles between them though that does bring me to the main reason that I struggled with this book - the religion stuff.

I am not religious and honestly it all freaks me out a little. Also I'm a big supporter of free will and Xiomara's lack of it was sad. I disliked that she just called her twin "Twin", it was de-humanising in my opinion.

The writing flowed and pulled me along but the poetry stuff went over my head a little. I'm never sure what counts and what doesn't.

Stef Out x

P.S. Considering this blog is 99% book reviews these days I've decided to remove the 'Book Review' clarification from post titles. I will only add it if it's an exception e.g. a film review.

Book Review: From Twinkle With Love by Sandhya Menon

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

I loved how authentic this book was. The Indian stuff was really cool even though I didn't understand most of it, it was just really nice to have a novel that wasn't completely white-washed. In fact I think most of the main characters were characters of colour which is awesome! We even had G and B of the LGBT crew and the G half was a black guy!

I loved Twinkle's voice and I loved seeing her growth through the novel and that she was willing to learn and admit her mistakes. I also loved her naivety regarding life and love and Sahil. Oh Sahil, what a sweetheart, it was so obvious from the start that he liked Twinkle yet she was so oblivious! The ending was perfect as well.

Stef Out x