Sunday 21 August 2016

The List by Vivian Siobhan : Review

The List by Vivian Siobhan
Publication date: April 1st
Published by: Push
Genres: YA, Contemporary, Realistic

An intense look at the rules of high school attraction - and the price that's paid for them.

It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.

This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.


My Thoughts
I picked this book up for a bit of a trashy read that didn't have much depth but was good fun, and it was. This book is not a piece of fine literature but it was great fun and perfect for after a couple of fantasy books or a very sad book.

It constantly switches from person to person and I actually really liked it. I loved watching all the storied slowly come together and interlink. At no point was I confused by who was speaking i think Vivian did a great job at developing a different voice for each character.

The characters were all very real even if I didn't like some of them. They all had a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses, which was nice. I think it gave a really realalistic view on high school and all the friendship dramas.

My only problem with this book was the endings of some girls stories, some of them I thought were done and finshed but others I could just have done with another chapter to wrap things up. I would also like to know if the list continued the next year or whether it finished there.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book. It was great fun and gave a honest view on girls friendships. I'm giving this book 4/5.

Sunday 14 August 2016

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes (Queen of Hearts Saga #1) : Review

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes (Queen of Hearts Saga #1)
Publication date: May 3rd 2016
Published by: HarperTeen
Genres: YA, Retelling, Fantasy

As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah’s days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts — and the love of her life.

When an enchanting stranger arrives at the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she’s ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It’s up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe.

Part epic fantasy, part twisted fairy tale, this dazzling saga will have readers shivering as Dinah's furious nature sweeps Wonderland up in the maelstrom of her wrath.

Familiar characters such as Cheshire, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter make their appearance, enchanting readers with this new, dark take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland


My Thoughts
I found this book on goodreads a while ago and desperately wanted to read it but I only found it in stores last week. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite stories and recently more retelling have come up. Sadly this book wasn't the perfect Alice retelling I have been looking for.

I expected a very dark and scary wonderland but it wasn't the book never really took any twists I wasn't expecting and while you could tell Colleen was trying to build up tension it fell flat because of a lack of connection to the characters.

I was impressed by how smart Colleen was with how she fit the character from Alice into the Queen of Hearts story. They weren't there in theway that they were in Alice but maybe that will tie together at the end of the series.

I loved the descripton in the book, everything was described perfectly I could imagine each and every scene and character. Unfortunately, while the book had a plot that sounded interesting I just never connected with Colleen's writing style. I found it a bit dull and drawn out. That was the main problem with this book rather then anything else.

In conclusion, this book was not as amazing as I had hoped due to me being unable to immerse myself into Colleen's writing. Hopefully the book series will pick up. I think I will read the next book and I hope to ennjoy it more. I'm giving this book 3/5 stars.