Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Release date: 27th March 2014

Publisher: Walker Books

Reason for reading: Received a proof & it sounded intriguing 

Add it on Goodreads

Buy: Waterstones | Hive

Goodreads synopsis:

Foolish love appears to be a Roux family birthright. And for Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is an ominous thing to inherit. In her quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to join her peers, sixteen-year-old Ava ventures into the wider world. But it is a dangerous world for a naive girl...

My thoughts:

I knew immediately that The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender was a very special book. The prose is haunting, whimsical and lyrical, and it just draws you in and before you know it, you’ve read half the book and your bathwater has gone cold (in my case, anyway). The story charts the history of Ava’s family, beginning with her great grandmother and the birth of her maternal grandmother, Emilienne. The narrative dips and weaves and dances about in a mesmeric way, leaving you completely captivated. We’re introduced to many different characters, but the strength and uniqueness of their descriptions makes it easy to keep them distinct.

The whole cast of characters (bar a couple of notable and decidedly dastardly ones) are wonderfully described with the same painstakingly brilliant attention to detail and whimsical twist as the rest of the book. I do have a rather large soft spot for Ava's brother Henry, but it was her grandmother and mother Emilienne and Viviane, that I liked the best. Both have experienced tragedy and both have dealt with it in their own ways. This story is as much about them and their lives and loves as it is about Ava. 

Ava Lavender is full of the sort of magical realism that follows no logic, yet is totally believable. People turn into canaries, into ghosts that haunt the living, and yet at no point does the story seem unrealistic. Instead the magical realism aspect is threaded seamlessly through the narrative, only adding to the quirky and surreal feel of the novel, enhancing it further.

There’s an important message in Ava Lavender and that is that yes, love might make us fools, but that’s something that can be survived. There’s a fair few women in the story that are spurned, damaged and broken by love, yet they endure. They are strong and they fight and they carry on. No matter the choices made by them or by others, choices that affect them adversely, they make the best of what they have and that is a wonderful thing.

TL:DR; The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is mindblowingly good. Full of on-point whimsy, heart-wrenching tragedy and enough sweet moments to offer some hope, it’s a bittersweet tale of love and loss, but it’s also so much more than that. You want to read this book. 

Review: Trouble by Non Pratt

Trouble by Non Pratt

Release date: 06/03/14

Publisher: Walker Books

Reason for reading: received a proof, UK author, intriguing premise, loved the cover

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Waterstones | Hive

Goodreads synopsis:

Hannah’s smart and funny ... she’s also fifteen and pregnant. Aaron is new at school and doesn’t want to attract attention. So why does he offer to be the pretend dad to Hannah’s unborn baby? 

Growing up can be trouble but that’s how you find out what really matters.

------------- 

The first thing that struck me about Trouble was how genuine the teenage voices felt. Immediately I could imagine that these characters were real people somewhere, and this was their story. Trouble touches on a lot of things that affect teenagers: sex, unplanned pregnancy, alcohol, reputation, bullying, yet it managed to avoid being an ‘issues’ book. At the heart of it, Trouble is a story about a 15 year old girl that falls pregnant, but for me the shining star of this book was the dynamic between Hannah and Aaron, which unfolds in the most brilliant and organic manner.

Hannah isn’t quite the girl everyone thinks she is, but when she falls pregnant, people aren’t that surprised. She is known for ‘sleeping around’ after all. Aaron is the new boy at school and a bit of an enigma and, for some reason, he offers to pretend to be the father to Hannah’s baby. The amount of personal growth in this novel is pretty outstanding. Both Hannah and Aaron experience a lot over the course of the story, but beyond the things that happen to them is the amount they learn from those things and how they’re changed. By the end of the novel they’re both stronger, better people and that’s accomplished in a way that is painful for everyone involved, but is also incredibly moving, heartfelt and genuine.

The whole cast of secondary characters is wonderfully detailed, from Hannah’s darling little sister to the people that become her true friends to Aaron’s unlikely companion Neville. While Trouble has a lot of seriousness to it, there’s also a lot of humour and completely touching moments, and a lot of those come courtesy of these secondary characters. This might be Hannah and Aaron’s story, but it wouldn’t  be the same without everyone that’s a part of their lives along the way.

Trouble manages to be totally unflinching, yet avoids being cringey. It has one of the most realistic sex scenes I’ve ever read in a book and yet it was not at all uncomfortable to read. Everything about the plot was pitch perfect, from the various reactions to the pregnancy from the people in both Hannah and Aaron’s lives, to the events that unfolded and the twists and turns along the way. There wasn’t a moment that lead me to think “that’s ridiculous” or “she would never say that”.  

TL;DR: Trouble is like a UK combo of a Hannah Harrington novel mixed with a Kody Keplinger one. Full of wit and authenticity, Trouble is a book that really touches on what it means to be a teenager. It’s full of messiness, sadness and anger, but also humour, warmth and charm and it is absolutely wonderful. 

Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare
Released: 8th May 2012
Publisher: Walker Books
Source: Gift
Rating: 5/5

Goodreads description:

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?


My thoughts:


Where to start with this one? I was very excited to get it and I read it in a day. The pacing is good, it's not heart-racingly, blood-pumpingly fast but it moves along in a way that means it's never boring or slow. 


Clary, in a fit of her standard recklessness, goes off to 'save' Jace, leaving everyone else to do the actual work. I was starting to like Clary, but she did kinda get on my nerves a bit in this book. I mean, she was there more so she could tell the story of what Jace and Sebastian were up to, but she never really did anything, and when she did have a chance to help, she was too weak to take it. Ultimately, she did make the hard decision, and she did redeem herself, but by that point I was a little fed up of her.


Fortunately, we spent a lot of time with the other characters and that helped. I think Isabelle grew a lot in this book, and I liked seeing that. She's fairly adult, and mature about everything that goes on; yet at the same time she reveals some of her vulnerability. Simon too, I really liked. He starts to come into himself more, away from Clary I think he really steps up and he makes some tough calls. Magnus and Alec....my heart ached for Magnus and Alec. Magnus in particular. Poor bloke. He's changed a lot since book 1, he's sacrificed a lot, he's committed himself and in this book it does sorta come back to bite him in the arse. I think he handled everything in the best possible way, but that doesn't make me happy about it! Alec, I do feel really bad for him, but he was a complete idiot. Jocelyn was another to get on my nerves, her and Clary clearly have this whole mother/daughter annoyance factor. She now refuses to treat her daughter as the shadowhunter she is, and has even admitted that keeping it from her has made Clary reckless and it has. I resent Jocelyn's poor decision making. Sebastian comments that Jocelyn is just as ruthless as Valentine, and I actually think he's right.


Ah, Sebastian.His relationships with both Jace and Clary are very bizarre but for different reasons. I didn't quite find him as....captivating as I expected to,but I really liked to see the developments in his character. I'm not sure how complex a character he is, how much of him is an act and how much is the real Sebastian.  Jace was...well, bonded. And bonded Jace is unnerving. 


Plot wise, this is definitely superior to CoFA. There's a big, overarching plot, there's things that need to be unravelled, there's information to be uncovered, risks to take, gambles to make. There's lots of nice little subplots, spin-off elements that all worked well. The ending of CoLS isn't the huger shocker that CoFA was, but it definitely sets a tone of foreboding. Lots of things happen in the build-up to the last pages, things that are definitely going to have some pretty huge consequences. I'm definitely intrigued for the final book, I think we can expect big things


At over 500 pages, CoLS isn't a small book, but I never once got bored. Reading about these characters is like slipping into a favourite pair of pyjamas; it's comforting and familiar. Yet at the same time Cassie's exemplary storytelling and interesting plots make for an exciting read.

In My Mailbox [23]

In My Mailbox is a meme designed to showcase the very cool books we're all receiving and is hosted by The Story Siren!

So I haven't done an IMM in almost TWO months! I know! My camera cable has gone AWOL, completely and utterly...but I've resorted to using my BlackBerry.

I didn't want to feature EVERY book I've received in the past 2 months, so I've picked out some of my faves to showcase:

For Review:

Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Bought:

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (review here)

Saving June by Hannah Harrington (review here)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I actually got a copy of CP for review about 3 weeks ago, but I really wanted to pay for a copy so I donated mine to a friend and bought myself one! I also got SJ from NG but then loved it so much I had to own a physical copy! (It's also the first contemporary book I've bought for about 4 years!)

Stolen Away sounds SO good and I love this cover, and ofc I was ridiculously excited to receive Pandemonium.

I want to thank Bloomsbury, Hodder and Walker Books, but also Macmillan who have sent me many cool books recently that I didn't picture. Thank you all! You continually make this girl very happy. 

That's all for now guys, please leave me links in the comments so I can see what you all got! I expect to see lots of Clockwork Prince this week ;)

Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare
Release date: 6th December 2011
Publisher: Walker books
Rating 5/5


Goodreads description:


In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

My thoughts:

Where to start with this one? It's no secret that I prefer the Clockwork Angel to the Mortal Instruments series (even though I ADORE that) so I was expecting big things from Clockwork Prince and I was not disappointed! 

Reading this book, I feel as though I am looking at the back of a piece of embroidery, seeing all the threads woven together, knowing that if I turned it over, it would form a beautiful, complicated and detailed picture. I can almost feel how the picture is going to look, how-if I turned it over- I would let out a sigh and say "of course that's what it's a picture of!" but I can't quite see it, and I'm not allowed to turn the fabric over quite yet. Cassie Clare gives us a few tantalizing glimpses of the 'big picture' in this, the middle instalment of the Infernal Devices trilogy. I feel like I got to know Mortmain's past, plans and motives a little better in this book, even though the man himself never makes an appearance. Cassie gives you just enough to create that sense of satisfaction, yet withholds enough that you're left wondering what the heck is going on and how this whole thing is going to be resolved--which I feel is something of an art-form. 

The character development in this book is astounding, I feel as though I know each character so much better as a result of this book, and they were never under-developed to begin with. Tessa is fast becoming one of my fave YA female protagonists. She's smart, brave, honourable and really easy to love. There's nothing I don't like about her, no choice I disagree with. We get some hints into her true nature,but not even this aspect of the plot is tied up yet.  Will and Jem are equally fantastic, usually I find it SO easy to pick which male character I prefer, but in this case...I JUST DON'T KNOW. Will is so caustic in his humour, so utterly broken and subtly vulnerable. Jem is so sweet and kind and yet you see a fire in him that you didn't realise existed in Clockwork Prince. The love triangle development was perfect in my opinion; it was one of those moments where you know exactly what's going to happen and you're sat there, clutching the pages, quietly keening, whilst people stare at you on the bus and wonder what the FRICK you're reading. It was so suspenseful, so awful and yet so wonderful.  In order to save myself from the inevitable heartbreak that will occur I am ESCHEWING both Jem AND Will and officially declaring myself to be TEAM MAGNUS. Ah Magnus. He's so melancholy here, moping over Camille, and yet he has wonderful moments, his interactions with Will are simultaneously insightful, hilarious and emotional. He's my favourite character out of both of the series.  The scene with Woolsey Scott was one of my favourites in the book, and especially funny if you've read CoFA! Henry and Charlotte nearly stole the show with certain scenes. There was the usual bemused Henry and exasperated Charlotte dialogue, but you caught a glimpse into the true nature of their relationship and it was very moving. 

The writing style is as perfect as ever; engaging and witty, well paced--promoting a sense of urgency when required and encouraging you to slow down and savour certain scenes. It felt absolutely on the money for a novel set in Victorian England, I didn't read a single word or expression that felt out of place in this period.  I always get the impression with Cassie's writing that each sentence is deliberately formed, each word painstakingly chosen to deliver the intended effect and that's something I really appreciate. The banter was as hilarious as ever, something I've come to expect as default in a Cassie Clare novel.

Whilst I found a few minor plot points to be guessable, the majority of it took me completely by surprise, leaving me to feel I was being hit over the head by the book rather than reading it. In what is one of my favourite books of the year, Clockwork Prince absolutely does not suffer from the dreaded second book syndrome and  has everything you could want; full of light and dark moments, romance, mystery, revelations and drama  in a tale that is ultimately extremely bittersweet. A must-read for any Cassie Clare fan, I defy you to not enjoy this!

City of Bones-My Almost-Review

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare
Published: July 2007 (UK)
Publisher: Walker Books (UK)
Rating: 5/5


Goodreads description:


When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

My thoughts:


I'll start with a slight confession. I've actually known about the Mortal Instruments series for years. I never read it for 2 terrible, terrible reasons. Firstly, they were always put (wrongly in my opinion) in the children's (9-12) section of the bookshops I visited. This shouldn't've put me off, but it did, because I'm always conscious that I *may* be too old to enjoy YA/children's literature. Complete rubbish I know, I always lend my fave YA books to my mum and she enjoys them, so why shouldn't I? Secondly, the covers always looked a bit childish which backed up my first assumption. I know, terrible terrible reasons. I apologise Cassie Clare, for being so awful.

But now, onto the books themselves. The reason I finally read them, is actually b/c I read Clockwork Angel, the first of a prequel series called Infernal Devices. It was on offer on Amazon for a bargain £2.59, so I bought it. It took me a month or so to get round to reading it, and honestly I didn't expect that much from it. How very wrong I was, it's an incredible book, and I urge everyone to give it a go (I've already lent it to my housemate). But anyway, I read this, and couldn't get enough of Cassie Clare's writing! So I ordered the 3 MI books straight away (literally, at like 1:30am last sunday) and impatiently anticipated their delivery. They arrived on thursday (17th) which was awesome as I was ill that day, and I started reading the first one about 4/5pm. I literally could not put it down. You're sucked into the world Cassie Clare creates straight away!

I follow her on twitter, so I was worried that the things I'd unintentionally picked up about the books (Cassie answers alot of fan q's which is amazing) might spoil it a bit; I already knew about the characters, I knew Alec's secret, I knew there were shadowhunters, mundanes, I knew Magnus Bane featured and I knew Jace and Clary had a romantic interlude at some point. However none of these 'spoilers' had any impact on my enjoyment of the books.

Allow me to set the scene: 'City of Bones' starts with Clary and her best friend Simon getting into the Pandemonium club. I honestly thought the scene mentioned first referred to Jace, but no I was wrong. Then you meet the shadowhunters. The shadowhunters Clary can see, but Simon can't. It turns out Clary is a nephilim, a secret her mum hid her entire life. Her mum, coincidentally, has now vanished, taken it seems, by the mysterious and supposedly dead Valentine. There's a quest for a mystical object, a betrayal, a revelation (or six), a few heartbreaks, basically everything you could possibly want in a book. I was enthralled from the minute I picked it up, every text I sent my bf was "sorry, reading" "still reading" or words to that effect.

The characters are excellently written, Jace reminds me somewhat of Will from CA, and Isabelle slightly (but not a whole lot) of Jessamine. I wasn't a fan of Alec at first, but he grows on you. Clary and Simon are fantastic. Some people (like my boyfriend) hate the way characters are written with great one-liners, sarky comments, punchlines etc. It's been claimed this isn't very realistic but honestly? Who cares. I read because I enjoy it, it's escapism, not because I want a real life account. The one-liners make it more enjoyable for me (and I'm assuming for other people) and I'm more than happy for them to stay. Cassie writes these very well, they're funny, appropriate but not too OTT.

I did of course read the later 2 books, but I feel this 'review' would be the length of one of the novels if I tried to review all three. Here's all you need to know: I started thursday afternoon, and I finished early hours Sunday morning. If I can read 3 (sizeable) books in that time I can assure you they're worth reading. Go! Buy them!

Also follow Cassie Clare on twitter, she's fabulous!

So that's pretty much my first ever book 'review'. I would honestly give them MI series (and Clockwork Angel) 5/5. My only regret is that I didn't read them sooner. But now atleast I have a shorter wait for the City of Fallen Angels in April!


Oh and feel free to comment with your views! I'd love to hear what other people thought of the series, or what you think of my (admittedly terrible) review skills so I can improve next time!