Young Adult: We Were Liars by E Lockhart

Cadence (Cady) Sinclair Easton has always spent her summers on Beechwood Island with her cousins, aunties and grandparents. The family owned private island is almost like its own little world with every day life ceasing to exist. When Cady arrives on the island in summer, she can pick up with her cousins like no time …

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Young Adult: Fool Me Twice by Mandy Hubbard

Mackenzie has spent the last year trying to get over her break up with Landon. They had spent a magical summer together but when school started up again he broke her heart and returned to his ex. Now it’s summer again both Mack and Landon are working at the Serenity Ranch and Spa. Mack is determined …

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Young Adult: As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka

“The streets of Finland are frozen and white with snow. And nothing is as red against snow as blood . . .” It has been a while since I read a book which has been translated from another language to English. Maybe that’s why I was so excited to read As Red as Blood, the first …

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Young Adult: Cracked by Clare Strahan

Clover hasn’t had the most conventional upbringing. Raised by a single mother who the kids at school consider to be odd is not easy. Her mother is ideologically opposed to Facebook and her many eccentricities make it hard for Clover to relate to the kids at school. There’s also the small little fact that Clover has …

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Film Thoughts: The Fault In Our Stars (2014) – Spoiler Free

The Fault In Our Stars film was released last week and I was delighted to go see it on Saturday. This has been one of those films I’ve been both eagerly anticipating and partially dreading since I first learned about it being adapted from the book of the same name. I liked the book and …

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Young Adult: Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

When Laurel’s sister May died, Laurel felt like she had no one left. Her mother moved to California to some kind of retreat and she hasn’t had a real conversation with her father in a long time. When her English teacher sets the class an assignment of writing a letter to someone who has died, Laurel chooses …

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Dead Ends by Erin Lange: A review

Two boys who walk alone until they find each other…  Dane has a lot of resentment bottled up inside him. There’s him not having a dad, being poor and having a mother who would rather frame winning instant scratchie tickets rather than cash them in and not have him wonder if they will be able …

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#ThatRatBook: a review of Year of The Rat by Clare Furniss

When Pearl’s mother unexpectedly dies, fifteen year old Pearl blames her little sister. If it wasn’t for the baby, Pearl feels her mother would still be alive. It doesn’t help that baby Rose (who was born two months premature) looks more like a pink rat than the soft, dimpled cheeked baby with golden curls Pearl …

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Fangirling over Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: A Review

Cath has always been a package deal with her identical twin sister Wren. But when the two go off to college, Wren has decided she wants this as a chance to start over. To create a new identity for herself which doesn’t involve Cath.  Floundering with the forced independence, Cath continues to work on her …

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Book Review: Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Alice has been battling leukaemia for over a year but she’s getting weaker all the time. She’s sure that her time is coming to an end and as a result enlists her oldest friend, Harvey, to help her complete her unfinished business.  But this is a bucket list with a difference. Alice wants to get …

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