Aerin Renning has been alone since her father died. Without him, her only chance of survival was to learn to fight and to be of more use than the people around her. When the chance to escape arises, it’s not even a question. She takes it knowing that if she’s caught, the penalty is death.

Dane Madousin was born to privilege. With it comes freedom, safety, and education. But not love.

When Academy 7 – the exacting but prestigious school that was built to train leaders – offers each of them a place, they accept. Aerin has nowhere else to go, and Dane would do anything to anger his distant father.

I’ve had Academy 7 sitting on my shelves for several years now. After having it pop up under Amazon recommendations and having book bloggers speak highly of it, I ordered and bought a copy. Then proceeded not to read it for several years. Having noticed it again after a recent clean, I decided to give it a go. I regret not having done so sooner.

Academy 7 is just as good as all of those bloggers kept saying. The characters are strong and sympathetic. Their struggles are affecting without being melodramatic. Despite being a futuristic sci-fi, Osterlund doesn’t get caught up in dazzling us with the world, preferring to tell a compelling story.

On the other side of that, readers who are sci-fi lovers may find Academy 7 too bland for their tastes. The story is good, but it’s a story that could as easily be set in modern times or in the past with a few tweaks.

Much of the story revolves around the two main characters and if they were less compelling than Aerin and Dane, this story would have fallen flat. Both Aerin and Dane are amazing characters in their own rights, though. They have enough similarities that their friendship makes perfect sense, but on the surface they’re very different. Dane is over-confident and tends to make light of things while Aerin is constantly anxious and is very serious about issues that she’s passionate about.

They strike sparks off each other because Aerin wants Dane to care about issues but he’s too scared to care about anything. And he wants her to open up, when staying closed keeps her safe. In some ways they’re both self-made. Aerin had to teach herself everything after her father died, and Dane may as well have not had a father so he had to figure most of it out for himself too.

The only issue that I had with Academy 7 is the backstory. While Aerin and Dane’s relationship is painstakingly honest – rarely falling back on convention, but forging its own path – the backstory is stereotypical and overdramatic. It serves its purpose, but Osterlund did such a good job of injecting real humanity into the relationship between Aerin and Dane that I sort of wish she had pushed their parents’ stories to the same level.

Academy 7 is a genuinely fantastic read. The characters are amazing, and while it is romantic, the focus is more on being a wonderful story than a love story.

Academy 7 – Anne Osterlund

Speak (May 2009)

ISBN: 9780142414378

A Thousand Pieces of You is a science fiction romance that explores travelling between dimensions, or parallel universes. When Marguerite “jumps” into each dimension, she jumps into her own body in a different world. This also gives the reader a feel of time travelling as well. Each dimension is either more or less advanced than the one she knows; yet, there is also the one that is so similar it’s hard to tell the differences.

Marguerite’s parents are scientists and have discovered how to jump to the other dimensions by the use of a Firebird, a small device that the jumper has to wear at all times, or they risk losing memory of who they really are and never returning home. The discovery of this ability to jump dimensions also brings trouble. When Marguerite’s father is murdered, she decides to follow his path through the universes to seek revenge.

When I began the book, I felt it was going to be very fast-paced with lots of action. I was pleasantly surprised that in some of the dimensions we get to stay for awhile and live the life of another Marguerite. From England to Russia to America, Marguerite jumps all over the world and experiences different versions of her life (mostly wealthy ones) and times of what might or could have been.

What I enjoyed most about the book, and why I would recommend this one, is the romance factor. There is an underlying storyline of the possibility of soul mates; the idea that no matter what time or place, some souls are meant to be in each others lives. There are a couple of twists in the story that I also enjoyed and thought brought a lot to the story. Even though this is not technically a time travel novel, at times it feels like it is; therefore, I would recommend this to fans of time travel books, science fiction and romance. I really enjoyed it and think you will too.

For those that enjoy audio-books the narrator for this one does a fantastic job; I highly recommend it.

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published November 4th 2014 by Harper Teen (first published October 7th 2014)

It’s a while since a book has pulled me into its pages with the kind of urgency I felt as soon as I began reading Stay With Me. The cover and blurb give a strong enough impression of what the book is about, but I don’t think I expected to be taken on such a frightening – and yet thrilling – journey with the title character Tess.

When we meet 21 year-old Tess, she is embarking on a carefully-timed but incredibly risky escape from her abusive partner. In the dark early hours of morning Tess bundles her sleeping three-year-old daughter into a stroller and flees the remote farm where she’s been living captive, cut-off from family and friends. From this moment on Tess will be relying on her wits and the kindness of a stranger in order to survive.

Author Maureen McCarthy is a much-loved Aussie YA writer. Her books, including The Convent, Somebody’s Crying, Rose By Any Other Name, Flash Jack and Queen Kat, Carmel & St Jude Get A Life have been endearing her to readers since the early 90s. She has a reputation for creating “gutsy and believeable characters caught at the cusp of adulthood” and although Stay With Me is the first of McCarthy’s books that I have read, her reputation appears well-earned.

Tess is raw and real. And her plight is, sadly, all too believable. Though it often goes un-reported domestic violence is an issue that affects large numbers of Australian women. Recent statistics suggest that every week, on average, one Australian woman is killed by a current or former partner.

McCarthy has handled this subject matter with sensitivity and skill. It isn’t hard to champion Tess’ courage to leave, but as the book progresses the reader also gets to understand just how the abusive relationship managed to build its walls high around her.

The bond that Tess and her daughter Nellie forge with Harry, the young man who offers to drive them to safety, is both poignant and uplifting. It was perhaps my favourite part of the book.

Meantime, the journey Tess makes to re-connect with her estranged family members – where old hurts are refreshed – adds another compelling dimension to the story.

This is a well-paced book with a powerful story that both upper YA and New Adult readers are likely to devour.

Stay With Me – Maureen McCarthy

Allen & Unwin (2015)

IBSN 978 1 74331 688 7

** For older readers

This twisty, breathless cat-and-mouse thrill ride, told in the second person, follows a girl with amnesia in present-day Los Angeles who is being pursued by mysterious and terrifying assailants.

A girl wakes up on the train tracks, a subway car barreling down on her. With only minutes to react, she hunches down and the train speeds over her. She doesn’t remember her name, where she is, or how she got there. She has a tattoo on the inside of her right wrist of a blackbird inside a box, letters and numbers printed just below: FNV02198. There is only one thing she knows for sure: people are trying to kill her.

On the run for her life, she tries to untangle who she is and what happened to the girl she used to be. Nothing and no one are what they appear to be. But the truth is more disturbing than she ever imagined.

The Maze Runner series meets Code Name Verity, Blackbird is relentless and action-packed, filled with surprising twists. 

Kindle Edition, 256 pages

Published September 16th 2014 by HarperTeen (first published September 1st 2014)

Told in first person perspective, the reader is put right in the driver’s seat of this story. We get to “play” the main character throughout and see everything through her eyes. We wake up with no memories and under the wheels of a train. After being rescued, we find a backpack in our possession and messages that advise us to run. Following clues and intuition, we are just one step ahead of people who are hunting us, and we must survive long enough to find out why.

The writing is very fast paced, there is very little down time because the protagonist always has somethone right on her tail. There are friends and foes that reappear throughout the story, but there is very little world building or character development because of the memory loss. The whole story is happening as we live through it. Along with the clues and encounters we get some development to the storyline, but it’s mainly an in-the-moment storyline.

Set in current day Los Angeles we get to tour the city through the main character’s eyes. It is really hard to say much about the book without giving it away because you have to live through the experiences to really understand the atmosphere . It almost felt like being in a virtual reality video game.

The story really builds up the tension. We don’t know who to trust and we barely survive through a couple of scenes. I really didn’t see the main plot twist coming when it finally does. It made me really excited for the second book and the promise of more of her memories being revealed. I found Blackbird exciting and fun; a great book for if you are looking for something a bit different.

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love…

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

ebook, 355 pages

Published March 4th 2014 by Farrar Straus Giroux

ISBN 0374384681 (ISBN13: 9780374384685)

While out shopping in the village, Kestrel decides to attend the slave auction and spontaneously decides to bid on one of the slaves. Kestrel is not in need of a new slave, but there is something about this boy she can’t pass up. Kestrel’s at time in her life when she must chose between joining the army or getting married, and she’s torn between the two. She cannot physically fight well and yet she’s not ready for marriage. As time passes, the slave becomes an unexpected shoulder to lean on. There is something about this boy that is not like the others.

Kestrel’s father is the general and travels a lot. When he is home, he really pressures Kestrel to make a decision. There is a rumble of discontentment among the village people and when the General has to leave for his next trip the rumblings get worse. As the tension begins to grow at home, Kestrel has to be level headed and show strength to her people.

But her friendship with Arin – the slave – becomes centre stage. The rumours grow, and he’s given more access to the mansion.

I love stories with a strong female lead. At times Kestrel shows us weakness and naivety, yet she really grows throughout this story. Even at the end, I was a little torn between which side to root for, and I kind of loved that. It really gives you a look at both sides of the story through Kestrel and Arin. Although there is some connection between the two, as they get to know each other, it’s the friendship and not the romance that takes the major role.

I am excited to see where the story goes next in The Winners Crime. I recommend this series to fantasy fans who enjoy politics, war, and the lives of those stuck in between.