Revenge is worth its weight in gold.

When her father is murdered for a journal revealing the location of a hidden gold mine, eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers—and justice. What she finds are untrustworthy strangers, endless dust and heat, and a surprising band of allies, among them a young Apache girl and a pair of stubborn brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, a startling truth becomes clear: some men will stop at nothing to get their hands on gold, and Kate’s quest for revenge may prove fatal. 

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published September 1st 2015 by HMH Books for Young Readers

This was one of those stories that I refer to as a “travel story”. I am unsure if there is already a term used for it.

Kate is in constant movement from one place to another, meeting people, finding answers and running for her life. There is very little downtime and things are always in motion.

After returning home and finding her father murdered, Kate decides that she wants revenge. First she follows her fathers wishes by travelling to a friend’s house who has promised to take care of her. Upon her arrival she finds that the friend has also passed. Kate follows her heart and the trail of the Rose Riders to avenge her father’s death with a small crew of her own (even though they are more focused on obtaining gold than killing the most powerful gang leader around).

Kate is a very determined character that has one focus. At times she will say whatever it takes to get those around her to do what she wants so she can reach her goal. All the while, those around her have ideas of their own. At times a bit of romance comes into play and there’s a lot of character growth for Kate as the story progresses.

I can’t say that I loved Vengeance Road so much that it inspired me to pick up more westerns, but I had a good time reading it and would recommend it to those who enjoy historical reads. It’s a very wild west, horse riding, shoot outs, card playing roller coaster of greed and revenge. An action packed, plot driven story that keeps you on your toes and has a fun twist ending. I haven’t read a lot of westerns and this one was engaging, had a great plot, and I loved the ending.

It is the first day of school and seventeen year old Lucille’s mother has not come home. She has been gone for two weeks. On some level, Lucille has been preparing herself for this. So she gets her nine year old sister Wren ready, packs lunch and gets them both to their respective schools.

As time progresses, bills come in, and food runs low, Lucille realises that she’s going to have to figure everything out herself if she’s going to keep Wren out of the foster system. With the help of her best friend, Eden, she might just be able to look after Wren, get a job, navigate her final year of high school and keep her mother’s absence a secret from anyone who might pry.

This Raging Light is Estelle Laure’s debut novel. Bel and I received a free copy at the Hachette Date-a-Book night, and the Hachette team were so enthusiastic about the writing style, characters and narrative that I read it on the plane trip home. Their praise for the novel was entirely justified. Raging Light is lyrical, intense and enchanting; with a writing style and pace so deftly handled that it’s hard to believe it is a debut novel.

Characters sell the story in Raging Light. Told in first person from Lucille’s perspective, readers are there for the ups and downs and for the terrifying doubts. The uncertainty of whether Lucille can make it through and the anxiety about how the situation is affecting her sensitive sister are rendered with stunning emotional accuracy; as are the emotions behind Lucille’s crush and her friendships. Lucille’s best friend, Eden, was my favourite part of Raging Light. Her philosophy on life, people and human nature is unique and takes readers into some of the more in depth areas of the novel.

Despite liking Lucille and her narrative voice, it bothers me how little empathy she had for her mother. It seems as though her mother looked after everyone until she left, yet Lucille never considers what her mother’s state of mind might have been as much as she wonders how her mother could have done what she did to them. It doesn’t occur to her that almost being murdered might undo a person. Nor does she wonder whether the night her mother almost died was the first night she had been attacked.

While the premise of this novel is all too believable for many teens across the world, This Raging Light is more a light-hearted flight of fantasy than a gritty slice of reality. Wren and Lucille might be in an awful predicament; but, they have initially come from a reasonably charmed life. They have aspirations and goals and, despite their circumstances, don’t give up on trying to attain them. For a beautifully crafted feel-good read, you can’t go past This Raging Light.

This Raging Light – Estelle Laure

Hachette (January 7, 2015)

ISBN: 9781408340264

In May 1980, fifteen-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in the old quarter of Barcelona. For seven days and nights no one knows his whereabouts. . . .

His story begins in the heart of old Barcelona, when he meets Marina and her father Germán Blau, a portrait painter. Marina takes Oscar to a cemetery to watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the fourth Sunday of each month. At 10 a.m. precisely a coach pulled by black horses appears. From it descends a woman dressed in black, her face shrouded, wearing gloves, holding a single rose. She walks over to a gravestone that bears no name, only the mysterious emblem of a black butterfly with open wings.

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her they begin a journey that will take them to the heights of a forgotten, post-war Barcelona, a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons; and a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

Hardcover, 299 pages

Published September 26th 2013 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (first published 1999)

 ISBN 0297856472 (ISBN13: 9780297856474)

I have not read all Carlos Ruiz Zafón books, but I have yet to be disappointed. His writing is so beautiful and atmospheric; it’s easy to slip away into another world. In Marina he brings a dark ghost story full of history and horror. I loved this story so much that I recommend it to everybody.

Marina lives alone with her father and we find out more about her as the story further investigates the mystery of the mourning woman. Marina is the kind of girl who would rather keep her mind busy on other things than herself. Oscar is drawn to her and begins to spend a lot of his time away from school and getting to know what he can of Marina and her father.

The mystery of the mourning woman reveals the past and the dark history of a man driven by power. With a pinch of Frankenstein, the story takes a dark turn and Oscar barely survives the investigation. The writing style creates an ominous feeling throughout the story and a powerful ending.

If you have read any of his previous books you will know exactly what his writing style brings to a story. It’s masterful the way he can construct the atmosphere and characters into his worlds. I love the way I can completely disappear into his stories and have to remind myself to come up for air.

I highly recommend this story, it’s dark, beautiful and well crafted. This is a story I can see myself re-reading over and over again.

 In a stunning literary debut, two boys on opposite ends of the world begin an unlikely friendship that will change their lives forever.

Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity. Contact with it causes debilitating seizures. Moritz’s weak heart is kept pumping by an electronic pacemaker. If they ever did meet, Ollie would seize. But Moritz would die without his pacemaker. Both hermits from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times—as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him.

A story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances, this debut is powerful, dark and humorous in equal measure. These extraordinary voices bring readers into the hearts and minds of two special boys who, like many teens, are just waiting for their moment to shine.

Paperback, 344 pages

Expected publication: July 2nd 2015 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books

This was one of those stories that ended up being confusing for me. Ollie and Moritz begin a pen pal friendship on a recommendation from the doctor. The doctor thinks that through their correspondence, they might open their minds to others who have debilitating medical conditions. Both Ollie and Moritz have trouble making friends, more out of their circumstances than personality issues. They both have difficult lives; Ollie is allergic to electricity and Moritz’s medical conditions are longer than a shopping list, beginning with his pacemaker, which is the reason why these two could never meet.

We get to know the two boys and their families through their letters. Ollie is going through a depression becuase his only friend stopped visiting him. Moritz gets badly bullied at school and as a result of one of the incidents is being treated differently at school by all. They find that although they do not have much in common, there is one thing that holds the secrets to how they have become what they are. Ollie is a very positive thinker, he always hopes for the best and through his encouragement Moritz begins to step out of his shell a little and make friends. Moritz tries to help Ollie find the courage to push himself to do things, but mostly shows Ollie how he doesn’t have things so bad in comparison to others.

The letters between the two are interesting and show a lot about what people think about those with a disability; how disabled people cope with the situations they are in; and the support groups that help them through. I did find the twist to the story somewhat out of place in the otherwise realistic feel of the beginning of the book. There is a hint of science fiction, and when the true concept of what ties the boys together is revealed, I was unsure if it was a smooth transition. The storyline left me questioning the whole book and how the author chose to tie everything together.

The story is definitely a memorable one. What I enjoyed the most was Ollie’s positiveness despite the great trials in his life. His situation is very difficult and his mother smothers him at times. His story was the most endearing to me, and I found him to be honest, humble, and truly inspiring in his outlook on life.

This is a book that I do recommend because I found it a worthwhile read and very unique story. Overall, I did enjoy the book although I was a bit perplexed on how it was tied together. It is a combination of realistic fiction and science fiction.

What ingredients do you need for a great psychological thriller?

Let’s go through some, shall we?

Begin with a core cast of characters whose very ordinariness makes them instantly relatable. Then toss in a situation or mystery that’s going to test these characters to their limits; take them inside their own heads, and in doing so take us, the reader, with them. Now mix through a series of twists and turns (both internal and external) that tap into the universal sense of human fear.

Novelist Sophie Hannah is no stranger to cooking up this kind of clever and compelling read. So it is of no surprise that for her 11th psychological thriller A Game For All The Family she has assembled all the right ingredients.

After escaping London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine plans to spend her days doing as little as possible in her beautiful new home in Devon. But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to withdraw when her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school. Justine begs the head teacher to reconsider, only to be told that nobody’s been expelled – there is, and was, no George. Then the anonymous calls start: a stranger, making threats that suggest she and Justine share a traumatic past and a guilty secret – yet Justine doesn’t recognise her voice. When the caller starts to talk about three graves – two big and one small, to fit a child – Justine fears for her family’s safety. The police prove useless so she decides she’ll have to eliminate the danger herself, but first she must work out who she’s supposed to be…

For two thirds of this novel I was riveted. Is Justine mad and everything she sees going on around her not really going on at all? Is the transfixing tale of the oh-so-odd Ingrey family, which is being delivered via installments from Ellen’s high school english essay, actually a spooky reality? And is the head mistress at Ellen’s school, despite the cookie-cutter family photo that sits framed on her office wall, a manipulative and crazy childhater? I turned each page fuelled by a desire to learn more; desperate to put all the intricate puzzle pieces together.

Then, as the picture finally began to appear, I wasn’t sure it was the one I really wanted to see. The direction I had thought – and hoped – the story was going in turned out to be wrong and where it was actually heading, disappointingly, failed to completely satisfy me. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t suddenly lose all interest in the story, but that urgent want and that transfixion with the tale being told did slump a little.

Maybe this is where I should return to my cooking analogy. You know when you find a recipe that looks and sounds awesome? You gather the ingredients together and then you follow the recipe’s steps one by one, your mouth watering in anticipation the whole time. When it is finally ready and when you have carefully plated up this sure-to-be gastronomic triumph you take your first mouthful. Huh? It doesn’t taste how you’d imagined it would. You can’t quite put your finger on what it is, but something’s missing. Well, that’s kinda how I felt with this book.

Ok, I’ll stop with the cooking analogies now and simply suggest that you try this one out yourself.  It may well be just to your taste.