Absolutely love these covers! They’re totally girly and rocker chic! Bonus points for looking good on my book shelf!

I read The Ghoul Next Door during the End of Summer Read-A-Thon I hosted on my blog Turning Pages, a while back and really enjoyed it! The Ghoul Next Door is the second instalment in the Monster High series, and it’s been almost a year since I read the first book… so reading the second book was WAY over due!

When I first started reading, I felt a little bit overwhelmed. There were just a lot of things going on, and I was quickly confused. The book is told in three different points of view; always switching back and forth between chapters. (Duhhh Lisa!) After just a few chapters, I got the hang of things and was right back on track. I’ve never read a book that had more than two points of view, so it was interesting to see how this would pan out throughout the entire story. In the end, I actually found this really enjoyable, as the reader I got to see each angle of the argument, and what each of the characters were thinking.

The Ghoul Next Door starts with Frankie Stein losing her head at Merston High monster themed dance! The group of friends thought it would be fun to go as themselves for a change, but things don’t always go as planned! Not only did Frankie lose her head, but it was caught on tape, and now the entire city of Salem Oregon is on a monster hunt to look for her!

Locked in their houses, and only allowed to leave when it’s time for school, the RADs are tired of being held captive. Frankie begins to strategise a plan for Normies to accept RADs for who they are. Frankie hopes that RADs will be able to be themselves, and not have wear make-up to cover up their identity!

Melody Carver is ready and willing to help the RADs for two reasons; she knows what it feels like to be criticised for being herself, and her boyfriend is a RAD.

But on the complete opposite end of things, Bekka (the mean girl) doesn’t mind exposing the RADs and who they are. Why? Because she isn’t going to allow someone steal her boyfriend and then just let them get away with it!

With Bekka trying to expose the RADs in a negative way and with Melody’s friendship with Bekka, many RADs are suspicious that Melody is just trying to get on their good side, but might actually be working with Bekka.

While all this is going on Cleo is working on her fashion photo shoot!

The Ghoul Next Door ends differently than I assumed it would, but on happy terms, that I won’t be giving away. Overall I found the characters to be fun and interesting,  as well as the story! I loved that Cleo brought fashion into the story, I liked the Frankie was so weird, and wanted nothing but to be accepted by Normies and I thought it was very nice that Melody wanted to help her friends, and be a part of this thing.

I’m excited to read the third book, and see what the monster friends next adventure is!!

For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast… and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other… if they can only stay alive.

Hardcover, US, 304 pages

Published January 29th 2013 by St. Martin’s Press

The Prey, the sequel to The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda was able to keep me on the edge of my seat. Throughout the story there is a constant feeling of suspense and need for the characters to keep moving.

It is possible to read the sequel without having read the first book, but as usual it’s not something that I would recommend. 1) The Hunt was awesome and 2) you get a really good layout of the world building and characters in the first book.

The Prey starts off from exactly where we left book one. Gene and the humans are running from the vampires. In this world the vampires rule and the humans have been sectioned off and it is a rarity and a treat to feed on them. The vamps are highly intelligent, have their own schools, businesses and lives in the cities. But can smell pure human blood from miles away, and the urge to hunt is unstoppable.

Gene and his companions are not only looking for safety from the vampires, but also Gene’s father who has disappeared. As they try to make their escape I was fascinated by the gadgets and cleverness of the vampires in their pursuit. The vampires always seemed to be one step ahead as the humans make their way down river, hoping for safety.

There were several aspects to this book that both had me shocked, awed and sometimes grossed out as I read. Firstly the vampires were intelligent, gruesome and very animalistic. Next you have this strange cult-like civilization that is bordering on insane and creepy at the same time.

I really loved the new characters that were brought into the story. The non-stop fight for survival and the friendships forged through their struggles, a As well as this constant feeling of not knowing who to trust really, kept the story engaging. I wasn’t sure how the story was going to end, but it was amazing and very fast paced. 

Picture your day then picture the polar opposite of pretty much everything you are, and stick it in an alternate reality (which you live through every second day). You’re effectively living your days twice, but from completely different points of view. Confused yet? I hope not, because not only is this book amazing, it is going to be hitting my top 5 of the year at this stage.

Sabine lives two lives, a rich socialite, and a social misfit. One life is full of excess, the things a girl may want but doesn’t need, where as her other life is crammed with the things every girl needs, but may not want. When she goes to sleep she alternates between the two lives.

It isn’t until she breaks her arm, and it doesn’t transfer into her other life, that her brain starts to tick over about the opportunity to choose which life she’d like to lead. It certainly isn’t an easy life lives (?) to live, but which would you choose?

Jessica Shervington has completely messed with my head, and I don’t quite know why it affected me so much. I love Sabine. I love the other characters. I even loved the characters we were supposed to hate… (except that one poop head. I can never forgive him.) The relationships between characters are complex and believable. The situations ring true.

Though Between the Lives is set in the US, it could just as easily be set in the more affluent areas of any Aussie major city, and in contrast, any of the outer suburbs. I actually think it is a bit of a shame Jessica didn’t decide to give a nod to Sydney or Melbourne.

I honestly don’t think I’d enjoy living two lives, no matter which way you want to slice it.

Jessica Shirvington hit a home run with this gem of a book.

http://www.jessicashirvington.com/

Paperback, 336 pages

Published May 1^st 2013 by HarperCollins Australia

ISBN 0732296269 (ISBN13: 9780732296261)

The wall looms over the people of Amarias through the days and nights. Joshua knows that it is meant to be there to offer them protection from the people on the other side of it – the people who used to live where Amarias is now. The people in Amarias are strange though, and every day his mother becomes more like them and less like the woman that he grew up loving. So when he finds a tunnel leading under the wall, it is a chance to discover for himself whether the people on the other side are as dangerous as the government says.

Lost and afraid in a society different to his own, a girl does him a kindness that will have repercussions for both of them.

Cruel regimes are a pretty big theme in teen fiction right now. In The Wall, dystopia is taken from the realms of sci-fi and fantasy and translated to reality. Rather than reading about an imaginary reality, we are offered a glimpse of a real and current one. One that is partially of our making. The depiction of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here is raw and desperate. Split physically by only a wall, in the minds of both societies, there are so many other barriers between them. Fear and hatred exist on both sides of the wall.

Sutcliffe’s writing style is wonderful. He captures the voice of an inquisitive and intelligent thirteen year old boy perfectly. His ideals, however, are what took me from liking this book to loving this book. Though this isn’t an imaginary world, it does have a similar feel to the dystopian teen fiction books I’ve been reading lately with one important difference. Violence is not fought with violence. Ever. Joshua resists the horrible situation around him with as much courage as any hero I’ve read, but he combats the destruction with construction. He builds a relationship with the people he is meant to hate by nurturing an orchard they once owned. Pouring love into the world, rather than saturating it with more hatred. It’s a strong and essential message to send, that resistance can be non-violent and productive.

In this sort of a story, making an ‘us and them’ dichotomy can be all too easy. Sutcliffe, however, avoids it. There are some truly terrible people on both sides of the wall, and some good ones, and some who are lost and frightened. Opening up dialogue and a willingness to understand each other is shown to be the key to ending the violence and misery that exists in both societies.

Beautifully crafted with amazing and realistic relationships, The Wall is a wonderful read for teens and adults alike. Ultimately uplifting, it’s books like this that create more kindness and understanding in our world.

The Wall – William Sutcliffe

Bloomsbury (April 1, 2013)

ISBN: 9781408838426

The Registry saved the country from collapse. But stability has come at a price. In this patriotic new America, girls are raised to be brides, sold at auction to the highest bidder. Boys are raised to be soldiers, trained by the state to fight to their death.

Nearly eighteen, beautiful Mia Morrissey excitedly awaits the beginning of her auction year. But a warning from her married older sister raises dangerous thoughts. Now, instead of going up on the block, Mia is going to escape to Mexico—and the promise of freedom.

All Mia wants is to control her own destiny—a brave and daring choice that will transform her into an enemy of the state, pursued by powerful government agents, ruthless bounty hunters, and a cunning man determined to own her . . . a man who will stop at nothing to get her back.

Paperback, 336 pages  Published June 11th 2013 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published May 28th 2013)

On Mia’s wedding day, her sister makes a sudden appearance back home, begging her family to help protect her from her husband. She says that the training Mia is going through now is all a lie. Mia’s parents continue to tell her that being married is the best thing for young women and her sister is overreacting. But later, Mia is notified that her sister has died. She panics and decides to run.

Mia and her best friend Whitney disguise themselves as boys and steal the car, only to run into a local boy who is heading the same way. They decide to travel together. With his help they are able to travel a fair distance. However, the man who has been optioned to marry Mia decides to go through with the arraignment despite her absence and he begins to pursue her in her travels. The trip soon becomes very deadly and a bounty is issued for anybody that brings her home.

The car doesn’t get them very far, and they end up hitch-hiking to Mexico. For a girl who is running from all she has learned about men, and a forced marriage, Mia doesn’t keep them out of her mind. The people she turns to for help become romantic interests as well.

Whitney who changes her mind and decides she wants to go home, is the smartest of the group. Women are not encouraged to go to school and Mia has little education that goes beyond housekeeping. But Whitney has been raised otherwise and soaks up knowledge like a sponge. We learn most about the world and how it became this way through Whitney’s stories, as well as through some of the strangers they meet in their travels. With our main character a naive, fearful and uneducated girl, Whitney is the shining light that helps the world-building and plot, pushing the narrative to being more than just a survival story.