The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgewick

The Ghosts of Heaven is a hugely ambitious and original work of YA fiction, and it’s been languishing on my shelf for a good long while. Last month, I finally got round to giving it a try – and two days later I was done, having read one of the best books I’ve ever read.

The Gorgeous Hardback Cover

Told through four different stories, the book channels different characters and time periods in each quarter, all linked through a theme of spirals. We open of the dialogue sparse pre-history tale of a nameless teenage girl, part of a hunting party who use shapes painted on cave walls to summon good luck and strength to aid the hunt. The second story tells the tale of a girl accused of witchcraft, and a quiet country village under the grasp of a tyrannical reverend. The third quarter is a tense story of a psychologist and his highly intelligent patient in a cliff side Insane Asylum. The final story in the book is set in the far-flung future, aboard a sleeper ship filled with dreaming people destined to colonise a new planet, and follows a solitary sentinel who watches over them in a lonely vigil as their ship spirals through space.

This Book. Seriously, I cannot begin to describe how swept up in these four interwoven narratives I was. The first quarter, told eerily through fractured stanzas that bounce along poetically, is filled with hope and bitter-sweet melancholy. The second is stiflingly oppressive, painfully and blisteringly unfair, whilst the third is so wonderfully windswept and Gothically HP Lovecraft, unfolding with a spiralling sense of madness and chaos. The final quarter is a cold, uneasy science-fiction tale that pulls through the whole story and links each narrative together, like a needle and thread spiralling through four patches of fabric to create one whole blanket.

The Paperback Jacket

Sedgewick is such an outstanding writer – each story has its own feel and style, but they’re all part of a greater whole, and it’s done with such clever skill that flows naturally. None of the stories feel discordant with the others, despite their massive differences in time periods. Plus, the four parts of the book can be read in any order, giving a different experience depending on how you read it. It’s honestly mind-blowing, and by the time you get to the last quarter it all starts to pull together in a way that staggers you. The Ghosts of Heaven is a book that I’m going to return to again and again, a perfect balance of genres, filled with twisting unease and suspense, reading flawlessly and beautifully. It evokes something wonderful just remembering it.

Thanks for Reading,

D

If The Ghosts of Heaven takes your fancy, you can pick it up here.

The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury

Melinda’s debut, The Sin Eater’s Daughter, was last year’s best selling UKYA debut – a tragic mix of dark fantasy and rich romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. Shot through with a twisted “princess in the tower” idea, but much more sinister, the book hinted at a larger, older and fully fleshed out universe that I was really eager to get more from, always bleeding into the edges of the story but not quiet showing itself. Yeah, well The Sleeping Prince steps it up a gear or five.

Another hypnotically beautiful cover.

Following a new set of characters in a different part of the world, and shortly after the events of the first book, The Sleeping Prince is the story of impoverished apothecary Errin Vastel – the sister of the first book’s character Lief. She lives a meagre life, scraping together potions to sell on the black market to attempt to keep herself fed and with a roof over her head. With her father dead, and her brother away working to try and bring in some extra coin, Errin has to support not only herself, but also her mother, whose rapidly deteriorating mental health is starting to become more and more taxing – and dangerous. War in Lomere, with the mythical Sleeping Prince soon starts to spill across the border and threatens to shatter Errin’s already unstable world, and soon she finds she has no choice but to flee her home with her mother, relying on the help of one of her customers – the mysterious and enigmatic Silas, who she has been selling potions and poisons to. She’s never even seen his face, as he stays constantly cloaked and shrouded in darkness. But who else can she turn to? As the Sleeping Princes army starts to murder and burn its way across Tregellan she must flee, and if the officials found out about her mother’s conditions they’d lock her away in an asylum. Errin can’t lose the only member of family she has left.

ALL BOOKS NEED A MAP.

If I ever had one thing that I struggled with in TSED, it was a heavy romantic plotline – it’s not my usual thing. The Sleeping Prince moves in a very different direction though, examining the rapidly unravelling threads of a family in complete crisis. Errin is a brilliant lead, resourceful and smart, she’s filled with fear and doubt, but she constantly pushes through with the weary determination of someone who has nowhere else to turn. Her world, and the underhanded desperate measures she takes to survive make her feel a much rougher and more worldly main character than Twylla, filled with shades of grey and a ruthlessness that fills her decisions and actions with a manic sense of drive.

Where the first story is the slow burning tale of political subterfuge, book two is an out and out war novel, and it pulls absolutely no punches. Melinda uses the plot to examine the true horrors of war in a fantasy setting, but she never lets it be viewed through a rose-tinted lens. The horrifically brutal war crimes of the Sleeping Prince are told through hushed, terrified rumour, and the painfully close-to-home treatment of Lomere’s refugees that Errin sees on her travels is a stark echo of current events. The whole book is driven forward with the frantic pace of an invasion, with the swirling out of control sense of being just one person swept up in something so huge and impossible to fight against that the whole book is beautifully chaotic.

I stole this photo from Mel’s website but it’s okay. She thinks I’m all right.

The Sleeping Prince was everything that I wanted the next step in this saga to take – it builds on the rich mythology that clearly Salisbury has been developing for years, and it ramps everything up to eleven – the drama is more dramatic, the violence more visceral and animated, and the characters are more ambiguous, cut-throat and determined. This is a world at war, with characters desperate for survival and success, and a story filled with so many twists and dead drops that it’s breathlessly compelling.

Well done, Melinda, you terrible, beautiful Queen.

All hail!

D

P.S. You can follow Melinda on Twitter here, and you should because she’s a wonderful human.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

So for those of you who maybe don’t remember – Alice’s debut, Solitaire, was one of my absolute favourite books in 2014. It was a smart, witty, apathetic coming of age story, a Perks of Being a Wallflower for the Tumblr generation or whatever. It was a great book. So when I was lucky enough to be emailed a final manuscript of her highly anticipated second novel, Radio Silence, I pretty much screamed. Out loud. On the shop floor. Which in a bookshop is frowned upon.

Frances Janvier is Head Girl. Frances Janvier is a straight A student. Frances Janvier is on the fast track to an Oxbridge English Literature degree. She studies as often as she can, sleeping little and not really forming any friends – everything sacrificed for the hope of a place at one of the best universities in the country. The only creative outlet Frances allows herself is fan art for a podcast series called Universe City, where the androgynous Radio Silence battles a collection of horrific monstrosities in an inescapable science fiction landscape. As Frances steadily becomes more and more stressed out by her approaching exams and her entry interview for university, she starts to become more engaged in the fictional Universe City world. When she discovers that the mysterious Aled Last, who she’s lived across the road from for most of her life is also a massive fan of the podcast, she finally discovers what it means to have a true friend and starts to understand that life is more than academic achievement. But Aled’s life is a lot tougher than Frances realises, and while he helps her to grow, she starts to see the cracks in him. He needs her help, but he could never say it out loud – but his time is running out.

It’s better. Radio Silence is better than Solitaire. I KNOW. Big words, but I mean them 100%. Frances and Aled’s friendship is absolutely everything I want in a fictional friendship ever, and Alice deliberately allows their friendship to never bubble into a romance, which was SO REFRESHING. Frances is fraught, confused and passionate – all angles and manic energy, where Aled is softer, creative and submissive. I have a lot of feelings for Aled, and a lot of empathy to how he seems to drift along with life doing things that are decided for him but never truly grasping what he really wants. Their co-dependent friendship is flanked by some excellent supporting characters too, Raine being a big favourite, especially as she represents the opposite of Frances’ academic obsession. Daniel too is stony-faced, but his unravelling as a character is really sweet.

Still love you though, bae.

One of the biggest themes in Radio Silence is the idea that going to university is not the only route available to young people – and it’s such an important subject that is never tackled enough. There’s so much pressure on teenagers to start attending higher education, when no-one is willing to admit that there are plenty of other roads in life to take. Alice lets her own scepticism towards the education system flow through the story, making it clear that happiness can be achieved through all sorts of less “traditional” routes. One of the other amazing things about the book is that it is SO DIVERSE. Not a single character is 100% straight, but no character is defined by their sexuality either, and she even touches on ideas of asexuality too. And it’s racially diverse too, proving that there really is no excuse to not write with inclusivity. AND it touches on mental illness with honesty and care. Seriously, it manages to wrap up so many themes with a fun plot driven by beautiful dialogue that made Solitaire feel for real and down to Earth. Alice has the perfect YA voice.

Plus, as a massive fan of Welcome to Night Vale, the podcast theme was absolutely amazing! Universe City feels dark, vibrant and perfectly crafted, the excerpts really breaking up the story beautifully with pieces of hugely lyrical writing. I want it to be a real podcast. Alice if you’re reading this let’s make Universe City. Please.

It isn’t out until later this month, but I cannot recommend it highly enough. She knows what she’s doing, and she makes it look effortless. This is Young Adult Fiction done flawlessly.

Hey, Thanks.

D

P.S. – You can pre-order the book RIGHT HERE so you should do that thing.

Monster by C.J. Skuse

I can never deny my love for all things horror. I really can’t, and whilst masked serial killers slaughtering teenagers in the woods does next to nothing for me, the premise of Monster really did. Plus, when I was reading it January was in full swing, bringing with it the full force of Winter weather, so the atmosphere felt just perfect…

Atmospheric Jacket too.

Nash is in the race for Head Girl at Bathory, one of the brightest private schools in the country. Outside of the boarding school, her brother is missing, but Nash is determined to push all of her anxiety into the competition to be the very best she can be. However, as the Christmas holidays fast approach, the weather starts to turn, bathing the beautiful school in a torrent of snow. It looks like there are a few students who won’t be going home just yet. Which would be fine… Except there’s something out there in the snow, stalking the girls, hungry and relentless. Could it be the urban legend of the Beast of Bathory is true? A monstrous cat that prowls the grounds looking for a way in to feast on them all? Despite their massive differences, the handful of girls left behind soon realise that their only hope for survival is to stick together.

Any story like this, with such a claustrophobic setting, really needs to rely on the few characters who propel the plot along, and I think Skuse does an excellent job at creating five distinctive personalities without playing too much to the usual stereotypes. Nash, the story’s hero, is a driven, determined person with a superb ability to think on her feet. Her backstory, with her missing brother, allows her (to begin with) perfect façade to begin to crack and expose a well rounded, emotionally articulate character underneath – she’s bright and determined, but she’s not a superhero. She makes mistakes. I think Maggie, “the bad girl”, was my favourite character in Monster though, being thoroughly vulgar and hilarious throughout some pretty dark and terrifying situations. She’s also headstrong and forceful as well, managing to offset the relatively goody-goody atmosphere of the students well to keep the interaction and dialogue feeling fluid and fun. Regan came a close second though, her creepy obsessive nature giving the plot its sense of drama and tense darkness.

The atmosphere in Monster is what really makes it such an engaging read – the claustrophobic hallways of the school, and the stark, blinding white of the snow cutting them off from the outside world creates a pulsing sense of unease that really drags the reader through the story. The plot itself is filled with enough plot twists and red herrings to keep it feeling constantly unbalanced and uncertain (I mean that in a totally good way), and as it reaches the final chapters, it starts to fly along with a nervous energy of its own. The book brings in themes of feminism, family and survival, with a superb set of character arcs, and makes for a gripping thriller that keeps the reader glued to the page. I had hoped the mental health aspects were fleshed out a little more, but that would be hard to do without bogging down the quick, animalistic plot. It was like The Breakfast Club meets Alien.

That’s a comparison. Let’s stick with that.

It was good!

Thanks for reading,

D

My Top Ten Reads of 2015!

I’m pretty sure when I did my top ten round up last year, I said something along the lines of “Wow, what an outstanding year it’s been for YA & Books in general” but THIS YEAR BEAT THE PANTS OF IT. Seriously, 2015 has seen the publication of some of the most challenging, powerful and evocative novels for Young Adults that have ever been available. The level of diversity, LBQT+ inclusivity and Mental Health awareness is beyond anything it’s ever been in previous years – and while we still have a long way to go, it makes my heart sing to see the dedication of authors, publishers, readers, bloggers and the whole community to actively shout about diversity and to demand better representation in the books they read. The UKYA community is going from strength to strength too, becoming a glowing warm beacon of passion and friendship across the internet that I always feel privileged to be a part of. OKAY, enough of me doing all this gushing – in no particular order, here’s a list of ten of my FAVOURITEST READS from this year! 

The Lost and The Found by Cat Clarke 

Cat Clarke has a reputation for harsh, bleak thrillers that have a talent for breaking reader’s hearts in two. The Lost and The Found is no exception to her gritty formula, focusing on a family absolutely torn apart by the loss of their daughter thirteen years ago. It has an emotional level to it that’s uncompromising and refuses to look at the world in terms of black and white, letting Faith, its main character, be angry, bitter and selfishly flawed in ways that are deep and understandable. It’s a powerful book that asks a lot of questions, and isn’t afraid to leave those questions unanswered.

Birdy by Jess Vallance

FRANCES BIRD IS MY BEST FRIEND. Birdy is a sinisterly dark, acid clever little thriller with so much of a skewed sense of unease. Hinging on an obsessive, out of control friendship and coming from a wonderfully unreliable narrator, it’s a slow burning novel that gradually unravels into a sprawling spider’s web of deception, paranoia and constantly escalating madness. It’s definitely not one for the faint of heart, but if you like a book that pulses with psychological trauma and emotional turmoil, then this is a fast paced gem for you. You awful person.

The Next Together by Lauren James 

Lauren’s debut managed to do something that never normally happens for me – it managed to be a love story that I felt totally invested in! Her characters are witty and sweet, warm and utterly real, and she lets them be quirky and original, without falling into the usual gender stereotypes, and the use of time travel is clever, original and quite often fascinating – well researched and fully formed, and the way it skips between them creates a fresh, paced feel that keeps the plot hanging and pounding. Not to mention a fantastically mysterious open ended conclusion. I’m really looking forward to her next book in 2016!

The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell 

 

Rundell is the only non-YA title on my list, but it’s one I would urge people of all age to read. She’s got such a phenomenal talent with crafting words, like a true artist, she weaves them flawlessly and with passion and love. She refuses to talk down to her audience, and The Wolf Wilder is a captivating tale of wolves, snow and freedom, spearheaded by a wilful heroine who has more than a dash of Philip Pullman’s Lyra Belacqua about her. The wonderful words are beautifully accompanied by gorgeous inky illustrations that make this book the whole package – a children’s classic that we’ll have on bookshop shelves in fifty, maybe even a hundred years time.

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

My first ever Hardinge book, and a darkly twisting novel that swirled with mystery and deception, all pulled along by a brilliantly bright, determined heroine trapped in a male-dominated society that really cuts into the reader. She has such a lyrical, haunting way with words that felt hypnotic and made me so intensely jealous, if I’m honest. She pulls in elements of weird fantasy into a windswept period world, creating a sense of unease and paranoia so tangible it practically drips from every page.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness 

Yup. A Patrick Ness book came out, so OBVIOUSLY it’s on my list. It has to be. He’s managed to yet again create a perfect YA novel – tongue firmly in cheek and fully mocking standard tropes and stereotypes from a lot of mainstream Young Adult lit. It’s all done with love though, and it also manages to tell a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story that beautifully looks at the loss of innocence, mental health and the power of friendships and family. Ness manages to blend contemporary drama with weird science fiction vibes seamlessly, shot through with wry humour and a bizarre, charming sense of warmth and sadness. It’s also so wonderfully Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

All Of The Above by James Dawson

James Dawson has had two books out this year, and All of The Above was the author’s first foray into contemporary, and it’s totally astounding. Filled with chaotic, messy and brilliantly real characters with flaws and so much love, it managed to utterly break my heart and completely sucked me in, by allowing its teen characters to be rude and sexually diverse, shunning labels and focussing on emotions. The dialogue is hilarious and cuttingly witty, and the friendships are achingly beautiful, filled with fury and passion. It’s a triumph of a YA novel that doesn’t talk down to or patronise its audience in the slightest.

Remix by Non Pratt 

Non’s second book is yet another testament to the fact that she might well have one of the best narrative voices in YA. She manages to make her characters speak exactly how me and my friends always used to (and still do, for that fact), and she tackles some important issues that affect teenagers on a regular basis with stark honesty and superbly hilarious heart. Not to mention, Remix is all about Festivals and Music, something that is very very close to my heart, and the book includes some brilliant nostalgia, band nods and musical feelings that made me squeal with delight.

Unbecoming by Jenny Downham 

Jenny Downham novels don’t come along very often, but when they do, they’re really something special. Unbecoming is a huge mix of diversity, emotion and themes that should feel clunky and forced, but it simply flows and sings flawlessly. It’s a powerfully important book that touches on family and mental illness, as well as examining sexuality and race, all with respect and intelligence. It’s got so much heart and so much warmth to it.

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle 

Easily one of the most original, haunting, captivating and twistingly brilliant YA novels this year, The Accident Season is an absolute powerhouse of a debut novel, one that uses language like wind and magic, to create an unsettling dreamlike atmosphere that sucks you in totally and completely. It’s filled with diverse, whirring characters (Bea will always hold a special place in my heart), and a dark, creeping mystery that has one foot in Fantasy and one in Contemporary Drama. It’s simply outstanding writing.

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RIGHT! That’s your lot! This was one of the hardest Top 10 lists I’ve ever pulled together, because honestly YA publishing has been so unbelievably on fire this year! From debuts like The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury and Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, to the latest instalments in some of my favourite series, like Lockwood & Co’s The Hollow Boy, or the final in Will Hill’s outstanding Department 19 horror series –  I can only hope that 2016 builds on this year and delivers even more. Although I have NO IDEA when I’ll get them all read!

Thanks for Reading, and be wonderful to each other.

D for Darran/Dinosaur/Decepticon

 

Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton

Yet another book that goes to show that UKYA is the champion when it comes to inclusion and diversity, Unspeakable is a brilliant little character driven thriller with some excellent stand out twists and a gripping plot.

Megan is mute. She hasn’t spoken a single word aloud in months. Not since her best friend went away. It’s a hard way to make it through school and life, but it has to be this way. Megan has secrets, and if she doesn’t talk, no-one will ever know what those secrets are. When the beautiful, exuberant Jasmine starts school, Megan fully expects her to be yet another of the stupid morons in her class who tease her relentlessly, but she’s wrong – Jasmine finds the silent Megan fascinating and becomes determined to become her best friend. After all, Jasmine talks enough for the two of them. Abby soon finds herself becoming infatuated with Jasmine, and she finds herself longing to speak out loud again. But what if the things she’s tried so hard to hide come out with the words she longs to say?

Unspeakable is a tight, twisting and slow burning mystery, with an incredibly sweet, tortured narrator in the silent Megan. She’s wonderfully complex, bubbling with emotions and guilt, all expressed through her thoughts and actions. By taking away her dialogue, Abbie has a brilliant opportunity to really look at what makes her tick as a character. Her fierce loyalty and stoic determination are wonderfully written, although her behaviour can also be so stubborn it becomes annoying – not in a bad way, it’s the sign of a rounded character. Jasmine is bubbly and an excellent chatty and passionate counter to Megan’s quiet contemplation, and her vibrant family life also helps to make her completely stand opposite of Megan, making their relationship feel so chaotic and exciting. Megan and Jasmine’s mothers are both great opposites from each other as well, one dour and struggling, the other passionate and vivid, and Luke is a complex character too, his emotions shifting and churning constantly.

It’s so rare to find a gay girl couple in fiction, even YA. Even less so for the girls to be the main characters, and it makes such a huge impact, but at the same time of course, reads just like any straight relationship would! It shifts the dynamic of Unspeakable, having the plot be so beautifully driven by relationships between women – not just Megan and Jasmine, but also between Megan and her Mother, and her absent best friend Hana. The emotional weight of the story is what really gives it the force and momentum that pushes it forward from mundane every day to twisting, unexpected shifts. There’s a darkness that lurks underneath each page, no matter how bright the scenes might be, and that darkness starts to ooze through with more and more urgency as the story reaches its conclusion. It’s a fun read, with great, rounded characters and a sweet romantic subplot. And that isn’t something you’ll hear me say often.

Thanks for reading, always.

D

All of The Above by Juno Dawson

Juno is probably one of the most criminally underrated authors in the country. Despite her brilliant, often tongue in cheek, and often downright terrifying horror novels (Say Her Name, Under My Skin), not to mention her brilliantly important non-fiction work of gender and sexuality (How To Be a Boy, This Book Is Gay), I never quite feel she gets the praise she deserves for the huge amount of work she does. Well, I’m going to try! All Of The Above is her latest YA novel, and unlike her previous offerings, this one is strictly contemporary – no witches, no spirits and no murderous tattoos. It’s also probably her best novel to date. Here’s why…

Toria is the new girl in the sleepy, dilapidated seaside town of Brompton-on-Sea, and being the new girl in a small town is a big deal. She’s concerned by all the same things that bother most new teenagers at a new school – making friends, passing A-Levels and getting to finally leave home. When she meets the bright, pixie-ish Daisy, the outspoken and chaotic Polly and their gang of misfits and freaks, she finds a group of fun, vibrant friends that make her online contacts overseas drop straight off her agenda. Toria is fascinated by the explosively chaotic Polly, and the two girls soon become best friends. Toria even meets a boy at one of the gang’s late night meetings at the seafront’s Crazy Golf Course – Nico is the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen, and there’s some serious biology at work driving the two of them together. It might not be love, but it’s inescapable and it’s the most grown up Toria’s ever felt in a relationship. Everything seems perfect, the Summer days stretching out forever, laughing on the beach with cheap wine fuelling them – this is everything TV has told Toria that teenage life with best friends should be like! But she’d be naïve to think that this is all there is to life, and slotting into a complex friendship group is never straightforward… Especially one as complicated as this one.

The full cover creates the tone of the book PERFECTLY.

Why is All Of The Above Juno’s best novel to date? Because of all the reasons – that’s why. These are her most wonderfully messy and complex characters yet, and I love each one in very different ways, which I’m going to attempt to sum up in words now. Toria, our narrator, is a confused but determined main character, filled with a brilliant mix of bubbling emotions are feelings, and her worldview is forever shifting as she grows throughout the story. I love her fierce loyalty to her friends, as well as her vulnerability when it comes to being desperate for Polly to like her – friend crushes are a real thing and desperately wanting someone to be your friend is awful. Polly is something else entirely, a pure force of nature that often contradicts herself, but who never stops or looks back. She stands larger than life in Toria’s eyes, but gradually her layers are unraveled to reveal a diverse, eclectic and above all scared young woman. Her protectiveness over her friends is absolutely beautiful, and her gut instinct way of life balances Toria’s anxious overthinking superbly. But that’s not the end of it! ALL of this book’s characters are brilliant, and Daisy and Beasley are both wonderful – I love Daisy with all my heart, her gentle, peaceful and bright outlook fill the story with light and a gentle Summerness that helps tone down Polly’s whirlwind personality. Beasley is effortlessly sweet and flawed, but full of passion and love, and I found myself connecting with his desperate need for attention really well. Everyone is so distinctive and well written that they play across the page together so vividly that it’s impossible to not want to be part of their group.

I asked Juno to sign a special page in the book instead of the title page. Heartbroken.

As with Dawson’s previous books, her work as a teacher clearly shines through in her dialogue, which is downright hilarious, and effortlessly realistic and on point – she writes in the throwaway, snappy style that teenagers talk, complete with excessive swearing and pop-culture references. What makes All Of The Above stand so triumphantly above the crowd though is Juno’s dedication to diversity. She’s always been a champion of representation, but this new book really effortlessly pulls in some of the aspects of everyday human beings that are still so worryingly lacking in everyday fiction. It examines sexuality in an honest and open way, shunning simplistic stereotypes and instead looking at real, genuine people and their complex (and often messy) emotions and feelings, and it touches upon mental health in a subtle, heartbreaking way. Self-harm and eating disorders are touched upon throughout the story, and are thankfully un-romanticised and quite painfully honest and blunt.

Ultimately, what I think Juno has achieved with All Of The Above is a rare accurate glimpse into the painful, beautiful and messily confusing experience of growing up and finding out who you are. And by that I mean that the characters have about as much idea at the end as they did to start with – it understands that there is no universal teenage experience, and it isn’t afraid to look at the darkness that comes in adolescence (one that most grownups would like to pass off as “a phase”). But it also isn’t afraid to look at vibrant joy and love and friendship that comes with the intensity of being a teenager. The whole book filled me with hope and melancholy, and it’s one of the most powerful and adorable books to come out of the UKYA scene.

Thanks for Reading,

D

P.S. – You can buy All of The Above HERE

P.P.S. – You can follow Juno Dawson on Twitter HERE

P.P.P.S – Obviously, the book does cover some darker themes, and as such contains triggers for self harm and eating disorders.

Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

If you’re not familiar with Jenny Downham, you really should be. Her bestselling debut, Before I Die was an amazingly powerful examination of mortality and life that was taken to the big screen with Dakota Fanning under the name Now Is Good. Her second novel is the electrifyingly dark You Against Me, which deservedly won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Her latest novel, Unbecoming, is out in September, and blows her previous brilliant pieces of writing clean out of the water.

Don’t get me started in how gorgeous this is.

Katie’s life is complicated. Her mother is piling pressure on her to succeed in her exams, and her friends have abandoned her completely after she kissed Esme, her best friend. She’s alone in the world, her Dad with his new family, her Mum at work all the time, and her brother Chris at his special needs school most days – Katie has no control over her life, and nothing she wants to do even if she did. But when Mary turns up, life suddenly becomes much more interesting – because Mary is Katie’s grandmother, a grandmother she never really knew she had. Mary is in the early stages of dementia, and after her partner Jack dies, she’s left alone and confused with nowhere to go. Her daughter had hoped never to see her again, but Mary has no-one to turn to, and her memories are fading with each day. Katie is determined to look after her ailing grandmother, and to repair the yawning gulf that separates her elderly relative from her mother, but some memories unlock secrets, and some secrets can do more damage. Katie needs to piece together the truth from a stubborn, uncommunicative mother and the rapidly vanishing memories of Mary to try and work out the strange, omnipresent darkness in her family’s past.

Unbecoming shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t. In theory, it’s trying to do too much at once, cover too many themes. What it should be is chaotic and meandering. What it actually is, is tight and sprawling and beautifully, perfectly crafted – like a strange tangle of coloured wools that look so dissimilar, but have been woven together which such skill and talent to create something staggeringly breathtaking.

Move over, John Green.

Katie, the main character of the novel, is a superbly written young girl, full of fire and drive, as well as open uncertainty and anxiety. She’s trapped in a world she can’t escape, but she’s starting to scratch the surfaces of what her life could be, looking at the memories of Mary and trying to escape the control of her mother. But in amongst all her burning passion for a wider world, she’s filled with guilt and a strong need to do right by her exhausted but overbearing mother –  and this mix makes her a sweet, caring and immediately engaging protagonist. Mary is absolutely heartbreaking, the parts of the book from her point of view are bittersweet and filled with pure, unrestrained emotion. The way time meanders and snaps back and forth for her is never confusing to read, but her confusion is palpable in every line, and her muddled memories are all at once heartwarmingly bright and innocent, and tinged with an edge of sadness that meant I had a lump in my throat pretty much at all times. Her carefree attitude combined with her constant need to do the right thing makes her a flickering and unique character full of passion and fire. Caroline (Katie’s mother and Mary’s daughter) is also a superb contrast of emotions and personalities, so fearful of the world and of what it could do to her children, but so full of resentment and passionate rage towards her mother. All of Jenny’s characters are brilliantly, faithfully portrayed on the page, and she never lets them be flawless heroes or two dimensional villains – Chris is emotionally articulate and loved, and Simona is firey, strident and stubborn.

So dark, so strong.

It’s not just Jenny’s characters that shine, though – her writing style is totally flawless, lyrical and philosophical, drifting across the page like sweet incense. Unbecoming reads like a Beautiful South song, messy and heartfelt and so close to home that it sees all the beauty in the mundane and everyday. Even the horribly painful moments have a sheen to them because her writing style is so fluid and gorgeous – every word weighs with purpose and emotion, and she never wastes a single one. It’s a dozen glorious threads and every single one of them sings and vibrates in harmony to create a bigger story. There’s plot twists and darkness that’s handled with intelligence and sensitivity, as well as staggering passion for life that made my heart balloon in my chest, as well as bringing me to tears on multiple occasions. Jenny handles dementia and depression and mental health achingly well, and her look at the development of Katie’s sexuality is subtle, tasteful and expertly woven into the larger plot. Mary’s dementia is so well handled, actually, that it couldn’t help but break my heart over and over again.

Unbecoming is a powerfully important YA novel, covering three generations of women, each with secrets and vibrancy that leap and skip about the pages, examining so many vital themes of sexuality and mental health. It’s a true triumph of writing, and Jenny Downham may well be one the all time greats. This is a classic in the making.

Thanks for reading, ya’ll.

D

P.S. You can pre-order Unbecoming HERE – out in September.

As always, thanks to Phil Earle for the proof. He’s never given me a bad book yet.

Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

Night Owls was a sweet little proof that had languished on my tbr pile for a few weeks until the lovely HannahLoveBook from my YA Book Club started raving about it, and demanded that I read it immediately. So aggressive and tenacious was her insistence that I moved it straight up to my next book to read. At first, I was skeptical, as the romance began to creep into the story pretty quickly, but the writing style soon swept me up in the story, even if it wasn’t my kind of plot.

Beatrix is an aspiring artist – but not in the way you’d expect. Unlike many teenage artists, her interest isn’t in expressing her darkest, angst ridden emotions, but in her love of anatomical drawing. She loves nothing better than to sketch black and white, highly accurate drawings of dissections and organs. In an attempt to win a scholarship to a medical school, she’s trying to land the holy grail of anatomical drawing – a real, genuine cadaver from the local training hospital in downtown San Francisco. Her mother is dead against it, so Beatrix has to sneak to the hospital while her mother works nights, and it’s during one of these late night bus rides (known as the Owl service) that she meets the enigmatic Jack. He’s witty, charming and roguishly gorgeous in a way that really annoys the normally detached and emotionless Beatrix, and he may also be the Golden Apple artist, one of San Francisco’s most notoriously bold and evasive graffiti artists, who sprays single enigmatic words in huge, golden letters in hugely public locations. But there’s more to Jack than just his art – there’s reasoning behind his strange calling and a darkness that lurks underneath his easy smile and flawless charm, and Beatrix is determined to solve the mystery. She might even start to learn some things about herself along the way…

Like I said earlier, a lovely, heartfelt story of first love between two teenagers is definitely not the sort of thing I would normally pick up, but there’s a lot more to Night Owls than you can get from a glance. Beatrix is a wonderful change of pace to most YA leading ladies, and I’m a fan of the way she’s written as the sensible, methodical, logical one, as so many girls in this genre are seen as the “emotional and rash” character – although as the plot advances, Beatrix character arc does develop to an emotional blossoming, leading to some pretty reckless decisions, but all done with beautiful intentions. I’m also glad that Jenn felt comfortable writing her sexuality and her physical urges in such an open and acceptable way – again, it’s rare in YA for a teenage girl to have those kind of thoughts, feelings and urges, and it was refreshing to read someone so well rounded. I found Jack a little harder to get on with, but I think it might be because he’s seen exclusively from Beatrix’s perspective, and in her eyes he’s this impossibly beautiful, tragically wounded young man, and while I couldn’t really enjoy him as a character as much, I suppose he is being viewed through the eyes of a young woman very much in love. The supporting characters were fun, and I’d like to know more about Jillian and Heath in particular.

I like how the proof jackets had random words sprayed by Jack in the story.

The plot is pretty brilliantly paced, using short, punchy chapters and great drops and twists at the end of each to create a really driven and energetic feel to the story. I would often read “Just One More Chapter” until the early hours of the morning, because Jenn’s writing style is so effortless and beautiful. She balances perfectly between gorgeous passages of description and fun, sweet dialogue that really brings the characters together emotionally, and she has a wonderful attention to detail that makes the city really come alive and feel vibrant and full of love. Night Owls also tackles mental illness is a very sensitive way, and while I’d always like to read more about that subject, since it wasn’t the main focus of the story, the way it’s touched upon is honest and genuine. Schizophrenia is a complex illness, and at no point is it simplified or dismissed easily, and it’s never mistaken for multiple personalities – a lazy writing tool that I really hate. Jenn really understands the illness, and she’s willing to show how painful and devastating it can be.

The US Version and Title of the book.

Night Owls is a beautiful, achingly well written short novel that makes for excellent sunshine reading, especially for fans of Rainbow Rowell, John Green or David Levithan. In the US, the title is The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, and I sort of like that one more, but Night Owls fits the nighttime setting of the plot really well.

Thanks for reading!

D

P.S. – Night Owls is due for publication on the 24th of September. You can pre-order HERE.

Another Day by David Levithan

For those of you who didn’t already know, David Levithan’s Every Day is one of my favourite books. It’s a truly original and unique YA story that tells the story of the character A, who wakes up every single morning in someone else’s body, spending the day in their world, before hoping bodies again at midnight. The person A inhabits can be any ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and through that, Levithan uses the book to really explore the meaning of the self, who we really are when all our defining physical characteristics are stripped away. It’s a triumph of diversity, as well as a hauntingly bittersweet love story. When I heard he wanted to write a follow-up, I was ecstatic! When I heard it would be the same story as Every Day, but from the perspective of someone who experiences A from the outside, I was a bit more hesitant. Retreading old ground is risky business, but I liked the idea of viewing the story from a different perspective – and Another Day didn’t let down.

These Jackets are just BEAUTIFUL.

Rhiannon has been with Justin for so long that she’s able to look past his faults and flaws, past their arguments and the way he can lose his temper. She knows, somewhere deep down that he loves her, even if he very rarely shows it. Her friends think she could do better, but she knows otherwise – Justin is lost, confused and uncertain about everything in his changing world. Everything but her. One day, Justin seems different – more attentive and caring . He asks what she wants to do, and he listens to her in a way she’s never known him do before. They go to the beach and have a perfect, romantic day together, just talking and being themselves on the beach. It’s everything Rhiannon knows they can be. Except the next day, Justin is as surly and uncommunicative as ever, and she can’t figure out why. He only has vague memories of the beach, and he gets angry and defensive when she tries to bring it up. But then someone arrives to see Rhiannon – someone strangely familiar – and tells her that she never spent the day at the beach with Justin at all…

Levithan allows the reader to see a different side to his two main characters than we saw in Every Day here. Through A’s eyes, Rhiannon was this perfect, flawless girl who deserved nothing but a perfect, flawless love, but from inside Rhiannon’s head, we get a very different picture. We see her doubts and fears, and we see the things she thinks and feels with shame. We get to see her as a more complete person, full of shades of grey, than the black and white goddess she appears as in the first book. And, of course, through her eyes we get to see the naïve and almost childish nature of A, unable to comprehend that wishes and reality are two separate things. He becomes a more frustratingly idealistic character, and it’s clever how the roles aren’t just straight reversed from the first novel. I also liked that we got more insight into Justin from Rhiannon’s perspective. In Every Day, through the snapshot life of A, we see an aggressive bully who doesn’t appreciate his girlfriend at all, not like A can – but again, Rhiannon’s point of view is all about muddy waters and shades of grey. Justin is in pain, he’s struggling with life, and he doesn’t know how to ask for help, so he lashes out instead. There are moments of genuine tenderness from him in Another Day that really flesh out his character and make Rhiannon’s feelings for him more understandable.

It’s worth reading book one first, I think.

Another Day is pretty philosophical, and while I understand it wants to look at ideas of identity and the importance of appearances, I felt like some of Rhiannon’s thoughts and feelings were a little bit… I dunno, overly thoughtful? But they’re fascinating none the less, and it allows the author the chance to ask some pretty big questions – like is love really all there is? Rhiannon struggles with her feelings towards A, who she loves unconditionally, with the feelings she has towards the different bodies A inhabits each day. She thinks of herself as not being a shallow person, but she can’t always love A in the same way when A is a girl, or a boy, or simply not someone she finds attractive. It looks at different kinds of love, both romantic and platonic, and it does it in a bold, stark and intelligent way, never removing the fact that what is on the outside really does matter – maybe not as much as what’s inside, but it still does.

Levithan’s writing is up to its usual standard, full of clever metaphors and sharp, intelligent turns of phrase, all underpinned with heart aching and down to Earth dialogue that’s full of breathless first love, lust and all kinds of other emotions. It has the same sense of whirring energy that his other works do, the kind of youthful energy that underpins great YA, but Another Day is laced with a melancholy, especially if you’ve read Every Day. A is hopeful and full of determination the first book, but this one is much more full of doubts and uncertainties, and it paints a great counterpoint to most upbeat, happy YA fiction.

All in all, Another Day is a wonderful book that made me cry, laugh and then cry again, but it didn’t sweep me away in the same way as Every Day. I’d recommend reading Every Day first, I think you’ll get a lot more out of this book if you’re already familiar with the story.

Thanks for Reading!

D