Spooky reads for this Halloween

As today is Halloween, I thought I’d make a post of 5 books I’ve read that, in my opinion, are perfect for getting you in the Halloween mood. If you’re too old for trick-or-treating, partying isn’t your scene, and you just can’t handle horror films, I’d recommend sitting down with one of these reads and a generous amount of treats this evening instead.

The books I’ve chosen to list range from downright-terrifying to just mildly-spooky, and to help you get an idea of exactly how scary each novel is, I have included a spooky rating out of five (disclaimer: this rating does not reflect how good the book is, just how scary I personally found it).

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Review – You Against Me

Warning: this book/review contains reference to rape, sexual assault and assault that some may find distressing.

Title: You Against Me
Author: Jenny Downham
Published by: David Fickling Books
Publication date: 2nd December 2010
Pages: 413, hardcover
Genres: Young Adult

‘If someone hurts your sister and you’re any kind of man, you seek revenge, right?

If your brother’s accused of a terrible crime but says he didn’t do it, you defend him, don’t you?’

When Mikey’s sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart.

When Ellie’s brother is charged with the offence, her world begins to unravel.

When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide.

This is a brave and unflinching novel from the bestselling author of Before I Die. It’s a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it’s a book about love.

***

I’m standing in Waterstones, eyeing up the beautiful rows of teen fiction novels (I’m sure you can all relate). And yes (regrettably) I am the kind of person who will pick up a book if it has a nice cover. So I see a book that has the black-and-red-and-hearts aesthetic going on, think oh that’s cute, and pick it up. Then, I see that it was written by Jenny Downham, author of Before I Die, and that’s another tick in the box for me, because I really enjoyed that book when I read it a few years ago. Reading the blurb, I deliberated about buying it: it looked like a story that had some underlying important themes, but was mainly a cute romance. Staring down into my pityingly empty purse (cleaned out by other trips to Waterstones), I made my decision.

On my way home, with a copy of You Against Me tucked away in my bag, I thought to myself: I’m looking forward to reading this – it looks like a cute, relatively relaxing read.

I was wrong.

YA Shot 2016

This weekend, I went to YA Shot for the first time. Not as an author, or as a blogger, but as a regular book lover who wanted to spend the day celebrating YA.

Unfortunately and inevitably, there were clashes. Heartbreaking clashes. Staring-at-the-screen-for-thirty-minutes-because-I-just-can’t-decide clashes. But whilst I can’t tell you about every single event there was, I do still have a day’s worth of fun and fangirling to share, along with advice I got from different authors and bloggers (which I’ve underlined to show clearly).

Review – What’s A Girl Gotta Do?

Title: What’s A Girl Gotta Do?
Author: Holly Bourne
Published by: Usborne Publishing
Publication date: 1^st August 2016
Pages: 432
Genres: Young Adult

HOW TO START A FEMINIST REVOLUTION:

1. Call out anything that is unfair on one gender
2. Don’t call out the same thing twice (so you can sleep and breathe)
3. Always try to keep it funny
4. Don’t let anything slide. Even when you start to break…

Lottie’s determined to change the world with her #Vagilante vlog. Shame the trolls have other ideas…

* * *

This is the third and final book in Holly Bourne’s Spinster Club trilogy. Anytime I’m asked to name my favourite YA novel, the first one I always say is Holly’s first novel Am I Normal Yet?, and knowing how perfectly she wrote about mental health in this book, I had high expectations as she tackled another topical issue with What’s A Girl Gotta Do?

Hello bookworms,

Just a quick note to introduce myself: my name’s Bex – I’ve been wanting to start a book blog for months now, and finally found the time to do it! I’m a teenager in love with Young Adult literature, and two of my favourite authors are Holly Bourne and Cassandra Clare.

I’m planning on writing book reviews, and I also want to blog about other things concerning YA, like the diverse topics covered in novels, and similarities between different books.

I’m aiming to post regularly, and I can’t wait to get involved in the book blogging community!