Review – Flight of a Starling

Title: Flight of a Starling 
Author: Lisa Heathfield
Published by: Egmont
Publication date: 29th June 2017
Pages: 320, paperback
Genre: young adult, contemporary

Rita and Lo, sisters and best friends, have spent their lives on the wing – flying through the air in their trapeze act, never staying in one place for long. Behind the greasepaint and the glitter, they know that the true magic is the family they travel with.

Until Lo meets a boy. Suddenly, she wants nothing more than to stay still. And as secrets start to tear apart the close-knit circus community, how far will Lo go to keep her feet on the ground?

***

I was so excited for this newest book from Lisa Heathfield – I have absolutely adored both her previous books, and Flight of a Starling looked so intriguing (who doesn’t love a circus book?). And I was right: I did love it.

Lisa’s writing is so magical. I often had to pause to reread a line because it was so powerful. I thought her writing was particularly beautiful in the description of Lo and Dean’s relationship. Lo’s very young, so the intensity of their romance is perhaps a tad unrealistic, but I honestly did not mind at all, as it was described in such a stunning way.

Review – Troublemakers

Title: Troublemakers
Author: Catherine Barter
Published by: Andersen Press
Publication date: 1st June 2017
Pages: 384, paperback
Genre: young adult, contemporary, political

‘In three years I will be able to vote and I will still have less power than I did at the moment that I saw that email, which was such a tiny thing but look what happened.’

Fifteen-year-old Alena never really knew her political activist mother, who died when she was a baby. She has grown up with her older half-brother Danny and his boyfriend Nick in the east end of London. Now the area is threatened by a bomber who has been leaving explosive devices in supermarkets. It is only a matter of time before a bomb goes off.
Against this increasingly fearful backdrop, Alena seeks to discover more about her past, while Danny takes a job working for a controversial politician. As her family life implodes, and the threat to Londoners mounts, Alena starts getting into trouble. Then she does something truly rebellious.

A searing, heartbreaking coming-of-age tale for fans of Lisa Williamson, Jenny Downham and Sarah Crossan.

***

Troublemakers is one of those books I have been hearing about for a long time, and looked forward to reading. I eventually managed to read it a few weeks ago, and I absolutely adored it – the writing, the characters, the plot. This book is totally FAB.

I thought that Alena was really well characterised – I was her age not too long ago, and I thought she was written in such a realistic way. She had just the right amount of angsty-teenager and annoying-younger-sister to make her seem like a real fifteen-year-old, but not so much that she became annoying. This was so lovely to read, as I think that often teenagers are portrayed as a little too mature in YA.

A Very Big June Book Haul

This month was a bit crazy in terms of books – I bought more than I usually do, and I was given a whole lot. So I have this beautiful pile of new books, some of which I have already read over the course of June!

First of all, my sister Jess and I were sent two books by our friend Grace (because she’s fab, OK?) which were The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín and The Loneliest Girl In The Universe by Lauren James. The Call is about a fantasy world where all teenagers are ‘Called’ at some point before they reach adulthood; when this happens, they are sent into the Grey Land, before returning to the normal world three minutes later. Most die, and in this story the main characters are fighting to protect themselves from both this fantastical enemy, and ones within their own school (I read this book this month and was absolutely hooked). The Loneliest Girl In The Universe is the story of a boy and a girl, alone on separate spaceships travelling to a new planet; the two communicate via email, and slowly fall in love. This sounds adorable, and I love Lauren James’ writing, so I am so excited to read this!

As some of you know, I did a week working at Gallic Books in London, and they were super lovely and gave me a number of their titles to read, such as Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner, which is about a young bookseller who tries to solve the mystery of a woman who dropped dead on the Eiffel Tower; Hector and the Search For Happiness by Francois Lelord, the story of a psychiatrist who takes a trip around the world to discover true happiness. I was also given an ARC of Green Lion by Henrietta Rose-Innes, which is a story set in Cape Town about a man and the last black-maned lioness in the world. Next I was given a copy of The Suicide Shop by Jean Teulé; in this story, set in the future, many people have lost the will to live, and have turned to The Suicide Shop as the answer to their troubles (I think this sounds particularly interesting). The final two books I read during my time at Gallic Books: The Portrait by Antoine Laurain and The Threat Level Remains Severe by Rowena MacDonald, both of which I enjoyed immensely.

In June I Read | 2017

July has come, and this month I managed to read 10 lovely books. I’ve also changed the format of my reading wrap-up, because I found my old reading wrap up too formulaic, and I never actually got around to talking about most of the books I read. So do let me know what you think (and your thoughts on any of these books if you have read them, of course)!

I started the month by reading a few books which were kindly sent to me for review: Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (which was the perfect end to a lovely series), followed by Tree Magic by Harriet Springbett (this was a super heartwarming book, and I’ve spoken to Harriet quite a bit on  Twitter and she’s fab). I also read The Devil’s Poetry by Louise Cole, and took part in the book’s blog tour, which was lots of fun!My wonderful friend Grace (who tweets here and blogs here) sent Jess and I a couple of books, one of which was The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín. I found this to be such a gripping book, and I thought the story was really interesting and original (and apparently there is a sequel, which I cannot wait to read as well).