Review: How To Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

As you may (or may not) know, I'm part of the Aussie YA Alliance with fellow Aussie book bloggers Adele and Allie. A few weeks ago we featured Justine Larbalestier's How To Ditch Your Fairy.

As part of the feature which included an interview with Justine, we all read the book and discussed it together, in an exciting and interesting 'reviewchat' in which we discussed and reviewed and said all sorts of fun things...

Adele: HTDYF is a departure for JL from her normal genre. Were either of you familiar with her other works?
Allie: No, this is my first novel by JL.
Adele: Mine too
Lisa: Familiar in that I've heard of them...haven't read them though.
Adele: So what did you expect the book to be like prior to reading?
Lisa: I figured there would actually be fairies, with personalities.
Adele: Yeah, I was expecting there to be clearly delineated fairy characters also.
Allie: I thought that it would be a cute fairies story. :)
Lisa: It was almost as though they were all crazy and it was all in their heads because none of the other places had fairies.
Allie: Everyone was a little brainwashed.
Allie: And arrogant...
Lisa: Well Charlie was at least
Adele: I loved it when Steffi told her that they were all self-obsessed and narrow minded. She needed to hear that
Lisa: Steffi was too good for her haha
Allie: She did need to hear it. Maybe a little more though, it took a while for it get through
Adele: I thought he was too good for her too. I didn't really see why he would be interested in her. The kissing scenes were a little off putting too, especially when he's in "zombie mode" but I guess that was the intention
Lisa: She was very self obsessed
Allie: Steffi was my favourite, but I didn't see why he didn't run from that crazy town. XD
Adele: Do you think the intention was to have someone have that kind of sports obsession one-track mind in all areas of her life? Let's face it we all know Aussie sports crazed individuals who would see their footy team like Charlie saw her home city of New Avalon....

Well, that's a taste. To read the rest of the reviewchat click here

For the record, I give How To Ditch Your Fairy 3/5 stars, it was fun but I had some issues with it.

In My Mailbox (IV)

If I keep doing these In My Mailboxes I'm going to have to learn my Roman Numerals past 15 haha, or maybe I'll just switch to numbers.

Now In My Mailbox (which is hosted by The Story Siren) is a weekly feature in which you get to find out what books I received last week :)

This week there were lots of series(es) lol but first there was the beautiful A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell which should be put on everyone's go-out-and-read lists because it's wonderful, I'll elaborate more in my review.

Then I got the first two books in The Elite Series by Jennifer Banash (who I interviewed a little while ago) which are The Elite and In Too Deep. They look like fun.

And lastly, I got the entire Unwritten Books by James Bow. They go The Unwritten Girl, Fathom Five, then The Young City. I'm looking forward to reading these as well! I really like the cover of Fathom Five.

Review: Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

I'd been wanting to read Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender for a while, there was something about the title and the creepy cover image that really made me want to find out what the story would be like.

Bad Girls Don't Die is about pink-haired Alexis, a social outcast living with her dysfunctional family in an big old house full of secrets. Her life gets turned upside down when all these bizarre things start happening - the air conditioner breaks and turns the whole house freezing cold, someone tampers with the brakes on her Dad's car - and Alexis doesn't know if she's going crazy or if her doll-crazed younger sister is actually responsible.

'I stared at the dolls, which were lined up on the built-in shelves like a sinister chorus.'

Alexis was a very independent character, she has few friends at school and doesn't fit in. Throughout the novel she changes and challenges her preconceptions about people and for all those who enjoy a bit of romance, she gets a love-interest in blond-haired, sparkly eyed Carter.

One big thing that I was wondering about this book was whether it would actually be creepy/scary or would it fall short of actually creating a chilling atmosphere. In answer to my own question, it turned out that it actually had a pretty good mix. There were definitely a few moments when Alexis' younger sister was possessed that were very convincing and genuinely creepy but there were plenty of light-hearted moments to keep the balance too :)

"Whatever I felt in there," Megan said, "it's totally evil. Like bad evil, Alexis."

There were plenty of twists and turns in the plot that kept me guessing and the ending worked well. I was really drawn into the book and pretty much read the whole thing in one sitting. It had all the elements you'd expect form a young adult novel, there was some romance, and I felt that Alexis' actions and motivations in the impossible situation of having your a possessed sister seemed believable. Well worth a read if you're looking for something a bit different then you're average teen book.

Bad Girls Don't Die is the debut young adult book of Katie Alender (katiealender.com). I give it 4/5 Stars :) (It's out on April 21)

First Lines Game!

I thought I'd make a bit of a game as something fun for everyone :) So I scooped out a pile of books from my bookshelf and wrote out the first lines. Your task is to try and figure out what book the first line is from! (The answers are revealed in the comments)

None of them are too obscure, don't worry! It's actually quite interesting how the first line can set the tone for the entire book...

First Lines Game!

1. Once there were four children whose name's were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.
2. Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.
3. If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
4. Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening Hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.
5. I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.
6. The reason Weetzie Bat hated high school was because no one understood.
7. Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
8. Once upon a time there was a pair of pants.
9. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.
10. Dad had Uncle Eddie around so naturally they had to come and nose around and see what I was up to.
11. It's only half an hour since someone - Robyn, I think - said we should write everything down, and it's only twenty-nine minutes since I got chosen, and for those twenty-nine minutes I've had everyone crowded around me gazing at the blank page and yelling ideas and advice.
12. In life, Elizabeth Adora Holland was known not only for her loveliness but also for her moral character, so it was fair to assume in the afterlife she would occupy a lofty seat with an especially good view.
13. This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.
14. Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.
15. I felt her fear before I heard her screams.
    

Have a go! The book titles are in the first comment in the comments section, have a look then tell me how you did :)

Waiting On Wednesday, March 11

Waiting on Wednesday - Waiting For You. Too perfect! :) I really want to read Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti. Read a synposis...

From amazon:
At the beginning of her sophomore year, Marisa is ready for a fresh start and, more importantly, a boyfriend. So when the handsome and popular Derek asks her out, Marisa thinks her long wait for happiness is over. But several bumps in the road—including her parents’ unexpected separation, a fight with her best friend, and a shocking disappointment in her relationship with Derek—test Marisa’s ability to maintain her new outlook. Only the anonymous DJ, whose underground podcasts have the school’s ear, seems to understand what Marisa is going through. But she has no idea who he is—or does she? In this third romantic novel from Susane Colasanti, Marisa learns how to “be in the Now” and realizes that the love she’s been waiting for has been right in front of her all along.

Sounds like a good read :) Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti is out in mid-May!