Showing posts with label puffin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label puffin. Show all posts

Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Dandelion Clocks

Dandelion Clocks by Rebecca Westcott
Paperback, 272 pages

Published 6th March 2014 by Puffin UK

Shelves: 
arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, death, medical-conditions, read-in-2014, realistic-fiction, to-read, young-adult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Dandelion Clocks by Rebecca Westcott Smith will be loved by fans of Jacqueline Wilson, Cathy Cassidy or Annabel Pitcher. Liv takes us on a journey through her life from "Thirteen Weeks Before" to "Six Months After". We discover Liv's passion for photography, her brother's obsession with sticking to the rules, the stupidity of Moronic Louise at school, and how the family copes as Mum's terminal illness takes hold...Guided by Mum's own childhood diaries, Liv finds a new way to live. This book is real, funny, utterly touching and absolutely heartwarming. Despite the sadness at the heart of the story, every reader will laugh and keep on turning the pages, charmed by Liv and her mum. 


When I was asked whether or not I would like to review Dandelion Clocks, I jumped at the chance. There seems to be a flood of recent YA books tackling the tough subject that is cancer, and this book is another of those. Thankfully, I think that Dandelion Clocks does add something new to this market, and it's something that's definitely worth checking out, especially for those on the 'younger' side of the young adult genre.

Dandelion Clocks is a book that is said to appeal to fans of authors such as Jacqueline Wilson, Cathy Cassidy or Annabel Pitcher. With this suggestion, you'd assume that it's a book written specifically for middle grade children, and I can easily say that yes it is, but it I would certainly not hesitate to recommend this book to any older teen or even to any adult. I was very pleasantly surprised with the complexity that this book had, the author has proven to have such a wonderful ability of reaching across to different age groups. Though the content matter is treated so carefully that it's accessible, older readers should also appreciate many of the hidden complexities, including the relationships, in this book.

As aforementioned, this is a book that includes many more issues than the main one of cancer. Our very realistic and likeable protagonist, Liv, deals with multiple issues in this book and I commend Westcott for managing to handle them all so well, with a great sense of care and authenticity.  In this novel, another focus is on Liv's brother who has Asperger's Syndrome - this was also fascinating to read about because it taught me about the effect of Asperger's on daily life and it was fantastic to see how Liv helped her brother to try understand some things that those with Aspergers find challenging - in fact, I'd say that this issue is probably rightly explored with the same amount of focus and poignancy as the cancer storyline.

What stood out to me most with this book is that it's a real coming of age story for Liv. I enjoyed seeing her subtly mature in accordance with the things around her. I liked seeing how she dealt with everyday issues, such as friendships at school. Most of all I found it interesting to see how her experience shaped her and had an effect on her and helped on the way to forming her identity and maturity. For her age, Liv seemed very mature for her age and that is another reason why I believe the older YA fans will like this book.

Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised by this Dandelion Clocks - I didn't expect to love it as much as I did (for age reasons). I would have never guessed that this was Westcott's debut novel because quite simply, it is written with such a lot of care and talent. If you like the sound of the blurb/synopsis of this book, don't hesitate in picking it up, whoever you are - I am positive that you'll enjoy it. Rebecca Westcott is definitely an author to watch, and I'll definitely pick up her next offering!

Saturday, 1 March 2014

Blog Tour Stop: Dandelion Clocks


This month marks the UK release date of the latest middle grade/young adult must have book, Dandelion Clocks by Rebecca Westcott. The book follows eleven year old Olivia as she starts growing up and alongside that, has to deal with her mum's terminal illness. Dandelion Clocks may be a bit of a tear jerker at points, but author Rebecca Westcott has provided me with something that's bound to cheer you up!
 Here is an extract of Rebecca's actual diary when she was around Olivia's age:

March 1987 (aged 12)

Dear Diary,

Today has been such a cool day. Had a flute lesson at school which meant that I didn’t have to do stupid science. Excellent! Especially as my science teacher hates me and is always telling me to be quiet. Had a library session in English so I just got to sit in the corner and read Blubber. Now I want to read all of Judy Blume’s books – they’re so cool!
There’s been some scary stuff in the news about kids getting kidnapped and pulled into cars so Mum has got me an attack alarm. It’s very orange. I’m really scared about setting it off cos I think it’s meant to burst your eardrums or something, so I’ve hidden it under all my books, right at the bottom of my school bag.
Mum gave me and Elizabeth some butterscotch Angel Delight for pudding. My favourite! The first thing I am going to do when I grow up is buy a packet and eat the whole lot ON MY OWN without sharing.
Off to watch Grange Hill now. Mum’s finally agreed that I’m allowed to watch it but she keeps coming into the living room to check that it’s suitable. I really, really like Zammo A LOT.


Thank you to both Rebecca and those at Puffin for providing me with this content.
Dandelion Clocks is available to purchase on 6th March. I hope you enjoy it! 

Tuesday, 23 July 2013

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1)

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1) by Rick Yancey
Paperback, 460 pages

Published 7th May 2013 by Puffin

Shelves:  
arc-or-review, books-i-own, dystopian, read-in-2013, series-or-companions, sci-fi, supernatural, to-read, too-much-hype, young-adult
My rating:  3.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:
The Passage meets The Hunger Games in a gripping new series from Carnegie-shortlisted Rick Yancey. After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave. On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, until Cassie meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope for rescuing her brother and even saving herself. Now she must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. Cassie Sullivan gets up.


The 5th Wave has undoubtedly been one of the most eagerly anticipated young adult books of 2013. There has been a lot of superb reviews for this book and it's not surprising, it is certainly sure to please a lot of fans of popular books such as The Hunger Games and Divergent. I have true belief that this will become one of the next successful series, as it seems to have everything that a young adult novel needs.

The first thing that I noted about this book when I picked it up was that it was science-fiction, a genre that has certainly surprised me in the past, it's a genre that I usually enjoy more than I expect. Thankfully, this book was still very realistic and the sci-fi element was at a very understandable level. Yancey clearly has a good idea about the science in his world, how each wave happened and what is coming next, but thankfully he doesn't overindulge in descriptions and technicalities and we learn about it all at a natural pace. Even if you're not particularly confident with this genre, this would probably be a good starting place.

A main element of this book is aliens, so I was very curious to see how they were portrayed. The aliens in this book are called the Others and they're so very different from your stereotypical bug-eyed green men - they aren't all that different from your average human, in fact some of them are human and they can be very difficult to detect. I fully admit that I didn't have a clue as to who could be trusted in this book - as soon as you start to connect with one character, something happens which could totally turn you the other way from them.

The narrators are the book are very well written. I particularly liked reading about the relationship between Cassie, her younger brother and her father. As individual characters, they all stood as firm unique people but their relationship was, for me, the real strength of the book, even when they were separated. I was also very intrigued by Evan, a boy that we're not sure that we can trust. I found one of our narrators, Ben Parish, to be a little more difficult to connect with and would hope to find out more from him in the next book(s). The characters are the  most important thing for me in any book and I was very pleased with the ones that Yancey conjured up for this series - they definitely have a lot of potential.

The reason why I didn't give this more stars is simply because I felt it was dragging out at points. I also find action scenes a bit tiring to keep up with and with the mixed narration, it was difficult to pick back up and remember who was narrating towards the end. Of course, as aforementioned, there were definitely a lot of positive aspects to the book and for the most part it was enjoyable. I'd definitely not hesitate to recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the YA genre and will most likely check out the next instalment in this series.

Thursday, 27 June 2013

From the Review Pile (57)

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.
The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or if you don't receive review books, any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

I know that a lot of you have a huge pile of books that you want to read/review, but it understandably takes a while to get around to reading them all - here you can give a book (or two!) some of the publicity that it deserves, even if you haven't read it yet!

-----------------------------------
This week, I'm going to showcase The Moon and More!

I have read a couple of Sarah Dessen's books in the past and I really enjoyed them. She has quite a large fan-base and I can understand why, what with the books that I've already read. This one looks like it will be a perfect read for this summer, so I will certainly pick it up soon.


The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
435 Pages
Published 4th June 2013 by Puffin

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Dusk


Dusk by Eve Edwards
Paperback, 400 pages

Expected publication 6th June 2013 by Penguin

Shelves:  
arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, cover-appeal, historical, read, read-in-2013, realistic-fiction, really-good, series-or-companions, ww1, young-adult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Dusk by Eve Edwards is a beautiful love story set against the brutal back drop of WWI.

A love worth fighting for.

When Helen, a young hard-working nurse, meets aristocratic artist Sebastian, she doesn't expect to even like him, let alone fall in love. But against the troubled backdrop of wartime London, an unlikely but intense romance blossoms. And even the bloody trenches of the Somme, where they are both posted, cannot diminish their feelings for each other.

But Helen is concealing a secret and when a terrible crime is committed there are devastating consequences for them both.

When lives are being lost, can true love survive?


Upon hearing about Dusk, I was really eager to read it. It's no secret that I'm a huge geek when it comes to World War One. I've been to the actual battlefields  (including the Somme) about seven times, so to read a book with this interesting subject, set in a location that is well known to me was a real treat. I can't think of any WW1 young adult fiction off the top of my head, so I was really looking forward to this! 

The first thing to mention is that although I am quite knowledgeable on the subject of the First World War, I allowed myself to relax with this book - I was definitely not being analytical with all of the facts, dates etc. The book doesn't feel all that heavy on the history, yet we still get to learn a lot about the circumstances of those who worked in during the war, especially our main characters, a medic named Helen and a soldier named Sebastian. Rather than giving long descriptions of things, the reader learns about the surroundings through the characters, it's simple to get a feeling for where we are and what's happening. Though it's a difficult task, Edwards has managed to create a very gritty atmosphere in this book - she has managed to put so many emotions on paper and allowed us a glimpse into the mind of someone at war.

It did take me a little while to really get into this book and to adjust to the historical aspect, but that's normal for me when reading historical books. There is a reasonable amount of moving backwards and forwards through time and switching between narratives, both of which I often struggle with, but it felt natural in this book and everything seemed to flow well. All of my worries concerning possible confusion were gone when I was quarter of the way into the  novel and the more I read, the more I sunk deeply into the setting of pre-war England and the development of World War One.

As aforementioned, our main characters are Helen and Sebastian. Helen is a somewhat reserved girl with a troubled past, who seems to come to life when she meets Sebastian,  an aristocratic and very charming artist living in London. It doesn't take all that long for both Helen and Sebastian to become accustomed to each other, soon we both get to see deeper layers of both of the characters as a romantic bond forms between them and they start to become less reserved and more open. Unfortunately, that's when the War begins and threatens not only their relationship, but their lives. Helen and Sebastian are both very likeable characters, who I found only to become more endearing as the book progressed. Helen appears to be a little shy, but it's very clear that she's also determined and can become quite fiery and passionate. Sebastian was simply, in one word, charming. 

So, as I hope you can tell, I really enjoyed this book and I'm definitely looking forward to the next instalment, Dawn. I do have to warn you that there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of this one, so it's definitely going to be difficult to wait to see what happens!  I'd really recommend this to anyone who wants to get a feel for the Great War, or who is just interested in historical fiction. I think this would be a great book for anyone who is studying this particular period of history at school, too. It's great to read about the people at home and the people behind the front lines, as well as those who are right at the front.

Thursday, 6 June 2013

From The Review Pile (54)


From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.
The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or if you don't receive review books, any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

I know that a lot of you have a huge pile of books that you want to read/review, but it understandably takes a while to get around to reading them all - here you can give a book (or two!) some of the publicity that it deserves, even if you haven't read it yet!

-----------------------------------
This week, I'm going to showcase The 5th Wave!

There has been so much hype surrounding this book, the first in the Fifth Wave series, so I feel like I'm really missing out having not read it yet! It definitely sounds different, and I'd like to see what I think of it. I really hope it lives up to all of the rave reviews that I've seen!

The 5th Wave
457 Pages

Published 7th May 2013 by Puffin

The Passage meets The Hunger Games in a gripping new series from Carnegie-shortlisted Rick Yancey. After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave. On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, until Cassie meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope for rescuing her brother and even saving herself. Now she must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. Cassie Sullivan gets up. 

Wednesday, 29 May 2013

The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Hardback, 368 pages

Published 10th Jan 2012 by Puffin Books

Shelves: adult-fiction, awful-cover, books-i-own, contemporary, medical-conditions, read, read-in-2013, realistic-fiction, title-appeal, young-adult
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.


The Fault in Our Stars is a book that was all over the media last year. Although I wouldn't particularly class myself as a 'fan' of John Green, I have enjoyed some books written by him and I did pre-order the book after hearing about it. I received the book as soon as it was released, yet it has still taken me this long to pick it up - 2013! Finally, I decided to see what all of the fuss was about...

I started the book with the thought that it was going to be the best thing ever, as I know so many people who have raved about it. Unfortunately, whenever I do this, most of the time I'm disappointed. I wasn't completely disappointed with this book, but I was disappointed in the sense that I must've missed something - some impact that this book has on others that it hasn't had on me. I did feel several things during reading, the most prominent emotion being sadness - yes, I did shed a few tears, but I also felt a sense of hope. On the subject of emotion, I did admire the way that Green put across each individual character, showing that each did have different thoughts, feelings and ways of dealing with cancer.

I find it hard to review 'cancer books' because understandably, it is a sensitive subject for a lot of people. I like reading these books because I'm curious, I'm interested, I'm an emotional person who wants to connect with the characters. There seem to be a lot of books like this one on bookshelves at the moment, and perhaps that is why this one didn't hit me as hard as it could have - I don't feel that Green really did anything spectacularly shocking or high-impact. The one 'twist' that Green did include wad still not all that unexpected, it was something that was in the back of my mind as a possibility all of the time - however, it shows that Green did well when I still shed a tear when it happened.

I didn't connect all that much with the characters at the beginning - they seemed standard and it took me a while to like them. I particularly had a fondness for Isaac, a teenage boy who also participated in group therapy with Hazel and Augustus.  I did like the characters the more I read though and I did really enjoy seeing their interactions together. Green did succeed in showing these individuals for who they are, rather than their illnesses. It felt somewhat precious to see them interact, play video games, worry about relationships, just be themselves and not let their illness bother them in that moment. 

Hazel and Augustus were the most important characters in this novel, as they meet at a support group and become very close friends. I liked Augustus very much - he was the typical atypical or 'quirky' love interest. I could understand their attraction to each other, it wasn't out of the blue and they obviously connected. It did take me a while to like both of these characters though, as often I just couldn't believe what they were saying. Green seems to be trying to be pretty 'deep' or philosophical in this book, but, for me, it didn't work out - the things that Augustus and Hazel talked about seemed too philosophical for sixteen year olds, sure they had probably been through a lot but it doesn't mean that they'd talk like they do in the book - some of the conversation felt a little forced. I do like Green's style of writing, his phrases, but sometimes it does seem a little too pretentious for YA characters. 

A lot of the deeper discussions that Hazel and Augustus had were about Hazel's favourite book, An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten. It was a good catalyst for conversation between the couple and they even ended up visiting Amsterdam, attempting to meet the author. I really enjoyed going with Hazel and Augustus on their trip and meeting the author. It was quite a different experience and felt slightly more apart from the rest of the story, I really felt that it stood out and not only was it an achievement for Hazel and Augustus, it was also one for me, the reader, as at that point I was sucked into the story and really started to enjoy it.

Overall, The Fault In Our Stars is a book that I did, for the most part enjoy and  I would recommend it to others. I do wish that the characters and structure were a little more unique from all of the other YA out there right now, but Green did do a decent job. I'm very pleased that this book has got more people reading and I will certainly try to read more of Green's work in the future.


Monday, 28 May 2012

Black Heart Blue


Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid
Paperback, 266 pages

Published May 10th 2012 by Puffin

My shelves: 
abuse, arc-or-review, books-i-own, death, drink-and-drugs, medical-conditions, mental-health, misery-lit, rape, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, to-be-reviewed, young-adult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:
Hephzibah: You've no idea what it's like having a freak for a sister.

Rebecca: Born first, prettier, Hephzi's always been the popular one.

The Father: When he was busy with his bottle we were usually safe. Usually.

The Mother: Her specialist subject was misery and lessons of painful silence ...

Hepzibah and Rebecca are twins. One beautiful, one disfigured. Trapped with their loveless parents, they dream of a normal life. But when one twin tragically dies, the other must find a way to escape. Because if she doesn't, she'll end up like her sister.

My thanks go to Puffin for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've actually waited a couple of days before reviewing this book and I think that I made the right decision to do that. Black Heart Blue is definitely a haunting book and I think that I appreciate it more now that I've had even more time to reflect on it. I think that this will be a book that lingers in my mind for quite a long time.


On the very first page of this story is a verse from Sylvia Plath's poem, Daddy. I absolutely adore Sylvia Plath, so when I read the verse, I was so excited that I was maybe going to read something that was so marvellously interlinked, but I was also scared that the story was going to be a disappointment - in my eyes, it's quite a big thing to try and follow on after a Plath verse! Thankfully, I think that using the poem was the right thing to do - Reid definitely did it justice with the story that followed.


Black Heart Blue follows the life of two twins - the well rounded and beautiful Hepzibah (Hepzhi) and her disfigured sister, Rebecca. We learn right from the start that Hepzhi has died and we discover exactly how and why as we progress through the book. I thought that the format of the book was really well done. Hepzhi narrates chapters 'before' her death so that we get a clear picture of what life was like for the twins. On the other hand, Rebecca narrates the time after Hepzhi's death and what it meant not just for her, but her family and the community around them. Writing this way meant that we learnt so much about both twins and they were so well developed. The twins had a very troubled past (and present) and we can see this in so many ways - their behaviour, their emotions and through other people's actions towards them. Everything that was explored felt so realistic and had a lot of depth, despite the shortness of the book. We were introduced to several characters including the granny of the twins, Hephzi's boyfriend, her friends, members in the community such as a church assistant and people who Rebecca worked with, as well as non-immediate family members. Every single person in this story seemed to matter and they each contributed something to the story. I was absolutely fascinated with how everyone interacted. 


It seems wrong to say that I enjoyed this book due to the subject matter. I didn't really enjoy it as such - there wasn't anything that made me feel very happy, but instead, I appreciated it. I really appreciated how well Reid had portrayed the lives of Hephzi and Rebecca - there were no holds barred on the content - this is a story that involves abuse and a whole lot more. Whilst the events weren't overly graphic or descriptive, they were unbelievably powerful. As aforementioned, the words were haunting. There was a seriously sinister undertone and it worked seriously well.


This is a book that I will recommend to others who are looking for a different read to your usual YA - I'm glad that there's something different to the usual 'boy meets girl' or paranormal subjects. This is definitely not a book for younger teens but for older teens and I know a lot of adults that would appreciate the work that's been put into this too. I look forward to more of Reid's work in the future.

Monday, 16 April 2012

Fever (Fever #1)

Fever (Fever #1)  by Dee Shulman
Paperback, 400 pages


Published April 5th 2012 by Puffin

My shelves: arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, cover-appeal, death, fantasy, historical, if-i-were-a-boy, read-in-2012, sci-fi, title-appeal, young-adult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:
A fearless Roman gladiator. A reckless 21st century girl. A mysterious virus unites them . . .

152 AD. Sethos Leontis, a skilled and mesmerising fighter, is unexpectedly wounded and lies dangerously close to death.

2012 AD. Eva is brilliant - but troubled. Starting her new life at a school for the gifted, a single moment in the lab has terrifying results.

An extraordinary link brings Sethos and Eva together, but it could force them apart - because the fever that grips them cannot be cured and falling in love could be lethal . . . Can love survive when worlds collide and threaten time itself?
My thanks go to Puffin for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, this book was a case of me being completely won over by the shiny, attractive cover - I  just thought that it looked gorgeous. I'm happy to say that the contents were just as pleasing as the cover as I was easily sucked into this story of a Roman gladiator, Sethos, a present day girl, Eva, and how a fever brings them together. This was a really enjoyable, well flowing story that I found difficult to put down.

It was really easy to get sucked into this story. I thought that I may have found it difficult to swap from reading about present day to Roman times, but it was surprisingly easy to go from chapter to chapter. I was very worried that the time-travel aspect would be confusing (as they often are), but thankfully this was super easy to follow, with the two settings being very different and the time periods clearly marked at the beginning of each chapter. The chapters were often short and action packed, which made the pace of the book brilliant. 

I loved reading about both Sethos and Eva as well as their environments. I personally found Eva to be the more interesting character of the pair, but reading about Sethos and his Londinium (Roman London) setting was really captivating. I felt as though I was there with Sethos, checking out all of the Romanesque architecture and feeling edgy during his fights. I did like him, but I found him to be a little compulsive and perhaps irrational at points. 

Eva is a very talented teenage girl (with a penchant for computer hacking) who has transferred to St Magdelene's, a private school on a full scholarship due to her intellect. Of course, she's not perfect though, she hates spending time at home with her mother's partner and she's never really had many friends, though she has no problem making them at her new school. I found Eva to be quite likeable and although she was portrayed as quite a shy, quiet person, she didn't seem to be reclusive - she did seem confident in herself at points, which was nice to see. I really liked her friendship with Astrid and it was interesting to see how she interacted with others at her new school.

I thought that the romance aspect of this book was a little disappointing, only because it happened too fast. I thought that the relationship between Eva and Seth felt a little rushed and that Eva 'fell in love' with Seth quite randomly - it was although it suddenly just clicked, after no real reasoning, that she loved him. I do realise that there is certainly potential to see their relationship develop in the next two books and I look forward to seeing how it all pans out.

Fever is just the start of what looks to be like a very promising trilogy from Dee Shulman. The story has only just really begun in this book and I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses in the rest of the trilogy. I think that this trilogy is sure to become a hit with a lot of young adult readers. 



Check out the book trailer for Fever: