The Child of Auschwitz

The Child of Auschwitz by Lily Graham 

Paperback, 242 pages

Published 8th November 2018 by Bookouture

Shelves:  adult-fiction, books-i-own, historical, read, read-in-2021, realistic-fiction, ww2,young-adult

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

‘She touched the photograph in its gilt frame that was always on her desk, of a young, thin woman with very short hair and a baby in her arms. She had one last story to tell. Theirs. And it began in hell on earth.’ 

It is 1942 and Eva Adami has boarded a train to Auschwitz. Barely able to breathe due to the press of bodies and exhausted from standing up for two days, she can think only of her longed-for reunion with her husband Michal, who was sent there six months earlier. 

But when Eva arrives at Auschwitz, there is no sign of Michal and the stark reality of the camp comes crashing down upon her. As she lies heartbroken and shivering on a thin mattress, her head shaved by rough hands, she hears a whisper. Her bunkmate, Sofie, is reaching out her hand... 

As the days pass, the two women learn each other’s hopes and dreams – Eva’s is that she will find Michal alive in this terrible place, and Sofie’s is that she will be reunited with her son Tomas, over the border in an orphanage in Austria. Sofie sees the chance to engineer one last meeting between Eva and Michal and knows she must take it even if means befriending the enemy… 

But when Eva realises she is pregnant she fears she has endangered both their lives. The women promise to protect each other’s children, should the worst occur. For they are determined to hold on to the last flower of hope in the shadows and degradation: their precious children, who they pray will live to tell their story when they no longer can. 

The Child of Auschwitz is a fictional story which focuses on Eva Adami, a young Jewish girl who is born and raised in Prague where she also ends up falling in love with a musician, Michal. As  their love blossoms, they marry and are excited to begin a new, happy life together. Life seems full of potential and happiness for the couple but unfortunately it is a turbulent time, 1938, and whilst their dreams are coming true, so are their nightmares as the Nazis begin to invade. 

Eva and Michal are determined to survive, but they are soon find themselves separated and Michal is sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, where Eva follows in the hope of finding him. Eva quickly makes a close friend, Sofie, a woman who is looking for her cousin who is caring for her son, Tomas. Sofie and Eva's bond is a quickly formed but beautifully genuine and intense, showing the true power and beauty of human friendship. It was good to read about such strong female characters. The character development of other people in the camp was also well done, with each having their own distinct personalities, making it easy to feel genuine compassion towards them. 

The book is clearly well researched and was inspired by the true story of Vera Bein, a lady  who gave birth in Auschwitz-Birkenau and whose story is paralleled well in the book. It was very interesting and emotional to read about the challenges and changes that a hidden baby brought into the camp and it really brought home how incredible and shocking it is that, in reality, at least seven hundred babies were born in Auschwitz-Birkenau (though sadly few survived). I really did love this section of the book and it was by far the most compelling part to me. The exploration of motherhood during the Holocaust is always a sensitive and intriguing subject.

Graham has done a wonderful job of balancing the absolute horrors of the Holocaust alongside  hope and I think that this book certainly gives us a good sense of both. She did well to create an atmosphere and to submerge me, as a reader, into camp life and, as aforementioned, I really took to the characters. My only criticisms would be that I did sometimes find that the book felt a little too sanitised and didn't capture the true, visceral horror of Auschwitz and I although I do enjoy a complete ending, I felt that some parts were a bit too idealised. However, I can understand why this was the case - the book isn't overly complex and is written more for entertainment/past-time purposes than any sort of heavy education.

Overall, despite being a work of fiction, Graham has created a well written and impressively researched story with an authentic array of characters. This is a highly popular book and I can understand why. It is hopeful, intriguing, emotive and I would recommend it to anybody looking for an easy-to-read fictional story focusing on both motherhood and the Holocaust.

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!

Amy and Matthew

Amy & Matthew by Cammie McGovern

Paperback, 322 Pages

Expected Publication 27th March 2014 by Pan Macmillan

Shelves: arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, contemporary, cover-appeal, if-i-were-a-boy, medical-conditions, mental-health, read-in-2014, realistic-fiction, really-good, to-read, young-adult

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Amy loves Matthew and he loves her back. This is their story.
Amy is unflinchingly honest about her limitations. Born with cerebral palsy, she can’t walk or talk without help. But trapped inside this uncooperative body lies a brilliant mind and a luminous spirit – a girl capable of truly loving and worthy of being loved in return.
Matthew has his own set of challenges – a mind consumed by unwanted repeated thoughts, obsessive rituals and a crippling fear that he can't explain. But underneath all of the anxiety lies a deep seed of hope for someone to come along who believes in him…
This is the story of Amy and Matthew. It may not be a fairy tale romance or set in an imagined world far from our own. But the love they share is real. And yes, there's magic in it.

Just when I thought I was maybe growing 'out' of young adult books, along came Cammie McGovern, and alongside her came Amy and Matthew, reminding me exactly why I fell in love with YA in the first place. 

Amy and Matthew seems like a book that was written for me - it contains everything I love and most importantly, two imperfect protagonists who were easy to admire from the very beginning. Both characters have diagnosable 'disabilities', Amy has Cerebral Palsy and Matthew has OCD. Though both conditions can be very disabling, the characters certainly don't just sit back and let their problems dominate them, which is probably the main reason why I admired them so much. Their lives are undoubtedly affected, as anybody who has (or who has had) an illness will know, and it that's certainly a largely covered issue in the book, but I absolutely loved, and was so relieved, that the personalities of the characters were at the forefront. I enjoyed seeing how the two characters leaned on each other and how their relationship helped improve their wellbeing. 

Amy and Matthew learn a lot about themselves through each other and this creates such a perfect chemistry between the two and it's something very special.   Amy and Matthew are, quite simply, perfect for each other. If I was Amy, I would love a guy like Matthew, and if I was Matthew, I'd love a girl like Amy. I don't think that anybody could deny that. The two characters are really quite different and that is patly why they work so well together. Though Amy is less physically able than Matthew, she's perhaps slightly stronger emotionally, where as Matthew is more physically able but has a harder time with his emotions. I was very interested to see what Amy was really like, what she really thought and felt, as she seemed like, and was, a very complex person. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in her situation, but I think that McGovern portrayed her amazingly well. I liked seeing how both characters changed throughout the book - I was particularly impressed with Matthew's improvements and recovery.

As someone who has both chronic physical pain and mental illnesses, from what I understand of Amy and Matthew's issues, they were described well and I am glad that their issues were portrayed in a very frank, but not hyperbolic way. I sympathised with them, but didn't pity them. It is good to finally be able read a book about real people with real issues, trying to lead a normal lifestyle.

I hope it's clear how much I loved this book! It's difficult to write in a review, as you really do have to 'meet' Amy and Matthew through reading. I can not thank McGovern enough for getting me back into this genre and reminding me of everything I love about contemporary YA. Amy and Matthew is definitely one of the top YA books out there at the moment. Move over, The Fault In Our Stars and make way for Amy and Matthew! 

When Mr Dog Bites

When Mr Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan

Hardback, 372 Pages

Published 16th January 2014 by Bloomsbury

Shelves: arc-or-review, books-i-own, if-i-were-a-boy, medical-conditions, read-in-2014, realistic-fiction, to-read, young-adult

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Meet the a-mayonnaise-ing Dylan Mint. He's sixteen and he's got Tourette's. His life is a constant fight to keep the bad stuff in - the words that explode out of his mouth, the tics, the growling, howling dog that tries to escape whenever he gets stressed. Plus there's his mum, who buys him cheapo clothes from Primark and keeps crying. And his dad, who's away in the army and could get wiped out by a sniper any minute.

A routine visit to the hospital turns his life topsy-turvy. Dylan discovers that he's going to die next March. It's only August, but still - he has THINGS TO DO. So he makes a list - Cool Things To Do Before You Cack It - and sets out to make his wishes come true...

When Mr Dog Bites is a rather difficult book for me to review. I should start by saying that I didn't know all that much about this book before I started reading - I only read the blurb, and I haven't read anything by this author before. From that alone, I was excited to get started. I loved the sound of this contemporary YA read.

I love reading about real life issues, so reading about a teenager growing up with Tourette's was definitely something that appealed to me and I was interested in how well the subject would be portrayed. Our protagonist, Dylan, also believes he is going to die soon and so I was also interested in seeing what he found most important and what he had on his bucket list. Dylan soon takes action and attempts to win his best friend, Amir, a new pal, and hopes to seduce Michelle Malloy into having sex with him. Alongside that storyline, another issue which is explored throughout the book is Dylan's relationship with his parents, particularly with his father. I found the whole 'revelation' to be extremely predictable, but it did add another slightly more sensible issue to the book, which I thought was appropriate. 

When Mr Dog Bites is a strange book to review, because even days after reading it, I'm not sure how I feel about it and I think that it may divide readers. I think the book was okay, it was enjoyable, because I was laid back and relaxed about the issues and situations discussed. There is probably quite a lot of parts of this book that people will take offence to - mocking of disability, racist slurs for example, but  rather this is something that gives the story some authenticity, some realism and admittedly, it does add some humour. Conaghan certainly isn't shy in regards to approaching some of those more slightly controversial issues and casually throwing them out into the open. There is quite a lot of profanity in the book, and at points it sometimes unfortunately did feel quite forced, making reading a little tiresome. However, it can't be denied that these things are also what made the characters more real and in the end, more likeable. Despite not particularly liking Dylan's attitude or outlook at the beginning, I did feel like I really knew him by the end of the book and yes, I could understand him and his feelings more.

Overall, this is a book that I think that will be successful, as long as the potential readers are laid back and aren't going to over analyse it. It's not an ideal book to review, because I don't think it's some sort of masterpiece, nor is it trying to be. This book seems like an attempt to make readers open up towards some issues that probably shouldn't be so stigmatised in the first place, which can only be a good thing. 

Salvage

Salvage by Keren David

Hardback, 320 pages

Published 16th January 2014 by Atom

Shelves: abuse, arc-or-review, books-i-own, read, read-in-2014, realistic-fiction, too-much-hype, young-adult

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Aidan Jones was my brother. But I couldn't really remember his face. I couldn't remember talking to him or playing with him. He was just a gap, an absence, a missing person.

Before she was adopted by a loving family and raised in a leafy Home Counties town, Cass Montgomery was Cass Jones. Her memories of her birth family disappeared with her name. But when her adopted family starts to break down, a way out comes in the form of a message from her lost brother, Aidan. Having Aidan back in her life is both everything she needs and nothing she expected. Who is this boy who calls himself her brother? And why is he so haunted?

I glance at the paper. There's a big picture on the front page. A girl with dark red hair. A girl with eyes that might have been green or they might have been grey. I sit down and stare at Cass, and it is her, it is. My stolen sister.

Aidan's a survivor. He's survived an abusive step-father and an uncaring mother. He's survived crowded foster homes and empty bedsits. His survived to find Cass. If only he can make her understand what it means to be part of his family. . .

Salvage is a book that has had many positive comments and quite a bit of excitement revolving around it, especially here in the United Kingdom, so I was very excited to receive a copy for review. Salvage is a young adult book with interesting subject matter, exploring an interesting story. I usually really enjoy books about real life issues, so I was really hoping that I'd love this one.

I really liked the idea behind this book. We are introduced to Cass, our female narrative, as her adopted family has started to break up. As her father is a well known politician, the story hits the newspapers, one including a photograph of Cass. This is when we're introduced to our male narrative, Aidan, who despite having not seen her for years, almost instantly recognises his long lost sister. As Aidan contacts her, a lot of his history unravels and we read through the complexities of both Cass and Aidan's lives and learn a bit more about their past. In Aidan's eyes, Cass received the best adoptive middle-class parents possible, whereas he himself had more problems, partially due to issues with his birth mother's partners and also with his own emotional/anger problems. 

Cass was a reasonably likeable character, she wasn't anything special which worked to the novel's advantage, it's easy to imagine her as someone you know and it was great to see her as a regular daughter to her adoptive parents, rather than simply seeing her as an adopted child - it just seemed like a 'normal' family dynamic. I can't say that I loved Cass, because there wasn't anything about her that particularly enamoured me, but I found her simplicity to work well, especially when paired with perhaps the quirkiest member of her school, the desirable and individual Will. I really liked Will ask he did seem to have an edge to him - he didn't go out of his way to be different, he simply was and he was also a very loveable character and if he was real, I would definitely like to have a friend like him.

Aidan was a much more interesting character to me and he certainly had, or at least remembered, a much more unstable beginning, living with some abuse and also, understandably, going through periods of time where he found it difficult to control his own emotions. Aidan is now living with his girlfriend and her son, a family relationship which is explored in the story and possibly the most interesting exploration, in my opinion. It was interesting to see how Aidan coped when bringing his past and current life together, and seeing how he and Cass both differed yet bonded.

Overall, Salvage was a well written and easily to read book that I would recommend to teenagers and fans of realistic YA. I think that the book was written simply and modestly enough to attract young teens, but perhaps it's a little too simplistic or modest for those older young adult fans who prefer a little more complexity. The story is interesting enough to hold your attention throughout, though I admit that I did find it a little too predictable to enjoy the 'big reveals' towards the end. Nevertheless, I can see why this book has been given great praise as it is exactly what it offers, a page turner which will attract young adults who enjoy reading about gritty real life issues.

Let It Snow

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle

Paperback, 368 pages

Published 5th September 2013 by Penguin UK
(First published October 1st 2008)

My shelves: books-i-own, contemporary, christmas-books, read-in-2011, realistic-fiction, really-good, short-stories, young-adult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads

An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House (and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.

A trio of today's bestselling authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle - bring all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away.

This was just what I wanted and just what I expected from these three talented young-adult authors. I have read a few of Green's books, one of Johnson's and not yet read anything from Myracle, but with the hype surrounding all three of them, I had high expectations and it's safe to say that they were met! This book is separated into three relatively short stories, but they all entwine. It's hard to tell that the stories are written by seperate authors as the style, quality and humour is constant from beginning to end.

The Jubilee Express is the first story in this book, written by Maureen Johnson. I've read Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes and really enjoyed it, but this was something quite different. Her writing was still very fun and humourous, but it also felt like it was more mature. This was probably my favourite of the three stories in the book. Even though it wasn't exactly the most realistic story you could find, it was extremely enjoyable. Jubilee was a really individual, quirky character that I grew to really like in a short space of time and I loved what became of her and Stuart. Johnson does an incredible job of setting the scene of a very snowy Gracetown and left me wanting more.

John Green's A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle was next which introduced us to more characters as well as continuing to develop characters that were in the previous story. I thought that this was definitely the funniest of the three tales and it had the most action. The romance that was established between Tobin and the Duke was my favourite as it just felt so natural between the characters - Green really managed to connect the characters together and ensure us that they were well bonded friends. The characters aren't perfect, but this just made them even more loveable.

Lauren Myracle's The Patron Saint of Pigs was probably the least strong of these stories, but this doesn't mean that it was bad, in fact it was enjoyable, with yet more development of previously mentioned characters. I didn't manage to connect with Addie as much as I did with the protagonists of the previous stories as I didn't really like her - she didn't have the same charming quality as the others. The main issue for me was the ending of this one as it seemed as though she was trying forcibly to get all of the mentioned characters (which was quite a few!) to intermingle. However, it was nice to see everything, and everyone, come together by the end of the book.

Overall, this was a lighthearted read that really managed to put me into the festive mood. The time period of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, alongside the snow covered setting of Gracetown was perfect for this time of year. I could've easily devoured this book in one sitting. The stories were charming, the romances slightly predictable but extremely enthralling, and most of all, they were fun. This is definitely something that I'd recommend and I can't wait to read more from these authors!

Heart-Shaped Bruise

Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne

Paperback, 336 pages

Published 10th May 2012 by Headline

Shelves: books-i-own, contemporary, crime-thriller-mystery, mental-health, read, read-in-2013, realistic-fiction, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

They say I'm evil. The police. The newspapers. The girls from school who shake their heads on the six o’clock news and say they always knew there was something not quite right about me. And everyone believes it. Including you. But you don't know. You don't know who I used to be. 

Who I could have been.

Awaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Koll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time. 

Heart-Shaped Bruise is a compulsive and moving novel about infamy, identity and how far a person might go to seek revenge.

Although Heart-Shaped Bruise has been released for a relatively long while, it has taken quite some time to actually get around to reading it! As soon as I read the blurb of this book, it was something that I knew that I'd have to get around to as the premise sounds as though this book was written for me! I love reading anything to do with mental health and for some unknown reason, I also find prison and criminology very interesting. What could be better than reading the story  of a girl in a psychiatric ward of a prison? I couldn't wait to delve into this book!

This book is in the form of a notebook of the now infamous Emily Koll, a girl who is awaiting trial after committing a crime that some consider evil. When Emily's father was stabbed by a girl of her own age, Juliet, her life was turned upside down as she realised her father wasn't the man she thought he was. Emily decided to seek revenge for herself and her father and so, disguising herself as - or rather changing into - a girl named Rose, she infiltrates into Juliet's life, attempting to appear as her best friend whilst simultaneously destroying her. Along the way, we also meet Sid, a guy who becomes somewhat of an equal to both Juliet and Emily, someone who they both end up loving and who is a particularly important character to Emily. It's very difficult for me to try and explain what happens plot wise without giving any spoilers, so I won't say much more. When you pick the book up yourself, you'll almost immediately have questions flying around in your head and will be eager to find out all of the answers for yourself!

This book explores so much of Emily's mind and Byrne has done a stupendous job of crafting a realistic, troubled yet also somewhat relatable character in the form of Emily. Emily is in a psychiatric unit, having frequent therapy sessions with Doctor Gilyard. The idea of Emily having Borderline Personality Disorder is briefly insinuated quite early on in the novel, and this immediately caught my attention as someone who has been diagnosed with that same disorder. I don't know if I was particularly sensitive to seeing Emily's 'symptoms', but wow - the author has done an incredible job. As Emily says herself, the symptoms of BPD can been seen in almost anyone at some point, but Byrne shows us how these symptoms develop, and how the person's personality is disordered. Instead of listing things, Byrne smoothly tells us of times in Emily's life where she has displayed traits, and we see how normal her thought processes seem for her. I think that the thing about this book that impressed the most were Emily's psychiatric sessions with Doctor G - if you told me that their sessions were actually real, I would totally believe you, their chemistry together was so believable and it felt as though I was inside Emily's head at some points, at others I was willing her to open up to her doctor. The emotion that was conjured in sometimes only a few sentences between them was amazing.

Despite Emily's cruel, quite twisted crime, she helps us understand why she did what she did and honestly, I can't help but feel for her, even if what she did was very wrong. Reading through the book, Emily's acts seem very logical to her and it's easy to get caught up in her passion. I'd hope that anyone who reads this book would see why Emily did what she did and also see the real version of herself that she was trying to express. Emily's relationship with Sid is something that really interested me and I think it really made an impact on how I saw her, at least until a certain point. On the whole, I don't completely know how I feel about Emily,  but I don't think that she knows that either. However, what we both do know is that nothing is wholly good/pure or wholly bad/evil.

Heart-Shaped Bruise is a fantastically written novel, with one of the best formed characters that I've read about. Tanya Byrne is a tremendously talented author and I really hope that she has more characters like Koll to keep us on the edge of our seats. Recommended to young adults and adults alike.

This Song Will Save Your Life

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Paperback, 288 pages

Expected Publication 10th October by Macmillan Books
Shelves: arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, contemporary, favourites, lasting-impression, read-in-2013, realistic-fiction, really-good, suicide, title-appeal, to-read, young-adult

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

All her life, Elise Dembowski has been an outsider. Starting a new school, she dreams of fitting in at last – but when her best attempts at popularity fail, she almost gives up. Then she stumbles upon a secret warehouse party. There, at night, Elise can be a different person, making real friends, falling in love for the first time, and finding her true passion – DJ’ing. 
But when her real and secret lives collide, she has to make a decision once and for all: just who is the real Elise?

An irresistible novel about hope, heartbreak and the power of music to bring people together.

It seems like I haven't given five stars to a book for a very long time, because that honour only goes to books that have a profound effect on me, something that really pulls me in and more often than not, leaves me emotionally battered (though thankfully I escaped that this time). This Song Will Save Your Life is one of, if not the best contemporary book that I've read in years.

The book introduces us to Elise, a teenage schoolgirl who never seems to fit in with anyone else, no matter how hard she tries. Elise has gotten so tired of trying and failing at making friends that one night, she decides to attempt suicide, only being saved by a phone call. I knew from the first chapter that I was going to give this book a high rating because something about Elise triggered something within me. Though I won't go into detail in a review, when I was at school, I suffered severe clinical depression and so I could relate to a lot of things that Elise was saying and I could understand why she thought it was logical to kill herself - I had been in the same position, considering the same things. Elise's thoughts really, really struck a chord with me and I think it will with others who have had similar experiences. The writing and thoughts were just so matter of fact and raw and above all, realistic. It really felt like Sales was getting in my head and writing from the heart. I enjoyed sitting back and really absorbing the writing. There is no pretension, there is no elaborate sentences, Sales didn't need to do much more than to state the real, emotional truth to make her impact and leave us with a very quotable book.

On one of her nightly walks, Elise comes across a couple of girls who invite her into their secret club, a place where Elise soon begins to feel some form of acceptance and she seems to make friends with the girl, particularly Vicky, the bouncer of the club, Mel, and the DJ, known as Char or 'This Charming Man'. In the club, Elise realises that there are other people who share the same interests as her, music in particular, and through this, her character seems to open up a bit more and both this and her personality gain her the acceptance that she has wished for. Elise's relationships with Vicky and Char were certainly not straight forward, but the natural awkwardness that you'd expect was there, making them feel genuine. There is a sort of 'romance' between Char and Elise which I enjoyed reading about as I was curious about their chemistry. I loved Char's working attitude towards Elise as he taught her about DJing and all of the things that come with being a popular DJ and a young adult, too.

It was so fantastic to see Elise at her element in the club as she gained popularity by learning to DJ - there is a scene in the book where she looks at a photograph of herself in front of the crowd and it is a really striking moment and I felt a lot of pride for her. Music is obviously a big part of this book, so of course it's important to mention that aspect - this book is sprinkled with mentions of singers, bands and songs. I absolutely loved the playlist to this book - I'm a fan of 80's music, probably more so than modern music, so the mentions of songs from the likes of The Smiths, Depeche Mode and Erasure were exciting and even the slightly more modern stuff, such as Born Slippy NUXX livened up that Trainspotting fanatic inside me. The mentions of these artists brought me closer to the characters in the book in the same way that the music brought the characters closer to each other, and that is such an great feeling.

Another important aspect of this book that I don't want to leave out is Elise's relationship with her family. Her parents are divorced, and so she split her time between her parents. Due to the location of the club, Elise starts to spend less time with her father. I think that a lot of the emotion between Elise and both her parents and her young sister were actually left unsaid, but came across very well in just their behaviour and actions. One of the most humbling scenes in the book, for me, was between Elise and her sister towards the end of the book, which really hit me hard. 

In my opinion, This Song Will Save Your Life is the best coming-of-age, contemporary book since The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Leila Sales truly captivated me with her fantastic writing and definitely got me thinking about the importance of individualism, the effects of change and the importance of acceptance - accepting who you are and being you, whatever people think. 

This book has an absolutely AMAZING soundtrack to go alongside it - you can check it out on Spotify, if you use it. As both the characters in the book and I personally have a lot of love for The Smiths, I can't resist sharing what is perhaps my favourite song of theirs:

That Burning Summer

That Burning Summer by Lydia Syson

Paperback pages

Expected Publication 3rd October by Hot Key Books

Shelves: arc-or-review, better-than-expected, books-i-own, cover-appeal, historical, read, read-in-2013, realistic-fiction, ww2, young-adult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Romney Marsh, July 1940. When invasion threatens, you have to grow up quickly. Sixteen-year-old Peggy has been putting on a brave face since the fall of France, but now the enemy is overhead, and the rules are changing all the time. Staying on the right side of the law proves harder than she expects when a plane crash-lands in the Marsh: it's Peggy who finds its pathetic, broken pilot; a young Polish man, Henryk, who stays hidden in a remote church, secretly cared for by Peggy. As something more blossoms between the two, Peggy's brother Ernest's curiosity peaks and other secrets come to light, forcing Peggy and Henryk to question all the loyalties and beliefs they thought they held dear.

In one extraordinary summer the lives of two young people will change forever, in a tense and gripping historical drama from Lydia Syson, the author of the acclaimed A WORLD BETWEEN US.

Okay, first thing first - that cover! Yes, I completely unashamedly fell for the gorgeous vintage-style cover of That Burning Summer before I knew what the book was even about (though the contents are portrayed pretty well on the cover, actually). I am so glad that That Burning Summer caught my eye after finding out it was set in England during World War Two, I picked it up and absolutely devoured it.

That Burning Summer is set in rural England during the Second World War. We are introduced to Peggy, a sixteen year old, who one day, during her daily chores, stumbles across someone who she does not expect to meet - a young Polish pilot named Henryk. Neither are sure whether or not to trust each other, but they do begin to bond until Ernest, Peggy's younger brother, finds Henryk and becomes suspicious. Not only are there obvious difficulties with knowing who to trust or not during a war, we also sometimes have to wonder whether one family member can trust the family member as there are is also an interesting subplot regarding Peggy and Ernest's father. I believe that the main focus of the story is intended to be the gradual building relationship between Peggy and Henryk, but there felt like there was a lot more to think about or to consider if you weren't actually interested in 'romance'.

Due to the historical setting of the book, it is clear that this is also a big feature of the book, perhaps more so than anything else. It is very apparent that the author, Lydia Syson, has taken a lot of time and care when writing this book, and I really appreciated that, it was great to be reading and to be learning at the same time. I can't say that I knew much about the roles of the Polish in our RAF services during the war, so it was good to be enlightened! Though I did learn a few new things and appreciated the facts that I already knew, I liked how the information was shared - I never once felt like I was being filled full of facts, and I was never bored!

What I loved most about this book was the ease of reading - it was just so lovely to read. I can imagine that this would be great to read in one sitting or as slowly as you like, there is something about it that is so relaxing. To me, it felt like it would have made a fantastic sunday night drama on the TV - an enthralling story with a sweet ending. I really enjoyed this relaxing read and I hope that many others will do too, whether they are older children, young adults or adults. I will definitely be looking out for more books by Syson.