Name: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Young-Adult, Dystopian
Publication Date: 22nd October 2013
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Synopsis: "The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered- fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties and painful memories. But Tris' new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths to comprehend the complexities of human nature- and of herself- while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love."
Name: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Young-Adult, Dystopian
Publication Date: 1st May 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Synopsis: "Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former ome and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future. Yet, if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever...because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead."
Name: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Young-Adult, Dystopian
Publication Date: 2nd February 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Synopsis: "In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the live she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves...or it light destroy her."
Name: Endless
Author: Amanda Gray
Genre: Young-Adult, Science-fiction, Romance
Publication Date: 8th October 2013
Publisher: Month9Books
Synopsis: "Jenny Kramer knows she isn't normal. After all, not everyone can see the past lives of people around them. When she befriends Ben Daulton, resident new boy, the pair stumbles on an old music box with instructions for 'mesmerization' and discover they may have more in common than they thought. Like a past life. Using the instructions in the music box, Ben and Jenny share a dream that transports them to Romanov Russia and leads them to believe they have been there together before. But they weren't alone. Nikolai, the mysterious young man Jenny has been seeing in her own dreams was there, too. When Nikolai appears next door, Jenny is forced to acknowledge that he has traveled through time and space to find her. Doing so means he as defied the laws of time, and the Order, an ominous organization tasked with keeping people in the correct time, is determined to send him back. While Ben, Jenny and Nikolai race against the clock-and the Order-the trio discovers a link that joins them in life-and beyond death."
Name: The Summer I Gave Up Boys
Author: Kassandra Kush
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Publication Date: 22nd October 2013
Publisher: Amazon (not much information given)
Synopsis: "A summer love novella. Kaliyah Simon just broke up with her cheating boyfriend, and now that summer break is here, all she wants is a quiet, boy-free summer. To focus on work, reading and her tan. But then she meets up with her old high school nemesis, Isaiah Winters, on the way home, and he seems more interested in being friends than enemies. Can Kaliyah lower her walls and get over seven years of pushing Isaiah away and find out what it would be like to actually be with him? With her best friend going boy-crazy, a twenty-first birthday looming over the horizon, Isaiah continually showing up on her doorstep, and an ex that seems to want her back, Kaliyah's summer promises to be anything but quiet.."
Name: A Dog Year
Author: Jon Katz
Genre: Non-Fiction, Animals
Publication Date: 3rd July 2008
Publisher: Ebury Press
Synopsis: "Jon and his wife live in a New Jersey suburb with two perfectly behaved Labradors. Then into the mix comes Devon, who creates havoc from the moment he arrives at the airport, when it takes Jon, two baggage handlers and three police officers to track him down after he escapes. Jon learns the hard way how to encourage Devon to behave. But amongst the difficulties in their first year together, Jon discovers his life is enlivened by a creature with so much mischievousness and joie de vivre. In fact, Jon finds that he is to change as much as Devon."
Warning: this review does contain spoilers of the book, if you want to read this non-fiction book, don't look at the review. If you're not bothered, carry on...
Name: More Than This
Author: Patrick Ness
Genre: Young-Adult, Science-Fiction
Publication Date: 5th September 2013
Publisher: Walker Books
Synopsis: "A boy called Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, staving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighbourhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust and completely abandoned. What's going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey into vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that there might be more than just this..."
Name: The Dark Inside
Author: Rupert Wallis
Genre: Young-Adult
Publication Date: 30th January 2014
Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
Synopsis: "The House on the Hill has been abandoned for as long as James can remember. So when he discovers Webster, a drifter, hiding there, he's instantly curious about the story behind the homeless man. What is he running from? Afflicted by a dark curse, Webster is no longer who he used to be. But there is said to be a cure and it might just be that by helping Webster, James will find some solace of his own. Together they embark on a journey, not knowing that what they will discover will impact them both in ways they never imagined..."
Name: Warm Bodies
Author: Isaac Marion
Genre: Young-Adult, Horror, Romance
Publication Date: 14th October 2010
Publisher: Vintage
Synopsis: "'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow dead. Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright ans very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins. This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight..."
Name: Noble Conflict
Author: Malorie Blackman
Genre: Young-Adult, Science Fiction
Publication Date: 6th June 2013
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens
Synopsis: "Years after a violent war destroyed much of the world, Kaspar has grown up in a society based on peace and harmony. But beyond the city walls, a vicious band of rebels are plotting to tear this peace apart. It is up to the Guardians - an elite peacekeeping force - to protect the city, without ever resorting to the brutal methods of their enemy. When Kaspar joins the Guardians, he has a chance encounter with a rebel - a beautiful girl named Rhea. Haunted from that moment on by strange visions and memories - memories that could only belong to Rhea - he realises he hasn't been told the truth about what the rebels really want, and what he's really fighting for."
Name: Model Misfit
Author: Holly Smale
Genre: Young-Adult, Contemporary
Publication Date: 26th September 2013
Publisher: Harper Collins
Synopsis: "My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek. Harriet knows that modelling won't transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn't necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this. What Harriet doesn't know is where she's going to fit in once the new baby arrives. With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother's 'chaperoning'. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes. But this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like. Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world, or is Harriet lost for good?"
Name: Anatomy of a Boyfriend
Author: Daria Snadowsky
Genre: Young-Adult, Contemporary
Publication Date: 23rd September 2008
Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Synopsis: "Before this all happened, the closest I'd been to getting physical with a guy was playing the board game Operation. Okay, so maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's not like there were any guys at my high school who I cared to share more than three words with, let alone my body. Then I met Wes, a track star senior from across town. Maybe it was his soulful blue eyes, or maybe my hormones just started raging. Either way, I was hooked. And after a while, he was too. I couldn't believe how intense my feelings became, or the fact that I was seeing–and touching–parts of the body I'd only read about in my Gray's Anatomy textbook. You could say Wes and I experienced lots of firsts together that spring. It was scary. It was fun. It was love. And then came the fall."
Name: Geek Girl
Author: Holly Smale
Genre: Young-Adult, Contemporary
Publication Date: 28th February 2013
Publisher: Harper Collins
Synopsis: "Harriet Manners knows a lot of things. She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a 'jiffy' lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times a day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's slotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream incurring the weather of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. And as gee old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?"
Name: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Young-Adult, Historical Fiction
Publication Date: 1st January 2008
Publisher: Black Swan
Synopsis: "HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Lie self steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. SOME IMPORTANR INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH. It's a small story about: a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES."
Name: Extras
Author: Scott Westefeld
Genre: Young-Adult, Fantasy
Publication Date: 27th September 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Synopsis: "Extras, the final book in the Uglies series, is set a couple years after the 'mind-rain', a few earth-shattering months in which the whole world woke up. The cure has spread from city to city, and the Pretty regime that kept humanity in a state of bubbleheadedness has ended. Boundless human creativity, new technologies, and old dangers have been unleashed upon the world. Culture is splintering, the cities becoming radically different from each other as each makes its own way into this strange and unpredictable future . . . One of the features of the new world is that everyone has their own blog/myspace/tv channel. The ratings of your feed (combined with his much the city interface overhears people talking about you) determines your social status--so everyone knows at all times how famous they are. As Scott Westerfeld explored the themes of extreme beauty in the first three Uglies books now he takes on the world's obsession with fame and popularity. And how anyone can be an instant celebrity."
Name: Specials
Author: Scott Westefeld
Genre: Young-Adult, Fantasy
Publication Date: 24th May 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Synopsis: "Tally thought they were a rumor, but how she's one of them. A Special. A superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the Uglies down and the Pretties stupid. But maybe being perfectly programmes with strength and focus isn't berrer than anything she's ever known. Tally still has memories of something else. But it's easy for her to tune that out -- until she's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same."
Name: Pretties
Author: Scott Westefeld
Genre: Young-Adult, Fantasy
Publication Date: 24th May 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Synopsis: "Gorgeous. Popular. Perfect. Perfectly wrong. Tally has finally become Pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted. But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's Ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with Pretty life, and the fun stops cold."
Name: Uglies
Author: Scott Westefeld
Genre: Young-Adult, Fantasy
Publication Date: 29th March 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Synopsis: "Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from repellent Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a dew weeks, Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend, Shay, isn't see she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very Pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever."
Name: Boys Don't Cry
Author: Malorie Blackman
Genre: Young-Adult, Fiction
Publication Date: 28th April 2011
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Synopsis: "In Boys Don't Cry, best selling author Malorie Blackman explores the uncharted territory of teenage fatherhood. You're waiting for the postman - he's bringing your A-level results. University, a career as a journalist - a glittering future lies ahead. But when the doorbell rings it's your old girlfriend; and she's carrying a baby. Your baby. You're happy to look after it, just for an hour or two. But then she doesn't come back- and your future suddenly looks very different. Malorie's dramatic new novel will take you on a journey from tears to laughter and back again"
Name: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Genre: Young-Adult, Romance, Horror
Publication Date: 5th July 2012
Publisher: Orchard Books
Synopsis: "Cas Lowood, armed with his late father's athame knife, kills ghosts. In Thunder Bay, Anna, forever 16, drips blood on her white dress from throat slit in 1958, and rips apart anyone who enters her house - except Cas. He makes new friends - high school queen Carmel, joke Will, admiring nerd Thomas and Tom's voodoo grandpa Morfran - to fight this demon."
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Amazon UK: Buy Here
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Source: Paperback
Review:
The plot for this book was so amazing. I never really read Horror books, but this one was just so hyped on goodreads and YouTube and other blogs that I needed to get it, so got it for my birthday. The plot, characters and entire book was written really well, I just occasionally felt that the chapters without Anna went on a bit too long, since Anna is a big part of it, you sort of expect the chapters without her in them to be quite short. I don't think the book was written with too much gore in it, I could still get vivid images of things in my head, but that is because I'm quite good with that sort of thing. You can get images in your head, but maybe not too graphic. This book is certainly not for young readers and I will have to pick up the second book soon. Another great thing was that the author, Kendare Blake actually connects with her readers on twitter, and she did tweet me which was lovely. I did really really like this book (I may even say I loved this book) but some chapters just felt too long. Still a 5 star book for me though!
Rating: 5/5 Stars
