March '17 Reviews

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon - Sam

It follows a 16 year-old kid with Asperger's who investigates the murder of a dog. His teacher told him he has to write a book and he picks this as his subject because he's not good at writing fictional characters and interpreting fictional worlds. He sees the world quite literally and has a hard time understanding arbitrary topics. While investigating the dog, he finds out a lot of other information- like how his supposedly dead mother is alive and his father has been involved in some shady stuff. The pacing is a bit bizarre, I think that's what they were going for though - like what you would expect from a person's diary, but it's happening in real time.

Rated: 4.5/5 red cars. "It's very interesting to be in the mind of a person who thinks very strangely and has a very interesting perspective on the world."


Afterlife by Claudia Gray - Vya

It's a really good book. It was detailed, but not so detailed that you would get bored. The series is about a human and vampire who isn't fully a vampire yet. They fall in love but their different backgrounds and families often keep them apart. This is the fifth book in the series. It ended on a cliff hanger, the ending was so good it made me want to race to the library and get the next one, all the books in this series are like that, -I hate having to wait when they're out on loan!

Rated: 4/5 wraiths. "The pace is fast moving and engaging, exciting, unexpected events occur over the course of a single page."


We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen. -Wei Li

What really drew me to the book was this part in the blurb "Ashley is popular, cool but her grades stink. Her dad has come out and moved out, but not far enough" That's really what made me stop and read this book. It's not "sciencey" it's more of a modern family drama. (not to be confused with the show!) There are a lot of varied characters. It's more of a family life book than a romance. It covers a lot of dramas, like siblings getting along. Stuart's dad has fallen in love with Ashley's mum. Because Ashley's dad has leaped out of the closet and is openly dating, there is tension there. Unfortunately, the 'not far enough' is that her dad has moved out of the house and into the garage.  A lot of issues are covered such as dysfunctional family dynamics and friendship struggles.

Rated: 5/5 molecules. "I enjoyed this book because it was crazy and unexpected, A lot more serious than you may think at times, but mostly really, really funny. It's great."


Heartless by Marissa Mayer - Natasha

It's set before Alice came to Wonderland. A girl called Catherine comes from a very wealthy family. The King tries to propose to her but then a big, dangerous beast called the Jabberwocky attacks. She runs outside and meets the Joker, known as Jest. He comforts her and she slowly starts falling in love with him, though she doesn't realize it. The King tries to make her swoon- showing her the garden and his riches. She doesn't want to marry him, but her parents insist that she must. One day the Joker confesses that he is on a mission from the White Queen to steal the heart of the Red Queen. Catherine, who is soon to hold the title feels betrayed. She thinks her love was just a game to him, and he must prove otherwise. The two escape to Chess, chased by the King and facing familiar Wonderland characters and new tricks and riddles.

Rated: 4.5/5 hearts. "It slows down in the middle but overall it's great"


The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Ari

It's about this guy called Nicholas Flamel - yes, he was in Harry Potter, but in real life he was actually an alchemist and he allegedly found the elixir of life. This book is about two kids, twins Josh and Sophie who were staying with their aunt when this guy, Nicholas Flamel was attacked by three golems. During the attack, Nicholas Flamel's wife, Prunella, gets abducted by Dr John Dee, Nicholas' former student who also discovered the secret back in the thirteenth century. They run away from Dr. Dee's minions and go to meet someone called Scathach, who is one of the elders. There are two kinds of elders, the light elders and the dark elders. The light elders are  the good ones (obviously). They're figures from myth and legend, like Hecate, Hercules and Gilgamesh. So Scathach is one of them. They team up with her. The only way the twins will survive is to learn dark, elemental magic. They both have super potential because they have full auras. Their auras are pure gold and silver. To unlock the elemental magic they have to go to Hecate, the goddess of magic in Greek mythology. When they go to her house Dr Dee wakes up another elder, Sekhmet who is the Goddess of healing and diseases in Egyptian mythology. She's not a light or dark elder- she's pretty much psychotic. She storms Hecate's base, just as Sophie's wind magic is unlocked...

Rated: 4/5 auras.  "I really liked the adventure, the fighting and the mixing in of different mythologies."


A Ghost in My Suitcase by Gabrielle Wang - Nica

It's about a girl called Celeste whose dad is French and whose mother is Chinese. Her mother has passed away and so she goes on a plane to China to visit her grandmother and scatter her ashes. Then she finds out her grandmother is a ghost hunter. She's adopted an orphan child too who is terribly jealous of Celeste. She finds a mysterious coin sword which traps ghosts.

Rated: 3.5/5 ghosts. "This is a school book, so I'm not allowed to read ahead but I'm really enjoying it. The language is simple, it's an easy read but quite good"


The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - Nina

It was written in 1997 when S.E. was 16. It's about these two classes - the rich Socials and the working class Greasers. They don't like each other much. A group of Socials end up jumping Greaser brothers Ponyboy and Johnny. A Social dies and the two brothers have to run away. Filled with heroic acts, violence and tragedy.

Rated: 4/5 burning churches    "It's really good."




Spirit Bound: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - Imogen

The main character Rose, is dealing with her instructor and lover having been turned into an evil strigoi vampire. Back at the academy, Rose is close to graduating, she is top of her Dhampir class, having already killed countless strigoi. She is dating someone new and trying to focus on her future but her promise to her ex lover if he ever turned strigoi is haunting her...

Rated: 4/5 dead Masons.  "I like the characters, the pacing is great, not too fast not too slow and the plot lines don't chop and change. A bit mushy at times"

Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson - Olivia

It's a historical story about this girl called Hannah who is part of a wealthy family. One day while at a carnival, her money is stolen and the following events lead her into getting arrested and sentenced to be deported to Australia on a ship. Before her arrest, her tutor Thomas tells her that he is going to travel to Australia as he has enlisted in the navy, if she would only marry him, she could go with him, but she refuses. When she arrives, there is no sign of Thomas. She works in a factory and one day, not understanding that it's a marriage ritual, and just wanting to get a chance to leave the factory, she picks up a hankie that a sailor drops at her feet.

Rated: 4/5 bears.  "Really, really good, really well written. A satisfying romance."



Hysteria by Megan Miranda - Henrietta

A psychological thriller with a mentally unsettled first-person narrator. A haunting read, filled with ghosts and romance. The plot is really convoluted, but totally absorbing.

Rated: 5/5 mysterious deaths. "Lots of twists and turns"