Allegiant by Veronica Roth ★★★★½

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13) Meet Katelyn.

    Ever since Tris found out that there is something outside the fence, and the only world she has ever known, she has been confused and worried.  

    With the world she knows in chaos and her brother sentenced to death under the new leadership regime, Tris meets the Allegiant, a group of people resistant to the new ways in which the city is heading and she is offered a chance to explore outside the fence. Tris accepts the offer as it is a new beginning, a way to get away from all the bad memories and make new ones. But when she and her companions find themselves outside they are amazed and shocked by what they find. Everything they have taken as truth is actually a lie. 

    Tobias has a lot of power now that his mother is now running the city and he is not adverse to using his newly found power to get his mother to agree to what he wants. He too, jumps at the offer from the Allegiant and joins Tris in her escape to outside, not only to be with Tris but also to escape from his abusive father and the mother that left him. Like Tris, he to finds that all he knew was a lie and not everyone can be trusted.

    Allegiant is an amazing book. At the start it can seem a bit slow and boring and doesn’t really make sense, however once you get used to the changes in the story telling perspective, you are in awe and will find yourself bawling your eyes out. There are major plot twists in this book which have you wondering what is going to happen next and leave you wanting more. This is a must read book!

    Thank you to the kind people at Harper Collins Australia for our review copy.

RELEASE Date:         Available now

MORE information:     CLICK HERE  

AUTHOR’s Website:   http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com.au/

THE AUTHOR

    Veronica Roth is only 24, so her bio will be short. She’s from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT, her YA dystopian thriller while she was supposed to be doing homework. This was a decidedly good choice that will unfortunately make it difficult for her to someday lecture her future children on how important it is to get your homework done.

The Heiresses by Alison Rushby ★★★

Trust no one - especially your relatives

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13) Meet Katelyn.

In 1926 Thalia, Erato and Clio are summoned to London by Hestia, a long lost Aunt that none of the girls knew they had. When they arrive from their individual homes, the girls discover that they are triplets who were separated at birth. Hestia also informs them that they are heiresses to their mother's fortune which is currently under the control of their greedy half-brother, Charles. The sisters move into their Aunt Hestia's London house and begin their new lives together, while plotting to get their inheritance from the loathsome Charles.

While the girls are in London they realize something. Each of them is there for a reason:

Thalia is there to get away from her dark past.

Erato is there to achieve her dream.

Clio is there to help save the only mother she has ever known.

The girls realize that they must trust no-one; let alone each other.

The plot for this book is very good and witty. I would recommend this for thirteen year old to fifteen year old girls. 

Thank you to the kind people at Pan Macmillan for our review copy.

RELEASE Date:       May 2013

MORE information:     CLICK HERE  

READ an extract:        CLICK HERE   

AUTHOR’s Website:   http://allisonrushby.com/

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Having failed at becoming a ballerina with pierced ears (her childhood dream), Allison Rushby instead began a writing career as a journalism student at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Within a few months she slunk sideways into studying Russian, began writing her first novel and, most importantly, joined the Chocolate Appreciation Society. Over the past ten years, she has published five books for young adult readers and five for adult readers in the women's fiction genre. She is originally from Brisbane, Australia, but spent 2011 and most of 2012 living in Cambridge, UK, where she mainly spent her days whingeing constantly about the weather.

 

Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike ★★★★

NOT JUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13) Meet Katelyn.

          Jeff doesn't get a very good first impression of his new posh school. This impression goes from bad to worse when the drop-dead gorgeous Kimberlee Shaffer, who literally dropped dead last year  in the hallway of a Santa Monica High School, starts to pay him attention. After all, as he is the only person who can see her, he's the perfect person to help her out, willingly or not.

    Unfortunately for Jeff, Kimberlee has some unfinished business. A lot of unfinished business. When Kimberlee was alive she was a kleptomaniac and she stole everything she could. Since she’s still on Earth she thinks by returning the things she stole she will be able to move on to wherever she is to go. So with Jeff helping her it should be easy.
       Rather than be stuck with Kimberlee until he graduates, Jeff reluctantly agrees to help her. Until he discovers it’s easier to steal something than to bring it back.

       This is a great book. I thought it was interesting and a bit weird, but in a good way. If it was me, I would have just dumped all the stuff at once and got the whole thing over and done with instead of returning the items one by one.     
         However, the story is about atonement and moving on with your life, or death, as Kimberlee finds out. The way Jeff and Kimberlee interact is fun, making this a great book for 12-16 year olds.

Thank you to the kind people at Harper Collins for our review copy.
RELEASE DATE: May 2013
For purchasing information on this book: CLICK HERE           

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times best-selling author Aprilynne Pike has been spinning tales since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found out running; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula (labour coach). Aprilynne lives in Arizona with her husband and four kids; she is enjoying the sunshine.

Visit Aprilynne's website here.

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau ★★★ ½

SURVIVAL IS NOW A UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENT

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13). Meet Katelyn

After the seven stages of war, Earth is a mess. Most food is inedible, the water undrinkable and the animals mutated until they are unrecognisable. Life is a continuous struggle to survive for all inhabitants. This is the world where Cia Vale lives with her family in the isolated and desolate Five Lakes Colony.

Cia has always longed to be chosen to for the Testing and then, hopefully, University like her father did, but to be Chosen you have to be the best of the best. On her Graduation Day, Cia desperately hopes to be Chosen but sadly she is not, until the day after Graduation when a representative from the University arrives.

Cia is so happy she is one of the Chosen, until her father warns her about what he can vaguely recall of the Testing after his compulsory memory wipe. Cia is then thrown into the Testing where no one can be trusted and a wrong answer can have seriously fatal consequences.

This book is an interesting dystopian book which I quite enjoyed. It is very similar to many of the latest release YA dystopian novels in that we have a lead female character who is placed in a situation of life and death in a bleak, futuristic Earth setting. The character of Cia is one which young teenage girls could easily idolise as she displays leadership qualities and compassion even while she is fighting for her very survival. The story itself is interesting and flows quickly, however the plot is one that you shouldn’t over analyse. I would recommend it for 12 to 17 year olds.

Thank you to the kind people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for our preview copy of The Testing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joelle has always loved telling stories and bringing them to life on the stage. Joelle graduated from Milikin University with a Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance and then continued onto DePaul University to complete her Masters Degree in Opera Performance. From there she went onto perform across the Chicagoland area in a variety of Operas, Operettas and Musicals. She also started teached acting classes and private voice lessons to pass her passion along to the next generation.

Joelle had never planned on writing a novel until one day she had an idea and started to write. She found her passion for creating characters lived on the page as well as the stage.

Visit Joelle's website here