No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Format: Hardback

Published: 1^st March 2010

Number of Pages: 256

Book: Borrowed From the Library

Genre: Realistic-Fiction, Fiction, YA, YA-Adult Crossover

Recommended Age: 12+

Contains: Alcohol, Drug References, Mild Swearing

No Violence, Death

‘When I was with No, you could have drawn a circle round us, a circle I wasn’t excluded from, which enclosed us and for a few minutes protected us from the world.’

Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160 and a good friend called Lucas who gets her through the school day.  At home her father cries in secret and her mother hasn’t been out of the flat properly for years.

Then Lou meets and becomes friends with No, a teenage girl living on the streets, and asks her parents if No can come to live with them.  No’s sudden presence within Lou’s fractured family has an explosive force that will change the lives of Lou – and her parents – for ever.

A brilliant challenging and thought-provoking novel about the true nature of home and homelessness.

Review:

Lou is very, very smart – perhaps too smart for her own good.  Her family is broken, damaged beyond recognition by the death of Lou’s baby sister.  So when Lou meets No, she finds a way to escape.  No is homeless, and Lou is determined to help her.  Can Lou help alcoholic No off of the streets?  Or will No be the one to fix things?

I adored this book.  It just, I don’t know, spoke to me.  I could hear Lou’s voice – with a wonderful French accent, of course – as I read, could feel her spirit.  The writing was incredible: simple, yet somehow detailed at the same time.  I just sped through, unable to put it down, loving every moment.  Truly, completely amazing.

Lou, our narrator, was such a brilliant character: so clever, yet so innocently ignorant at once.  She was so old for her age, so mature, but was just so naive when it came to things such as boys.  Lou liked to watch people, to figure them out, invent lives for them, a habit I admittedly have myself.  She asked so many questions that made me wonder also, answered just as many and amazed me with her random little facts and experiments.  She was just amazing, inspirational.  She had to grow up so fast, and was so, so brave, loyal, trusting and sweet.  I know she will stay with me for a long time.

Her best friend, Lucas, was her complete opposite: he couldn’t care less about school, was far older but was just so brilliant with Lou.  His parents weren’t there, so he had to look after himself as well.  He was so strong, just a generally great guy: smart, sweet and caring. 

The third and final main character was No.  She was rather strange, and hard to figure out.  Sometimes I loved her: she, too, was good with Lou, and was an inspiring person.  Others, I just wanted to shake her and yell: ‘how can you do this to yourself?  How can you be so stupid?’  But, once all of her past had been revealed, I realised that the reason for my shaking-wish was because I truly cared about her.  I wanted what was best for her, and my heart ached for her.

Quickly, I have to mention Lou’s parents.  Her dad was just great: so caring, always looking after Lou, putting up with her odd experiments and always ready to help her answer the questions she had.  I loved him.  Her mother, on the other hand, wasn’t as easily likable.  Yes, she’d had a hard time, losing her baby.  But I think she forgot that she had another child, one who not only lost her sister, but also her mother.  The family aspect was incredibly strong, and really did make me think more about family issues and dynamics.

Once again, I can’t tell you all how much I loved this book: I just couldn’t stop reading.  It was incredible: moving, thought-provoking and challenging, I loved every single moment.  I laughed, I cried, I smiled: it was beautiful.  And the theme was just so powerful.  How often do you think about the homeless people you pass in the streets?  Do you think about why they’re there?  Do you think about how you can help them?  Lou was young, small, with family problems of her own, but she thought about all of this.  I think we can learn a lot from Lou.

Star Rating:
4¾ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

The Double Life of Cassiel Roadnight by Jenny Valentine

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

Happy Reading

Megan

The Dead of Winter by Chris Priestley

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Format: Hardback

Published: October 2010

Number of Pages: 224

Book: For Review From Bloomsbury*

Genre: Ghost, Thriller, YA, Pre-Teen, Fiction

“My name is Michael: Michael Vyner.  I am going to tell you something of my life and of the strange events that have brought me to where I now sit, pen in hand, my heartbeat hastening at their recollection.”

A boy, a mysterious guardian and a haunted house with a terrible secret.

When Michael Vyner goes to spend the Christmas holidays with his distant and aloof guardian, he finds himself in a dark and desolate East Anglian house – a house that harbours a terrible secret which it will fight to retain.  Michael’s lonely task soon becomes clear as he is haunted not just by a solitary woman in the mists but by the terrible reason behind her death.

Review:

I don’t know whether it was the writing, the characters or the anticipation and hints of what was to come, but I sped through this book, completely addicted from page one. 

It starts off at the end of the story, with flashbacks that make no sense at the time, but make you want to read on to find out what they’re about more than anything.  You know something huge and scary is there in the book, but you don’t know where or what and you just need to find out. 

Told from the point of view of the main character, Michael, it is about how after his mother dies, he is sent to live with a man (Lord Stephan) he’s never met, but knows because his father died to save him.  The house he’s sent to is thoroughly depressing from the beginning, the only points of light being the servants.  But there’s something evil, dangerous in the house...  Is Michael just going mad or did something terrible really happen there?  Was the woman he saw really there?  And if so, why could no one else see her?

Well, I just had to know the answer to that question from the first sighting of her. 

Michael’s a good character, smart, brave and very good at noticing the little things.  The other characters are good too, getting a nice range, from the mad Lord Stephan to the beautiful Miss Charlotte to the cheerful .

And I must admit, I really didn’t see what happened in the end coming, although I had a mild suspicion on a couple of things.  I would definitely recommend this book, as it has a nice blend of ghosts, scare-factor, and mystery.  Perfect mix!  The only downside is that it’s too short, which makes the end a little abrupt, and that I never found out the time period it’s set it, which kind of bugged me all the way through.  But, despite all of that, a brilliant, smart and spine-tingling read that’s positively addictive.  A must read!

Star Rating:

4 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Tyme’s End by B. R. Collins

Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley


Challenges It's Taking Part In:
100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)
British Book Challenge (Hosted by The Bookette)
Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)
Off The Shelf Challenge (Hosted by BA Reading Challenges)

Happy Reading

Megan

*This book was recieved from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Series:
Publisher: Razorbill Penguin Lorien Legacies, Book One

Format: Hardback

Published: 26th August 2010

Number of Pages: 368
Book: Bought
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fiction, Fantasy, YA
Recommended Age: 12+
Contains: Quite A Bit Of Violence, Mild Swearing, Kissing Scenes and Drinking At A Party

 

We

May Be Walking Past You.

We

Are Watching You As You Read This.

We

May Be In Your City, Your Town.

We

Are Living Anonymously.

We

Will Find Each Other.

We

Will Make Our Last Stand Together.

If

We Win.

We

Are Saved.

And

You Are Saved As Well.

If We Lose, All Is Lost.

In the beginning we were nine.

We left when we were very young, almost too young to remember.  Almost.  And now.

Three are gone. 

We are here to keep our race alive,which was almost entirely obliterated.  We’re just trying to survive.

Six are left.

But we are hunted, and the hunters won’t stop until they’ve killed us all.

They caught Number One in Malasia. 

Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.

I am Number Four.

I know that I am next.

Review:

I must admit, normally I don’t read alien-themed books, the only one really being Daniel X by James Patterson (which I loved, by the way).  But this book had me gripped from the blurb, which is pretty impressive, as I tend not to like judging books by their covers. 

I absolutely loved I Am Number Four, and it had me reading well into the night.  Everything about it was incredible, from the characters to the writing style, the battle scenes to the sweet romantic ones.  It literally has everything, first love, loss, dramatic fights, alien beings with the most mind-blowing powers – called ‘Legacies’ – and the most evil super-aliens I’ve ever read about.

The book revolves around Number Four, and how he begins to develop his Legacies so he can defeat the wicked Mogdorians and save his race, the Loriens.  The Mogdorians destroyed the planet Lorien, after they had ruined their own from their own not-caring and ignorance.  The Lorien people are beautiful, from the way they care for their planet and all on it, to the way they love: one partner forever, one true soulmate. 

Nine children and nine guardians escaped the planet during the destruction, Number Four being one of them, in the hope that they will eventually be able to return to their planet.  Number Four was an incredibly strong character, and I loved the way he saw things and the way he wrote.  He falls for the human Sarah, a sweet all-American girl, and the scenes between the two of them are really touching.  Four’s guardian is Henri, a compassionate man who never really got over the loss of his home, and who loves Four more than anything.

I must admit, I saw one of the twists coming before Four did, but there were loads I couldn’t predict.  If I’d had time, I thing I would have been more than a little happy to sit down and read the three-hundred-and-sixty-odd paged book in one go.  I really hope that there will be another book in the series out soon, as I would love to read more about the characters.  This is a must-read for anyone who loves to be completely hooked from the word go, and even if you don’t normally like sci-fi novels, I would tell you to read it anyway.  You will not be disappointed, and may even want to read more alien books.  I’d say I Am Number Four is number one in my top-ten book-list of 2010, and is in my top-ten of all time.

Quick afterword, the book is going to be released as a movie soon, and I think it will be one of the best films ever, if they stick to the book.

Star Rating:

5 Out of 5

Read This If You Liked:

Daniel X by James Patterson

Gone by Michael Grant

Maxiumum Ride by James Patterson

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

Publisher: Penguin Classics

Format: Paperback

Published: 1865

Number of Pages: 4oo

Book: Bought

Genre: Classic, Fantasy, Fiction, Nonsense, Children's Classic
Recommended Age: 9+
Contains: No: Violence, Sexual or Drug References Or Swearing
However, the language could be a little difficult, confusing or boring for some

“Contrariwise... if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be but as it isn’t, it ain’t.  That’s logic.”

‘I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit hole... without the least idea what was to happen afterwards,’ wrote Lewis Carroll, describing how Alice was conjured up one ‘golden afternoon’ in 1862 to entertain his child-friend Alice Liddell.  His dream words of nonsensical Wonderland and back-to-front Looking-Glass kingdom depict order turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig, time is abandoned at a disordered tea-party and a chaotic game of chess makes a seven-year-old girl a Queen.  But amongst the anarchic humour and sparkling word play, puzzles and riddles, are poignant moments of nostalgia for lost childhood.  Original and experimental, the Alice books give readers a window on both child and adult worlds.

Review:

The quote says it all: the entire book is completely and utterly insanely upside-down.  It is also, however, very funny and a good read for both children and adults.  I absolutely adored it! 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was far more childlike and innocent compared to Through the Looking-Glass, which from the poem that comes before the actual book seems to be a far darker, more sinister story....  And, as it turns out, it was.

Wonderland is beautiful and bizarre, at times so completely daft that it makes you laugh out loud.  I love the character of Alice, the practical girl who finds herself speaking complete and utter nonsense after spending only a few minutes in the topsy-turvy world that is Wonderland.  The only downside to the story: its far, far too short, being only eighty-odd pages.  I could have gone on reading about the crazy talking animals and insane hatters and hares forever, and was actually sad and disappointed when I had finished it.

Through the Looking-Glass has more of a story line than the first book, being all about how Alice enters yet another magical world through a mirror in her home and how once there tries to become queen through a real life game of chess where she’s a pawn.  It has all the humour and madness of Wonderland, just with a slightly darker theme.  It’s also longer, which is a very, very good thing in my opinion, as I love the craziness that are the worlds created by Carroll.   However, I’d just like to mention that neither of the books are like the new Tim Burton film about Alice, although a mixture of the two are very similar to the orignal animated Disney film.

All in all, one of my favourite mainly children’s classic, and very high up on my fave classics list.  It was a fun read, and I felt right at home in the world Carroll created as I myself am completely bonkers.  I would recommend it to anyone and everyone who wants to be amused....

Star Rating:

4 Out of 5

Read This Book If You Liked:

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Coraline by Neil Gaiman


Challenges It's Taking Part In:
100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)
British Book Challenge (Hosted by The Bookette)
Off The Shelf Challenge (Hosted by BA Reading Challenges)
Dusty Volumes Reading Challenge (Hosted by Midnyte Reader