YA – Page 3 – The Constellation of Moon

The Twisted Tree Review

Posted on January 9, 2019

The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

Part ghost story, part Nordic thriller – this is a twisty, tense and spooky YA debut, perfect for fans of CORALINE and Michelle Paver.

Martha can tell things about a person just by touching their clothes, as if their emotions and memories have been absorbed into the material. It started the day she fell from the tree at her grandma’s cabin and became blind in one eye.

Determined to understand her strange ability, Martha sets off to visit her grandmother, Mormor – only to discover Mormor is dead, a peculiar boy is in her cabin and a terrifying creature is on the loose.

Then the spinning wheel starts creaking, books move around and terror creeps in . . .

Set in the remote snows of contemporary Norway, THE TWISTED TREE is a ghost story that twists and turns – and never takes you quite where you’d expect.

Rating:

I got this lovely book as a proof thanks to the amazing people from Hot Key Books (they’re some of my favourite people, but don’t tell them!). When I first heard about it, I wanted to read it because it sounded creepy enough but not too mcuh (because I don’t really do horror, it gives me nightmares).

The Twisted Tree follows Martha, who lost her eye recently after falling from (pause) the twisted tree (in case you wondered). And since she has fallen, everytime she touches clothing, even if it is just a quick brush, she gets glimpses of feelings or memories from the person who owns the clothing.

So she decides to visit her grandmother, Mormor, who lives in the cabin next to the tree. But when she gets there, Mormor isn’t there. There’s someone else, a young man who likes waistcoats (immediately liked him, waistcoats are bonus points in my scale) and seems to know where everything is, better than Martha.

As Martha starts to get to know Stig (the waistcoat mystery man), the island where the cabin is (and therefore them) becomes more and more creepy, something is out there hunting and it won’t stop, until someone stops it!

Trying not to spoil any further, I have to say, I loved all the Norse/Norwegian mythology woven into this. It doesn’t feel like a stretch but rather as it it belongs perfectly and nothing was out of the ordinary (though everything is). Martha’s “power” is interesting too, and the way she reads clothing was intriguing. The fact that different fabrics/threads show memories slightly different or differnet kinds of memories was one of those little things that make it unique and special. There was SO much detail and care put into this book and it shows.

I had a hard time putting down, and I just wanted to see what happened next. And I loved it. It is a great book, plus it isn’t a huge book (bonus points because sometimes I just want a good read that is a quick read too, and this one ticks both things).

Moon recommends

Go buy this delightful frightful book that comes out tomorrow! (Can you believe it? So soon!) I have a creepy/dark read to recommend next week, so I’ll stick to that, since it is a very good one (promise!).

Book Review, Books

Only Love Can Break Your Heart Review

Posted on December 26, 2018

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Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber

Sometimes a broken heart is all you need to set you free… Reiko loves the endless sky and electric colours of the Californian desert. It is a refuge from an increasingly claustrophobic life of family pressures and her own secrets. Then she meets Seth, a boy who shares a love of the desert and her yearning for a different kind of life. But Reiko and Seth both want something the other can’t give them. As summer ends, things begin to fall apart. But the end of love can sometimes be the beginning of you…

Rating:

I struggled a little with this book. It has some really really good things, but it also has some pet peeves so it was hard to rate it highly due to them (and there were sadly a lot).

One of the topics of the book is what the concept of love is, and another is grief. Both give it really good points, and they are explored in an amazing way. Each character affected by the death of Mika grieves differently and you can see this (and as the story progresses, Rei becomes more aware of it too) which I found really good. This grief not only affects each of them and who they are, but their relationships and as I mentioned above, it is done very well. (I would even add, the grief you feel for different deaths/loses is different in itself. You think you know what grief is after one and then another one happens and it is not the same!)

However, Reiko was an extremely spoiled person and that meant low points. Life is so “easy” and she just can’t seem to think outside her circle, even when things aren’t going the way they are meant to (or that she thinks they should be going).

The homecoming party was odd, and I know that it is part of what spurred the whole book but it felt a bit empty. However, things start to get better from this point on in the book. For most of the first half, all I did was cringe a lot about almost everything going on. And there is a huge case of parents that are there when needed as plot devise but absent the rest of the time, conveniently. (I understand it is hard to make parents be part of the story, but in this particular one, they should’ve been less a plot devise and more part of it, they could’ve played a bigger better part).

Still, I liked some parts and even had to share a quote (last paragraph of page 286, UK paperback edition) with my friends, because it was just very perfect and I had to. And I found the exploration of “who do we fall in love”, and how people change (or our perception of them, or even ourselves change) a refreshing topic and it was a lot less romance than I expected it to be (which in this case is a plus).

Moon recommends

I’d say to give this lovely book a spin. If you’re more curious on explorations about grief try Letters to the Lost and for some reason this book reminded me of Floored, so why not check that one out too?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that whatever the circumstances it was as good as it could be.

Book Review, Books

Shadows on the Moon Review

Posted on December 22, 2018

Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriott

On my fourteenth birthday when the sakura was in full bloom, the men came to kill us. We saw them come, Aimi and me. We were excited, because we did not know how to be frightened. We had never seen soldiers before.

Suzume is a shadow-weaver. She can create mantles of darkness and light, walk unseen in the middle of the day, change her face. She can be anyone she wants to be. Except herself.

Suzume died officially the day the Prince’s men accused her father of treason. Now even she is no longer sure of her true identity.

Is she the girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother’s new husband, Lord Terayama? A lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama’s kitchens? Or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands?

Everyone knows Yue is destined to capture the heart of a prince. Only she knows that she is determined to use his power to destroy Terayama.

And nothing will stop her. Not even love.

Rating:

I got this book and the companion (Barefoot in the Wind) at Walker’s YA Winter Wonderland Event (which was amazing!). I had eyed it before the event but my never ending TBR meant I hadn’t prioritised it (shame on me).

The book is set in the Moonlit Lands which is similar to Japan but not exactly. There is magic, and the Moon is the “god(ess)” of this world. Suzume has a happy life, and is celebrating her birthday, when men come and kill his father and her cousin. She manages to escape by wishing herself to not be there and for them not to see her.

This is a “retelling” of Cinderella, but not the usual kind. Suzume has lost her identity with the shock of everything, and part of her suspects what caused it but then another part of her is in survival mode, and as such she makes use of her shadow weaving inadvertedly.

It was interesting to read it but at times I felt there was a lot trying to happen in one single story that maybe wasn’t necessary. However, all in all, the shadow weaving was an interesting concept and I wish there had been more on that and less on other parts of the story.

The revenge plot line isn’t an immediate “you killed my father (and cousin) prepare to die”. It takes a while for Suzume to figure out who exactly did this and why, despite the fact that it is easy to see it as a reader.

There is also her learning on how to use shadow weaving, and I like Youta, though it felt like he was just there as a plot devise, which I wished he wasn’t, because he was one of my favourite characters (and the hunting falcon).

In general, it was a good twist to Cinderella, and the ending didn’t leave me annoyed or anything. It tied up nicely and made you feel satisfied. But it didn’t stick to me as mucha s I wish it had and I didn’t care much for Suzume, but rather I was curious how the story in general would pan out rather than because I cared about her. This is an odd thing for me, since I usually become either quite invested in the world, the side stories or characters, but for this book, the main thing was the story itself.

Moon recommends

There a lot of retellings of different fairytales, like Cinder for Cinderella (and Shadows on the Moon), or Hunted by Meagan Spooner (or any of Robin McKinley’s retellings, Beauty is one of many).

Book Review, Books

Nine Review

Posted on November 2, 2018

Nine by Zach Hines

In an alternate world startlingly close to our own, humans have nine lives—and they can’t wait to burn straight through them.

As you shed lives, you shed your awkward phases: one death is equal to one physical and mental upgrade. Julian’s friends are obsessed with the idea of burning lives, but Julian is determined to stay on his first for as long as he can. His mother, the ultimate cautionary tale, burned through her first eight in just a few years, and Julian has no intention of succumbing to the debilitating rebirth sickness that she inflicted on herself.

But the regime has death incentives aimed at controlling overpopulation, and Julian realizes that he’s going to have to burn at some point—especially when he becomes a target for Nicholas, the manipulative leader of the Burners, the school’s suicide club. And when Julian eventually succumbs, he uncovers suspicious gaps in the rebirth system that may explain exactly why his mother went so far down the rabbit hole years ago. Along with a group of student dissenters, Julian sets out to find answers and is soon on the verge of exposing the greatest conspiracy ever unleashed on the world.

He has just eight more lives to uncover the brutal truth.

Rating:

The concept of this book intrigued me very much, and I knew it may not be a “popular” book that everyone wanted to read, but it definitely had me at the premise.

What would I do with 9 lives, and also, how do you cope with rebirth? How do people come back to life? There were so many questions. So many of them. And some never got answered, however, one things this book did was a great world bulding (not that it shows itself like a word vomit, thankfully) and it gave you information as you needed (not exactly when you wanted it, but it was worth waiting to find out how they were reborn, what happened as you died.

There was also a lot of intersting characters, and it posed a question on suicide and death.

And population control, as the goverment gives economical incentives for families to reach a certain “lives expended” quotient so that they can earn more or get better jobs/promotions, or better homes/neighbourhoods. And it was interesting to see how it had been posed in this book and made me wonder if we had those lives how it would be controlled.

I think I would’ve been one of those that stayed at her first life for as long as possible as the panicky anxious part of me would think “but what if someone runs me over? or a fire happens? I may loose a life then and what if I was already on my 8th or something like that?”

All in all it was a much creepier read than I expected it to be, but it was also extremely interesting and it kept me hooked.

Moon recommends

Read Nine for a spooky creepy look at life that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A book that kept comign to mind as read this was Scythe which treats the whole “immortality” in a different way but also ponders what humanity does when death isn’t somethign that happens in the same way it used to.

Book Review

The Boneless Mercies Review

Posted on October 29, 2018

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke

A dark standalone YA fantasy about a band of mercenary girls in search of female glory.

Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies—girls hired to kill quickly, quietly, and mercifully. But Frey is weary of the death trade and, having been raised on the heroic sagas of her people, dreams of a bigger life.

When she hears of an unstoppable monster ravaging a nearby town, Frey decides this is the Mercies’ one chance out. The fame and fortune of bringing down such a beast would ensure a new future for all the Mercies. In fact, her actions may change the story arc of women everywhere.

Rating:

It took me a little to get into this book. Mostly because it starts with a death and that is an interesting way of starting (it reminded me a little of palliative care). However, once I got more familiar with the world and what being a Mercy meant, then it became easier to follow.

It is like a lyrical epic quest story and there was beauty about that, as it was also intriguing to learn about all the ways of seeing the world that each “group” had. A witches war, the quicks, and so many others that made me want to know more about each of them.

Another interesting thing was the way relationships exist here and how things just flow and happen. There’s a lack of judgement that was strange and magical to read, and it was interesting to see that woven intot he tale. You never know for sure what is going on.

I also loved the actual monster fight, but not a lot to say since I do not want to spoil it, but it had a thing I liked and didn’t like and it was refreshing to see.

Moon recommends

Reading The Boneless Mercies. I haven’t read such a lyrical feminist adventure in a while (combined, I have read one or the other) and it was good to read. I am not entirely sure what kind of book fits with it so hard to suggest something else. Maybe Fallible Justice, even if it is a little different in style (it is urban fantasy rather than just fantasy).

Book Review, Books

Jinxed Review

Posted on September 27, 2018

Jinxed by Amy McCulloch

Lacey Chu has big dreams of becoming a companioneer for MONCHA, the largest tech firm in North America and the company behind the “baku” – a customisable smart pet that functions as a phone but makes the perfect companion too. When Lacey finds out she hasn’t been accepted into Profectus – the elite academy for cutting edge tech – it seems her dreams are over. Worst of all, rather than getting to choose one of the advanced bakus, she’s stuck with a rubbish insect one.

Then, one night, Lacey comes across the remains of an advanced baku. Once it might’ve been in the shape of a cat but it’s now mangled and broken, no sign of electronic life behind its eyes. Days of work later and the baku opens its eyes. Lacey calls him Jinx – and Jinx opens up a world for her that she never even knew existed, including entry to the hallowed halls of Profecus. Slowly but surely, Jinx becomes more than just a baku to Lacey – he becomes her perfect companion. But what is Jinx, really? His abilities far surpass anything written into his code or built into his motherboard. He seems to be more than just a robotic pet. He seems … real.

Rating:

The first chapter after the prologue had me complete head over heels with it. My engineer’s heart adored reading about a teenager soldering (because I did it too, and worked with circuits, bread boards, etc).

I loved seeing a girl being the one behind the electronics with a female “hero”, role model, and also having at heart the fact that she wants to make things better for her mother who has done a lot for her.

The concept of the baku was also delightful, though I admit a few parts of it puzzled me (like the leash, they pierce your ear but is the leashing wireless, wired, or how does it work? also, piercings take a long time to heal the nasty things, so it’d be quite intriguing that it works so immediately), but all in all I am liking the concept. I can see pros and cons for it and that makes me happy because I work in technology so this was definitely the book for me.

I wasn’t too keen on the romance, but I can see why Lacey would feel the way she did. Also, Jinx is a fun character and seeing him grow too alongside Lacey was wonderful. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Moon recommends

So if you are (or used to be) a teenager that is into technology or is intrigued by it, definitely recommend this cute book. You can also check Amy’s other books, Potion Diaries.

Book Review

The Gilded King Review

Posted on September 21, 2018

The Gilded King by Josie Jaffrey

In the Blue, the world’s last city, all is not well.

Julia is stuck within its walls. She serves the nobility from a distance until she meets Lucas, a boy who believes in fairytales that Julia’s world can’t accommodate. The Blue is her prison, not her castle, and she’d escape into the trees if she didn’t know that contamination and death awaited humanity outside.

But not everyone in the Blue is human, and not everyone can be contained.

Beyond the city’s boundaries, in the wild forests of the Red, Cameron has precious little humanity left to lose. As he searches for a lost queen, he finds an enemy rising that he thought long dead. An enemy that the humans have forgotten how to fight.

One way or another, the walls of the Blue are coming down. The only question is what side you’ll be on when they do.

Rating:

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

This book really pulled some punches on me. Starting with the fact at first I just couldn’t get into Cam’s chapters as much and part of me wanted to get through with them to go back to Julia’s.

And then all of a sudden I felt completely the opposite and I wanted more Cam chapters than Julia’s.

Not that either was bad, but more that at times one was more intriguing to me than the other. The concept of The Silvers/Nobles/Izcacus/etc is neat and I like that even a little bit of Lestat was into this book. They don’t glitter (yes!, thousand times yes!) and they are in a much more futuristic setting rather than going to the past or the present/contemporary.

Instead you have an intriguing dystopia that keeps you asking questions and trying to figure out which side is right, why are they doing what they are doing, and who exactly is right and wrong in their assumptions. I breezed through it and really loved. Then I realised that the next one isn’t out yet (why are you doing this to me world?!).

Moon Recommends

So, I guess my advice this time is to buy this one, preorder A Bargain in Silver and go curl up into a ball until it comes out and you can read more about Emmy.

Book Review

It Ends With You Review

Posted on September 17, 2018

It Ends With You by S. K. Wright

‘If I’d told the truth, it would have been fiction’

Everyone loves Eva. Beautiful, bright, fun, generous – she’s perfect.

So when her dead body is found in a ditch in the local woods the only thing anyone wants to know is: Who could have done this?

It has to be Luke, her boyfriend. He has the motive, the means, the opportunity and he’s no stranger to the police.

Even though the picture is incomplete, the pieces fit. But as time passes, stories change.

Told from six narrative strands, this cleverly woven and utterly compulsive novel challenges preconceptions; makes you second, third and fourth guess yourself; and holds an uncomfortable mirror up to the way societies and systems treat those they perceive to be on the outside

Rating:

The best way to describe this book is to say that it started not too creepy and then it kept throwing plot twists at you that were surprising.

I loved finding out all of Eva’s “dirty” secrets and seeing how even then everyone was still sure Luke had done (despite the evidence that was shown). It was also sad to see how people react when someone comes from a less privileged background or are just different and that was quite interesting to read too.

The many relationships between families, between friends, between couples, and teachers, students, figures of authority and in general society were quite interesting to see.

The format made it fun to read (I do wonder if it will “age” well, as who knows how long some of the things used will stay). And even though I usually do not like having too many POV, this book makes the most of it and does it well.

Moon recommends

Read It Ends With You, I read it really fast and didn’t want to put it down. You may also enjoy One of Us is Lying or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (coming out next year). They’re all along the same vibe and lines and all good to read.

Book Review

Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? Review

Posted on September 1, 2018

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Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at “normality” for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for the new friends she never expected to make – who each have their own reasons for being there. Luckily Olive has a plan to solve all their problems. But how do you fix the world when you can’t fix yourself?

Rating:

My first Holly Bourne book was It Only Happens In The Movies, and I absolutely loved it, it was a different kind of contemporary book. So when this little one came out and it touched on kindness and mental health I knew I had to read it.

It did not disappoint. Olive has issues, and she is sent to a camp as a possible treatment. There she meets other people with different mental illnesses, and she starts going off on her own theories of how to fix herself.

I love the part maths took here (and the character that brings them into place), and Olive was in part lovable, part I wanted to tell her to stop and listen and just not do what she was doing. But then I have had a lot more years of experience than she does in the book, and I did do some crazy things regarding my mental health when I was Olive’s age.

However, this book made me quite emotional and I kept wanting to read it and not stop. Plus it touches on being kind to yourself, and starting there but also on doing small acts of kindness to others. Which is always a good thing and it is lovely to see that promoted.

Moon recommends

Maybe just go read more of Holly’s books? I have reviewed It Only Happens In The Movies here so you can check that one out, or go buy this book.

Book Review

Undead Girl Gang Review

Posted on August 28, 2018

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There’s not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley’s favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.

Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer…before the killer strikes again.

Rating:

This novel was a refreshing voice and it made me laugh. It was also quite good to have a witch that is not your usual witch, and I loved it. I also loved how her spells turn out.

I read this in a couple of sittings because it was just fun and cute and I kept wanting to know what Mila was doing and pondering exactly why the girls had been killed and by whom.

The twists made me laugh (mushrooms, mushrooms), and it just felt like a fun book yet it was dealing with death and difficult things happening. People think the girls died by a suicide pact, so with this premise Mila starts trying to prove it wrong, and it is a sad book.

Yes, there are zombies but it definitely isn’t your usual zombie story at all! But it does challenge the mean girls and it challenges Riley and Mila’s friendship and it is good, and interesting.

I think the best way to describe it is a refreshing fun out of the norm book.

Moon recommends

I think you should read Undead Girl Gang. If you like mysteries and thriller like, try One of Us is Lying, or if you prefer something funny, try Heretics Anonymous.