YA – Page 14 – M J Mallon YA Author and Poet

My Kyrosmagica Review of The Archived Victoria Schwab

Goodreads Synopsis:

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what she once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

My review:

Well before I even start my review I would like to say that I just loved the cover art, and the title too! In Victoria Schwab’s The Archive the library isn’t just a place to store books, no it is so much more than this, it is a mysterious place where people’s dead loved ones are archived away like precious memories. More and more of them are waking up, and it is Mac’s job as a Keeper to make sure that they return to the Archive. As you can imagine this is no easy task, but Mac has been trained well by her grandfather Da who has every faith in her.

This is the second Victoria Schwab novel that I have read, my first being Vicious, so I had high hopes. Like I said, The Archive is a truly fascinating concept and I think Schawb really pulled it off well. I think every single person would do what they could to keep the memory of their loves ones who have passed away alive. Mac is just so relatable, and so human, of course she can’t bear the thought of her dead brother being locked away in a drawer. But is her brother really her brother anymore? Or is he something else entirely?

In the Archived we have a world in which the Histories, the Librarians, The Archive, The Returns, and the Outer exist alongside a family still coming to terms with the sudden death of Mac’s brother. We sense the personal and individual responses to grief in Mac’s relationship with her mother and her father. Along the way Mac meets Owen and Wesley, (super cute guy-liner guy), and these three characters drive the plot forward. Mac’s father seems to do his best to encourage Mac to spend time with Wesley. Not the way most fathers behave! I found this quite touching and cute.

To begin with I have to admit that I struggled with some of the details of the novel. I found Da a bit confusing, I started off thinking he was Mac’s father but realised that he was in fact her grandfather. I also thought that Mac sounded more like a boy than a girl. BUT, and this is a big BUT. Victoria Schwab knows how to write, she writes amazing characters that draw you into the story and her dialogue is just spot on. I am so jealous of her dialogue! I really enjoyed the second half of the novel, very mysterious and exciting, with a great plot twist, and Mac is just so fearless in solving the mystery. A big high five for Mac!

So overall my advice would be to read The Archived, not to shelve it, go on read it! Most definitely. I will definitely be picking up the second in the series, The Unbound.

Highly recommended for readers of YA fantasy, paranormal, romance, mystery….

My star rating:

Author’s website – very unusual opening page! See how quickly you can uncrumple the paper.

http://www.victoriaschwab.com/

and her WordPress blog:

http://veschwab.wordpress.com

Have you read The Archived? Do leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Goodreads Synopsis:

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

My review:

I just loved Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. A big, full, book case heart for this one, great cover art, perfect YA novel within. My only regret, that I didn’t read it when I was a teenager myself! Shame I can’t time travel back to do a bit of reading. Anyway I’m still in touch with that side of me, my teenage self is still there somewhere deep in the layers of my enforced adulthood!

The initial idea behind the book, the hidden letters to her crushes, is a simple concept but the way Jenny Han develops upon this and draws us into the story is just wonderful. Lara Jean’s relationship with her older sister Margo begins to change when Margo goes off to University in Scotland and dumps her boyfriend Josh just before she goes. Lara is shocked, Josh is like one of the family and everyone loves him, and when I say love him, I mean love him. She finds herself now taking the role of “big sister” to her younger sister Kitty, who is wise beyond her years. I love how Jenny Han expresses Lara Jean’s confusion and distress at her new role by placing her behind a steering wheel and making her face her fears. Okay so it’s a bit of a disaster, she doesn’t manage to do everything perfectly like Margo does but that’s what makes her so endearing. She isn’t Miss Popularity. She isn’t Miss Confident, but none of that matters because she is Lara Jean, and Lara Jean is infinitely more likeable than some overconfident, pretentious girl. I found the relationships between the sisters so touching, probably because it spoke to me personally as I have an older daughter going off to University this September and both of my girls will be affected by the change. Jenny Han writes about the bonds, and dynamics of sisterly relationships with such humour and empathy. The fake relationship between Lara and Peter is perfectly written. Peter’s character evolves so naturally. I can’t find fault with any aspect of the book, the dialogue, and every single one of the characters are so convincing that by the end of the book it was almost as if Lara Jean and her family and friends live and breathe. In the beginning her fake boyfriend Peter doesn’t seem the right choice for her, but by the end of the book he steals the show from Josh. There are sad elements of the novel, that tug at your heartstrings but there are also happy and laugh out loud moments. In fact if there is a moral to this story it is that you can rise above the worst things that can happen to you, (her mother’s death), if you have one simple ingredient, a loving family that pulls together. It just encapsulates life’s up and downs in such a lovely, sweet way. It is without doubt one of my favourite YA novels to date. Oh, and the references to Korean food well that just sealed the deal for me, yum, yum.

As to the ending well let’s just say thank goodness there’s going to be a sequel, or we’d have to get a petition letter out there to Jenny Han super pronto!

I would highly recommend, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, 100% to readers of YA, Contemporary, romance.

My star rating, well of course it has to be an excellent, well deserved 5 stars!

DISCLAIMER: “As of 13th September 2017 we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.

Buying Links:

Kindle UK: http://amzn.to/2xv3oJF

Paperback UK: http://amzn.to/2y3q9rf

Favourite quotes:

“When someone’s been gone a long time, at first you save up all the things you want to tell them. You try to keep track of everything in your head. But it’s like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you’re just clutching air and grit.”

”If love is like a possession, maybe my letter are like my exorcisms.”

“I wonder what it’s like to have that much power over a boy. I don’t think I’d want it; it’s a lot of responsibility to hold a person’s heart in your hands.”

“I delete the picture of him from my phone; I delete his number. I think that if I just delete him enough, it will be like none of it ever happened and my heart won’t hurt so badly.”

“Margot would say she belongs to herself. Kitty would say she belongs to no one. And I guess I would say I belong to my sisters and my dad, but that won’t always be true. To belong to someone—I didn’t know it, but now that I think about, it seems like that’s all I’ve ever wanted. To really be somebody’s, and to have them be mine.”

“If you were mine, I would never have broken up with you, not in a million years.”

Authors website: http://dearjennyhan.com/

Have you read To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before? Do leave a comment below I’d love to hear from you.

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My Kyrosmagica Review of Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Goodreads Synopsis:

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper’s destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can’t get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she’s charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper’s least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David’s own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y’all beg for more.

My Kyrosmagica Review:

Rebel Belle really tickled me pink! I love the cover, the sword through the girlie necklace. Our debutante shocks us right at the beginning of the novel with a sudden shift in behaviour. I must confess I didn’t pay too much attention to the blurb, I just read the story blind and I was so glad I did. I was stunned when our heroine Harper, the girl who was bound to be homecoming queen, ended up in the toilet of all places kicking ass. At first glance Harper seemed more interested in lipstick and the trappings of being crowned but don’t be fooled, Harper is a Paladin, and Paladin’s aren’t to be trifled with. I liked the title Paladin, kind of made me think of Aladdin! Actually, there are also Mages, and an Oracle too, but no more about that, just thought I’d whet your appetite a bit!

From that opening night she’s drawn into the biggest responsibility of her whole life, and believe me this girl is used to a heck load of responsibilities, and extra curricular activities! She must protect David, the guy that she’s been fighting with since seventh grade. Not only does she have to be his protector but she soon learns that she must protect him at all costs, giving up on all the things she still wants to do, and even to the point of losing her own life. A bit of a tall order! But you get the sense that Harper is up to it, trust me Harper is not one to sit quietly doing nothing. All this with the most important night of her life, Cotillon, just around the corner. Expectations are high, her sister was also homecoming queen, but there is more to this than I want to divulge in this review. It’s a bit of a spoiler so no more said.

I love the characters in Rebel Belle, they are so well crafted and draw you into the story. Harper and her friend Bee are just such good friends, looking out for each other. David is so cute, and so different from her boyfriend Ryan. I loved the way that Harper and David begin by hating each other but slowly understand and develop feelings for each other. With her superpowers it is as if she can now see more clearly and realises that even though her boyfriend, Ryan may be a heartthrob, Mr. Popular, and super nice, he may not be the one for her. She needs someone a bit more quirky, and David could be the one to fit the bill. I also really enjoyed Harper’s aunts, so entertaining. Full marks for characterisation.

The middle section of the novel though good, dragged a little for me, I would say that the beginning and the end of the novel are absolutely first class. So stick with it, it’s well worth it. Some reviews have criticised the love triangle between Harper, her boyfriend Ryan and new love interest David, but I enjoyed this aspect of the novel. I thought some of the details of the magical powers were stretching the believability factor a bit, but overall I really enjoyed Rebel Belle. It’s a lovely, light-hearted read, just don’t take it too seriously!

I loved the ending so, so much. In fact it made up for any tiny flaws. I just found it so funny. I won’t go into details as that would spoil it for you, but if you don’t laugh I will have to kill you!

This is a definite Laugh out Loud book, with a wonderful touch of fantasy, if you don’t like stories with these two elements then don’t touch it with a barge pole. But hey, who doesn’t like a good chuckle?

My rating:

My favourite quotes:

“Looking back, none of this would have happened if I’d brought lip gloss the night of the Homecoming Dance.”

“I picked up the nearest weapon I could lay my hands on: a stapler. I lifted it, going for “menacing.” I admit it lacked a certain elegance, but hey. It was worth a shot. David placed his hand on my arm and pushed it back down.
“What?”
“Just . . . that’s embarrassing for all of us,” he replied.”

“The great thing about best friends is that they know you really well. And the terrible thing about best friends is that they know YOU really well.”

“He and I had loathed each other since kindergarten. Heck, even before that. Mom says he’s the only baby I ever bit in daycare.”

“Look at him. Whole life turned upside down, and he’s in there making pizza rolls.”

“I had to get out of this before I was killed with some elaborate cutlery.”

“Aunt May, my sweet Aunt May, who taught me how to knit, who bought me a piece of candy every time we went to the store, jabbed a cocktail fork at my eye.”

Recommended for Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic, Romance, and Contemporary readers. Lots of scope there!

Authors website http://readingwritingrachel.blogspot.com

and her tumblr:

https://therealladyhawkins.tumblr.com

Twitter:

@LadyHawkins

Have you read Rebel Belle? Do leave a comment below I’d love to hear from you.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

I’m too sexy for this book! YALC panel event

I’m too sexy for this book! Am I talking about myself again? Eh, I think I better confess it was a YALC panel event, and it was rip roaringly entertaining. So of course, I want to share it with you. The chair James Dawson started off the proceedings by donning a fetching crown, announcing his role as Queen of Teen! Well, he deserves the title as he now has his first YA book out, Hollow Pike, watch out, witches never sleep! A very fetching Queen he was too. I was sitting next to my teenage daughter, well she’s eighteen, and still a teenager, just, and I heard her giggling just as much as me throughout the proceedings. This panel event was an absolute MUST.

James Dawson introduced us to the panel of fellow authors, Cat Clarke, Non Pratt and Beth Reekles who were more than happy to join in with a frank and illuminating discussion about sex and sexuality in YA. There was no skirting around the issue, sex reared its head and was allowed out to play.

Should writing sexy scenes be an issue in YA?

Why not write sexy scenes? Cat didn’t feel that writing sexy scenes should be an issue. Non said that she was a “horny and curious” fourteen year old. She wanted to read ‘horny and curious’ books. Beth was fifteen when she started writing Kissing Booth.The Kissing Booth was winner of the Most Popular Teen Fiction Watty Award, and was also shortlisted for the Young Adult Romance Novel of the Year in the 2014 RNAs. Non Pratt’s Trouble touches on a subject that all parent’s dread, teenage pregnancy. The overriding opinion of all the panellists: kids are exploring anyway so why not write what’s happening, rather than pretend that it isn’t happening. Well, this takes me back to my teenage self, I remember reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover. I don’t suppose I told my mother I was reading it but there you are. We’ve all been there, done it. Nothing has changed.

What’s the process of writing a love scene? How do you get in the mood?

passion-flower-284291_640 — Passion Flower! Pixabay.com

Beth

I don’t go out and buy a flower. Maybe she should! This Passion flower is getting me in the mood! She watches romantic movies, and reads chick lit, and tries to write with her younger teenage self in mind. What would she have wanted to read at that age?

Non

Likes sex to be graphic, realistic. In order to get in the mood, “she hammers it out!” Her words! She writes her favourite scenes first, drinking, fighting, and sex scenes! Hey, Non, don’t hold back!

Cat

She has a sexy time playlist, via twitter which includes Prince but stays clear of Rod Stewart. She likes to write revenge sex, check out her book, Undone, in Goodreads it is described as ‘A searing story of love, revenge and betrayal.’ Don’t get on the wrong side of Cat, she scratches!

Gatekeepers reaction to sex in YA books.

Non

Fear creates taboos. Parents and children don’t like to think about each other having sex. This sounds fair comment to me! Non didn’t have to alter her sex scenes but she did have a problem with the bureaucracy that tends to accompany school visits. She found that form filling, and opposition on the grounds of parents not liking it or on religious grounds were evident in school visits. All of these can of course be a problem for writer’s of YA ‘sexy’ books.

Cat

Parents don’t like to see sex in YA books. They like to see good, worthy content. It’s crazy. Cat hasn’t had too much trouble with gatekeepers (agents, editors). She has never had to change her books, even though there is an oral sex scene in her book. Cats just get away with so much don’t they?

tabby-114782_150 — Yes, I get away with everything! pixabay.com

Beth

Is aware that some of her readership tends to be younger, say eleven years old, so she writes her books with that in mind. When Beth goes on Goodreads she find that parents sometimes have problems with content. Hey, stay away from Goodreads, they’re bound to tell you off!

The chair, James Dawson has so many enlightening things to say. He announces that kids are at the mercy of google and it is better to read a novel than to be subjected to much harder hitting sexual images on google. I absolutely agree.

With that in mind should there be age ratings on books? All the panellists said…………………………. you guessed it NO.

Has Fifty Shades of Grey paved the way?

Both Beth and Non were published after 50 Shades came out so did this make it easier for them?

Beth

Beth felt that Fifty Shades has lifted the taboo to a certain degree.

Non

Fifty Shades was titilatting, and there were fourteen and fifteen year olds reading Fifty shades.

James Dawson steered the panellists onto the subject of Taboos.

Non

Non’s taboos: Religion, alternative hole use! Her words! Prefers good vanilla variety sex, and recommended Helen Walsh’s The Lemon Grove. This sounds a great read. Thanks for the tip Non.

Beth

Religion. Depression. Wary of graphic sex due to the age of her readership.

Cat

Torture. Yes, I agree with her on that one.

What about New Adult?

Non

Don’t believe in New Adult, think it is a marketing tool.

Beth

It’s a way of labelling books for gatekeepers.

Cat

Excited when she heard of the term New Adult, she thought it was about kids going to University. She would like to see books about that time in a young adult’s life. I agree.

In Cat’s opinion violence is more disturbing than sex. Sex is private. Violence is more visable, nobody complains about children killing each other in the Hunger Games. A very valid point.

Influences:

The panellists were influenced by the following authors:

Laurie Halse Andersen’s Speak. Liz Bankes’s Undeniable

Sarah Dessen, John Green, Stephanie Perkins, Courtney Summers

My final thoughts on I’m too sexy for this book!.

This was the most entertaining and funny of all of the talks, and makes me wonder whether I should write sexy YA? Could be fun!

Well, that’s about it folks for sex in YA. I hope I haven’t misquoted anyone. If I have made any mistakes, or omitted anything many apologies.

Disclaimer: I couldn’t hear a damn thing so don’t blame me if I got it all wrong!

Authors websites:

http://www.catclarke.com

http://authorbethreekles.tumblr.com

http://www.wattpad.com/user/Reekles

http://nonpratt.com/

JD e-books

My Kyrosmagica Review of Half Bad by Sally Green

Goodreads Synopsis:

Half Bad by Sally Green is a breathtaking debut novel about one boy’s struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches.

You can’t read, can’t write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.

You get sick if you stay indoors after dark.

You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one.

You’ve been kept in a cage since you were fourteen.

All you’ve got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.

My Review:

I am a big fan of fantasy and love witches, and magic, so Half Bad by Sally Green just said read me. I found the opening chapters of Half Bad really gripping, and Sally Green did a great job of drawing me into the story.

The main protagonist Nathan is the son of the Blackest of black witches. Nathan is unwanted, a baby that is hidden away in a drawer. His birth is not a cause for celebration, a card at his birth, says “Kill it.” His early life is horrendous, he is kept in a cage and subjected to a rigorous routine of exercise and torture which would make most mere mortals buckle, but Nathan has the blood of his father, Marcus in his veins, and his father has just a bit of a reputation. Nathan is an outsider, who is not accepted into white witch culture and is not a fully fledged black witch either. Sally Green does a great job of exploring alienation and prejudice in witch culture and serving it up as a thoughtful reflection for modern-day issues. Also Sally Green’s questioning whether White witches are just as bad as Black witches is an interesting, and thoughtful theme in the book. Will the most evil Black witch of all time have a soft side?

The story takes us on Nathan’s journey to find his father and find his place in this society. So in a sense it is about growing up, and the choices we make, some decisions can and do have disastrous consequences. Along the way he is constantly questioning, and debating issues of morality, and struggling with his conscience. If he sides with his father, and becomes a fully fledged Black witch will he sell his soul to the devil?

Unfortunately I felt that the promise of the opening chapters did not quite deliver what I was expecting in the latter part of the book. I did feel for Nathan, but his journey to find his father just didn’t quite capture my attention in the way I would have hoped. I found it difficult to connect with some of the supporting characters, apart from Gabriel, Mercury, and Nathan’s brother Arran, and I ended up feeling a tad disappointed when I finally met super black witch, Nathan’s dad, he just didn’t quite match up to my expectations. The build up was so good, “I know it was him. Only he can make time stop, ” but the dialogue in the final chapter just didn’t quite hit the spot for me. He just didn’t come across in the way I expected. I couldn’t quite picture him.

Though, in Half Bad’s favour I found Sally Green’s use of second person narration developing into Nathan’s first person, point of view an interesting and different way to approach the novel, and I really liked this. I really enjoyed the detail about the witch’s eyes. “Oh well, like nothing else, really. The nearest I can say is that they are thin slices of silver and they move around, twistin’ and turnin’, like bits in one o’them snow-shaker toys. That’s what it’s like.” I also think Sally Green did a grand job of creating a sense of Nathan’s separateness and uncertainty, and his shocking ill-treatment when he picks a white witch for a girlfriend. Again elements of prejudice keep creeping their way into this novel, and are handled really well. Also Nathan’s branding at the hands of the council, his tattooed fingers, is an excellent, and imaginative idea. I won’t say any more on that one, as I don’t want to spoil the book for you! So for a thoughtful read about witches that is a bit different from what you have read before this has to score points most definitely.

Would I recommend Half Bad? It was pretty good, but there is so much more to come. I sense that the second and third books in this trilogy will be so much better, after all this is Sally Green’s debut, and writers tend to progress and improve with future books, so yes I would say read Half Bad, and follow the progress of this author. Also I believe the Half Bad is going to be a film, so that can’t be Half Bad at all! Sally Green really has done remarkably well. She was at YALC at Earl’s court in London this weekend and I was amused by her background, she only started writing four years ago, previously she was an accountant who didn’t consider herself particularly creative, well she certainly discovered her creativity, and good luck to her.

Recommended for readers of Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Witches. Magic.

My rating:

This was a difficult one for me to rate. I was quite torn, it felt that it wasn’t quite a four star for me, and yet it was above a three star, so I settled for giving it 3.75 stars!

My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.

Links:

Kindle UK: http://amzn.to/2fM2Jfg

Paperback UK: http://amzn.to/2wgQdKI

For more details of Sally Green and Half Bad: www.halfbadworld.com

Have you read Half Bad? Do leave a comment below I’d love to hear from you.

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica x

YA Books I’ve read the past 2 weeks

Reblogging this from Amorvitam – YA book recommendations

Amor Vitam

Hi there! Thanks to the YouTube account of an awesome girl named Sanne (booksandquills), I’ve been reading quite a lot lately and have totally gotten into reading YA (= Young Adult) books. I’ve kind of got the book virus I suppose, since I have the constant urge to order a bunch of books online all of the time. In this post I will discuss three books which have made an impression on me and which I would love to talk about.

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