Book Review

Review: Heist Society by Ally Carter

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Heist Society #1

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Title: Heist Society (Heist Society #1)
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Contemporary, Crime, Young Adult
Publisher:  Orchard (1st September 2011)
Blurb:

Kat’s got a deadline – two weeks to pull off the biggest heist in history . . .

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre . . . to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her uncle travelled to Austria . . . to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she conned her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. But now her dad’s life is on the line, and Kat must go back to the world she tried so hard to escape . . .

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Review:

Heist Society is the first book in Ally Carter’s new series of the same name. It tells the story of Kat, a girl born into a world of crime who doesn’t see things in quite the same way as the rest of her family.

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Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

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Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Title: Struck
Author: Jennifer Bosworth
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  Doubleday Childrens (26th April 2012)
Blurb:

My name is Mia Price and I am a
LIGHTNING ADDICT.

I want the lightning to find me. I crave it like
LUNGS CRAVE OXYGEN.

Nothing makes you feel more alive than being
STRUCK.

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Review:

There has always been something about lightning that has interested me, even if I am terrified of the reality. The idea of a “lightning addict” sounded really interesting, so I thought I’d give Mia’s story a try.

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Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

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Entwined by Heather Dixon

Title: Entwined
Author: Heather Dixon
Genre: Fairy Tale Re-Telling, Young Adult
Publisher:  Greenwillow (29th March 2011)
Blurb:

Azalea is trapped.

Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it’s taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room and dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea might not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Review:

In Entwined Heather Dixon re-tells the story of The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm. Dixon reimagines the story from the point of view of the eldest daughter, Azalea.

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Review: Slated by Teri Terry

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Slated #1

Slated by Teri Terry, UK edition cover.

Title: Slated (Slated #1)
Author: Teri Terry
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  Orchard (3rd May 2012)
Blurb:

Kyla’s memory has been erased,
her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever.

She’s been Slated.

The government claims she was a terrorist,
and that they are giving her a second chance –
as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of
the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is
lying to her, and nothing is as it seems.
Who can she trust in her search for the  truth?

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Review:

Slated is the first book in Teri Terry’s Slated series. It tells the story of a girl called Kyla as she struggles to adapt in a world that’s unfamiliar to her.

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Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

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Divergent #1

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperCollins Children’s Books (2nd February 2012)
Blurb:

THREE FLYING BIRDS . . . ONE FOR EACH MEMBER OF THE FAMILY I LEFT BEHIND.

Sixteen-year-old Tris is forced to make a terrible choice. In a divided society where everyone must conform, Tris does not fit.

So she ventures out alone, determined to discover where she truly belongs. Shocked by her brutal new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her.

The hardest choice lies ahead.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Review:

Divergent is the first book in Veronica Roth’s series. In this book we meet Tris, a sixteen-year-old with some difficult choices to make.

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Review: All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

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Birthright: Book The First

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin, UK edition cover.

Title: All These Things I’ve Done (Birthright: Book The First)
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Genre: Dystopian, Thriller, Young Adult
Publisher:  Macmillan’s Children’s Books (29th March 2012)
Blurb:

FOR ANYA, LOVE WILL BECOME A LIFE – OR – DEATH CHOICE . . .

New York 2082. When Anya is arrested for attempted murder, the District Attorney offers her a choice: stay away from his son or watch helplessly as he destroys her family. It should be a straightforward decision. Except that the DA’s son is the boy Anya loves, and her family is at the heart of the city’s criminal underworld.

Anya must choose between love and loyalty, knowing that whatever she decides will have shattering consequences: heartbreak or a gangland war that will tear the city apart.

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Review:

All These Things I’ve Done is the first book in Gabrielle Zevin’s Birthright trilogy. It tells the story of a girl called Anya who is struggling to keep her family together in a dystopian near-future where things are both very similar and very different to now.

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Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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The Hunger Games #1

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  Scholastic Children’s Books (1st December 2011)
Blurb:

MAY THE ODDS EVER BEEN IN YOUR FAVOR

WINNING WILL MAKE YOU FAMOUS.
LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.

In a dark vision of the near future, twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live TV show called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister’s place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

The Hunger Games is the first book in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It is one of the must-read books for anyone who likes dystopian fiction. This book has been turned into the film. I had already watched and enjoyed the film before I read the book.

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July Book Clearance Giveaway WINNERS!

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First THANK YOU to everyone who entered the giveaway!

Congratulations to Carmen who won Pack 1

Pack 1

and to

Liv Wakefield who won Pack 2.

Pack 2

Could you both please email me at theflutterbyroom [at] gmail [dot] com with your name and address so I can send the prizes out to you ASAP. I appologise for not emailing you, but I forgot to ask for email addresses in the form – d’oh! I will also try and contact you via Twitter for this info.

Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

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The Iron Fey #4

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King (The Iron Fey #4)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  MiraInk (6th January 2012)
Blurb:

My name – my True Name – is Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining Winter Prince, son of the Queen of the Unseelie Court.

And I am dead to her.

MY FALL BEGAN AS MANY STORIES DO, WITH A GIRL . . .

Love is a weakness for mortals and fools. And Ash, heir to the winter court, is no mere mortal. But when he swore to be Meghan Chase’s knight, his oath bound him to her irrevocably. Now the girl ash loves is ruler of a realm where no Winter Prince can ever survive. To be with her he must have a soul and a mortal body, yet the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible.

There is one thing stronger than his will to live: his vow to Meghan. As Ash battles he larns truths that challenge his darkest beliefs and who him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

The Iron Knight is a continuation of The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, this time with Ash as the protagonist instead of Meghan. In this book we see Ash’s quest to be with the woman he loves. Of course, Puck and Grimalkin deside to help him out – as well as some new characters.

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Review: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

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Bloodlines #2

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Title: The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Razorbill (12th June 2012)
Blurb:

WILL LOVE LOSE HER EVERYTHING SHE KNOWS?

SYDNEY IS AN ALCHEMIST.
SHE PROTECTS VAMPIRE SECRETS –
AND HUMAN LIVES.

In hiding at a Californian boarding school, Sydney’s life has become irrevocably intertwined with Jill Dragomir, the vampire Moroi princess she has been tasked with protecting. She has grown close to those in Jill’s circle – and to someone in particular. Someone that forces her to question everything the alchemists believe in. Someone forbidden.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world – her new world – apart, Sydeny’s loyalties are tested more than ever. Should she trust the alchemists – or her heart?

Forbidden temptation lies behind the iron gates . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

The Golden Lily is the second book in Richelle Mead’s brilliant Bloodlines series (you can find my review here), a spin-off from her amazing Vampire Academy. The Golden Lily follows and is narrated by Sydney Sage, an Alchemist in charge of keeping Jill Dragomir safe and hidden.

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