Review of The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

** What it's about **

The Victorian language of flowers was used to express emotions: honeysuckle for devotion, azaleas for passion, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it has been more useful in communicating feelings like grief, mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen, Victoria has nowhere to go, and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. When her talent is discovered by a local florist, she discovers her gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But it takes meeting a mysterious vendor at the flower market for her to realise what's been missing in her own life, and as she starts to fall for him, she's forced to confront a painful secret from her past, and decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

The Language of Flowers is a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about the meaning of flowers, the meaning of family, and the meaning of love.

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** What I thought **

It is difficult to conjure up the right words to describe how I feel about this book.  It’s enchanting, yet tragic, and beautiful, all at the same time.  It’ll make you smile, and it’s sure to make you cry too.  It filled me with warmth and, despite the sadness it contains, left me totally and utterly satisfied.  Quite simply my new favourite book of 2011.

You don’t have to be overly-interested in flowers to appreciate the depth and beauty that Diffenbaugh portrays in this book.  It’s much more about seeing the hidden and deeper meaning, the romance aspect and an alternative way of communicating.  This is a story about a girl finding her way home; a story of friendship, romance, maternal love and the struggles of a young girl to portray her feelings and let her past go.

If you take the romance of the Victorian language of flowers, and combine it with the anger and resentment of a nine-year old child brought up in foster care and shifted from pillar to post, you are left with Victoria Jones.  What a wonderfully powerful combination.  Diffenbaugh fares just as well with her secondary characters, who pull everything together and don’t leave you feeling like anything is lacking.

This powerful tale is elegantly written.  I didn’t find the story predictable, in fact I was extremely impressed at how easily it flowed and dragged you in deeper and deeper with every page despite the lack of obvious hints as to the direction it is going to take.  The author doesn’t try to draw you in with forced cliff-hangers; it just seems to happen.  The detail is exceptional, and I often felt that it was more like reading an autobiography than a fictional story. The chapters alternate between Victoria at 18 (emancipation) and Victoria at 9 when she is deep within the foster-care system.  Despite the toing and froing, the book doesn’t feel fragmented, the pace is kept exceptionally well and you won’t want to put it down.

Diffenbaugh and her husband have been full-time foster parents for several years, and the experience has partly inspired her first novel, The Language of Flowers.  It doesn’t surprise me that this book comes from something much deeper than imagination.  If this is what Diffenbaugh can produce as her debut novel, I live in anticipation to see what will follow.  Absolutely stunning, I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Throughout the book, I always knew this would be made into a film, so it was no surprise for me to read that Fox 2000 have already acquired the film rights to The Language of Flowers.  All I can hope for is that they do it the justice it deserves.

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Vanessa Diffenbaugh is launching the Camellia Network in order to create a movement to support youth making the transition from foster care to independence.  In the language of flowers, camellia means my destiny is in your hands.  You can find out more about the Camellia Network and get involved at http://camellianetwork.org/ 

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Available in Paperback, Hardcover and Kindle Edition at Amazon.co.uk

Review of The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

Thanks to Usborne Publishers for the advanced review copy of The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker.

** What it’s about **

Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above. Her grandfather has been in the freezer for the last three months, her parents are at each other’s throats and two minutes ago they ran out of food.

Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by ‘Weepers’ - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.

While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry’s father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their ‘other lives’. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.

** What I thought **

The Other Life is the first book of perhaps a series, but there certainly is a follow up book called The Life Beyond which is due to be released in February 2013.  (The Other Life is launched on 1^st February 2012).  Firstly, I have to say that I love the cover - absolutely gorgeous and entrancing.  The barbed wire on the cover and the start of each chapter has a very clever and subtle link to the story (I won't say anymore....!)

This is my second YA dystopian debut in as many days.  This one, I devoured in a matter of hours.  Susanne Winnacker writes beautifully creating a world of eerie destruction intermingled with the  seeds of first love. 

Winnacker has packed a powerful punch with her debut novel about survival, adventure and first love.  The character development is perfect, and I absolutely adore the hero of the book, Joshua.  I can’t wait to see the relationship between Sherry and Joshua blossom in the next book as they take on bigger and bolder tasks.  There are some other heart-warmingly strong bonds built as everyone pulls together to survive.  I particularly loved Sherry’s little sister, Mia, and the bond between them.

In between each chapter, we read a short extract from Sherry’s other life (her life prior to the disease, death and destruction).  These are short, sweet and refreshing.  The book is well-paced and will keep you turning the pages until the last page is turned and you'll be looking for the next book!

A wonderful YA dystopian novel that hopefully will stand out from the rapidly growing market in this genre.  

Review of Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

Thanks to Macmillan Publishers for the review copy.

** What it's about **

Moments after several huge earthquakes shake every continent on Earth, something strange starts happening to some people. Michael can only watch in horror as an incidence of road rage so extreme it ends in two deaths unfolds before his eyes; Clementine finds herself being hunted through the small town she has lived in all her life, by people she has known all her life; and Mason is attacked with a baseball bat by a random stranger. An inner rage has been released and some people cannot fight it. For those who can, life becomes an ongoing battle to survive - at any cost!

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen - now it's our turn!

** What I thought **

I’m sad to say I was disappointed with this book.  The synopsis drew me in and I thought I would really enjoy it, but alas…..no!

The book focuses on four main characters; Clementine, Aires, Michael and Mason.  Each chapter is told from a different point of view, as the book follows their struggle for survival and their journey to find loved ones or safety.  I found there was a lack of character development, as I could never remember which character belonged to which story and had to keep flicking back to remind myself.  Unfortunately this continued throughout the book, and so it became even more confusing once they all met up and there was no way to distinguish by their surroundings/people travelling with them.

The book also contains chapters from the point of view of “Nothing” – this for me didn’t add anything.  If I’m honest, it confused me and I still don’t really understand what the point of it was. 

The ending was a disappointment.  Having looked at a couple of reviews, it would appear that it’s possible that this is part of a series.  If that’s the case, I think it needed to be made clearer, and the ending should have been more of a cliff hanger to draw people into the next book.  As it stands, I don’t feel any strong pull to read any follow up book.

Having got all my complaints out of the way, I should say that Roberts style of writing is good.  It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the actual narrative – it did hold my interest and the pace was good with twists and turns along the way.  However, the flaws (in particular the unsatisfying ending) outweighed that enjoyment for me. 

This is a book aimed at YA (and a debut novel for Jeyn Roberts) so perhaps as an older reader, I am being overly harsh but certainly if this is intended to be a sequel I think it needed to make more of an impact from the start.  I liked the characters, but they weren’t that memorable and I didn’t feel any strong connection to any of them.  The ending left a lot of unanswered questions, but unfortunately didn’t leave me desperate to know the answers to them!

Review of Those in Peril by Wilbur Smith

** What it’s about **

Hazel Bannock is the heir to the Bannock Oil Corp, one of the major oil producers with global reach. While cruising in the Indian Ocean, Hazel's private yacht is hijacked by African pirates. Hazel is not on board at the time, but her nineteen year old daughter, Cayla, is kidnapped and held to ransom. The pirates demand a crippling twenty billion dollar ransom for her release. Complicated political and diplomatic considerations render the civilized major powers incapable of intervening.

When Hazel is given evidence of the horrific torture which Cayla is being subjected to, she calls on Hector Cross to help her rescue her daughter. Hector is the owner and operator of Cross Bow Security, the company which is contracted to Bannock Oil to provide all their security. He is a formidable fighting man. Between them Hazel and Hector are determined to take the law into their own hands.

** What I thought **

I am ashamed to say that I have never read a Wilbur Smith book before.  Obviously I recognised the name and reputation so I was eager to read Those in Peril sent to me for review by Waterstones.

This is an incredible adventure story packed full of action and truly believable characters.  The book is centred on a very topical issue, which has been written about with great intensity and depth.  The writing is superb; Smith must do an incredible amount of research to come up with such excellent detail.  It’s packed full of rather explicit and brutal violence/torture which is portrayed with the rawness that it requires.  Smith doesn’t hold back – this book isn’t for the faint-hearted but perfect for anyone who enjoys a wonderfully written adventure thriller.

Review of All That Mullarkey by Sue Moorcroft

** What it's about **

Revenge and love: it's a thin line...

The writing's on the wall for Cleo and Gav. The bedroom wall, to be precise. And it says 'This marriage is over.' Wounded and furious, Cleo embarks on a night out with the girls, which turns into a glorious one night stand with...

Justin, centrefold material and irrepressibly irresponsible. He loves a little wildness in a woman and he's in the right place at the right time to enjoy Cleo's.

But it’s Cleo who has to pick up the pieces of a marriage based on a lie and the lasting repercussions of that night. Torn between laid-back Justin and control freak Gav, she’s a free spirit that life is trying to tie down. But the rewards are worth it!

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** What I thought **

Another wonderful book from Sue Moorcroft.  I have to admit that I was so besotted with the loveable hero Ratty in her previous book ‘Starting Over’.  Even though it's been a few months since I read Starting Over, I'm still very much in love with him and so it feels a little unfaithful to love Justin, so I loved him slightly les!! But he is gorgeous, most certainly loveable and involved in some seriously steamy trips to the bedroom.  The kind of man every girl wants in her life, and not as just a friend! You can see why Cleo falls for him, and why he falls for her too – she’s feisty and a real heroine!

Sue Moorcroft once again has a wonderful style of writing that draws you in and leaves you desperate to know more, and ultimately longing for a happy ending.  You get to read from Gav and Justin’s point of view, as well as Cleo’s and this is done exceptionally well and really brings the whole thing to life.  It’s also lovely to read not just about romance, but about Cleo’s relationship with little Shona.

As with Starting Over, it’s fairly obvious who is going to end up with who but it’s the path that leads them there that makes or breaks a book.  And in this case, the path is full of twists and turns that make you wonder and keep you reading. 

Can’t wait to read Dream a Little Dream, her next book which is also set in Middledip!

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Thanks to ChocLit for the copy of All That Mullarkey (and the chocolate!!!)

Review of The Donor by Helen FitzGerald

** What it's about **

Will Marion has two perfect kidneys. His daughters aren't so lucky. Question is: which one should he save?

Will's 47. His wife bailed out when the twins were in nappies and hasn't been seen since. He coped OK by himself at first, giving Georgie and Kay all the love he could, working in a boring admin job to support them.

Just after the twins turn sixteen, Georgie suffers kidney failure and is placed on dialysis. Her type is rare, and Will immediately offers to donate an organ. Without a transplant, she would probably never see adulthood. So far so good.

But then Kay gets sick. She's also sixteen. Just as precious. Her kidney type just as rare. Time is critical, and he has to make a decision.

Should he buy a kidney - be an organ tourist? Should he save one child? If so, which one? Should he sacrifice himself? Or is there a fourth solution - one so terrible it has never even crossed his mind?

** What I thought **

This book focuses on two twins, who are very different in themselves and their relationship with their father, who has brought them up single-handed. 

When I opened this book and read the first chapter, my first reaction was “What?! You can’t tell me that on Page 1!” I have to say I was confused and I thought that the whole storyline had been given away in the first few pages.  I am pleased to say I was wrong, there is a twist and it’s a twist that I didn’t guess (although now I know it, it is kind of blindingly obvious!).  I didn’t find the book predictable, and I had no idea how this was going to pan out until I was specifically told!

The story develops well over the chapters, and throughout the book we learn about the characters past as well as their present.  The book also has varying chapters from different characters’ perspective (Will and Georgie, one of the twins) which I have grown to enjoy and I think it brings out the best in a story. The interactions and relationships between the characters are brought out very well, and the sibling rivalry is well-documented.

I wasn’t blown away by it, and it wasn’t as heart-breaking as I had expected it to be but it was a good read and I did enjoy it.  Despite the bleak subject matter, it is actually a relatively light read.  I enjoyed it as a holiday read.

A review of John Green - An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns

Whilst on holiday, I read two of John Green’s books; An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns.  I absolutely loved both.  John Green has a wonderful style of writing, and both books (but in particular an abudance of Katherines) are laugh out loud funny.  Highly recommended!

An Abundance of Katherines

When it comes to relationships, everyone has a type. Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. He has dated–and been dumped by–19 Katherines. In the wake of The K-19 Debacle, Colin–an anagram-obsessed washed-up child prodigy–heads out on a road trip with his overweight, Judge Judy-loving friend Hassan. With 10,000 dollars in his pocket and a feral hog on his trail, Colin is on a mission to prove a mathematical theorem he hopes will predict the future of any relationship (and conceivably win the girl).

It’s not often I laugh out loud at books but this book is hilarious (and I don’t mean just a few laughs, I mean the whole way through!)  It is packed full of an incredibly unique story, and there are even footnotes and an appendix.  Green seems to have a wonderful ability to tap into the teenage mind and recreate this in his books. 

A lot of people seem to say this is their least favourite of Green’s books, and I'm disappointed people don't appreciate the beauty of this book.  Taking the books as a whole, this one was my favourite.

An easy read (despite the mathematical formulas) and well worth it.  Although it is a YA book, it is not as simplistic as some others I have read – and is definitely worth a read even for older readers.

Paper Towns

Who is the real Margo? Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life – dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge – he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. She has disappeared. Q soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance …and they are for him. Trailing Margo’s disconnected path across the USA, the closer Q gets, the less sure he is of who he is looking for.

This is a story of teenagers, but also a story of mystery in which Q finds and follows clues to bring him ever closer to the girl next door who he is in love with.  Once again, Green is able to show his incredible understanding of teenagers, and creates some wonderful characters.  This is another wonderfully unique story, packed full of humour and mystery.  It isn’t predictable, and it certainly kept me turning the pages.  Easily a book for any age group, despite being based on teenagers and being another YA book.

The man himself, John Green

I didn’t get round to reading John Green’s first book Looking for Alaska, but from what I gather his writing and books have only got better and better since this debut.  Looking for Alaska won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2006.  An Abundance of Katherines was a 2008 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for  the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.  Paper Towns was awarded the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel and the 2010 Corine Literature Prize.

In 2007, Green and his brother Hank ceased textual communication and began to talk primarily through videoblogs posted to youtube.  Although they have long since resumed textual communication, John and Hank continue to upload three videos a week to their youtube channel, vlogbrothers. Their videos have been viewed more than 75 million times, and their channel is one of the most popular in the history of online video. These videos are well worth a look, as both John and his brother Hank clearly share the humourous gene – you can see their youtube page here

Green’s next book (The Fault in Our Stars) is available for pre-order now on amazon. This book will be released on 10 January 2012 

Review of Shimmer by Alyson Noël

Thanks to Pan Macmillan for sending out a copy for me to review!

Alyson Noël is a well-known author of teen books, including the bestselling IMMORTALS series.  Shimmer is the second book in a spin-off from the IMMORTALS series, creating a new series of Riley Bloom novels which are aimed at younger readers (10+).

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** What the back of the book says **

Riley Bloom is starting to get to drips with being dead. OK, so she’ll never turn thirteen, but she can manifest anything she desires.  And, after her first success as a Soul Catcher, she’s finally got her ‘glow’ on.  Then she meets Rebecca – a furious ghost who is trapped on Earth, desperate to seek revenge for her own death – and Riley’s determined to help her, even if it means defying her cute-but-annoying guide, Bodhi, and breaking all the rules….

** What I thought **

This book is a little hard to review as it is aimed at readers of 10+, and being a few too many years older than that myself, it is difficult to know exactly what a 10 year old would think of this.  However, I think it is an engaging read and certainly kept me interested so is something I would absolutely recommend. 

For me, it was like reading a short story, and an enjoyable one.  Riley Bloom is 12 years old, and Alyson Noël has perfectly captured that in her writing style.  Yes, she is a little annoying but I think that is how Noël has captured her immaturity.  (Dark Readers got it spot on in the review when they said ‘she well and truly gets the cocky, annoying slightly sarcastic, wannabe teen right’).  As a character, she grew on me and I think she grows as a person as well throughout the book; she seems to mature as the book progresses to deal with slavery, murder and a lot of built up rage.  Noël deals with these issues well, and the book has some deep messages centering on love and forgiveness.

I hadn’t read the first in this series, Radiance, but I would certainly pick up the next book in this series as an enjoyable light read.  There is a lead up to the next book in Shimmer, and the premise of the next book (based on being able to deliver messages to your loved ones through their dreams) intrigues me.  I’ll also definitely be looking out for Alyson Noël’s other works aimed at teens, and absolutely definitely her adult novel Fly me to the Moon.

Noël is certainly a talented author to watch out for.  The dramatic rights for both the Immortals and the Riley Bloom series’ have been bought by Summit Entertainment, best known for creating the Twilight films. This good me the next big sensation to hit our cinema screens….!

** Shimmer is published on 5^th August **

Review of Purge by Sofi Oksanen

Thanks to Atlantic Books for sending me a copy of Purge to review!!

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Purge has become an international publishing sensation.  It has been hailed by The Times as ‘a phenomenon’ and they say Sofi Oksanen is ‘Finland’s hottest crime writer who will soon be as well-known as Stiefg Larsson’.  Purge is sold in an astonishing 38 territories, is a top 10 bestseller globally, winner of a number of literary awards and has been hailed as a ‘masterpiece’ in every language.

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** What the back of the book says **

Deep in an Estonian forest, two women – one young, one old – are hiding.

Zara is a prostitute and a murderer, on the run from brutal captors, men who know about inflicting punishment.  Aliide offers refuge but not safety; she has her own secrets, traitorous crimes of passion and revenge committed long ago, during the country’s brutal Soviet years.

Both women have suffered lives of abuse.  But this time their survival depends on revealing the one thing history has taught them to keep safely hidden: the truth.

A haunting, intimate and gripping story of suspicion, betrayal and retribution against a backdrop of Soviet oppression and European war.

** What I thought  **

This is one of the hardest reviews I have had to write.  The book is heavily layered, and I am certain that even the slightest spoiler would do just that……spoil it! Therefore, I’m not going to reveal anything about the plotline itself.  But what I will say is that Sofi Oksanen takes you on an extremely powerful journey spanning 56 years in which suspicion and betrayal change the lives of those involved forever, and ultimately end in retribution.

The wonderful thing about this book is that you can become immersed in the subdued but intense and powerful writing.  The book contains some relatively explicit sexual violence in places.  I read one review which said that it wasn’t a problem that it existed, it was a problem that it wasn’t elegantly written.  But to me that IS the point, there isn’t anything elegant about sexual violence, so it shouldn’t be glossed over with an elegant style of writing.  Sofi Oksanen perfectly captures the brutality of the situation.

Despite the extremely serious issues confronted (sex-slave trade, soviet oppression, WWII, family betrayal) Oksanen makes the book personal and this draws you in.  The book spans from 1936 – 1992 and jumps back and forth to differing points between these time frames as Oksanen pieces the overlapping lives of the two women.  The pace is excellent, and it fits together extremely well. 

If I’m honest, I was never very good at history at school and so the background to this book wasn’t that familiar to me.  I don’t think this took too much away from it for me, although perhaps it may have been even better had I had a little more understanding.  Although it is a fairly major part of the book, it is also background to the lives of the central two women to the story and so it isn’t necessary for you to know every minor detail beforehand.  You learn as you go along, not only about their lives but also the history that has made them that way.

Initially I was a little underwhelmed with the ending.  However, I re-read the last few pages of the final narrative part (part 4) and actually it is incredibly clever with all the plans laid for everyone to end up in what Aliide thinks is their rightful place.  The book has a fifth part, which is made up of Top Secret Reports.  These left me a little confused, although they add a few minor details which piece together certain things, I thought they were unnecessary and I wish the book had ended with the narrative at part 4.

All in all, an intensely powerful read which is well worth it!

Giveaway Winner Revealed!

Congratulations to:

@Cat1980uk

who has won the proof copy of The Truth about Celia Frost!!

Please DM me on twitter, or email me (email address is on contact tab above) with your address and I'll get your copy out to you!

** Chosen by Random.org!