The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris | Jenny Colgan | Review

Monday, 9 September 2013

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris | Jenny Colgan | Review

Anna Trent is furiously working away in a chocolate shop in Paris, stirring, creating and mixing the best chocolate in Paris. It's fair to say that this chocolate shop is a far stretch away from the one she worked in back in England, luckily Anna was given the chance of a life time as her old French teacher sends her on a trip, that will prove to be one of the toughest journeys she's been on.

Now I'm a complete novice when it comes to Colgan's books, I spotted this in the supermarket on special offer and the fact that it had the word 'chocolate' in the title totally swayed me into buying it, I'd not heard anything about it and went into reading it from a completely neutral standpoint. When I came out the other side having finished this novel, having cried, laughed and cried some more, I was on the 'OMG i love this book everyone has to read it' side. Yes I adore The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris. 

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris was not what I expected, I thought standard chic-lit, soppy, romance, bit of a story line, easy to read and a bit puke worthy due to the over romance of it all. However this book had so much more to it. Heart-break, illness, a lifetime of lost loves and of course romance. I cried not just once but many times through this book (especially at the ending). It's a book that makes, you think, makes you realise that you can't waste a moment!

Anna Trent is our leading lady and she is such a lovely character to follow, as she journeys across to Paris you feel her anxiety and nerves as she goes about living in a new city. Gradually more and more characters are introduced and there is only one that I disliked but all the other characters disliked her too. 

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris made me want to move to Paris and open up a chocolate shop even though I don't know the first thing about making chocolate (I do however know ALOT about eating it!).

Recommended for all chic-lit fans or fans of Paris as I'm sure there are lots of places you'd recognise if you have visited yourself. 

This post was written by regular reviewer Laura, get to know her here.
Image from Goodreads

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Breathe | Sarah Crossan | Review

Sunday, 8 September 2013

Breathe | Sarah Crossan | Review

Browsing through the dystopian genre on Goodreads a few months ago, I came across this book and saved it under 'to read'. A few weeks ago, I borrowed it from the library. I was looking forward to another good dystopian book about disaster and human-stupidity, but I was rather disappointed. 

Breathe, by Sarah Crossan, is set on a version of earth where everything has turned to poo. There are no trees on this earth, and, if you did a bit of biology, or environmental studies, you'll know that no trees means no oxygen. No oxygen means death. Earth's numbers rapidly decrease, and the few remaining survivors are chosen by state lottery to go and live in Pods in the hopes of survival. Portable oxygen tanks and masks are the usual look, and while it's not flattering, that's how they survive. That was ages ago, and now three teens change the course of the future and the way things are done. 

Quinn is a Premium living in the Pod. This means he is essentially the highest class, with the most access to oxygen and comfort. Bea, his best friend, is an Auxiliary. She lives in the Pod too, but is lower class, so she and her family have to pay for oxygen and make sure everything they do doesn't use too much. Alina is a rebel, living on the outside of the Pod, somehow just surviving. 

The story follows these three as they meet, journey outside the Pod, are taken to the rebel base (where Quinn and Bea discover a huge secret that the Pod Minister and other high-authority members of council knew about but didn't tell anyone), meet a crazy old woman, and accidentally start a war. The story is told from the perspective of all three main characters, each told in first person by alternating chapters. This was good, as we saw things from three different sides, but at times it got confusing, as I found their 'voices' were quite similar, and if I didn't really pay attention to the chapter title, then I had to remind myself who's eyes I was looking through. 

I didn't really enjoy the story. At first I was intrigued - a world without trees, who wouldn't be? - but as the story went on, I got a bit bored, and I didn't really care for the characters or their situations. It took me about a week to read 370 pages. It seemed like nothing really happened, looking back. It was a bit predictable as well: of course that character and that character are going to fall in love, of course that person was going to die, of course this was the general plot idea. While it was a bit of a disappointment, and I won't be reading the next one, I liked the concept. It got me thinking about what would actually happen if all the trees up and left the world. But other than that...nah. 

By all means, read it and do tell me what you think. Most of the people on Goodreads, that I can see, enjoyed it and gave it at least 3 stars. But I just don't think it was for me. 

Image from Good Reads

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Guest Review | Wonder | R. J. Palacio

Thursday, 5 September 2013

Guest Review | Wonder | R. J. Palacio

August Pullman describes himself as an ordinary kid. He loves ice cream and Star Wars and playing with his dog, Daisy. But unfortunately, everyone else struggles to see him that way because August Pullman was born with severe facial deformities. At 10 years old he has undergone 27 surgical procedures, has gotten used to the stares and whispers and has never been to a mainstream school. However, one of these things is about to change when August in enrolled into Beecher Prep at the start of a new school year. He won’t be the only new kid there but he will be the only kid who looks like him.

Auggie, as he is known, is understandably terrified. Just because he is used to the way people react to him, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. Now he must navigate school bullies, tested loyalties and increased family tensions not to mention school lessons.

Wonder is split into eight parts with each one narrated by either August or someone whose life he has touched. This method does lead to a certain lack of subtlety with multiple characters explaining the same thing. Although it is interesting to hear different points of view and it does help to develop the characters, it also goes some way to preventing the reader from drawing their own conclusions. One example where this is particularly true is in how Auggie describes his looks to the reader:

“I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

Simple. Effective. Over the course of the story he does describe some features, such as how he hates his fist-like ears, but for the first part of Wonder the reader is unencumbered by detailed description. However, in his sister Via’s section this is effectively undone almost instantly with a detailed breakdown of all of Auggie’s features. This may work for some people, of course you are curious and what August looks like is important, but it didn’t work for me I’m afraid.

Despite this, Palacio creates a believable, touching portrait of an extraordinary child in August. His personal strength is stated and applauded but not over sentimentally - bar the ending, but you can forgive Palacio that little moment of indulgence. The real strength of Wonder is how equally well developed each of the main characters or narrators are. The complex relationships that August has and that exist beyond him are portrayed realistically. August is brave, yes, but he can also be stubborn, petty, selfish even, like most 10-year old boys. Likewise, Via is a particularly well rounded and relatable character and this lifts the story and gives it depth. Wonder is full of equally heart-warming and gut-wrenching moments. Everyone will have their own, but the passage that I found most moving strangely did not involve Auggie but was about Via and her grandmother.

Wonder is an enjoyable and accessible read for all ages. It is by no means perfect and some may find the writing style too simplistic for their tastes but I would recommend this as an uplifting, easy read.

This post was written by guest reviewer Ali. Click here to visit her personal blog AlleyHope!
Image c/o Ali

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Code Name Verity | Elizabeth Wein | Review

Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Code Name Verity | Elizabeth Wein | Review

*image via GoodReads

“I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.”

Our story starts in 1943 in an abandoned hotel in Nazi occupied France, where Queenie, a British spy, has been captured and tortured by the Gestapo. Her captors soon convince her to become a collaborator and she has been allowed to write down the events that led to her capture in the hope she will divulge some secrets about the British War Effort. 

But Queenie isn’t giving up her information that simply. She’s going to tell her story, but her story starts back home in England with her best friend Maddie. Fearless, flying Maddie who was the pilot who flew her to France in the first place.

The written account Queenie provides her Nazi captors is as much Maddie’s story as it is her own and actually start with Maddie’s upbringing and ambitions to one day fly aeroplanes. Queenie herself is not introduced as a character in Maddie’s story until much later, with the two of them meeting whilst serving together in the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force). The two young girls are from completely different worlds (Queen is a from a Scottish legacy, Maddie country girl brought up by her Jewish grandparents) and if it weren’t for World War II, they may have never met. 

As well as detailing bits and pieces of the war effort to appease her captors, the account Queenie provides ends up becoming so much more than a forced confession but an incredible account of two best friends who make a sensational team.

So what’s my verdict?

I started Code Name Verity pre-LeakyCon and actually got to meet Elizabeth Wein at the convention. At the time I confessed to her that I’m not a huge fan of historical fiction – quite daring of me I know! – but I was enjoying what I read of her book so far. She urged me to go on and that if there was a book to get me into the genre she hoped this would be it. Luckily for her, she was definitely right about that.

For me it did start a little slow – though this may have been the large break I had in the middle of reading the book – but once I fully immersed myself into the story I found myself stuck into a brilliantly written and heartfelt story of two wonderfully brave young women. Queenie, our main narrator, clearly admires Maddie and her confidence not only as a person but as a skilled pilot. But Queenie is also an astonishing woman in her own right, her talents lie in deception and her language skills in French and German prove to be more than useful to the Special Operations division of the military.

Unlike most fiction in this genre, the historical details provide a seamless backdrop to the main chatacter’s journey. The technicalities are there with types of planes, the airfields and dated slang but slotted in easily within the story and aren’t forced upon the reader.

Though Maddie and Queenie are obviously our main protagonists, the book plays host to plenty of others both allies and enemies. The most interesting characters for me were Queenie’s captors themselves. Though morally corrupt at face value, with Queenie living under their thumb for the majority of the book Wein does manage to give those in the Gestapo stronghold a voice too, with surprising effects.

Overall, I’d completely recommend Code Name Verity. The story is captivating and the ending with leave you heartbroken. It's great to read story set in this era with two strong female protagonists, who are both heroes in their own right. 

Reading Soundtrack:

Part Of Me: Katy Perry; Night & Day: Sarah Blasko; This Is The Thing: Fink; Night Terror: Laura Marling; There You'll Be: Faith Hill; Soldier On: The Temper Trap

For lovers of:

The Book Thief, Carrie's War, other WWII historical fiction and kick-ass female characters.

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Guest Review | Lacey's House | Joanne Graham

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Guest Review | Lacey's House | Joanne Graham

Image via Goodreads

After reading Lacey's House I sat for a while, totally speechless and dumbfounded. It took several minutes, a lot of 'several minutes' actually, to come back to my own life and its immediate demands. Believe me, I almost did it kicking and screaming!

For a debut novel, this is surely one of the best I have ever read! There is so much I want to, and can, say, but somehow my thoughts just drifted off in a multicolored hot air balloon over the Winscombe skies. There was simply none left for me to write a suitable review with.

Two women, young Rachel Moore and 84-year old Tracey Eleanor Carmichael, ended up living side by side in Apple Lane, Winscombe where Rachel moved into Dove cottage next to Tracey. The address was not only words to suit a chocolate-box address. Lacey's House would open up a journey for both to finally rise above: electric shock treatments; a lobotomy; a cruel life in an orphanage; an unknown mother who valued her alcohol addiction above everything else; a monstrous doctor; an ignorant vicious community; a village outlay in the form of a question mark; a woman talking to the dead at their graves, planting roses there because it was a hated flower for that particular deceased, since in real life her words was forced inside her head for safety reasons; a cat named Peachy. And then there was Charlie...

"That's the funny thing about small village life, reputations often last longer than the person themselves." But perceptions can be forced to change. When "Albert was dead lying on the floor of his house with his blood serving as a cushion for his head", the increasingly embellished tale of a witch, which was told to children in the dark of night, suddenly took a turn that would change lives forever. Without the truth, fiction is not possible. "This story... this story is different, tantalizing, compelling" Lacey herself said that, which saves me from using the publishing-industry's neologism to sing the praise of this 2012 Luke Bitmead Bursary Award-winning book. Although there's no love lost for sentimentality in the book, the same compassionate message is present as evident in my speechless state of wonder afterwards!

This tale proves a theory: Anything, from an unwanted -ism to an un-addressed emotion, forced underground, takes root and flourish. People sadly and often deny it. And if it is nourished well, deeply loved, it can push up beautiful flowers to face the sun. But to become beautiful, it needs strong roots underground, in the often dark, in the uncompromising toughness of the earth. It is the only way that the perfect flowers can rise above the surface and charm the world. Even well-nourished weeds have beautiful flowers.

This book addresses the wealth and strength of the human spirit in unimaginable ways. The elements used in the book, two vastly opposite life stories, with one common denominator namely the absence of love as children, are not unknown to the world at all, but the combination used in this narrative, makes it stand out way above the average novel in this genre.

The conclusion is surprising and original.

In the end it confronts us all, who we are and how we ended up as human beings and what became of us in the aftermath of those choices. It is not how and where we were planted,but how we utilized the nourishment bestowed on us to paint the picture we would ultimately call our chocolate-box address. What a difference attitude can make!

This post was written by guest reviewer Margitte - find more of her reviews on Goodreads

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Thin Space | Jody Casella | Review

Monday, 2 September 2013

Thin Space | Jody Casella | Review

Image via Goodreads
When we first meet Marshall Windsor he is consumed by grief after losing his twin brother Austin just a few months ago in a car accident where he was driving. One month after the accident elderly neighbour Mrs. Hansel also passed away, but not before she explained the Celtic idea of ‘thin spaces’ to the boys. The theory is that if someone comes into the world and dies in the same place a small space where the living can step through and visit the world of the deceased is created. Convinced that she will create her very own thin space upon her death she shares the details with Marsh as a possible way for him to make peace with what happened to his brother.

The book kicks off with a short prologue which briefly explores the car accident that now haunts Marsh on a daily basis. Unable to find the thin space that Mrs Hansel believed her death would create for him and desperate to be re-united with his brother, Marsh has spent the last two months pacing around town barefoot in the middle of winter in the hope that he will stumble across another thin space. So, when Maddie and her family move in to Mrs. Hansel’s old house Marsh sees an opportunity to get back inside the room where she believed the thin space would be formed.

The concept of thin spaces was new and intriguing to me and therefore made the story stand out as something a little unusual and refreshing different within the YA genre. Not usually one to opt for anything ‘supernatural’ I actually really enjoyed this element as although it was important to the story it wasn’t always the focus and I didn’t feel as though it was overpowering.

As a main character I actually found Marsh very likable. Of course due to the point in his life that we enter the story his situation makes the reader instantly feel empathy toward him however also in general I found myself enjoying his narration. I also found the supporting characters to be well-rounded and described with just enough information to give the reader a good idea of who they are without feeling overwhelmed with unnecessary background information that would slow the story down.

Thin Space does come with a twist, a mysterious secret Marsh can’t bring himself to share, which I’m a little disappointed to say that I did predict before the reveal. Despite having a good idea of what the secret might be (there are definitely clues!) I was still kept intrigued to find out just how it would be revealed and what repercussions it would have. Following on with this theme the book concludes with a powerful one word ending that will leave you wondering just what might have happened next and hoping that things will work out for Marsh.

The writing style is very easy to follow throughout and I didn’t find myself getting confused or lost at all. Coupled with good pacing, a unique plot and a page count of only around 250, Thin Space is a quick and captivating read which is definitely worth picking up on it’s release next week.

Click here to pre-order your copy now!

This post was written by regular reviewer Erin, get to know her here
*Review copy c/o Netgalley

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