Imitation | Heather Hildenbrand | Review by Anjali

Friday, 27 February 2015

Imitation | Heather Hildenbrand | Review by Anjali

*Review copy c/o Netgalley

"Everyone is exactly like me. There is no one like me. 

A clone of wealthy eighteen-year-old Raven Rogen, Ven knows everything about the girl she was created to serve: the clothes she wears, the boys she loves, the friends she loves to hate. Yet she’s never met the Authentic Raven face-to-face...She exists for Raven, but is she prepared to sacrifice herself for a girl she’s never met?"  

  

I was looking forward to this book, but I might as well tell you from the get go that I didn't really enjoy it. It tells the story of Ven, a clone, an Imitation, who has finally been called out of her world to imitate her Authentic, Raven, as there is a threat on Raven's life. Raven is the daughter of a high-flying man in the city, and trying to be everything Raven is, is hard on Ven. She's not treated well;  her 'father' is hard on her, her 'boyfriend' is too friendly for Ven's liking, and the guy who is supposed to be guarding her is distracting. As Ven discovers the truth of why she and hundreds of others are created exact replicates of their Authentics, she must be Raven in every way so that the unknowing public watching her all the time doesn't suspect she's anything but. With chases, and bad guys, threats on more than just 'Raven's' life, and a world she's not used to, Imitation has everything this sort of novel should have. However...
 
The first few chapters I really liked and I was getting into it. But then I found it sort of petered out and died. I no longer cared for Ven, I thought she fell in love way too quickly, and while the story line had some great potential, I didn't find it was that gripping. I liked Ven's friends, who were in the very beginning of the book, but because they weren't really in the rest of it, that element was put to the side and I was a bit disappointed that they weren't in it more. There are more books in this series, I believe, so I suppose they show up more in those books.  
 
While I didn't really enjoy it very much, if you like stories about clones and national secrets and good looking people riding motor bikes, then give Imitation a go. Just because I didn't particularly enjoy it, doesn't mean you won't!


Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with a copy of this book, in return for an honest review. 
This review was written by regular reviewer Anjali, get to know her here. 
Image from Good Reads.  

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Luckiest Girl Alive | Jessica Knoll | Reviewed by Christina

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Luckiest Girl Alive | Jessica Knoll | Reviewed by Christina

I hate when people compare one author to another or one book to a similar one, so instead I'm going to say: If you like Gillian Flynn's writing - you will love this book. Luckiest Girl Alive is about TifAni FaNelli, a woman who has always dreamed of the socialite middle-class life but belonged to a family of cheap wannabes. Being sent to a prestigious private school and later becoming engaged to a rich blue blood man - she gradually forced her way into a world she was desperate to be a part of.  The book uses consecutive chapters jumping from the past events to the present day and comes together nicely at the end in a very neat yet intricate way. To say much more about the plot would be a spoiler - the less you know about this book the better. 

I really liked that we saw both the present day Ani and the girl she was as a teenager - meaning we got to see how she was now, alongside what made her that way. I can't imagine the story working as well as it did if it hadn't been written this way. The story itself was twisted and the writing style was complex and dark with messed-up characters - which is great for fans of Gillian Flynn like myself. I loved that the story was from Ani's point of view as being inside her mind was a confusing and dark place to be at times, and I really enjoyed that. 

I was slightly disappointed at the ending, it wasn't quite as twisty as I was hoping for, but I liked seeing how things played out despite being fairly predictable. The book may have benefited from a bigger twist at the ending but I still really enjoyed this book, I look forward to seeing more from this author and I would definitely recommend picking up this book if you like darker character-based thrillers - though I wouldn't recommend reading if you are at all sensitive to topics of sexual abuse or similar topics are a trigger for you. Luckiest Girl Alive will be out May 12th 2015. 

This post was written by regular reviewer Christina. Get to know her here!

This book was received through NetGalley in return for an honest review. 

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Group Collaboration | Our Dream Bookshops

Saturday, 21 February 2015

Group Collaboration | Our Dream Bookshops

This month's collaboration was inspired by Jen Campbell's latest release The Bookshop Book all about some of the world's most amazing bookstores. We asked team BB to get creative with a fictional unlimited budget to open their own bookshop, here's what their dream bookshops would look like...!







What would your dream bookshop be like?

Image sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Contributors: Ria, Anjali, Cat, Fiona, Joy, Jemma

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Guest Review | Dark Matter | Michelle Paver

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Guest Review | Dark Matter | Michelle Paver

  Image via Goodreads
I very rarely make time to read books. I've been a little lazy with my hobbies over the past few months (especially when you're renovating a house, juggling everything can be hard work!) I've decided I must read more this year, ideally one book a month. I came across Dark Matter in a charity shop - best place to find cheap books! I thought it sounded interesting, although I had never heard of it before.

The story revolves around Jack, a 28 year old living in London in 1937. He's very poor, and has lost his family. An expedition has been organised to the far north in Gruhunken, a deserted mine. Jack agrees to go with them, and so the three men set up camp in a small hut, but it's not too long before they experience a lot of bad luck despite previous warnings about Gruhunken.

I instantly fell in love with this book. I loved the fact it was a ghost story, and I was ready for it! It started off a little scary, but I was left a little disappointed with the ending. Overall, it's a brilliant book and I definitely recommend it. It's been written beautifully, and you can easily relate to Jack's character.

The ending took an unexpected turn for me, as I obviously had no idea what would happen, but I was hoping it wouldn't end like it did! I won't spoil it too much as it really is well worth a read.

Have you read Dark Matter? What did you think of it?



This post was written by guest blogger Fiona from Door Eleven

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A Darker Shade Of Magic | V E. Schwab | Reviewed by Ria

Wednesday, 18 February 2015

A Darker Shade Of Magic | V E. Schwab | Reviewed by Ria

*image via Goodreads. Review preview copy c/o Macmillan-Tor/Forge & NetGalley

Like parallel universes? Well this book has four...

Grey London. Dirty and as dull as it’s name, void of magic and ruled by the looney King George.
Red London. Flourishing and a beacon of prosperity where magic is revered.
White London. Ruled by those blinded with power and murderous greed and magic can blind you right back.
Black London. Dead. Non-existent. Defunct. 

Kell is a Red London traveller, adopted ambassador between the realms and a smuggler (just don’t tell the Prince about that last title). Though he sits in a privileged position at the right hand side Red London’s aristocracy, Kell dabbles in the dangerous hobby of offering ordinary people glimpses of the lands he is lucky enough to be able to travel between. Though a harmless plight at first, Kell soon gets mixed up with a petty thief who saves him from a shifty enemy. Together they're thrown into some seriously sticky situations and on towards adventure.

So what’s my verdict?

This was my first venture into Victoria Schwab’s writing and I’m very impressed guys. Colourful and fantastically rich, A Darker Shade of Magic introduces us to a world that’s both intriguing and tailored made for magical mishaps to happen.

Her key protagonist, Kell, to me suffers a little from what I’d like to coin 'displaced orphan syndrome’. He’s a little bit of a wanderer who doesn’t really fit in anywhere and navigates in the shadows of London(s). If anything he reminds me a lot of Hatter Madigan from The Looking Glass Wars (the large magical coat and reserved yet an endearing manner definitely help). We see most of the world though Kell’s travelling eyes - which definitely helpful as he takes us through all the different variations of London and his own special magical abilities. 

In terms of the world itself, well, it’s vast to say the least. Though there are recognisable landmarks through each incarnation of London, the three (formerly four) kingdoms each rich with it’s own history, social structure and political imbalance - nice to know things don’t change no matter what universe you step in. I will say with this amount of world building within the first few chapters of the book, it does distract a little from the key plot of the book. By the time you get a rough idea of the cities you’re already itching to find out what the main conflict of the story, which for some may be frustrating.

Nevertheless, though this was only a preview excerpt it certainly whet my appetite for more!

Reading soundtrack:

Kill of the night: Gin Wigmore; London Calling: The Clash; My Song 5: Haim; Conquest of Spaces: Woodkid; Blanket: Urban Species ft Imogen Heap; Nicotine: Panic! At The Disco

For lovers of...The Looking Glass Wars, The Bone Season & Terry Pratchet 

This post was written by regular reviewer Ria, get to now her here.

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Pretty Little Liars | Sara Shepard | Reviewed by Erin

Monday, 16 February 2015

Pretty Little Liars | Sara Shepard | Reviewed by Erin

I love a good mystery tale and having recently ‘Netflix marathoned’ every episode of the TV adaptation to date, I was keen to pick up the first in Sara Shepard’s famous Pretty Little Liars series which currently consists of no less than sixteen novels!

Last year I read four of the books from another of Shepard’s popular YA series; The Lying Game. Having found the writing style very easy to fall into and becoming swept up in the mystery I was looking forward to another quick read that would keep me guessing.

Pretty Little Liars follows teens Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna who’s friend Alison mysteriously went missing three years ago. When the now ex-best friends each start to receive threatening messages from the anonymous ‘A’ who seems to know all of their darkest secrets they are brought back together and start to suspect that Alison may be behind them.

Book one introduces the characters and how their lives are intertwined by Ali’s disappearance, although having seen the TV series I felt like I knew the ‘Liars’ already despite the changes from the novel. The main characters described all differ visually from the actors cast in the show and I struggled to picture them how Shepard originally had, particularly since I was reading the TV tie-in edition with the actors on the cover! Mystery-wise I really love the premise of this series and found this quick read pretty entertaining.

Overall I did enjoy both the drama and mystery of the story and although I tried to put the TV show aside whilst reading I found it very difficult to detach the novel from the adaptation. Perhaps if I had picked up the book first, with the story being completely new to me, I would have liked it more. Having said that I do plan to find time to read at least the next few in the series, as like many TV adaptations this short novel makes up just the pilot episode so there's so much more of the story to come. I'm hoping to see the characters develop as I felt they were much less likable than their TV counterparts and am also intrigued to see how the overall plot differs from the direction the TV series has taken.

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