Hope Valley Literati
Wolf Siren
"Wolf Siren" is a fantasy book that feels real. Beth O' Brien proudly pushes the theme of girl power throughout the story. The book is well written but doesn't use the fact that Red is visually impaired and sometimes forgets about it; in some parts of the story, Red can see facial expressions clearly and can easily see details of people. The fantasy aspect of this story is embedded within the events of her life and makes "Wolf Siren" feel much realer than any fantasy book I've ever read. Overall, one of the best fantasy books I've ever read, and has a very important, and powerful theme.
9/10.
Elliott
Not Going To Plan
I loved this book a lot. To begin with, I felt like Tia Fisher was trying to make us feel sympathy towards Marnie, relating to not only her school situation, but home as well, which I don’t think is represented enough in literature today. I think the fact that her mum works nightly and can only spend a certain amount of money is so realistic for a lot of people who live in the UK right now, especially in today’s society with inflation, difficulties with work and other negative economic phenomena that really aren’t being discussed as much as they should, specifically in England.
In addition to that, I think that it’s very hard to hate any of Fisher’s characters, even if they have negative traits sometimes, for example Zed: some people might think he’s annoying or robotic or he doesn’t listen as much as he should, specifically to Marnie, (as well as having a worryingly fastidious mother?) but it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to go along with things and be lovely all the time - without attitude, without flaws, without fear or insecurity or selfishness, the book would be a drag, no?
It’s the same with Rakel, I think. She’s so kind, lovely and obviously caring but she still has her own beliefs that could come off as offensive to others, but it’s clear she works on them throughout the ending and I think that represents a lot of difficult character development on her part, as well as assuming it would be hard as her parents would have obvious qualms about Marnie’s decision. As for Marnie, I really liked the fact that she was the same as the typical girls from her school - the vaping, the rough British colloquialism and the attitude - but she was so much deeper than that; she has views that probably no person, girl or boy, would even bother to think about at her age, as well as having her hair painted like a rainbow (something which the typical ‘popular girl’ would probably avoid). I think that this makes her character so much more complex, not so necessarily hard to understand, but hard for a typical non-sensitive person to truly see through, I think that’s why Zed and her had an awkward start to their friendship as well, however as they really got to know each other, their bond became a lot stronger, rather than Marnie and Rakel who I think got along straight away because of Marnie’s façade.
In relation to the actual topic I think it's good that it acts as the main topic since most books or tv shows have it as a sub-plot between side characters. But that isn’t the only difference as many Carnegie books have already done that; Tia Fisher makes it feel more real, and less like pregnancy acts as a ‘punishment’, or a ‘sin’, which I get the feeling is already implied in a lot of media, even today. Another character I really loved was Lukka, who I thought was one of the more level-headed ones, and when it came to helping Marnie, he was there with Zed as well. I really loved the fact that Marnie didn’t need to explain her decisions like she did with Zed and Rakel; he just understood her actions, and immediately supported her, and I think in this book he’s a very underrated character, along with Rakel.
All in all I really loved this book and I can already tell that it will be my favourite out of all of them.
Pearl
Ghostlines
A well-written book, there were some excellent bits. I really disliked the beginning, as there's a lack of inverted commas and far too many "ands" at the beginning. However, as I continued to read the book, I noticed the "ands" less and less. The ending was a little bit unexpected. You can figure out the ending a bit from the climax, but it was still a bit unexpected. The biased narrator was what really made the book great. There were many parts that wouldn't have worked as well as they did with an omnipotent narrator, which just makes the book a little bit better. My personal favourite Carnegies book ever is "Little Bang"; this book falls just short of "Little Bang", so gets a 9.5/10.
Thomas
Not Going To Plan
This book felt like three things at once: A book on pregnancy, like Little Bang from last year. A book about breaking the norm in secondary school. A book trying to explore complex themes. So the pregnancy part is overshadowed by the secondary school part, really being only 50 pages long - short for a verse-novel. The characters felt really stereotypical: one is really good at art and languages but awful at maths, the other is really good at maths and physics but awful at languages and art, and the way that the pregnancy part is handled is quite stereotypical. The themes are just there (I don't care much about themes). The ending is atrocious. They do a great big build up in the last 50 pages (I stayed up to 00:15 reading this on a Saturday night) and it just ends in the least satisfying way possible. 4/10 (and me thinking it was a good read in the first 100 pages...)
Thomas
Birdie
The book I am reviewing is 'Birdie' by J. P Rose. This is a book about a black girl living in a children's home in Leeds just after the war. Her aunt then asks for her to move in with her to the countryside. There she faces a lot of racism from the people who treat her like she's stupid. I think it was a good story but I think there could have been a bit more action rather than just all the talking. This book also goes at quite a slow pace which gets a bit boring after a while. However in the last 50 pages, it goes at quite a nice pace and there was quite a lot of action. For me, this book really showed what was going on with racism at the time and in some parts it does get quite sad. Definitely a happy ending for the people that like those! I also like the way she's written as she uses words such as thee and other slang which does sound quite good, although this did make it a bit difficult to read sometimes. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants an easy read that might make you a bit emotional. I'm going to rate this book an 8.5/10.
Tom
Ghostlines
I love this book! Ghostlines is a very warming story about a girl called Tilda (the protagonist) and a boy who moved to Ayrie (called Albie). The rising-action starts with Tilda agreeing to show Albie around the island but he hates every part of Ayrie. As a last chance they go to an isle just an hour's kayak away, that is told to be haunted. Albie loves it but it also turns out he really likes the puffins that attract the tourists in the summer. So when there is a problem with a storm and the puffins getting lost, Albie heads out into the storm to what he thinks will save them...
The author is very good at writing a cracking book about people feeling as though they don't fit in, with the protagonist living away from the hustle and bustle of a city. The cover of the book is beautiful, whilst telling you a bit about the story but not giving too much away. I love the fact she includes Moses ( Tilda's dog who follows Tilda, doing everything she does). I think it's a lovely little touch. I rate this book a solid 8.5/10; the only reason it's not a 9.5 is I feel the end is a bit predictable. I believe this book is a winner from what I have read so far. The reason I believe this a winner is it very much reminds me of Katya Balen's previous Carnegie winner, October, October (one of my all time favourites).
James
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody
I am reviewing a book called the 'Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody' by Patrick Ness. I enjoyed this book as it has been written in quite a clever way. What I mean by that is that the author has described some quite upsetting themes whilst mainly writing in a child friendly manner. I do like this way of writing as he is talking about something that I would probably get quite upset about but in a way that doesn't really upset me much. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a nice chill read, however do watch out for the sad bits. I think this book deserves a 7/10, purely for the way he's written it.
Tom
Wolf Siren
I would have started this review with “This is how you write a book!” if it wasn’t for one thing.
A really good book, in a genre which I like, I thought that this was an excellent read. The characters felt like real people and actually developed throughout the story. I do feel like some of the development was a little bit forced, but it was realistic. Additionally, the descriptive elements were great, using all the senses. 9/10!
This review isn’t over, however…
The Prologue ruins the book. So the protagonist, Red, is meant to be visually impaired - no spoilers there, it’s said in the second page of the prologue - but Beth O’Brien does hardly anything with this. She uses this element at the beginning, saying that she couldn’t properly tell her grandmother’s facial expressions. She also can’t see the ground clearly. Here are my issues with this: she can clearly tell the Mayor’s facial expressions later in the book from a distance - it is hinted that her visual impairment is not short-sightedness as at the beginning she sees stuff in the distance and close-up as blurs - and whenever she stumbles across a forest floor she says she can’t see the ground clearly through the thick vegetation.
Overall, the Prologue makes the book worse, earning it a 7/10 with the Prologue.
Thomas
Not Going To Plan
"Not Going To Plan" is a book written as a novel in verse, which gives the whole book a unique feel. The book includes many powerful themes, such as; teenage pregnancy, empathy, consent and identity. It includes two characters who help each other throughout the story. Overall, the story is very empowering, but doesn't feel as smooth as some of Tia Fisher's other works. 8/10
Elliott
Popcorn
"Popcorn" by Rob Harrell is a great read. In the perspective of Andrew Yaeger, a boy who suffers with anxiety, you begin to see what life is like when you have anxiety. The style of the artwork and drawings make the book seem a bit childish. The book partly makes up for it in the well thought out incidents that happen throughout the book. Overall, a good read. 7/10
Elliott
Wolf Siren
I have really enjoyed this book, it was a great read. I very much enjoyed the ending and although the start was good I think it could have been better. 8/10
Lizzie
Birdie
“Birdie” is an interesting read with a well written setting and pretty good characters. I thought that the quality of the writing was very good, as well as some of the descriptive devices.
The beginning of the book discussed some details about Birdie’s life but didn’t reveal all her character development. As the story progresses, the reader learns more about Birdie’s life, as well as further details about her life.
The middle was interesting; it felt a little bit cliché, but it still made sense in the time-period it was set in. It is in this part of the book where the characters really start to feel alive and real.
I thought that the ending was a bit too good – all the loose ends were tied up – because I prefer books that still have open ends (small ones).
Throughout the book, I was dreading a certain moment, and I wished that I wasn’t as the overview of each of the books contained a fairly big spoiler for “Birdie”, which ruined part of the story for me. Overall, solid writing, good description and only slightly cliché with some of the arcs in the book. 7/10
Thomas
The Boy I Love
“The Boy I Love” is a well-written book set in the trenches of WWI. I thought that the characters were interesting, as they felt like people who could exist in real-life. However, I thought that the beginning of the book wasn’t very good, as the beginning feels like it’s stuck in the past and just a summary of the protagonist’s life. I think that the protagonist could’ve been written better if William Hussey introduced elements of the protagonist’s story instead of dumping his entire backstory at the beginning of the book.
I also feel the same about the deuteragonist, as William Hussey does a better job about revealing his backstory throughout the book, but then just dumps his entire backstory halfway through the book.
The ending was a bit dull. It feels like William Hussey just ended the book and then summarises the protagonist’s experiences over the last two years in around 20 pages. Finally, the very last part of the book feels a bit cliché, but I’m fine with this as the ending suits the rest of the book. Overall, a decent book, although I’d not read it again. 6/10
Thomas