The Memory Book by Lara Avery

29 Dec 2016 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars Tags: , ,

Published: 7th July 2016  Goodreads badge
Publisher: Quercus Children’s Books
Pages: 357
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

“They tell me that my memory will never be the same, that I’ll start forgetting things. At first just a little, and then a lot. So I’m writing to remember.”

Samantha McCoy has it all mapped out. First she’s going to win the national debating championship, then she’s going to move to New York and become a human rights lawyer. But when Sammie discovers that a rare disease is going to take away her memory, the future she’d planned so perfectly is derailed before it’s started. What she needs is a new plan.

So the Memory Book is born: Sammie’s notes to her future self, a document of moments great and small. Realising that her life won’t wait to be lived, she sets out on a summer of firsts: The first party; The first rebellion; The first friendship; The last love.

Through a mix of heartfelt journal entries, mementos, and guest posts from friends and family, readers will fall in love with Sammie, a brave and remarkable girl who learns to live and love life fully, even though it’s not the life she planned.

I was delightfully surprised with this book. I picked it up thinking it sounded interesting and I wasn’t disappointed. As someone who has not got the greatest memory at times, it was fascinating to read about someone who has a disease that robs someone of their memories. The irony is, as Sammie mentions, is that she relies on her memory. It is her strongest thing, her proudest part of herself. To have that taken away is nothing short of unfair.

As a debater, planned Valedictorian, and future lawyer, Sammie’s big plans are thrown into chaos when she discovers she has an incredibly rare disease that will slowly affect her memories. To preserve the ones she has and to keep a record of goals for Future Sam to attain to, she starts a journal dubbed her Memory Book where she records her life in the tiniest detail, determined to show everyone she can fight her fate and still have the life she’s spent years working towards.

I loved that this book is told entirely through Sammie’s Memory Book. There are no deviations or ‘outside’ moments not recorded in the book. This is interesting and you see how Avery works things into the book through Sammie that tells her story but also includes the lives of others.

Sammie was an interesting character and I quite liked her. She is passionate and headstrong; she knows what she wants and does everything in her power to get it. She knows she hasn’t got the best social skills, she admits she is selfish, others know she is selfish, but despite her faults in that respect, it is hard not to love her straightforwardness and her desire to go for what she wants. Her determination is adjusted to her circumstance and she is a fighter.

Avery tells the story of Sammie and her life and progression through the disease really well. Time passes and events happens which are all mentioned seamlessly in Sammie’s account. Seeing Sammie’s deterioration and her down moments through her words are all you need to understand, there’s no need for long explanations or anything. Sammie isn’t telling herself what is happening, she is writing down her memories, and that doesn’t include telling us about each new failing, it’s about recording how she’s living. From fleeting references and writing changes you can see what is happening, understand what is going on. It breaks your heart a little which is remarkable since Avery only shows a limited perspective.

I did get emotional at the end; I wasn’t quite expecting it if I’m honest. But having a few tears welling up is never a bad thing in emotional storytelling like this. From page one you hear Sammie’s voice, her determination, her fight against the unfightable and you can’t pity her, but you do mourn her lost chances. The brightside though is seeing her follow a new path, seeing her forge ahead and accept her new life, understand herself better and realise she doesn’t have to be the person she has always been and in doing so can still have a wonderful life.

You can purchase The Memory Book via the following

Amazon | Book Depository

Booktopia | QBD

 

Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerrilla Knitters Institute (#1) by Maggie Groff

20 Dec 2016 3 Comments

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Mystery Tags: , , ,

Published: 3rd March 2012 (print)/6th August 2012 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia/Bolinda Audio
Pages: 364 pages/7 discs
Narrator: Georgie Parker
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Mystery
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

When a secretive American cult moves to the Gold Coast, freelance journalist Scout Davis’s investigative antennae start quivering. She sets out to expose the cult’s lunatic beliefs and bizarre practices, but when she learns the identity of a recent recruit, her quest becomes personal. And dangerous.

But Scout has her secrets too. In the dead of night she sneaks out with an underground group of yarn bombers to decorate the locality with artworks. The next mission ticks all the right boxes – it’s risky, difficult and extremely silly. However, Scout has a sneaking suspicion that the local police sergeant, Rafe Kelly, is hot on her tail.

Jess from The Never Ending Book Shelf reviewed this a while back and since then I have been keen to read it. It came across my desk at work and I borrowed it right away to give it a go and I was… satisfied, I think that’s the best word to use.

The story itself is quite interesting, the investigation into a cult and the second mystery and investigation at the school is really good. Scout is a great investigative journalist and seeing how she maps out her stories and her plans are a nice insight into the mind of someone in her profession. She is headstrong and good at her job, she is clever and creative and seeing her work is an engaging part of the story. But having said that, I wasn’t a fan of Scout herself at times. Yes, admittedly, she is strong and confident and snarky and sarcastic and knows how to laugh and enjoy life, but she also isn’t the most faithful, and while she is having adulterous thoughts about a friend she doesn’t seem the least bit guilty. I kept waiting for her to snap out of it, to realise she couldn’t have these thoughts while her partner is overseas. It annoyed me she didn’t try to stop herself and that she went on with no remorse. It didn’t make you like her as a character in that regard.

Also while the guerrilla knitting part was interesting, I couldn’t see the point in relation to the rest of the story. It was more like a side quest that had no relation to anything else. It is like Groff has just put a few weeks of Scout’s life together and is telling us. Which is fine, but while the rest of the events sort of blended together or connected in some way, this never really needed to be there in terms of story.

This snippet of a life approach is supported by the fact Groff goes into a lot of detail about Scout’s day to day business, a lot of little details and descriptions are included about what she does, from shopping to what she eats and her daily routine. Whether this has to do with her diabetes and Groff felt like in the daily routine we needed to know the practices and how they fit into her life otherwise it wasn’t believable I’m not sure. When exciting things happen it all comes back to her diabetes and how it comes into play. Whether it would be as saturated with detail and description if she didn’t have diabetes I don’t know, I’m not sure I really needed to know every little thing Scout did though.

As a narrator Georgie Parker probably isn’t the best choice and maybe this also came into play of how I enjoyed the story. She adds emotion as she reads into odd places and doesn’t read it…I don’t want to say normally, but she pauses at odd times in sentences, it’s very casual and seems like a fun activity rather than trying to read the book as it were. Not to mention there is little difference in the voices she uses for characters, sometimes it disappearing altogether at times. Granted you don’t always need it, but it was something I noticed. Like all audiobooks you get used to some things, but I couldn’t quite get used to Georgie’s style and her voice annoyed me more often than not, it kept bringing me out of the story and while I accepted her style, I never stopped noticing it like I have done with other audio books when I become more invested in the story than the voice telling it.

Overall it was interesting for the investigative style and the story surrounding it. Groff frames the story well and shows how Scout moves from one part of her research into another, how she fits it into her day with life’s little dramas and adventures. The writing is good, the action and suspense was good, the balance of the serious and the every day worked well and Groff flows from one event to the next successfully. It was enjoyable and I might have to find the next book to see if it really gets me into the series and maybe see more of the Guerilla Knitters in action.

You can purchase Mad Men, Bad Girls, and the Guerilla Knitters Institute via the following

Print

Booktopia | Pan Macmillan Aus

Angus & Robertson | QBD

Audio

Booktopia | Angus & Robertson

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold (#1) by Iain Reading

17 Oct 2016 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Young Adult Tags: , ,

Published: 3rd December 2012 Goodreads badge
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Pages: 262
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult/Mystery
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold is the thrilling first instalment in a new series of adventure mystery stories that are one part travel, one part history and five parts adventure. This first book of the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series introduces Kitty Hawk, an intrepid teenage pilot with her own De Havilland Beaver seaplane and a nose for mystery and intrigue. 

After leaving her home in the western Canadian fishing village of Tofino to spend the summer in Alaska studying humpback whales Kitty finds herself caught up in an unforgettable adventure involving stolen gold, devious criminals, ghostly shipwrecks, and bone-chilling curses. Kitty’s adventure begins with the lingering mystery of a sunken ship called the Clara Nevada and as the plot continues to unfold this spirited story will have armchair explorers and amateur detectives alike anxiously following every twist and turn as they are swept along through the history of the Klondike Gold Rush to a suspenseful final climactic chase across the rugged terrain of Canada’s Yukon, the harsh land made famous in the stories and poems of such writers as Jack London, Robert Service and Pierre Berton. It is a riveting tale that brings to glorious life the landscape and history of Alaska’s inside passage and Canada’s Yukon, as Kitty is caught up in an epic mystery set against the backdrop of the scenery of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book for review.

I wasn’t sure what I would think of this book but I was pleasantly surprised. Reading grabs your attention straight away with Kitty in a dire situation, even before we know her we are worried about her, curious how she got in that situation and wondering if she would get out of it. But even outside the drama filled prologue there is an interesting story that is enjoyable to read. Kitty’s journey to study whales in Alaska is something I found really interesting, and Reading details her method and process without making it scientific or unengaging. Even if Kitty was just studying whales I think I would be happy to read about that, but Reading brings us something more than just whales, there is history and suspense, treasure hunting and drama, there’s even a bit of romance snuck in there.

The journey Kitty goes on takes her to real places in Alaska and Canada and Reading brings us along for the journey with wonderful detail that creates vivid images in your mind. Even without knowing the area I could picture the bays and the mountains, teach described rather well through Kitty’s experience and explanation.

Additionally, there are little maps and photos thrown in here and there as well which I thought was a great addition, just a little something to help place where Kitty was, to show her story in these real places. Even without them, though, there is enough detail to picture it in your mind; Reading has done a good job in terms of just enough detail and vivid descriptions.

You can certainly see where the detective agency side of the series comes from, especially based on the events in this book. Kitty is a clever girl, and she works out things fairly quickly and it works out as a great introduction to the series. We see Kitty’s origins, her original intentions and plans. Reading uses Kitty’s voice to explain to us her adventures like a story or report, jokes, jibes, and afterthoughts included. It gives the story a casual nature, more storyteller narration and a chance to be freer with writing style and content.

Kitty is a smart, fearless girl, but she is also curious which can lead to trouble. Her intelligence is shown in numerous situations, as is her resourcefulness, and it was refreshing to see a young girl in command of a machine like a sea plane.

There were some moments that were odd, character wise. Without giving too much away, a few characters end up entirely different I felt from their first introduction. Excuses are there, I understand that, but it seemed such a change, it didn’t really feel like a one off situation and made me confused. Again, not pressing to the story, it just felt odd as I read.

I quite liked this book, the Yukon gold side was intriguing and had enough mystery and twists to make it enjoyable, even enough to create your own conclusions and be surprised at the revelations. I think this is a good start to a series as it provides a great origin story and starts Kitty off in a great direction for following books.

You can purchase Kitty Hawk via the following

Amazon | Fishpond

 

Two for the Holidays by Ekta Garg

03 Jan 2016 1 Comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Short Stories, Stories in Pairs Tags: , , , ,

Published: 15th December 2015Goodreads badge
Publisher: Prairie Sky Publishing
Pages: 130
Format: ebook
Genre: short stories
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

A medium gets ready for one of the biggest days in her career speaking to the dead. An elf accepts an unusual assignment and faces his past. Two stories about people tied to holiday-themed professions. Two stories about the reality of life’s hardships in the last quarter of the year. Two stories for the holidays. 

The first story, “Take A Breath”: Marisa Bellini has travelled to a tiny town on Halloween to help people contact the dead. She’s built an empire on the idea that she can talk to ghosts…but can she really? Sometimes even Marisa isn’t sure.

The second story, “The Truth About Elves”: Curtis, an elf, sets the record straight. No, elves don’t have pointy ears, they aren’t three feet tall, and they don’t live at the North Pole all year long. When Curtis gets a special assignment from the big man himself, though, he learns that Christmas magic has the power to transform everything he’s known for the last decade.

Come spend the holidays with Marisa and Curtis, and join the Stories in Pairs journey!

 Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.

This is the fifth Stories in Pairs set by Garg, and once again two unique stories are presented with a common theme connecting them. As the title suggests Two for the Holidays revolves around the holidays, Halloween and Christmas respectively, and through her characters Garg explores the personal trials and hardships faced during this time.

Each story was interesting and tugged at your curiosity for where it was heading. There are hints at what is hidden and with characters skirting around issues means you are often guessing and trying to work out what has actually happened, but this is intertwined with magic and mystery and other plot elements that keep each story flowing. At times there didn’t seem to be a clear direction, and the hints and things unspoken often made it perplexing, but as the pieces fell into place they offered a revelation that brought each story home.

The first story follows medium Marisa as she puts on a show for a small town during Halloween. While an interesting behind the scenes is depicted of the practice, there is also an ongoing uncertainty about what is real and what is fake. Marisa’s story was interesting because Garg alludes to some things and discredits others, leaving you not entirely sure what is real and what isn’t. What’s unexplained doesn’t leave a cliff hanger exactly, but leaves you intrigued all the same.

The second story I felt explored the themes much better, but it also had a lot to wrap your head around and focus on. Curtis’ story offers a creative approach to Santa and the Christmas season and after you get used to the style and the voice, the story is quite interesting, and certainly creative. Garg alternates between first and third person and there is a lot more not being said and yet continually hinted at. Through this you can piece together snippets of Curtis’ life and as more is revealed the story falls into place nicely.

Overall this pair of stories was not as captivating as Garg’s previous sets, but knowing the message she was trying to tell it is evident she achieved that. The gradual revelations and slow reveals work in building anticipation and curiosity, and the exploration of the anguish and emotional nature of the holidays is certainly clear. Each character struggles with hardships in their life and the unique and creative approaches Garg has taken allows a new look at how loss affects people during the holidays and how it can affect every aspect of their lives.

You can purchase Two for the Holidays via the following

Amazon

 

 

Double Madness by Caroline de Costa

28 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Crime Tags: , , ,

Published: 13th July 2015Goodreads badge
Publisher: Margaret River Press
Pages: 357
Format: Paperback
Genre: Crime
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

Set in Queensland, this debut crime novel Double Madness by Caroline de Costa, takes us into a sordid underbelly of psycho-sexual depravity. 

As local residents and authorities in Far North Queensland assess the damage in the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi, a woman’s body is found in bizarre circumstances deep in the rainforest.

Cass Diamond of Cairns CIB is on the team investigating the murder of fashionista Odile Janvier and it’s not long before she uncovers a disturbing connection between the victim and the local medical profession.

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

De Costa hooks you into poor Odile’s story from page one, piquing your interest with her final resting place amongst a cyclone ravished rainforest in Queensland. From then on she introduces you to the complicated world of small town antics, police investigations, and people with secrets of every sort.

For those not familiar with crime or medical jargon or procedure, de Costa makes it understandable but believable and knowing that the characters know what they’re talking about, even if you may not, makes a lot of difference.

The writing style and dialogue adds a great believability and sense of reality; the voices feel natural, conversations are realistic and not overly formal, characters are complicated, make mistakes, and have their own issues and back stories that come into play. The multiple perspectives allow an insight into the minds of each character, providing new information than what is told to others, and it lets readers determine for themselves what role people may play in this crime.

The story doesn’t focus entirely on the investigation, there are sub plots and character histories explored, and the personal lives of characters keep moving forward while the investigation happens around them. The “psycho-sexual depravity” isn’t explicit either, and only really emerges in the latter half of the book, though there are a few creepy and intense moments and references that make your skin crawl along the way. Everything has a part to play though and every references and detail acts as a red herring and a clue, and the more that is uncovered the stranger it becomes.

The timeline jumps, sometimes months, sometimes years, with each flashback revealing a bit more information or detail about various characters. The entire investigation and format de Costa has chosen is a fascinating exploration about what people get up to in their spare time; with the added bonus of being in a small town setting it adds further complications of not only knowing everyone, but knowing everyone’s business as well.

Switching between narrators and revealing information out of sequence shows the complexity of relationships and the small town environment really well. While the investigation reveals some details, and character flashbacks and thoughts reveal others, there is enough not being told that readers are always guessing and piecing together clues themselves. With everyone a possible suspect you soon doubt your own opinions as credible theories and evidence is found for almost every one.

This is a cleverly written crime novel and one reflective of human nature, the panic and rash decisions of those questioned make everyone a suspect and de Costa ensures you pay attention as tiny details can make all the difference and passing references and meetings may be more consequential than they appear. There are so many theories and possible scenarios running through your mind as you read, and all of them have a chance since de Costa is just vague enough and creative enough to make anything possible. But it isn’t until the end, when everything falls into place, that you realise how clever she’s been and how important those tiny details have been.

You can purchase Double Madness via the following

Amazon | Amazon Aust

Publisher | Booktopia

Book Depository

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