australian | Lost in a Good Book

Risk by Fleur Ferris

29 Mar 2016 3 Comments

by Amy in 5 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Young Adult Tags: australian, aww 2016, aww16, five stars, fleur ferris, young adult

Published: 30th June 2015
Publisher: Random House Australia
Pages: 279
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Taylor and Sierra have been best friends for their whole lives. But Taylor’s fed up. Why does Sierra always get what – and who – she wants? From kissing Taylor’s crush to stealing the guy they both met online for herself, Sierra doesn’t seem to notice when she hurts her friends.
So when Sierra says Jacob Jones is the one and asks her friends to cover for her while she goes to meet him for the first time, Taylor rolls her eyes.
But Sierra doesn’t come back when she said she would.
One day. Two days. Three . . .
What if Taylor’s worrying for nothing? What if Sierra’s just being Sierra, forgetting about everyone else to spend time with her new guy?
When Taylor finally tells Sierra’s mum that her daughter is missing, Taylor and her friends are thrown into a dark world they never even knew existed.
Can Taylor find Sierra’s abductor in time? Or should she be looking for a killer?

I did not stop this book once I picked it up and for those who saw me tweeting into the early hours about this book, you understand the emotions I experienced.

What Ferris has done is told a gripping story that is real and could easily be a report on the news. This is an incredible message about the people on the internet and the possible dangers they pose. It’s about mistakes, friendships, evil, and the modern world. The parallels with reality are evident and there is a strong message woven through it, but it isn’t overbearing. What makes this not a report on the news is that Ferris includes all the elements to make this story feel real and truthful, but at the same time she also makes it a compelling novel, with all the great novel components. It is a beautiful story that is told with such heart.

Like all wonderful stories there are characters you love and Callum is someone I fell in love with pretty quickly. He is adorable and a sweetheart and he tries to be the best friend to Taylor that he can be. The personality of each character shines on the page and you love them because they’re real and they’re different, and Ferris makes you feel like they are standing right beside you as they speak.

As you read there’s a pounding in your chest that never fades, the story takes hold of your soul and pulls you through this gripping tale. So much happens before you are even half way and Ferris keeps up the intensity incredibly well. It’s easy to say the story is broken in two stages, but there are so many overlapping moments of mystery and various aftermaths there are mini moments and events throughout which stop it being placed in a simple before and after style story.

A wonderful moment is realising Taylor is still such a kid. She gets excited about things and let’s her mind wander with possibilities and having dreams that don’t come to fruition. Because of this I think it’s also easier to see how simple and blameless she is in everything that happens. As you read you pick up the red flags but at the same time you understand why Taylor doesn’t.

What I loved about this book was just how real it seemed. What Taylor experiences is not unheard of, nor is there a simple solution. Ferris uses Taylor as a great tool in telling a beautiful story while also spreading a message. She never preaches, nor does Taylor, and Ferris seamlessly explores the dangers of the modern world while also entertaining (and providing feels).

I implore everyone to read this book, it is not just a gripping and suspense filled story, but it acts as an educator for teens and parents alike. Ferris has used her skills and her background to create a captivating and truly beautiful story that also offers guidance and explores some very real consequences of the online world.

You can purchase Risk via the following

Booktopia | Amazon Aust

Book Depository | QBD

Amazon | Dymocks

Publisher | A&R Bookworld

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The Yearbook Committee by Sarah Ayoub

25 Mar 2016 4 Comments

by Amy in 5 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Young Adult Tags: australia, australian, australian women writers challenge, aww 2016, aww2016, five stars, sarah ayoub, young adult

Published: 1st March 2016
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Five teenagers. Five lives. One final year.

The school captain: Ryan has it all … or at least he did, until an accident snatched his dreams away. How will he rebuild his life and what does the future hold for him now?

The newcomer: Charlie’s just moved interstate and she’s determined not to fit in. She’s just biding her time until Year 12 is over and she can head back to her real life and her real friends …

The loner: At school, nobody really notices Matty. But at home, Matty is everything. He’s been single-handedly holding things together since his mum’s breakdown, and he’s never felt so alone.

The popular girl: Well, the popular girl’s best friend … cool by association. Tammi’s always bowed to peer pressure, but when the expectations become too much to handle, will she finally stand up for herself?

The politician’s daughter: Gillian’s dad is one of the most recognisable people in the state and she’s learning the hard way that life in the spotlight comes at a very heavy price.

Five unlikely teammates thrust together against their will. Can they find a way to make their final year a memorable one or will their differences tear their world apart?

I knew a Melina Marchetta recommendation wouldn’t let me down and a reading binge until 4am proves me right. The Yearbook Committee is a beautiful story that encapsulates how people from different situations can come together (albeit unwilling), and can have their lives changed forever.

The story is told through five character perspectives, across nine months of the school year, and reveals the ups and down of teenage life and the experiences of living in contemporary Australia. The joy of reading Aussie books is recognising the locations and references, and Ayoub captures that Aussie feeling, our language and our culture, making this story feel natural and familiar.

The layout revolves around the monthly yearbook meetings and the school terms, and Ayoub’s creative in getting information without needing it to be told in detail. Using character’s traits and personalities to her advantage, Ayoub provides the ideal amount of information keeping it feeling natural with the story at hand. The focus is centred on the yearbook and character personal lives, and though things are mentioned within this space, Ayoub never makes us feel like we need to see them play out.

Being a book about modern teenagers, there’s naturally a lot of social media to include and Ayoub integrates technology and texting seamlessly and creatively. Each character shift is broken up with a Facebook style post and it sets the tone for not only the coming chapter, but it fits into the overall and arching story. Ayoub also ends each chapter with a hanging question, a moment, or thought that can be profound or concerning. Each character is contemplating or observing and it’s a great tactic; it finalises their chapter and can have such an impact on what has happened or what is going to happen.

There are characters you like immediately and certainly those you don’t like for the entire novel. Then there are the few that grow on you as you read. The more Ayoub reveals about them and the more you get to know them your feelings shift until you grow to respect each one for who they are. Again, not everyone, some of them you want to kick in the face, those feelings don’t change. There were times when I wanted to reach into the pages and hug these people, even now having finished it I still want to give them all a massive hug. One part that I loved was that so many characters connect with each other and overlap and they don’t always know it. Friends of friends and relatives of others know one another and when you notice you realise how connected everyone is.

Getting to see each committee member’s point of view is a powerful tool. You feel sorry for them all in varying degrees and certainly for various reasons. Their life outside of school is opened up and the different struggles and conflicts they face are laid bare, making you realise everyone has something to hide and problems of their own. The Tolstoy quote Gillian posts is a perfect example: All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Each of these characters is unhappy in their own way and sometimes these unhappinesses can break your heart.

Ayoub doesn’t placate you with idealistic and fake endings; she offers you solutions and results, consequences and outcomes. And yet, there is also a delightful ambiguity remaining, taunting you with things left open and unanswered. Nothing that says there will be a happily ever after which is why, in those final emotional chapters when you can’t stand it anymore but have to keep reading, Ayoub delivers a realistic and perfect conclusion, one that suits these characters you’ve grown to love, one that feels real, one that crushes your heart and is feels just right, even when you’re trying not to cry.

My only criticism with this story (a minor personal desire), is that I wish that we could have seen the final yearbook layout. It would have been a bittersweet inclusion and if possible I would happily donate to a fund that gets this put into production. Until such time, I am content with this important, beautiful, and divine story that will open your eyes and move your soul.

You can purchase The Yearbook Committee via the following

Booktopia | Amazon Aust

Book Depository | QBD

Amazon | Dymocks

Readings | Publisher

A&R Bookworld| Boomerang Books

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Frankie by Shivaun Plozza

23 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Young Adult Tags: aussie books, australian, australian women writers challenge, aww 2016, aww2016, loveozya, shivaun plozza, young adult

Published: March 23rd 2016
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Pages: 314
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Frankie Vega is angry. Just ask the guy whose nose she broke. Or the cop investigating the burglary she witnessed, or her cheating ex-boyfriend or her aunt who’s tired of giving second chances…When a kid shows up claiming to be Frankie’s half brother, it opens the door to a past she doesn’t want to remember. And when that kid goes missing, the only person willing to help is a boy with stupidly blue eyes … and secrets of his own. Frankie’s search for the truth might change her life, or cost her everything.

There’s so much to love about Frankie. Plozza’s story is filled with rawness, pain, heart warming moments, and soul crushing scenes. From its opening pages until the end we’re taken on an amazing journey, not a very long one time wise, or that grand in the scheme of things, but amazing none the less.

From the start you are invested in these characters and their lives. The ongoing mystery about what Steve Sparrow said to Frankie isn’t the only hook, nor is her newly discovered half brother. Her life with her aunt and her abandonment by her mother is a captivating and painful tale that connects in all the right places. Plozza makes you empathise so much with Frankie and what she deals with.

I’m not entirely sure if it’s healthy, but I got Frankie. I agreed with her philosophies and I admired her, even when she was doing wrong. Her determination is admirable and while your heart pounds and you personally feel the guilt when she disobeys her aunt, I loved her still. I love her attitude and her fierceness, plus her attempt to do the right thing in a world that hasn’t been that kind. Her love and respect for her aunt is beautiful and contrasted perfectly with her desire and urge to do things that aren’t always right. There is a definite emotional tug-of-war that never lets up.

There is a view that Frankie doesn’t accept the chances she’s given; she is provided so many chances to right her wrongs that she doesn’t take for one reason or another. But while it seems like she is her own worst enemy, seeing her decisions and thought process from her point of view, you forgive her. You understand her anger comes from a real place, something that can’t be fixed overnight. You see her desire to find her brother and do something when no one else seems to be. Her uncontrollable temper gets her into trouble and her attitude aggravates others, but seeing it through Frankie’s eyes makes it understandable. The fact that Frankie tries so hard to be good breaks your heart, and seeing her struggle and fight those helping her is torture.

Every single one of Plozza’s characters are divine. She has created such a diverse range of people all mixed up in this one story. They have their own stories to tell, they are cheeky and boorish, innocent and misguided. Their life stories can be sussed out in the simplest comment or in their silence. You fall in love with so many so easily and watching them make mistakes and have victories and turmoil is one of the best parts about reading this.

A lot of love must be focused on Aunt Vinnie, she is incredible. For all the conflict between the two you can tell she loves Frankie fiercely. She grounds her and scolds her but she loves her as well and there are some fabulous scenes that demonstrate that Aunt Vinnie has always been and will always be Frankie’s one defender. Against every crappy thing life has thrown Frankie’s way, Aunt Vinnie will be there.

Plozza tells this fantastic story with heart and style and humour that highlights truths and realities of an imperfect world and brings flawed people to life. It isn’t a story of heightened teen angst or drama, it’s real and it’s honest, and it’s a powerful story about the realities in life and the good and bad it contains. And it will crush your soul in the process. It’s brilliant.

You can purchase Frankie via the following

Booktopia | Amazon Aust

Book Depository | QBD

Amazon | Dymocks

Readings | Publisher

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The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis

15 Mar 2016 2 Comments

by Amy in 5 Stars, Young Adult Tags: australian, five stars, will kostakis, young adult

Published: 29th February 2016
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

The Swimmer. The Rebel. The Nerd.

All Ryan, Harley and Miles had in common was Isaac. They lived different lives, had different interests and kept different secrets. But they shared the same best friend. They were sidekicks. And now that Isaac’s gone, what does that make them?

Will Kostakis, award-winning author of The First Third, perfectly depicts the pain and pleasure of this teenage world, piecing together three points of view with intricate splendour.

THIS BOOK. Let’s talk about Kostakis and his book that’s going to send me into a cardiac arrest because my nerves can’t take it and my heart can’t cope.

There is so much to love about this story, the boys themselves in particular. I fell in love with Ryan from page one. Through his entire story I rooted for him, feared for him, practically fell in love with who he is and I regret nothing.

Harley was different. Harley got a gradual and slow leak sympathy that turned my affections to him by the end. I never disliked him, there’s always reasons why someone is they way are, reasons we see early on in his perspective. But even from those understandings there becomes something more that makes you adore him ever so slightly. Harley is rebellious and doesn’t seem to care, but there are moments, brilliant moments, and it’s clear he’s just a kid and he’s lost and he’s a teenage boy.

Miles, oh Miles. He comes off as so standoffish and no one seems to like him and it is torture you have to wait until the final section to hear his story, but when you do, oh my goodness. I don’t want to pity miles, he doesn’t make you either. But in a way he is almost his own worst enemy but at the same time he isn’t. He is just Miles. Like Harley is took a bit of warming up to him, his style, but getting inside his mind breaks your heart and having Miles tell his story after the other two is a divine and perfect move by Kostakis.

What I adored about this book was how we got to see each guy deal with what happens. We see their coping mechanisms, their mistakes, and their grief. Each boy does something different and learning how to live in a world without Isaac is a learning curve for them all in many different ways.

If I could shove this book into the hands of every one I passed on the street I would be happy. This isn’t a book that will automatically change your world or your opinion or try to teach you anything. It may do that, I don’t know, but this book is a fantastic and invigorating experience. You become so invested in every little aspect of this book and these three guys and their lives, even Isaac. I was invested in his life and who he is and technically he isn’t even in it!

Isaac comes to life on the pages, we see who he was through his three friends, see his relationship with each of them, what he meant to them. As much as you fall in love (granted of varying degrees) with each of the boys, you fall in love with Isaac as well.

The structure has to be addressed because breaking the story into the three perspectives was not only marvellous, but each section is like a mini cliff hanger that sends you into a cascade of emotions and stress. Each of the boys start their story from the same time point give or take, and we see overlapping moments to previously mentioned conversations or events, but Kostakis does not make it feel like a recap, it’s seamless and fits so incredibly well. By the time we hit part three with Miles we have many of the same events retold differently again, but the time frame continually jumps and even after the third retelling it’s a totally new experience. Miles tells his story in his own way, one that suits the kind of person Miles is, and it is fantastic and a total favour to the story.

Miles is the perfect conclusion to this story and Kostakis makes it suit his personality brilliantly and it concludes the book and the emotional experience you’ve endured in the most fitting way (I was an emotional wreck but I was through most of it so it doesn’t count for much).

I want to give details about so much of this book but I refuse to spoil anything. It’s so bitter sweet, you’re crying but you’re happy and it’s perfect. You become attached to these characters almost immediately and you feel and understand every aspect of their lives, even when it can be so different from your own. The way Kostakis writes and gets inside the mind of these boys makes us understand without it being pushed on us, or even whether it was intentional. Kostakis makes your heart skip and tears well in your eyes, and the ending (and this novel) is everything you could ever ask for. It’s bumpy yet seamless and every other word for perfect there is.

You can purchase The Sidekicks via the following

Booktopia | Amazon Aust

Book Depository | QBD

Amazon | Dymocks

Readings | Publisher

Yellow by Megan Jacobson

14 Mar 2016 3 Comments

by Amy in 5 Stars, Australian Women Writers, Paranormal, Young Adult Tags: australian, australian women writers challenge, aww 2016, aww16, five stars, megan jacobson, paranormal, young adult

Published: 1st February 2016
Publisher: Penguin Teen Australia
Pages: 259
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

If fourteen-year-old Kirra is having a mid-life crisis now, then it doesn’t bode well for her life expectancy. Her so-called friends bully her, whatever semblance of a mother she had has been drowned at the bottom of a gin bottle ever since her dad left them for another woman, and now a teenage ghost is speaking to her through a broken phone booth. Kirra and the ghost make a pact. She’ll prove who murdered him almost twenty years ago if he does three things for her. He makes her popular, he gets her parents back together, and he doesn’t haunt her. Things aren’t so simple however, and Kirra realises that people can be haunted in more ways than one.

To quote a line from an incredibly wise author by the name of Megan Jacobson, “this is the kind of book that makes you stop and just rest the pages on your chest from the truth of it”. Yellow is a brilliant, emotionally charged book that reveals so much about the various struggles in people’s lives. There is an incredible amount of beauty and honesty and raw strength in this story; Jacobson captures so much from so many angles and connects them together into this life of a fourteen-year-old.

Kirra Barley is my hero. I love her so much, she speaks to me on so many levels and she is so much braver and stronger than she could ever give herself credit for. I am so fiercely proud of her and everything she does, even the bad stuff. She is shy but she has dreams of being popular. Despite continually being berated and bullied by her so called friends, she is always out to impress them, always wanting to fit in. She doesn’t revel in being the outsider, she wants friends, she needs someone to talk to and it crushes you when she doesn’t get it.

Kirra’s so desperate to have friends she jumps at the chance to help a ghost she isn’t entirely sure is real, and wants him to make her popular and fix her family. What’s fantastic about this is that Jacobson doesn’t let the paranormal aspect take over from this real story, yet in a way Boogie’s ghost still does. Kirra’s efforts to help him takes her down certain paths, some good some not, and it makes you realise how desperate she has become and how unable she is to cope with what’s happening around her.

As much as you hate some of these characters and how much they frustrate and anger you, there is no denying how fantastic they are. They’re all as complex and well developed as each other and even with the short attention given to a few of them, there are clever ways Jacobson reveals who they are deep down.

The emotions definitely begin early on and stay in varying degrees until the final page. Yellow grabs onto your heart and will take it on a tough and brutal journey filled with pain and surprises and twists that you will not believe. It’s down to earth despite the fact there’s a ghost in a phone box, and it’s filled with characters who have flaws and failings and while you can’t forgive everything, it’s evident some of them are doing the best they can.

The best way to describe this story is a lot of little heartbreaks joined together, but as Jacobson made me realise, it also has lots of bits of glue and band-aids. For every moment you mourn for Kirra (there’s no pity it’s straight up mourning), there is another part that lifts your spirits and makes things ok. This perfect balance is what makes this story work. It’s not a constant problem/solution type story, but when you see Kirra’s world crush her, there’s a moment that makes you glad she has some light.

It isn’t all heartache and pain I promise, there are light-hearted moments and a gripping plot that pulls you along and makes you become invested in this town and its people. But Jacobson doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities either, and together with these wonderful moments a story emerges that astounds and amazes. This is definitely a story that stays with you long after you’ve finished.

You can purchase Yellow via the following

Booktopia | Amazon Aust

Book Depository | QBD

Amazon | Dymocks

Readings | Publisher

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