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patchworkbunny's Reviews (2.12k)
There’s something about seeing things on a hot summer’s day on the beach that makes it more sinister. However I don’t think the fact the cover says it’s a ghost story needs to be taken literally. Maybe David did see a ghost, or maybe his mind is playing tricks on him as his suppressed memories try to break through.
Graham Joyce’s writing is so evocative, you can practically feel the oppressive heat of the holiday camp. The place is starting to fray around the edges, both in the physical sense and in the tired acts that no longer appeal to the young. It’s like a time warp. It’s strange to think the seaside camps were starting to fade back in the 70s considering they’ve managed to cling on and stay in business even now.
The plague of ladybirds is only a small part of the book. In fact it’s been released under the title The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit in the US (although that might be because they don’t know what ladybirds are). The plague did actually happens and 1976 is known as the year of the ladybird. So it’s about David experiences of that year, where reality became surreal.
If you’re looking for horror or a ghost story, you may be disappointed, but the writing is superb and it’s a wonderful peek into a different time and place. From the simple pleasures of a British seaside holiday to the uncomfortable presence of the National Front, gaining force amongst the working classes in the north, who felt immigrants were to blame for their hardships.
Graham Joyce’s writing is so evocative, you can practically feel the oppressive heat of the holiday camp. The place is starting to fray around the edges, both in the physical sense and in the tired acts that no longer appeal to the young. It’s like a time warp. It’s strange to think the seaside camps were starting to fade back in the 70s considering they’ve managed to cling on and stay in business even now.
The plague of ladybirds is only a small part of the book. In fact it’s been released under the title The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit in the US (although that might be because they don’t know what ladybirds are). The plague did actually happens and 1976 is known as the year of the ladybird. So it’s about David experiences of that year, where reality became surreal.
If you’re looking for horror or a ghost story, you may be disappointed, but the writing is superb and it’s a wonderful peek into a different time and place. From the simple pleasures of a British seaside holiday to the uncomfortable presence of the National Front, gaining force amongst the working classes in the north, who felt immigrants were to blame for their hardships.
Sally Gardner does a wonderful job of portraying both modern day and 19th century London, the similarities and differences. Everyday life in 1830 is tough but for some it holds more promise than now. Sometimes all people need to get on in life is a blank slate. With no preconceptions and prejudices, a young man has more hope even when there is little.
All too often, young adult protagonists come from middle class background, or have at least one loving parent in the wings. It’s important to see characters like Sally's, who do represent a lot of teenagers today. Many are facing futures with little prospects, even minimum wage jobs being hard to get and with families that don’t love them unconditionally. AJ’s adventure might be fantastical but there’s a lot of reality within the pages.
It really emphasises how bad it’s getting for the latest generation of teenagers that a life in the past offers greater potential than the present. However the story is also a well-paced murder mystery and a tale of friendship.
Review copy provided by publisher.
All too often, young adult protagonists come from middle class background, or have at least one loving parent in the wings. It’s important to see characters like Sally's, who do represent a lot of teenagers today. Many are facing futures with little prospects, even minimum wage jobs being hard to get and with families that don’t love them unconditionally. AJ’s adventure might be fantastical but there’s a lot of reality within the pages.
It really emphasises how bad it’s getting for the latest generation of teenagers that a life in the past offers greater potential than the present. However the story is also a well-paced murder mystery and a tale of friendship.
Review copy provided by publisher.
Her letters are to those who died before their time. People with troubled lives, family break-ups and hard childhoods but also those who could express their feelings or showed bravery. As the letters continue, you find more in common with Laurel and the people she chooses to write to.
Laurel tells the dead the things she cannot tell her friends and family. They start off small, like her trouble making friends at her new school and the boy she stares at. But as time go on, the letters get more and more personal, and we start to learn she has buried a lot under the surface.
I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first though. I'm not a huge fan of books about music. I like listening to music but not talking about it or hearing people talk about. And there seems a trend for young adult books where the kids all like old bands as some sort of statement. Fortunately, it's more the lives of the musicians that are the important part to the story. She starts talking about how their music affected her but goes on to think about how they lived and died, and the tragedy left behind.
I’m not sure the letters consistently feel like letters though. Especially where speech is concerned, they just read like normal narrative. There are other places where it feels like too much information is given, that some historical background was required but why would you write that in a letter to the person? As a book aimed at young adults, plenty of the people mentioned may be new to them, so it’s tough to get across enough solely in letters. Maybe a mix of letters and some other narrative would have worked a bit better for me.
However it’s a strong debut. Her narrative reminds me a little of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. You know there’s something wrong through her actions and thoughts without being too direct. The revelations of her past come slowly and I didn’t find it predictable. Once I got caught up in her life, the last few letters were really rather moving.
Laurel tells the dead the things she cannot tell her friends and family. They start off small, like her trouble making friends at her new school and the boy she stares at. But as time go on, the letters get more and more personal, and we start to learn she has buried a lot under the surface.
I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first though. I'm not a huge fan of books about music. I like listening to music but not talking about it or hearing people talk about. And there seems a trend for young adult books where the kids all like old bands as some sort of statement. Fortunately, it's more the lives of the musicians that are the important part to the story. She starts talking about how their music affected her but goes on to think about how they lived and died, and the tragedy left behind.
I’m not sure the letters consistently feel like letters though. Especially where speech is concerned, they just read like normal narrative. There are other places where it feels like too much information is given, that some historical background was required but why would you write that in a letter to the person? As a book aimed at young adults, plenty of the people mentioned may be new to them, so it’s tough to get across enough solely in letters. Maybe a mix of letters and some other narrative would have worked a bit better for me.
However it’s a strong debut. Her narrative reminds me a little of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. You know there’s something wrong through her actions and thoughts without being too direct. The revelations of her past come slowly and I didn’t find it predictable. Once I got caught up in her life, the last few letters were really rather moving.
I’m really rather impressed (and a teeny bit jealous) of how good nineteen-year-old Alice Oseman’s writing it. Her age probably helps a lot with the authenticity of voice. Tori is sarcastic teen through and through. But she’s real and likable and starting to realise people around her aren’t all that real themselves.
Before I picked it up, I thought the Solitaire in the book might be some masterminded futuristic thing, but it centres on teenage pranks. Some pranks are more annoying, or dangerous, than others and as more people are pulled in, it takes on a life of its own.
I imagine a lot of actual young adults will find Tori completely relatable. Yet, as a thirty-something reading this, I found myself finding a lot of myself in her too. I definitely agree with her on the phone business, I’ve never found phone conversations easy (though they do get easier with practice). Perhaps it is because Tori is on the cusp of growing up – not in a coming of age style story way. More than she is starting to think more like an adult on some things, starting to see how people really are.
Underneath the surface is something a lot deeper. A sense of loneliness that being around people doesn’t cure. A sadness that can’t be pinpointed but is often brushed aside. Especially as teenagers, so often people just expect them to be moody. Tori’s brother’s problems are easy for all to see, suffering from an eating disorder and self-harming. Hers are easier to hide.
Before I picked it up, I thought the Solitaire in the book might be some masterminded futuristic thing, but it centres on teenage pranks. Some pranks are more annoying, or dangerous, than others and as more people are pulled in, it takes on a life of its own.
I imagine a lot of actual young adults will find Tori completely relatable. Yet, as a thirty-something reading this, I found myself finding a lot of myself in her too. I definitely agree with her on the phone business, I’ve never found phone conversations easy (though they do get easier with practice). Perhaps it is because Tori is on the cusp of growing up – not in a coming of age style story way. More than she is starting to think more like an adult on some things, starting to see how people really are.
Underneath the surface is something a lot deeper. A sense of loneliness that being around people doesn’t cure. A sadness that can’t be pinpointed but is often brushed aside. Especially as teenagers, so often people just expect them to be moody. Tori’s brother’s problems are easy for all to see, suffering from an eating disorder and self-harming. Hers are easier to hide.
It’s A Christmas Carol retelling that has nothing to do with Christmas. The idea had potential but was maybe let down by the melding of modern day teen life with the original prose. The story is a mix of new, some paraphrased and some completely lifted out of the original. Maybe it was more noticeable to me as I had recently read A Christmas Carol. Some of it works, some of it seems forced.
I’m not sure how Ben’s anti-love grumpiness is meant to break up Tiny and Tim, a gay couple this time rather than a sickly child. Ben just happens to have gone to school with them and been a bit of a nob to their faces. But if they were actually in love, surely that would make no difference to them in the long term?
I know Christmas has become quite commercial but Valentine’s Day has even more of a please-spend-money vibe about it. It’s something lots of people don’t celebrate. Some of the things Ben was supposedly missing out on seemed a bit materialistic. I didn’t see a problem with him not liking the day, which differs to Scrooge making everyone’s life miserable at Christmas which is a holiday.
There are some little gems and wonderful snippets amongst the story. Some of it focuses on Ben’s grief, still raw. Imagine having Valentine’s Day shoved in your face when the girl you love is dead? He’s bound with chains to Marly’s memory and the idea of letting her go is a better one than some fabricated message of Valentine’s Day. I loved that Marley found out he was also the saint of beekeeping. Now that’s what I’ll be celebrating every February 14th.
Review copy provided by publisher.
I’m not sure how Ben’s anti-love grumpiness is meant to break up Tiny and Tim, a gay couple this time rather than a sickly child. Ben just happens to have gone to school with them and been a bit of a nob to their faces. But if they were actually in love, surely that would make no difference to them in the long term?
I know Christmas has become quite commercial but Valentine’s Day has even more of a please-spend-money vibe about it. It’s something lots of people don’t celebrate. Some of the things Ben was supposedly missing out on seemed a bit materialistic. I didn’t see a problem with him not liking the day, which differs to Scrooge making everyone’s life miserable at Christmas which is a holiday.
There are some little gems and wonderful snippets amongst the story. Some of it focuses on Ben’s grief, still raw. Imagine having Valentine’s Day shoved in your face when the girl you love is dead? He’s bound with chains to Marly’s memory and the idea of letting her go is a better one than some fabricated message of Valentine’s Day. I loved that Marley found out he was also the saint of beekeeping. Now that’s what I’ll be celebrating every February 14th.
Review copy provided by publisher.
Another Vestigal Tale, this one a prequel to Pantomime following Drystan and how he ended up at R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic. The runaway is a Lerium addict, dependent on those who supply the drugs and stuck in an unsavoury relationship. This is his story of how he cleaned up and got out as well as connecting the links to characters in the novels. These novellas and shorts are really making me more impatient for another full novel.
I do love reading about The Pack but this felt all too familiar as I started it, so much so, that I had to check that I hadn’t read it already. Some of the novellas are starting to get a bit samey, although it was still and engaging story. It is set some time after Frozen when Morgan decides he might prefer life around werewolves to regular wolves.
This story of a teenage girl who eats human souls shows promise but just didn’t hit the spot for me. I did like the fact that the protagonist wasn’t sympathetic; she’s bordering on sociopathic. Her narrative starts out sarcastic and full of dark humour. But she is quickly drawn back to what feels like an average YA narrative and story arc, although light on romantic interest if that appeals. Also, it seemed far-fetched that these Templars, vowed to protect humanity, would be quite so blind to a half-demon amongst their midst. How have they survived so long?
I loved this story of the girl who tries to turn prep-school patriarchy on its head. She’s not allowed to join the secret society her dad was part of, the one he’ll barely talk of. When her boyfriend starts excluding her too, she finds the perfect way to take charge. She manages to show that girls have just as much to offer silly pranks as the boys do. But will she ever get credit for any of it?
Frankie is forever the strategist. Not just with her secret, secret society shenanigans but also in her love life. Sometimes she comes across a bit needy but she can see the unfairness in how the boys act, how they expect their girls to act and what they are excluded from. She may start off needy but she learns how to play those around her.
I liked Frankie, probably more than I liked the privileged characters in We Were Liars. She does have an amazing life planned out for her if she wants it, but she also sees what she can’t have and tries to seize it. She likens the school to a panopticon; the theoretical prison where everyone behaves as the believe they're being watched. Everyone follows society's norms and school rules. Everyone is paranoid to be seen not conforming, that no one is ever just themselves. E. Lockhart is now firmly on my must-read list.
Review copy provided by publisher.
Frankie is forever the strategist. Not just with her secret, secret society shenanigans but also in her love life. Sometimes she comes across a bit needy but she can see the unfairness in how the boys act, how they expect their girls to act and what they are excluded from. She may start off needy but she learns how to play those around her.
I liked Frankie, probably more than I liked the privileged characters in We Were Liars. She does have an amazing life planned out for her if she wants it, but she also sees what she can’t have and tries to seize it. She likens the school to a panopticon; the theoretical prison where everyone behaves as the believe they're being watched. Everyone follows society's norms and school rules. Everyone is paranoid to be seen not conforming, that no one is ever just themselves. E. Lockhart is now firmly on my must-read list.
Review copy provided by publisher.
Something that sounds like it could be jump on the bandwagon filler turns out to be an informative and accessible introduction to neuroscience. Authors Timothy Verstynen and Bradley Voytek are both neuroscientists and zombie fanboys and they decided to combine their personal and professional interests in order to educate. Plus it’s a fun look at zombies to try and explain them with science.
Before they start to explain zombie brains, they go over the basics of what happens in the human brain. I hesitate to say healthy human brain there as a huge amount of what we know come from studying damaged brains, from injury and illness. They go into motor control, language, our senses, attention spans, how we sleep and more. Then they compare zombie characteristics (or symptoms) to human conditions.
It’s probably got a bit of a niche audience though. You need to be interested in the inner workings of the brain; there’s a lot about human brains that is not directly about zombies. Some of the biology is still hard to grasp if you have no understanding to start with. The brain is a complex thing and even neuroscientists struggle to understand some of its workings. If you’re confused by the average episode of House, you might find a lot of the science going over your head.
However if you’re just interested in the neuroscience, the references to zombies might be off-putting. It’s pretty impressive how they manage to explain most zombie traits, however unlikely. Ash’s zombie hand? Well that could be alien hand syndrome combined with zombie syndrome (yes, an actual thing although it does have a more medical name as well). Our brains are odd.
A tiny gripe is that they didn't achknowledge the excellent Warm Bodies as a book, just as a film. It's not like it was just looking at zombie films, Mira Grant's Feed is mentioned and World War Z references are mostly pointing to the book. I did appreciate the spoiler warning with a list of films/books at the beginning of the book though. More of that please!
Some of the jokey talk-to-the-reader “banter” didn’t quite work for me. Maybe it was taken from their talks at cons, where there is a little audience feedback in the way of laughter and groans. However it’s few and far enough between that it didn’t take too much away from what turned out to be a fascinating read.
Before they start to explain zombie brains, they go over the basics of what happens in the human brain. I hesitate to say healthy human brain there as a huge amount of what we know come from studying damaged brains, from injury and illness. They go into motor control, language, our senses, attention spans, how we sleep and more. Then they compare zombie characteristics (or symptoms) to human conditions.
It’s probably got a bit of a niche audience though. You need to be interested in the inner workings of the brain; there’s a lot about human brains that is not directly about zombies. Some of the biology is still hard to grasp if you have no understanding to start with. The brain is a complex thing and even neuroscientists struggle to understand some of its workings. If you’re confused by the average episode of House, you might find a lot of the science going over your head.
However if you’re just interested in the neuroscience, the references to zombies might be off-putting. It’s pretty impressive how they manage to explain most zombie traits, however unlikely. Ash’s zombie hand? Well that could be alien hand syndrome combined with zombie syndrome (yes, an actual thing although it does have a more medical name as well). Our brains are odd.
A tiny gripe is that they didn't achknowledge the excellent Warm Bodies as a book, just as a film. It's not like it was just looking at zombie films, Mira Grant's Feed is mentioned and World War Z references are mostly pointing to the book. I did appreciate the spoiler warning with a list of films/books at the beginning of the book though. More of that please!
Some of the jokey talk-to-the-reader “banter” didn’t quite work for me. Maybe it was taken from their talks at cons, where there is a little audience feedback in the way of laughter and groans. However it’s few and far enough between that it didn’t take too much away from what turned out to be a fascinating read.