Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant (originally published as Scepter of the Ancients) is the first book in the Skulduggery series.

Stephanie’s wealthy, eccentric, famous author uncle has just died - at his desk of natural causes… or has he? Sophie isn’t so sure - not after she meets Skulduggery Pleasant anyway. Meeting a “living” skeleton that can control the elements while making sassy comments would cause anyone to reevaluate what they thought they knew. Soon, Sophie is meeting all sorts of magic people and learns that a secret war is brewing between good and evil - and that her Uncle had been right in the middle of it - as he had uncovered the long lost Sceptre of the Ancients - which, if used would tip the world into darkness.

With the final book in the series being published last year - I can read these without the pesky year long wait between books. I can wait to see what adventurous mess Stephanie and Skulduggery find themselves in next. 

Review: Sharni @ Balwyn

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The Naturals: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Following on from ‘The Naturals’ where a team of kids with unconventional abilities work for the FBI on cold cases. Events take a sinister turn when a young girl is murdered and displayed at a college campus. For Dean, a profiler with the Naturals, it brings back horrific memories - as the murder echoes the pattern set by his father - an infamous serial killer, now in prison.

While the gang - Cassie, Lia, Michael, Dean & Sloane are not technically supposed to aware of the details of active cases - it seems inevitable that they will become involved, especially when Dean’s father refuses to talk to anyone except for Dean. With time running out, with more girls being murdered - will they be able to put together the pieces before the murderer strikes again or that their FBI handler works out what they are doing?

This is a fast paced read - with lots of danger, I was never sure if my favourite characters were going to survive to the end of the book. Can’t wait for the next one. 

Reviewer: Sharni @ Balwyn 

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Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper

Little Hawk is a Pokanoket boy who must go into the wilderness and survive alone for three long winter months, to complete his initiation into the tribe.  He is eleven years old and is allowed to take only some very basic implements.  The thought of his family and everything he holds dear helps him to cope with the many challenges he faces.  But when he returns home he finds that the village has suffered a shocking blow from the white man’s disease, and he is alone again.  As he grows to accept his loss and rebuild his life in a new village community, Little Hawk finds himself curious about the foreigners and befriends a young British boy called John.  The bond between the boys, which grows in spite of the animosity and suspicion between their two peoples, is heartwarming.  But can it survive the biggest challenge of all?

Review by Philippa @ Balwyn

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Listen, slowly by Thanhha Lai

All Mai wants to do during her summer vacation is hang out at the beach with friends. Instead she is sent to Vietnam with her grandmother. Meeting her extended family for the first time is overwhelming. As Mai begins to understand the importance, for her grandmother, of finding the truth about her grandfather’s disappearance during the Vietnam War, she also comes to appreciate family ties.


Reviewer: Rita @ Hawthorn

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Conspiracy of blood and smoke by Anne Blankman

This is the gripping sequel to Prisoner of night and fog. Having escaped from Germany, Gretchen and Daniel are beginning to make a life in London when Daniel receives a telegram that his cousin is in hospital.  Daniel decides to return to Germany without Gretchen.  Gretchen is torn between wanting to remain safe and her concern for Daniel.  In the end, despite the danger, she returns to Germany to help Daniel.  Once in Germany she finds that Daniel has been accused of murder.  Daniel is determined to clear his name and Gretchen sets out to help him.  As they work to find a way to clear his name, they discover a conspiracy which could break Hitler’s hold on power.  Can they find a way to both clear Daniel’s name and implicate Hitler at the same time? This book had me enthralled till the nail biting finish.

Reviewer: Rita @ Hawthorn

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Beneath by Roland Smith

Pat O’Toole is just a kid.  His older brother, Coop, has suddenly left home without any explanation and to make matters worse their parents look like splitting up. Pat has a lot of questions and no-one around to answer them - until he receives an intriguing package in the mail.  It is from Coop. At first Pat is furious and wants to ignore his request. But the bond between the brothers is too strong and he soon finds himself embarking on an exciting search to find Coop, only gradually realising just how much danger they are both in. 

Reviewer: Philippa @ Balwyn 

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The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone

Moll has always had nightmares but, when they start to become real, Moll knows it’s time to find answers.  With the help of her wild cat Gryff, and a boy called Alfie, Moll sets out to find the Amulet of Truth. Armed with Amulet she begins to unravel the truth about her parents’ death and who is behind the dark magic which is luring her into peril.

Reviewer: Rita @ Hawthorn

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Fated - by Alyson Noel

From the author of The Immortals comes a new four book series starting with Fated.  The main character Daire experiences strange and alarming events and will soon discover her life is now to be filled with magic, mystery and an undeniable attraction to Dace.

Daire goes to live with her grandmother where she will learn more about life and her special gifts and why she is fated to be a Soul Seeker. 

The four books in the series have been optioned for films, let’s hope it happens soon.

Lisa @ Ashburton Library

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'A boy called hope' by Lara Williamson

Once in a while a book comes along which makes you laugh out loud and touches your heart at the same time. This is one of those books. Dan Hope has a wish list of things he'd like to happen in his life, at the top of that list is wanting his dad to love him. Dan's dad walked out 4 years ago and Dan hasn't seen him since. When his father appears on the television as a TV presenter Dan begins plotting to get his father's attention and love. But it seems the harder he tries the more things go wrong. Can Dan's hopes come true?

Rita @ Hawthorn

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'The winner's curse' (The winner's trilogy, #1) by Marie Rutkoski

This is the first book of The winner’s trilogy.

Have you ever dreamed of buying your very own extremely handsome 19 year old slave? That’s what 17 year old Kestrel does after a trip to the local slave market.

Kestrel, the daughter of a General and member of a warrior race who enslave the people they conquer, is given the choice to join the military or marry. However, as she gets to know Arin, her Herrani slave, she begins to question the morality of the world she lives in. As their relationship grows they are forced to choose between the strong desire they feel for each other and their own people. But Arin has a secret which will tear them both apart and change their worlds forever. A gripping novel of love, politics and war.

Caroline @ Kew

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'The ghosts of Heaven' by Marcus Sedgwick

If you're tired of the same old teen fiction story lines try The ghost of heaven. Written as four novellas which can be read in any order,  this beautifully written book will stay with you long after you have read the last page. Each story is connected to the other by the spiral, a shape which has existed in nature since time began. They can be found in prehistory where a girl uses blood and ochre to make spiral shapes on a cave wall. The spiral is present in the Middle Ages when a young girl is tried as a witch for using herbs to treat the sick. In the early 20th century the spiral haunts a mad poet in a lunatic asylum. Finally, in the distant future an astronaut on a spaceship sent to colonize a planet hundreds of light years from Earth is confronted by the spiral as he chooses his destiny. This is an amazing book which I could not put down or stop thinking about.

Caroline @ Kew

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To love a sunburnt country (Matilda Saga #4) by Jackie French

To love a sunburnt country is set in Australia during WWII. It's main character is Nancy Clancy, granddaughter of Clancy of the Overflow, and a worthy ancestor of Clancy as she is very much a girl who loves to be out in the bush and has a deep love and understanding for her sunburnt country. As the book opens Nancy is in Malaya, having gone there to help her older brother Ben, and his wife Moira pack up to return to Australia. She ends up staying longer than she intended because Moira has given birth to Gavin and she has been too ill to travel. By the time they are ready to do so the Japanese have begun to invade Malaya and, though they flee to Singapore, it is too late. They do escape on a boat but it is torpedoed and sunk and Nancy, Moira and Gavin are washed up on an island and put into a prison camp with 10 other women. Their time in the prison camp and their struggle to survive malnourishment and disease is poignantly narrated by Jackie. Little Gavin is the one thing that binds both the women and their Japanese guards together, and keeps them going. In keeping Gavin alive they have something to cling onto and to live for despite the terrible conditions that they endure.

The book moves back and forth between the family and friends in Australia, and how they are faring during the war, and Nancy’s prison camp. Interspersed are details about what has happened to Nancy's brother, Ben. None of the family and friends know whether Nancy, Moira, Gavin and Ben have survived but they continue to hope. When Nancy left for Malaya she had met, and begun a tentative relationship with, Matilda's son, Michael. It is through his eyes that we see the events unfolding in Australia and the agonising wait everyone has to see if Nancy, Moira , Gavin and Ben will survive.

Even though this is part of the Matilda Saga series it can be read as a standalone book as there is enough information in the book to give you background on all the characters. This I think is her best book yet in the series. It is a wonderful sweeping saga which will keep you engrossed till the end and will shock you at times as well as make you weep and smile.


Rita @ Hawthorn


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Black ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

After becoming stranded in the mountains by an unexpected snow storm, Britt and her best friend Korbie seek shelter in a secluded cabin. However, they are not the first to find the cabin and the girls find themselves held at gun point by two desperate men. Three girls have disappeared in the area in the last year. Will Britt and Korbie be next or will Britt be able to use her wits and survival skills to get them off the mountain? A gripping, tension filled novel with a touch of romance.

Caroline @ Kew

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'A boy called Hope' by Lara Williamson

Once in a while a book comes along which makes you laugh out loud and touches your heart at the same time. This is one of those books. Dan Hope has a wish list of things he'd like to happen in his life, at the top of that list is wanting his dad to love him. Dan's dad walked out 4 years ago and Dan hasn't seen him since. When his father appears on the television as a TV presenter Dan begins plotting to get his father's attention and love. But it seems the harder he tries the more things go wrong. Can Dan's hopes come true?

Rita @ Hawthorn

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These broken stars (The Starbound Trilogy #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

The Icarus, newest and most luxurious spacecraft in the known universe, has crashed on an unpopulated, unknown planet, with the loss of 50,000 lives. Only two people survive. Major Tarver Merendsen, a cynical young war hero from humble beginnings, and Lilac LaRoux, the richest girl in the universe, and daughter of the most powerful man.

Together the two must work together to survive as they journey across the lonely planet in the hopes of rescue. Surprisingly, the largest obstacles they face are their own prejudices about each other, and Lilac’s fear of her father’s disapproval as her dependence on, and friendship, with Tarver blossoms. Yet the planet is more than it seems, with mysterious voices both helping and hindering their progress and their hopes of escape.

This novel, co-written by an Australian and American author, kept me riveted, despite having only two characters. It’s well worth a read, even if sci-fi is not your usual genre.

Caitlin @ Balwyn Library.

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The Osiris Curse (A Tweed and Nightingale Adventure #2) by Paul Crilley

This second tale in the Tweed and Nightingale Adventures  does not disappoint.  Sebastien is questioning his identity after a startling revelation in the climax of the previous book (The Lazarus Machine), and Octavia is annoyed to find herself regarding her counterpart in a disturbing new light.  Sherlock Holmes, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are all drawn into Crilley’s fantastic steampunk London along with a world of incredible inventions, bloody skirmishes and some surprisingly thoughtful questions about the value of human life which most teenagers, thankfully, do not personally have to face.

Philippa @ Balwyn Library.


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'Sway' by Kat Spears

Jesse Alderman specialises in getting people things they want - term papers, fake ID’s, popularity. His senior year at High School is a series of business transactions with little room for friends or emotions. However, things change when Ken Foster, the good looking captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming King and all-round douchebag hires Jesse to get him a date with Bridgett Smalley, the girl who dared to reject him. While following Bridget around to learn the intimate details of her life Jesse falls hopelessly in love, finds an unexpected friendship with her younger brother who has cerebral palsy, starts visiting people at the local nursing home and begins to stick up for the less fortunate.

Despite the fact that Jesse is offensive, uncaring and takes advantage of everyone around him, I loved him as a character. This is a funny, gritty and poignant novel about falling in love and learning to feel again. I really loved this book and highly recommend it. 5 stars!

Caroline @ Kew

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'The Duff' by Kody Keplinger

Nothing like seeing a movie trailer to encourage me to read the book!

When ‘hottest boy in school’ Wesley, calls Bianca “the Duff” (that is the Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her friendship group, she throws her drink in his face and heads home. The insult sticks in her mind and Bianca is soon stuck in a spiral of negative thoughts - which isn’t helped when her home life suffers a blow with her mother increasingly absent and her father teetering on the edge of an alcoholic breakdown after divorce papers arrive. The final straw comes when her English teacher assigns partners for an essay, and she gets, Wesley. In a moment of weakness, she kisses him - and sets off quite the chain of events.

Author Kody Keplinger, was 17 when she wrote this - the same age as the characters in this book.

Sharni @ Balwyn Library 

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The sleeper and the spindle by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman combines the stories of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in a dark and twisted tale which is truly unique. A young queen and three dwarfs travel to a far away kingdom to rescue a princess who has been asleep for 70 years. However, the ending is far from predictable, and we are left with an entirely new dark fairy tale.

The story is brought to life with the most beautiful, but somewhat creepy illustrations using black and gold ink. While it only took me half an hour to read, I could spend that time again drinking in the pictures. A wonderful new fairy tale from Neil Gaiman.

Caroline at Kew.

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'Adorkable' by Sarra Manning

I read and loved this one a couple of years ago and am thinking it might be time for a revisit.

Jeane Smith is a prickly, sassy, vintage-dressing teen who lives independently from her parents and makes money from her own blog.  Michael Lee is sporty, popular and a conservative dresser.  They hate each other.  Or do they?  Romantic shenanigans ensue.


Katy @ Ashburton Library.



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