The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

Calder is a ‘Fetch’, a ‘being’ who takes souls from their body up to heaven once they die.  Calder is rather curious, and so switches places with a man; taking his body whilst the soul roams in the place between Earth and heaven. The body he takes is that of Rasputin’s, the religious healing man, and close friend of the Russian Tsarina. After the Russian Royal family is killed, Calder( as Rasputin) takes care of the Tsarevitch- Alexis and princess Anastasia, who have not been killed. The real issue I had with this book was not the writing (which was good) or the plot (which was really quite slow, but still interesting) but the idea of Calder/Rasputin falling in love with Anastasia. Ana is around 16 years old, and Calder himself is 19, however the mental image of a pretty teenage girl with an overweight, hairy, dirty and just plain creepy man in his late 40s was just too weird. I must admit I didn’t finish the book, and I don’t un-recommended it, I just personally was very disappointed and (whilst I persevered as long as I could) uninterested. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

 *note for Modern History girls – this book is set during the Russian revolution and studying the Romanov’s in year 11 adds further knowledge and extra interest  when reading!

 However I highly recommend Whitcomb’s other book A Certain Slant of Light – a lovely ghost/romance novel with lots of poetic allusions. (Probably for Young Adult, or even Senior Fiction)

Raven by Allison van Diepen

For me this was a bit of a mix between Twilight and Step-Up (a movie about a street dancing). Nicole is a teenage girl who works at a night-club part time serving drinks. However, to pull the crowds she, and the dance group she belongs to, often perform their moves on the dance floor and even have organised ‘dance-offs’ with other groups. Zin is the leader of her dance group, and he is the best best-friend Nic could ask for. Except there’s more than just platonic feelings between them, and they both know it. So why doesn’t Zin return any of them? Nic soon discovers that pretty much the entire staff at the night club are called ‘Jiang Shi’ or immortals, who have to keep moving every 10 years, so as to not arouse suspicion.

This book was fairly well written, with an interesting albeit unusual concept. If you are into dancing then I would recommend it. Overall, Raven by Allison van Diepen isn’t a bad read.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Lucy Scarborough is a seventeen year old girl, who lives with her adopted parents and her good friend, Zach, whom she has know since they were both small. She soon discovers that all the women in her family have been cursed to fall pregnant at 17, and must complete three ‘impossible’ tasks or turn crazy after the birth of a  baby girl – the fate endured by her own biological mother who often follows her. However living in our technological age has its advantages, as do having extremely dedicated parents and definitely-more-than-just-friends Zach (who is so cute!), and so the prospects look better for Lucy than they did for the previous women in her family.

This book is based on an old poem ‘Scarborough Fair’, which is also a Simon and Garfunkel song. I thought this was a wonderful book. Recommended to readers who like to read urban-fantasy with a bit of romance. I would say probably for slightly more mature readers, as there are some ‘sensitive’ scenes/issues.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

I had read so many amazing reviews of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and was quite excited when I actually got to read it.

It is basically a post-apocalyptic novel, set after the world has been taken over by zombie-like beings. Mary lives within the boundaries of a big fence, which the ‘unconsecrated’ (or zombies) are constantly shaking at. The Sisterhood are a group of “nuns”, who control the small village of people who haven’t been infected by the unconsecrated. Before Mary can be ‘bonded’ (aka married) to Harry, the village is infiltrated. And Mary finds herself escaping with Harry, her real love Travis (Harry’s brother!), his betrothed and Mary’s brother and wife. They all manage to get out unharmed – left with absolutely nothing but Mary’s hope of finding the ocean, a ‘thing’ she has heard about from her late mother but doesn’t quite believe in.

 This is a fantastic book; so beautifully written and very gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to perhaps slightly mature readers who enjoy fantasy, romance and adventure.

 Sequel out now [The Dead Tossed Waves]. And supposedly movie in the making. Yay.

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

What I Saw and How I Lied ( written by Judy Blundell) is a novel about 15 year old Evie Spooner. It tells the story of the beginning of her life, after the end of World War II, and particularly focuses on her trip to Florida with her beautiful mother Beverley and her step father Joe, a returned soldier. Evie is a naïve young woman, wanting to be like her glamorous mother, and she soon falls for the dashing Peter Coleridge whilst away on the vacation. Joe, although a friend of Peter’s from army days, disapproves of him, and his relationship with Evie. After some unfortunate and mysterious events, Evie finds herself a the centre of an earth shattering situation, in which all her previous thoughts and conceptions about her parents, her relationships, her world views and even herself are challenged and tested.

I really enjoyed What I Saw and How I Lied, in particularly the fabulous retro details in the descriptions of clothing, music, dance and style of talk. Evie is a very interesting girl, who I think is easy to relate to. The story is written well, and the plot develops nicely. I think the cover suits this book wonderfully. If you love some retro-lit, stories about growing up, a bit of romance and lots of mystery and intrigue, then I would recommend What I Saw and How I Lived.