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.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

The Skulduggery Pleasant series follows the adventures of Valkyrie Cain and her “colleague” Skulduggery Pleasant. This fast-paced book series is, in a word, ‘un-putdownable’. With magic, car chases, murders, kidnappings, romance and a hint of humour, why wouldn’t you want to read it?

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

If you lived in the world of this novel and was a troublesome teenager, you could be “unwound” – sent to be used for spare body parts. Or you could be the tenth child – the one who was to be sacrificed for the “good of society” for “unwinding”. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good end to your young life. Three such teenagers decide to revolt against this sytem and their desperate fight to stay out of the hands of the authorities makes for some exciting reading.

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

It takes me a while to give in and read these really popular books. But I did and I have to say that I was really disappointed. While I thought “Twilight” was a great read with lots of tension and excitement, I found this one a bit ridiculous with the demon hunters and stuff. I suppose I’m not much of a fantasy reader to start with.

So sorry to disagree with the many girls who have read and loved the whole series – I won’t be reading the other two. But then, that’s what reading’s all about – we’re all different (thank heavens) and we won’t always like what other people do. So you should try it if you haven’t read it, and see if you agree with me or the many girls who love this series.

The Crossing by Mandy Hager

The Crossing

This is Book One of the Blood of the Lamb Trilogy about a future world where girls are taken from their birth mothers and brought up on an island until their first period. Then they are taken to the Holy City where she would serve the Lord. Maryam is the young female antagonist that we follow going through this process – however, unlike others before her, she questions everythihng that is happening. Although rather confronting, this is an interesting vision of a future world where religion is used to maintain power over people.

The event that caused the change in this society is called The Tribulation and this has brought disease to some of the more powerful people. Read the novel to find out what this disease is and how it is treated. There is a love interest and baddies galore. I’m looking forward to Book Two to see what happens next.

Look for Me by Moonlight – Mary Downing Hahn

Look For Me by Moonlight

Just when you thought you had become acquainted with all the handsome seductive vampires along comes Vincent to rock your world. As in every other vamp love story, Vincent is older, cultured and world weary. Cynda is young, 16 , naive, troubled and an outsider who just wants to be appreciated.

A victim of divorce, she is sent to live with her newly married father, his pregnant wife and son in the frigid, windswept wilds of Maine while Mum relocates to sunny Italy with her partner. Not only must Cynda adjust to her new family, she must also live at haunted Underhill Inn,surely the perfect setting  for a dark Gothic romance.  However Vincent is different and as he reveals his true nature, the reader is caught by the same  intensity and fear that entraps his helpless victims. Vincent is a predator and Cynda and her family are