Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James

Ever had a friend who seems to be everything to you – companion, supporter  encourager? And even though they may not be perfect, you still love them because they love you with all your imperfections? Well that was Alice – a great friend but with some strange personality traits.

But Katherine likes her – she needs friends when she moves to Sydney to live with her aunt after shocking events have happened in her family. It’s just that as the story progresses, Katherine begins to doubt that the pluses are more than the minuses in her relationship with Alice.

It’s great to see a book set in Sydney. Katherine’s parents seem very realistic and Alice’s ability to twist most people around her little finger is almost scary to watch.

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.

How I live now by Meg Rosoff

How I Live Now

OMG!! I had held off  reading this book seeing it was hardly ever on the shelf. and everyone raved about it so I didn’t see a need to read it. But then I got curious – was it as good as everyone made it out to be.

Short answer? YES!!! I was taken in completely by the narrator – Daisy – listening to her story. How she went to stay with her cousins in England when a war was brewing and how they were left to fend for themselves after the war broke out, separating the family from the only adult – Aunt Penn.

The love story bit I’ll leave for you to read, but I can understand why it caused a bit of a furore. But it is  a very deep love and seems to bouy Daisy through the events of the war. I can’t say much else, but read it. Apparently a first novel – I know Meg Rosoff has written other books – think I might give them a go as well.