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Mini Book Reviews: Poppies and Neverland

May 7, 2015

Poppy in the Field by Mary Hooper

Pages: 288
Publish date: May 7th 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s
ISBN: 1408827638
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

When Poppy learns that the love of her life, Freddie de Vere, is to marry someone else, she knows her heart will break. Devastated, she volunteers her nursing skills overseas to take her away from the painful reminders at home. But things are about to get much worse for Poppy. The journey to the hospital in Flanders is full of horrors, and when she arrives it is to find a spiteful ward Sister and unfriendly nurses. Despite her loneliness and homesickness, the dangers of frontline warfare soon make her forget her own troubles and Poppy finds that comfort for a broken heart can be found in the most unexpected places.

Brilliantly researched and inspired by real-life events, big and small, Poppy in the Field is a story about the forgotten bravery of women on the front line, told through the eyes of a young woman determined to play her part.

Poppy in the Field:

I received an e-copy of Poppy in the Field by Mary Hooper through Bloomsbury from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my review.

Since ANZAC Day just passed I actually wanted to read a young adult novel set in around a time of war. So when I saw Poppy in the Field on Netgalley I requested it straight away and it was only when I finished it that I realised it was a sequel. But in saying all this I wasn’t confused one bit.

I quite enjoyed Poppy in the Field, I haven’t read many war time books before so it fresh and different to what I have read before. It was also quite different because, standard war books are about the men on the front line however this is more about the nurses, the women and men who made a vast difference. These people saved so many lives.

Poppy is a certainly interesting character, she was intriguing nonetheless at times quite annoying. Especially when she keeps on going about Freddie de Vere, oh I wanted to just smack her out of it. It was really annoying, even after she hadn’t thought about him in a while, then something happens and she starts talking about him again – maybe because I didn’t read the first book, I don’t know how their relationship worked or anything. Then again it was annoying, that all she was thinking about for a great deal of the book was Freddie.

When Poppy transferred to ‘hospital’ further in the front line, it was quite interesting. It’s different hearing the experience of war from a nurse rather than a veteran of war. However it wasn’t resembling what Poppy imagined. It wasn’t the gore of war that startled her, but other nurses. Especially her head nurse who does not think she is capable of doing what ‘qualified’ nurses can. However Poppy struggles with loneliness and homesickness but the dangers of the frontline soon distract her.

Mary Hooper captures imagery throughout her writing in a way that enables the reader to put themselves into the story and ‘be there.’ At the start I didn’t believe that I wasn’t going to cry because Hooper’s writing didn’t seem fully emotional nevertheless as time went on, I could feel that my heart was going to break and at times it did.

Tough I did feel that the ending was quite rushed and it was more of a summary then a novel. It gave me a sour taste in my mouth.

Poppy in the Field remains an intriguing piece of work that not only captures the reader but gives an insight on war that readers don’t always see or acknowledge. Poppy in the Field isn’t as raw as I thought it would be or hoping that it was but it had just enough that reminded as that, Poppy was in the middle of war. I laughed, I cried and I swooned.

Neverland by Shari Arnold

Pages: 358
Publish date: April 7th 2015
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781508846482
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

It’s been four months since seventeen-year-old Livy Cloud lost her younger sister, but she isn’t quite ready to move on with her life — not even close. She’d rather spend her time at the Seattle Children’s hospital, reading to the patients and holding onto memories of the sister who was everything to her and more.

But when she meets the mysterious and illusive Meyer she is drawn into a world of adventure, a world where questions abound.

Is she ready to live life without her sister? Or more importantly, is she brave enough to love again?

Neverland:

I received an e-copy of Neverland by Shari Arnold from Create Space through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my review.

I haven’t read many re-telling’s before and Neverland is the first ever Peter Pan re-telling that I have read, I was quite captivated by the premise of the book. It sounded like something that I was going to like and I was a little let down.

In saying that, I did like it. It just wasn’t what I was expecting. When I started it, I was turning pages after page and I was fully immersed, then after maybe 30% in, I was deflated however I kept on pushing myself as I truly wanted to like the book.

Livy the protagonist of Neverland was quite a decent character to get along with. She wasn’t annoying to me on the other hand I can see that some might find her annoying, however to me, she felt like an older sister. And though her family is in pieces, she still holds strong in my opinion. The thing that made me love Livy the most is her determination to save her sisters best friend, oh my heart.

At first Neverland was quite confusing. I didn’t get what was going on, names were getting pulled from here and there and things just happened far too quickly for my liking. It also felt at times that I skipped something then again in reality I didn’t.

It was at part two that I began to feel intrigued again, maybe it’s since it was when the re-telling truly started to take place. There were little hints here and there of the re-telling in the first part, however at part two it certainly kicked off.

Shari Arnold writing is beautiful and the emotions that she can pull from the reader are spot on. Maybe it is because I have younger siblings that I felt a real connection to Livy.

Meyer can have my heart any day. Man this boy is beautiful, though at times I hated him for being so mysterious but hey it all payed off at the end.

Neverland took me on journey through high and lows. It made me smile and definitely made me cry. The world of Neverland was simply gorgeous and put a massive smile on my face and the ending was pure brilliance. Arnold knows how to wrap up a story nice and tightly, but then again leaves enough room to create your own journey.

Have you read any of these books? Did you like it? Are you going to pick any of them up?

Discussion: Casting Adaptations

May 2, 2015

If you follow me on Twitter you have almost certainly have seen me rant about this. But with all the negatively that I’m seeing in Facebook comments and on twitter I feel that I need to say something.

Casting for a movie or TV show is certainly not going to be 100% spot on. There are few reasons why and I am going to try to tell you why.

Primarily since an author doesn’t create a character from a person that already exists, the person that they cast will not look exactly the same. The author creates a character from his or hers mind so when somebody is cast as them, they aren’t going to have the same appearance, as this character is not real.

Another issue is that people also create their own version of a character when they are reading. This could be totally different from the author’s formation of this person. All of us, imagine characters in diverse ways.

People cannot go and accuse casting directors, anyone connected to the adaptation or even the author for that matter that who was cast, is horrible and isn’t that character. Since that is who they pictured.

If you don’t know what has happened with the recent casting of a few key characters in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, new TV series ‘Shadowhunters‘ then all you need to do is go and check on twitter or on Facebook posts about it and just look in the comments.

Three characters have been cast at the moment. When Dominic Sheerwood was cast as Jace the response was pretty acceptable for the most part. But last night when Izzy and Simon were cast there was mayhem and people were and still are horrible.

Alberto Rosende was cast as Simon and after merely seeing just a head shot (that is professionally taken), people judged him. Even before they had even saw him in character. However since then people have calmed down, only after they were able to see him with glasses in his introduction video. Yet people are still saying that he is not “geeky looking.” Yet the thing is, the only tributes that make him geeky are his glasses, his clothes and how he acts but once he turns into a vampire he changes. He loses the glasses and becomes “hot” and Alberto has it all.

Now to Isabelle. Emeraude Toubia is absolutely, stunningly gorgeous. Yes her skin may be darker than what is alleged in the books but she has the appearance of Izzy in ever shape and form. There are edits already with Emeraude in black clothes and tats and she looks pretty damn awesome.

People likewise keep on going, on about how they are using unknown actors. However, yes they may be unfamiliar but for all we could know, they could be unbelievable actors.

Also when people say that the person cast doesn’t have the exact hair or eye colour, I just believe that these people don’t use their brain. Like seriously its called hair dye (do people think that my hair is naturally pink) and also there is a thing called eye contacts.

The thing that is irritating me the most throughout this whole thing, like a fly that doesn’t want to leave you alone. Is that people want the movie characters back. People need to get it into their thick skulls the movie cast are not going to come back. I don’t understand how small-minded some people are. I am not trying to offend people here but it is not going to happen and I will tell you why.

The movie was not good! Simple, the script was to cliché. A lot of the cast could not act and I am sorry to say that. Don’t get me wrong I love Jamie and Lily and all the cast, but they were just not right (and I am not talking about looks here). There was no spark between Jace and Clary, and that did hinder the movie because the romance plays such a vital role.

I know that some people love the old cast and that is totally acceptable but you need to get over it. They will not be in the TV show. The movie and the TV series are two very separate things and starting with a new cast and crew is a good way to go in hope of a successful series.

Truly, I cannot wait to watch Shadowhunters and see all the action if anything goes by how they are casting, I think the books are in respectable hands and I am hoping that the script and the rest of the cast add to it. Shadowhunters is set to hit out TV screens early 2016.

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Book Review: The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers

Apr 30, 2015

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers

Pages: 384
Publish date: December 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 161963127X
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

The bond between twins is unmistakable. For Jocelyn and Jack, that bond was all they had. But now Jack is dead. Then Jocelyn receives a letter from Jason December-the code name Jack used when they were children. Only one other person knows about Jason December: Noah, Jocelyn’s childhood crush. But Noah isn’t the one contacting Jocelyn. Together they decide to return to Seale House, the frightening foster home where all three of them lived together. Seal House has more secrets than they could have ever imagined. And it suddenly seems possible that Jack faked his death, that the letter and the riddles that follow are cryptic clues leading to his real whereabouts. But someone else is looking for him-someone dangerous. Jocelyn and Noah must race to find Jason December. That is, if he’s alive.

The Vansihing Game:

I received a copy of The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers from Bloomsbury Australia to review this has in no way influenced my thoughts on the book.

I have been waiting to read The Vanishing Game for a long. I don’t remember when it was but when I read the synopsis I knew that I needed the book in my hands. But it wasn’t published in Australia yet so I waited and when I saw it in the Bloomsbury catalogue I knew that I had to ask for it.

When it appeared in my PO Box, I started to read it straight away. And once I started I could not stop. The plot is addicting, when you start reading and you will not be able to put the book down.

The Vanishing Game is brilliant. It has a knack of messing with the reader’s mind. They have no idea what is going on, what is going to happen next. Myers writing is intriguing and the way that she builds the storyline is fantastic.

When you start reading you think that the novel is going into one direction but then you are smacked in the face and you are now going into a complete different directions.

“Everywhere I went the pain of losing him went with me. It wore me like a backpack, slapping a rhythm of heartache against my soul with each step.”

I found Jocelyn a truly interesting character, she was easy to get along with but then thinking about it, it’s totally wired that I get along with Jocelyn. The reader is following Jocelyn on her journey to find her dead brother who has been apparently sending her clues to find him.

All these clues lead her in and around Seale House the terrifying foster home that her and Jack once lived when they were younger. Seale House holds a lot of chilling secrets and they slowly start to come out.

There is quite a couple of flashbacks throughout The Vanishing Game and it adds so much depth to the story and you start to put some things together about Seale House and Jocelyn and her brother Jack.

“Life is a series of shallow breaths. And in any breath, everything can change.”

Then there is Noah, Jocelyn and Jack’s childhood friend from Seale House. Jack like Seale House holds his own secrets that the reader soon puts things together and will find out.

I love Noah as a character, his introduction to the reader isn’t the best but we soon get to see how caring Noah is and how much he does care for Jocelyn. As Noah and Jocelyn start working together after her return, they start to uncover some pretty gruesome stuff. Turns out the house’s powers weren’t just a figment of a childish imagination.

And not only that someone is after Jocelyn and they send all times of people to end the job. There are houses blowing up, dark and spine-chilling basements and some things that don’t simple add up. But by the end of The Vanishing Game your mind will be blown and you will in a state of not knowing what the hell just happened in a good way.

The Vanishing Game is a thrilling, compelling and beautiful piece of work. Kate Kae Myers is an incredible writer that knows how to capture an audience and keeps them hanging on to every thread.

Have you read The Vanishing Game yet? Did you like it? Will you read it?