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Book Review: The Leaving by Tara Altebrando

Jun 9, 2016

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando

Pages: 432
Publish date: June 7th 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 1619638037
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back–with no idea of where they’ve been.

Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.

Until today. Today five of those kids return. They’re sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn’t really recognize the person she’s supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they’re entirely unable to recall where they’ve been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn’t come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max’s sister Avery, who needs to find her brother–dead or alive–and isn’t buying this whole memory-loss story.

The Leaving:

I received a review copy of The Leaving by Tata Altebrando from Bloomsbury Australia, in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

It’s rare that I pick up a book I am not sure about. I find it hard to finish books that I have no interested in, so I normally just pick up books that I am pretty sure that I am going to like. However, there are times that I can be misled and that is what happened with The Leaving.

The Leaving was one of my most anticipated books of the year, ever since I heard the premise I just knew that I had to read it, so to say that I am disappointed would be an understatement.

The Leaving follows five teens as they return to the town where they were born. The thing is, they had been missing for eleven years and now have no recollection of where they were, or what happened during that time. Another problem there was six of them taken.

I loved the idea of this book, six taken and only 5 return with no memory of what happen. The plot was the only reason that I kept on reading the book, I wanted to know what happened. Who took them, why were they taken? I was pleasurably surprised with how it panned. There were a couple of things that I guessed, but other than that what had happened did take me by surprise. Little hints were given through the novel and everything came together in the end.

The Leaving follows three protagonists. Scarlett and Lucas were two of the children that were stolen and Avery, the sister of the missing victim.

First and foremost, I pretty much hated Avery. I just didn’t know how to deal with her, she changes her mind every two seconds and she is all over the place. She drove me up the wall. I understand the things that she did, regarding her brother Max. He was still missing and she wanted him back, she wanted closure. But, everything else that she did. Her obsession with Lucas was horrible and I could not stand it. It was like 3 days after they had returned and she was having daydreams of walking the school halls with him.

Lucas, like Avery could not make up his mind. At first he thought he loved Scarlett, but then he started like Avery – let me remind you that the book spans over about a week – so it was all ‘insta love’and just I didn’t like it.

Scarlett I could tolerate. She was probably the most sensible of the three and didn’t fall for someone that she has just met. She feels that she has this connection to Lucas and she can have that, since she spent the last eleven years with them.

I felt that a great deal happened in this book and sometimes it was hard to wrap my head around everything, especially because we were with three protagonists.

I also wasn’t a massive fan of the writing style of The Leaving. Scarlett was all over the place and while it could have worked it was different for both Lucas and Avery. So each protagonist had a different writing style in a sense and it was just confusing and took from the novel.

Overall, The Leaving is a thrilling novel about what happens when people return having no memories of where they have been. They have come back into a life where they don’t know what is going on or even who people are. I didn’t like most of the characters and the writing style hindered my reading, however, the plot is engrossing and kept me reading.

Have you read The Leaving? Did you enjoy it more than I did? Are you going to read it? Why, why not? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Jun 6, 2016

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Pages: 343
Publish date: April 27 2016
Publisher: Hot Key Books
ISBN: 1471405109
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times – although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix’s father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix’s existence rather dangerously in question…

Nix has grown used to her father’s obsession, but only because she’s convinced it can’t work. But then a map falls into her father’s lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it’s that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

The Girl From Everywhere:

I received a free copy of The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig from Hot Key Books in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I heard quite a bit of conflicting thoughts about this one, some people didn’t like it, and some loved it. It’s one of those books that you just need to pick up and make the decision yourself. In saying all this, I truly did love The Girl from Everywhere and I am so excited to read more.

The Girl from Everywhere follows protagonist Nix Song as along her father and his crew time travel around the world. They are all aboard The Temptation, a pirate ship that is filled with treasures from all around the world, from all different times.

First, I adored the world of this book. Time travelling on a ship, through maps; yes please. I was just so intrigued and that alone kept me wanting to know more. I thought that the world building was well written and didn’t give everything away, but just enough that we had an idea of how the world worked.

The thing is that you can only travel through a map once and Nix’s father only wants to go to one place; Honolulu 1868. Where Nix’s mother is alive and she doesn’t exist. But no one knows what would happen if they go.

I enjoy Nix as a protagonist in The Girl from Everywhere. She was easy to get along with and I sometimes laughed at her naivety, because it got her into situations that were entertaining. I loved her characterisation and seeing her grow throughout the novel. She is quite strong at the start, but she learns how to stand up for herself and the people that she loves.

I loved the dynamic of all the characters and how they interacted with each other. The banter was perfect and I could read scenes with just the characters talking and bouncing off each other.

Though I loved a lot of the character’s I wasn’t the biggest fan of Nix’s father, but I didn’t hate him. He has his reasons for what he wanted to do and he was too blinded by love, grief and even guilt to think any other way. However, we also see him grow through the novel. We see him realise things that he didn’t know or what to believe before and that was nice to see.

Another problem that I had with Nix’s father is that he is referred as different names throughout the novel by Nix herself. Sometimes she calls him father and other times by his name and this confused me a little.

The romance wasn’t my favourite thing in The Girl from Everywhere. I am not a massive fan of love triangles, like I hate them most of the time. But it was different in The Girl from Everywhere. It was a love triangle of sorts –ish. It is hard to explain. I didn’t hate it, but then again, I didn’t love it.

Kash was my favourite character after Nix. He’s just so loveable and I want to give him a big hug. He was full of sass and banter, and made light of situations, but was also good to have a talk with. The friendship that he has with Nix was truly nice to see and yes, you do end up shipping them eventually, but I loved that we got to see a friendship first.

One of my favourite things about The Girl from Everywhere is that it’s set in Hawaii. I love that place to bits and I am so intrigued and interested in its history, that this was just perfect to read.

The Girl from Everywhere is also hella diverse. I LOVED it. It was so great to see such a diverse cast that were intriguing, fun to read about and didn’t slip into stereotypes.

There were some parts that did drag and I may have gotten a little bored, but overall it was an entertaining and fun read.

Overall The Girl from Everywhere is about friendship, family and love, about what would you do for those that mean so much to you, and that sometimes you have to give up one thing for another.

Have you read The Girl from Everywhere? Did you like it? Are you going to read it? Let’s Chat.

Book Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

May 25, 2016

And I Darken by Kiersten White

Pages: 496
Publish date: June 28th 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House)
ISBN: 0553522310
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

And I Darken:

I received an e-arc of And I Darken by Kiersten White from Penguin Random House via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

When I heard And I Darken I knew that I had to read it. A book set in an ancient country is always a plus for me. Then add a gender switch, so that we have a female Vlad the Impaler; yes please.

And I Darken follows siblings Lada and Radu as they try to survive in a cold and brutal world.

Lada was quite interesting, she is very brutal and has little to no remorse. Sometimes it was hard to connect with her nevertheless, I do understand why she was that way. She does have quite a bit of trust issues, but again the world she lives in; explains it all. Lada also doesn’t form relationships well, even with her own brother however, let’s just say that her father wasn’t the best in the world.

Radu on what a special snowflake. I wanted to cuddle him and make him my best friend. He has this nature about this that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone in a world where anyone wants to hurt everyone. He does become stronger throughout the novel, but at what cost?

Mehmend was very into his religion and that contributed to his character and how he saw the world quite a bit. He also has this nature about him, which was intriguing. He wants to be friends with Lada and Radu. However, there were things later in the novel that he did, that I didn’t like at all. It was heartbreaking.

The romance in And I Darken was problematic and quite a mess. There was a love triangle of sorts, with other people jumping in between and I am not the biggest fan of them. So that kind of was a downfall for me

This wasn’t just a romance between three people, but two siblings loving the same person – And I don’t know who deserved it more. They all had their issues and betrayed each other in so many different ways. There was no honesty and it did get on my nerves sometimes. But, like I said there was also so many other people.

The relationship between Lada and Radu was complicated. They never trusted each other, yet they were always there for each other. They never really loved each other, but they still care. Sometimes I wasn’t a big fan of the way that they treated each other. Though I did like it because I haven’t seen it before. It was tense from the get go and that played out throughout And I Darken.

The world of And I Darken is very interesting. It’s complex, but understandable. It’s kinds of base on the Ottoman Empire, but not. It was captivating and very different. The world building well thought out however, if people are not all that familiar with the history it might have been better to explain how everything ‘look’ landscape and city wise.

I loved that the characters were diverse in many ways from ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. It was also fascinating to see Islam in a fantasy/retelling/historical fiction.

And I Darken was also pretty gruesome, there are executions that are described and it’s not one – they are done is some horrible ways. There are some torture scenes, though we don’t ‘see’ these, but we hear them. The world is brutal – very much like the ancient countries.

Nevertheless I did have a problem with the pace of And I Darken. I felt that the plot was quite slow and nothing happened at all for a lot of the book – this could be hard for some people; but, I was immersed into the world that it didn’t bother me too much. This isn’t saying that things don’t happen – because there is a lot of shit that goes down. I felt that And I Darken was an introduction into the world and characters.

And I Darken tells a story of the lengths people would go to for love, approval and just the thought of being forgotten. It was captivating and dropped you into a vivid and brutal world that you might not want to get out off.

Have you read And I Darken? Did you like it? Are you going to read it? Have you read any other Kiersten White books? Did you like them?