OZYA Reviews Archives - Page 3 of 7

Book Review: The Industry by Rose Foster

Jul 20, 2016

The Industry by Rose Foster

Pages: 312
Publish date: March 20th 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0732293308
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Kirra Hayward is an ordinary sixteen year old – smarter than most, but otherwise completely anonymous. When she stumbles across an unusual puzzle on the internet and manages to solve it, she has no idea of what she’s letting herself in for. Kidnapped by a shadowy organisation known only as The Industry, Kirra soon discovers how valuable her code-breaking skills are. And when she stubbornly refuses to help them, they decide to break her … by any means at their disposal. Kirra knows that to protect herself, she must trust no one, not even her fellow prisoner, Milo. But as time goes by she realises he might be the only person she can rely on …

The Industry:

I received of The Industry by Rose Foster from the author in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I hadn’t really heard about the The Industry before I started to look into #LoveOZYA authors. I saw the cover, but it never caught my eye and I don’t know why – as soon as I read the synopsis I knew that I had to pick it up. It sounded like there were things I liked, and overall I did enjoy it.

The Industry follows protagonist Kirra as she cracks a code, is taken captive, tortured and has to fight for her life. We are taken on a journey through pain, heartbreak, and the possibility of dying.

Kirra is an interesting protagonist; I never loved her but, at the same time I never hated her. I admired her for her determination, she wants to stay alive, she will go through pain, she won’t give in.

Kirra almost never wined and I loved that – she was put into a situation that is so horrible and she didn’t act like her life was ending, she stayed strong and tried to stay alive. My heart broke for her at times, I just wanted wrap her up in my arms and hug her.

However, I didn’t feel that she had enough character development; yes there was some, but I wanted more. I was craving more.

I enjoyed the world that Foster builds in The Industry, it’s quite intriguing. At times I was confused with all the names and organisations, but I just slipped over it and it was all good.

I liked this idea of an underground of sorts, but to do with coding and technology. It was quite different from something that I had read before, and to why Kirra is one of the few that can crack this code. I do wish there was some more world building – as I feel it lacked at times.

I truly enjoyed the writing style of Rose Foster in The Industry. The emotions that she evokes through Kirra was spot on. Pulling me into the novel even more because of this. I wanted to know how Kirra was going to survive and not just physically, but mentally as well. I hope that we see more of this in the following novel.

In The Industry we get to see how Kirra is feeling during her captivity, how she reacts, how she curls into herself and now I want more.

Milo…I cannot say too much about this because it will spoil the book, but I knew! I knew and I still let myself fall.

It kept me on my seat throughout the whole book, I had no idea what was going to happen next. Who was going to die, run, survive, and appear. I didn’t know what to expect and I loved that. Feeling like you are going on a ride with the protagonist was pretty awesome.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Industry and cannot wait to read more. The world was intriguing, protagonist interesting and the story pulled me right in. The Industry shows us that we need to try and be strong in hard times, even when you think everything is impossible.

Have you read The Industry? Did you liked it? Are you going to read it? Do you know any books that are similar? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Breathing Under Water by Sophie Hardcastle

Jul 14, 2016

Breathing Under Water by Sophie Hardcastle

Pages: 320
Publish date: July 11 2016
Publisher: Hatchette Australia
ISBN: 9780733634857
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Ben and Grace Walker are twins. Growing up in a sleepy coastal town it was inevitable they’d surf. Always close, they hung out more than most brothers and sisters, surfing together for hours as the sun melted into the sea. At seventeen, Ben is a rising surf star, the golden son and the boy all the girls fall in love with. Beside him, Grace feels like she is a mere reflection of his light. In their last year of school, the world beckons, full of possibility. For Grace, finishing exams and kissing Harley Matthews is just the beginning.

Then, one day, the unthinkable. The sun sets at noon and suddenly everything that was safe and predictable is lost. And everything unravels

Breathing Under Water:

I received an e-arc of Breathing Under Water by Sophie Hardcastle from Hatchette via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about this book.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I read Breathing Under Water and I am still now sure how I feel about it. There were parts that I liked and intrigued by, but then there were parts that just got on my nerves. It’s that weird feeling that you get, what you have no idea what you are thinking. The likes don’t override the dislikes, and the dislikes don’t override the likes, I am in the middle.

Breathing Under Water follows protagonist Grace, twin to Ben Walker. They are closer than most brothers and sisters, they would hang out with their friends, they would go surfing together and just being there for each other. But Grace is always a shadow to Ben, but then the unthinkable happens, Grace’s life falls apart.

I don’t know how I feel about Grace, I felt that she just moved along with the rest of the characters and until the unthinkable happens, we don’t really know her as a person and then again, the person that we do get to know is full of grief and doing things that she would never do.

However, I loved seeing Grace grow throughout the novel. We get to see her find out who she is without Ben, it’s a hard road and some people may find it hard to read, but I thought it was done exquisitely.

It’s hard to comment on Grace’s family simply because of the situation that they were put through. They go through a hell of a lot, but grief changes people and sometimes not for the better. In the moment that they should all be there for each other they drift away.

The friendships in Breathing Under Water are hard to explain as well and again it’s because of grief. Everyone deals with it in different ways and sometimes that divides friendships. In saying that, I liked how it all panned out.

A problem that I had with Breathing Under Water was that I didn’t know what age Grace was without reading the synopsis. I felt the writing a little too young to be seventeen and that kind of hinder thoughts I had about the book.

I also felt the writing was a little too flowery at times, and I just wanted to be told in a simpler way. Then at other times it was beautiful and left me heartbroken. The writing and storyline are powerful and I was left in tears quite a couple of times.

Overall, I enjoyed Breathing Under Water. I was on a ride with Grace, I was pulled along with the grief of the family, of everyone in the book. I liked how everyone reacted differently and how it showed, just how hard it is when someone close does die, way before their time.

Breathing Under Water is an emotional rollercoster of a story. You are on a ride of grief and how it affects people differently, family and how at times you have to stick together, and friendship and how it can break when everything falls apart.

Have you read Breathing Under Water? Did you like it? Are you going to read it? Let’s chat!

Blog Tour – Book Review: When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Jul 6, 2016

When Micheal Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Pages: 360
Publish date: July 28th 2016
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 1743534973
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Before Mina, my life was like a completed jigsaw puzzle but Mina has pushed the puzzle onto the floor. I have to start all over again, figuring out where the pieces go.

When Michael meets Mina, they are at a rally for refugees – standing on opposite sides.

Mina fled Afghanistan with her mother via a refugee camp, a leaky boat and a detention centre.

Michael’s parents have founded a new political party called Aussie Values.

They want to stop the boats.
Mina wants to stop the hate.

When Mina wins a scholarship to Michael’s private school, their lives crash together blindingly.

A novel for anyone who wants to fight for love, and against injustice.

When Michael Met Mina:

I received When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah from Pan Macmillan for the When Michael Met Mina Blog Tour, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

Before I even started to read this book I knew that I was going to like it, I don’t know why, but I did and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m not going to lie When Michael Met Mina is a hard book to read, not because it was bad, but because it deals with such a hard subject.

When Michael Met Mina follows protagonists Michael and Mina as they go on a journey of friendship, love, hardships of being different from everyone else. They learn to stand up for themselves, each other and what they believe in.

Michael and Mina are from two different sides; Michael’s family are the founders of Aussie Values, a political party that wants to make Australia great again – by stopping the boats. Mina a refugee that fled Afghanistan with her mother. They are from two opposite sides and they believe in very different things, but then they meet.

Mina has just received a scholarship to join a private school that Michael just happens to go to. I really enjoyed Mina as a character, she was never afraid to let people know who she is, she’s proud, but because of this you can also see her insecurities. When people around her are contently pulling her down for who she is, what she believes in, it gets tough – and they fact is, they have no idea what she has been through.

I really enjoyed the relationship Mina had with her mother and step-father, it was really nice to see this family care so much about each other, they all tried to stay strong and when one was feeling down and hurt, they tried to pick each other up.

Michael was hard to like at first. His family are racist, his friends are racist and to an extent at times he can be a little racist too – but he is also a product of his environment. We can see from the start the resistance that he has against his family values and what they promote. I adore the character arc of Michael, the reader is able to see him grow and not let the people around him influence his thoughts and feelings.

Michael’s family on the other hand; well I hated them. His father and mother, they are racist bastards (sorry not sorry). I wanted to throw my book across the room with everything that they said, even after his father sees first hand what people go through – he doesn’t change the way that he thinks.

His father’s group of friends are no better, I just cannot comprehend how people can think like this, it’s just so small minded and frustrated.

The romance was adorable though Michael and Mina do not have the best start. It was nice to see them go from dislike to friendship and then into something more. It was slow and great to see that they both learnt things from each other.

I also liked the friendships that Mina finds at the new school, they didn’t care that she believed in different things, they liked her, for her.

Randa Abdel-Fattah writing throughout When Michael Met Mina is captivating, once I started to read I didn’t want to stop. Abdel-Fattah created a story that captures some thinking in Australia today, and showed that you have to think before you speak, because everything is not always what it seems. Michael and Mina’s voices were also very different from each other and both capture the life of teens in Australia.

When Michael Met Mina should be on every high school book list in the country. The younger generations need to know that sometimes the government and media lie and manipulate the sense of asylum seekers. They need to know that most of these people are not illegal or jumping the queue, they are just simply people looking for freedom, safety and peace. It’s an important story to write and share.

Have you read When Michael Met Mina yet? Did you like it? Are you going to? Have you read anything else from Randa Abdel-Fattah? Let’s Chat. Also check out the rest of the blog tour and join the conversations on social media with #Michael4Mina