REVIEW: HYSTERIA

Author: Megan Miranda
Series: No, standalone
UK Publisher: Bloomsbury
UK Release date: 14th February 2013
Read via NetGalley

Mallory's life is falling apart. Her boyfriend was stabbed. He bled to death in her kitchen. Mallory was the one who stabbed him. But she can't remember what happened that night. She only remembers the fear ...When Mallory's parents send her away to a boarding school, she thinks she can escape the gossip and the threats. But someone, or something, has followed her. There's the hand that touches her shoulder when she's drifting off to sleep. A voice whispering her name. And everyone knows what happened. So when a pupil is found dead, Mallory's name is on their lips. Her past can be forgotten but it's never gone. Can Mallory live with that? (Goodreads)

I love Megan Miranda's writing style, and having read Fracture and now Hysteria, she has now become one of my favourite YA authors. There is something very natural and flowing about the writing, and I find her books very easy to read. I'm not the quickest of readers but I tore through the pages of Hysteria and finished it in less than 2 days (which is pretty fast for me). This is not only down to the writing, but also the gripping story.

All we know at the start is that someone died in Mallory's kitchen and she has obviously undergone a very traumatic experience. But we don't know the full story, so I was left guessing and speculating about whether Mallory was actually to blame and who might have died. My curiosity was certainly piqued, especially as Mallory's narrative showed how her mother feared her and certain people hated her. And although Mallory moves to boarding school to escape everything that happened, things still seemed to follow her. Her time at school was very creepy and chilling, and I was left with that spine tingling feeling of being watched. With so many strange things happening I was constantly suspicious of what other characters might be up to, if they were lying and whether Mallory was being haunted by a real ghost.

Mallory herself wasn't the most stable of characters; she was suspicious, paranoid and tense. But I still liked her. She tried to look out for other people but struggled to cope with the grief and mysterious goings-on. Through her memories I could also tell that she was a very loyal friend, and althoguh she wasn't the most outgoing bubbly person around, she was definfitely someone I would want to be friends with.

I would definitely recommend reading Megan Miranda's books, and as a standalone, Hysteria is perfect if you like a little bit of horror and tense chilling mystery. Hysteria is a creepy and mysterious thriller.

Rating: 4*

REVIEW: TORN

Author: Cat Clarke
Series: No, standalone
UK Publisher: Quercus
UK Release date: December 2011
Genre: YA, thriller

Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt.
Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares…
Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.
Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever... (Goodreads)

Having read Entangled, I was really excited to start Torn. I just adore Cat Clarke’s writing style and Torn wasn't a disappointment. It’s so fluid and natural, that reading Alice’s story was like reading it straight from her head, with every little detail, fear and thought put across as if it was real and happening right there and then. Even though the story deals with de-ath and grief, it’s done in a way that is gripping, terrifying and yet interesting. Every character reacts differently; some internalise the grief and let it overwhelm them, some use it to their advantage and others are consumed by guilt.

The plot was infused with a palpable sense of dread, guilt and suspense. At the start its obvious something had gone wrong on the girls’ trip to Scotland, but it took a while to get the full story. When I found out what happened I really felt Alice’s dread and paranoia, and the occasional shocking chapter ending kept me hooked. Despite how well the story was written the plot was pretty straight forward, so even though I expected something spectacular to happen at the end, it didn't. However I think the focus of the story was meant to be more on the after effects of the trip and the emotional journey Alice goes through.

I’m in two minds about Alice’s part in the plot. On one hand I felt bad for her because she got caught up in events that weren’t her doing and were beyond her control. But whilst I could understand why she kept quiet, there was also something morally wrong about it. The dilemma of what to do and how to respond in a terrible situation like Alice’s was certainly thought provoking and suspenseful.

I also have to say that I love the way Cat Clarke writes characters. Not perfect characters, but ones with flaws, like real people. Alice is not as confident or as brave as she would like to be, she isn’t popular and she’s self conscious about her weight. But I liked these things about Alice, because I could relate to them. At some points, yes I wanted to shake Alice out of her fear, but I could also completely sympathise with her. Her inner monologue perfectly betrayed all her inner most thoughts, feelings, fears and doubts.

Torn is a thought provoking, heart-in-mouth story of one girl’s emotional journey following the death of a classmate.

Rating: 4*

REVIEW: CRUSHER

Author: Niall Leonard
Series: No, standalone
UK Publisher: Random House Children's Publishers
UK Release date: 13th September 2012
Genre: YA Crime thriller
Kindly given by the publisher for an honest review

To catch a killer, Finn Maguire may have to become one....

Everything changed the day Finn found his father in a pool of blood, bludgeoned to death. His dull, dreary life is turned upside downas he become's the prime suspect. How can he clear his name and find out who hated his dad enough to kill him?

Facing danger at every turn, uncovering dark family secrets and braving the seedy London underworld, Finn is about to discover that only the people you trust can really hurt you...

Crime isn't usually my genre of choice, and whilst I didn't necessarily like the violence in this story, the young protagonist Finn made the story for me.

Finn has had more than his fair share of bad luck and rough patches in his life, what with his mother leaving him and his dyslexia. He's had to help his dad pay the bills and fell into petty crime in the past. Now his father is dead and there is no-one to help or look out for him. I instantly liked his no bull attitude, and ability to pick himself up and carry on. He was absolutely determined, no matter what the cost, to find out who killed his dad. Even if it meant getting himself into a whole heap of trouble and giving the police a bit of smart-assed lip. Finn had no fear and it was his reckless behaviour and outspokenness that made the story. I did feel a little sorry for him, because his step-dad had been the best thing in his life and suddenly he had no-one. But Finn isn't really the kind of person you can feel sorry for. He doesn't mope around or want sympathy; he's a born survivor.

I was expecting the plot to be really fast paced and action packed, but to start it wasn't. Although the book spans roughly a week of Finn's life, in which his questions get him the wrong kind of attention, the plot didn't have much sense of urgency. It was only towards the end when Finn was in some serious and violent trouble that the action became nerve wracking and scarily intense. I did however find the mystery of who killed his father compelling. With so many suspects and different leads coming out of the woodwork, the 'whodunnit' element kept me reading as much as Finn's bravado and outlandish behaviour. I enjoyed the twists and changes from one subplot to another, although there were some rather convenient 'coincidences' that helped move the plot along. I didn't see the ending coming at all and enjoyed seeing where it ended up.

As you may or may not know, Niall Leonard is the other half of E.L. James, author of Fifty Shades of Grey. Although I'm not really fussed on who's who or the hype around a book, and even though Crusher isn't normally my kind of book, Leonard has made a very promising start as a writer and will be worth keeping an eye on.

Crusher is a gritty crime thriller with spells of violence and swearing; with a protagonist with no fear and a crime overload that had me seriously scared.

Rating: 4*