January Book Reviews

Bit heavy on the YA front this month but it was after Christmas!




I've always wanted to read a Maggie Stiefvater and went for this one purely on the cover art - I know... not best way to choose but that's how I roll! I can honestly say I enjoyed it but am so confused about what actually happened!

Blue lives in a family of psychics but has no supernatural ability herself - she has been told from as young as she can remember that if she kisses her true love she will die - bit harsh when you're 15. This doesn't seem a problem for Blue until she meets Gansey, Adam and Ronan... the Raven Boys, each with their own plethora of problems.... what ensues is a search for more supernatural enmeshed in angst from all characters trying to solve problems beyond their years.

The final instalment in The Caster Chronicles series... Ethan and Lena now live in different worlds after Ethan's sacrifice at the end of Beautiful Darkness. But, like teenage love... nothing can separate this couple. As Ethan tries to make his way back to Lena he encounters the demons and angels of the otherside. Lena hasn't given up either and she and the rest of the gang including Link, Liv and Ridley help each other to bring Ethan back where he belongs.

The latest offering from Pittacus Lore sees the garde of Lorien learning to use their legacies and work as a team to defeat Setrakus Ra.... The action doesn't stop in this third instalment, those that are following the series will not be disappointed especially with each garde member trying to work who is in fact Pittacus!

Moon Over Soho picks up with the story of our lovable bobby on the beat DC Peter Grant. The story literally begins a couple months after the events of Rivers of London and Peter is still learning the magical craft from Nightingale but it doesn't stop him from investigating the murders of the jazzmen of Soho... not a normal serial killer by any means. The joy in these books is the simplicity of plot movement, there is always something going on and we see much more to Peter than just the copper!

An anthology of poems from the last 60 years collected by Poet Laureatte Carol Ann Duffy to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Now I am by no means a poetry expert or necessarily lover but I was surprised at how few names I recognised in this anthology. Of course you have poets such as Roger McGough, Wendy Cope and Simon Armitage but more often than not I turned the page and thought who? This obviously doesn't stop the enjoyment although there it does not leave you feeling overly jubilant. This was a reading group choice and it was interesting to note that others remembered subjects from earlier years.