Tithe by Holly Black

A Dark Faery Tale
review by Maryom

Kaye has always seen faeries and had the ability to make strange things happen - like bringing an old carousel horse to life - but when she saves the life of a strange, handsome, young man she finds herself dragged into the power struggles of a dark, perverse faery land.

I picked up Tithe on the recommendation of my daughter - you know children are growing up when they say 'Read this book - it's good' and you find it is - not merely at a child's level. A book about faeries but, as my daughter says, "not the soft sweet sort that sing you to sleep" - these faeries are self-centred and cruel, treating humans as toys and playthings.
It's peopled with a totally believable cast of characters from Kaye's drunken wannabe rock star mother to the mean, manipulative Faery Queen and set against a modern day backdrop where trailer park merges into Faeryland.
Although aimed at teenagers and YA, it's a wonderful book for any lover of fantasy fiction.

Read my daughter's review of the sequel, Ironside, on her blog.

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Simon & Schuster
Genre - YA Fantasy


Buy Tithe from Amazon

Beside The Sea by Veronique Olmi

The Dark Side of Motherhood
review by Maryom

A single mother sets out on a trip to the seaside with her 2 young sons, determined that for once they will have some fun, see the sea and visit the fairground like 'normal people'. But it's not the jolly kind of jaunt you might suppose, she has a hidden agenda born of her obsessive love and her fear of letting go of her children.

This is another short, wonderful, thought-provoking book from Peirene Press, translated from its original French by Adriana Hunter - a tale of motherhood at its most protective.
It opens with the family leaving, almost sneaking out of, their home to set out on their journey to the seaside. The boys aren't happy or excited about this trip, but worried. If they'd had any expectations of fun, they are soon dashed - the beach is cold, wet and windswept, the hotel dingy and brown - but above all is the obsessional love of their mother, holding them back, and the feeling of impending doom which drags the reader in. It's a book that will grab you - make you fall into this young woman's depression and yet want to say 'Whatever you're planning to do, don't do it! There is another way'.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Peirene Press
Genre - Adult Literary Fiction



Other reviews: Tony's Reading List

Girl 16 Five Star Fiasco by Sue Limb

Dance anyone?
Review by TheMole

Jess and her boyfriend, Fred, have organized a dinner dance in aid of charity. Well, they are supposed to have organized, but so far they have done posters and tickets. The tickets are sold out but nothing has been arranged. Both of them are thinking there is plenty of time but the clock is ticking and it's time to start taking responsibility.

I found this story to be tremendous fun and I really got to know Jess and Fred. Without giving any spoilers I might also say I loved the ending, which is a bit atypical of other teenage chic lit in that the ending is not a lovey-dovey happy ending, but a real message to the reader.

I would certainly recommend it for young readers in search of something easy to read and light. Beautiful.

TheMole's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Bloomsbury
Genre - Teenage chic-lit

Buy Girl, 16: Five-Star Fiasco (Girl, 15) from Amazon

The Nostradamus Prophecies by Mario Reading

Action-packed adventure
review by Maryom

Most people have heard of Nostradamus and his prophecies. But did you know that he wrote a thousand and only 942 have survived? This thriller is built around the question 'What happened to the other 58?' Babel Samana, a French gypsy, believes he can sell information regarding their whereabouts and has lined up two possibly interested parties - Adam Sabir, a writer trying to boost his career with a major bestseller, and Achor Bale, a member of a mysterious secret society, who is prepared to go to any lengths - including torture and murder - to get his hands on this information. Samana's scheme doesn't go to plan and Sabir finds himself with Samana's sister fleeing across France, trying to evade the police while trying to locate the missing prophecies.

This was brought to my attention by someone praising it on Facebook, so I went to the library to order it - only to find it was labelled in the system as non-fiction. Mario Reading is an expert on Nostradamus and his prophecies, and has written non-fiction books on the subject but don't confuse this with them. This is a quickly paced, action adventure and most definitely fiction, though I did wonder how much of himself Reading saw in his hero, Sabir. Has he ever been approached by gypsies trying to sell a secret?
A good holiday read or one for the many wet winter evenings on the way. If you liked Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, you'll love this. (I preferred this!)

Maryom's review - 3.5 stars
Publisher - Atlantic Books
Genre - Adult Thriller

Buy The Nostradamus Prophecies from Amazon

Lights Out In Wonderland by DBC Pierre

Sorry - not one for me!
review by Maryom

As the book opens, a young man, Gabriel Brockwell, decides to check himself out of rehab and commit suicide - though not just yet. First he intends to meet up with his best friend and party. This entails heading to Tokyo, getting the said friend into a heap of trouble (and a Japanese jail) and then jetting off to Berlin to find someone who may be able to help get them out of this mess.

There's always a worrying sort of feeling when reading a supposed good book and finding it just doesn't work for you. Are you the odd one out? or is it a question of the Emperor's new clothes - no one dare appear to question it? Well, I don't mind being the odd weirdo, so I must say this book didn't do much for me (neither did The Life of Pi, Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code in their various ways).
Sadly Lights Out In Wonderland was a book I was really happy to reach the end of. It's told in the first person by Gabriel Brockwell and the action, as he pursues his drink and drug fuelled journey, is interspersed with his thoughts on life, society, capitalism, drugs ..... Sometimes his asides are so numerous they're relegated to asterisked footnotes. It all makes for a slow-paced, long hard slog of a read. There were bits I enjoyed but not enough to really grab me.


Maryom's review - 2 stars
Publisher - Faber & Faber
Genre - Adult Literary

Buy Lights Out in Wonderland from Amazon

The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff

A wonderful, bewitching book
review by Maryom

Pell Ridley runs away from home rather than drift into a marriage that will bring nothing but hard work and constant child-bearing. Somewhere, she feels, there has to be a better, fuller, life than this. Taking her horse, Jack, and her adopted brother, Bean, who refuses to be left behind, she heads to Salisbury Fair looking for work. But through a series of mishaps Pell becomes separated from her brother and horse, and she then heads out alone into unknown countryside looking for both them and her wished-for better life, on a journey of self-discovery.
This isn't a book turned up in the post for review but one recommended to me by a friend - fortunately, one who's on the same reading wavelength. She was right - this is a wonderful, bewitching book. I was instantly transported back in time to a place of unremitting labour where children are sent out to work "as soon as they emerged from babyhood", where hunger "barely deserved a second thought", and yet Pell remains hopeful that somewhere, somehow she will find a better life. The setting and plot don't seem very hopeful of an enchanting book - and yet it is, with echoes of Thomas Hardy's Wessex and a narrative style reminiscent of George Mackay Brown. One I'd recommend for teens and adults alike.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Penguin Books
Genre - YA - Historical - Romance

Buy The Bride's Farewell from Amazon

The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan

Move Over John McClane!
review by Maryom

Sam and Lloyd are new school friends. One Friday they're picked up from school in a gleaming, expensive car full of gadgets - both thinking they're in the other's father's car! Before they sort out the confusion, they're whisked away to a secluded house, surrounded by high security fence and gates. At first lulled by food and games and promises that Lloyd's dad has organised a special treat for them, Sam soon realises that none of this is true and that whatever is going to happen, the best thing to do is escape - if they can....

This is such a compelling read, tense and frightening at times. I was gripped right from the start and couldn't bear to put it down till I reached the end, even sitting up far too late to try to finish it, willing Sam on in his efforts to persuade Lloyd that all is not as it seems and encouraging him as he tries to work out the best course of action. Sam is an amazing super hero. When in a tight fix and needing to screw up his courage he imagines himself as Alex Rider but to mind he seemed a junior version of Die Hard's John McClane, able to outwit the bad guy and surmount anything in his way.
The Long Weekend is an extraordinarily thrilling book but one with a message in between all the terror and excitement- be careful who you accept a lift from!

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Andersen Press
Genre - Children's (9+),Thriller

Buy The Long Weekend from Amazon