Sealed with a Kiss (Yours Truly, Lucy B. Parker #2) by Robin Palmer

Lucy B. Parker has finally settled into her new life in New York City, living with her new frister (friend + sister), superstar Laurel Moses. She's got a new BFF in Beatrice, and she's spending her summer vacation off in L.A. visiting Laurel on the set of her new movie and meeting teen heartthrobs left and right. Life is good, until Lucy develops a crush-and unlike previous crushes, this one is not on a character in a book or a movie, but on a real living breathing boy, Beatrice's brother Blair. Unfortunately for Lucy, nothing ever seems to go as she plans. Because although Lucy dreamed that Blair would be her first kiss, it seems like someone else might beat him to it!
(Image and Description from Goodreads)

This was brilliant at showing how far Lucy and Laurel's relationship has came since the beginning of the previous book - although I wouldn't go as far as so say 'fristers' as there are still quite a few kinks to be ironed out. 

Lucy and her mum have moved to the big city to be with Laurel and her father which means that Lucy is getting settled into a new school and making new friends and also trying to get settled in a new city. 

One of the highlight of this book was the supporting character of the doorman at the building where Lucy now lives. He was always there to tell her where to go and to listen to her when everyone else was too busy - he was a right proper sweetheart and I really hope he make some more appearances in future books.

Her mother, although still less gormless that other mothers tend to be in YA is still pretty rubbish but she still manages to 'get' that something is wrong with her daughter when she is upset - even if this does come along a little late in the game) so the bonus points stay in their shaky places for the time being. 

It was fun to watch Lucy in Laurel's world of stars and fame, getting to dress up and being given make-overs. She didn't fit in perfectly and did make some mistakes and put her foot in it a few times but that just made her all the more adorable and real. 

And then there is the matter of that kiss...

This is shaping up to be a fun series :)

Girl vs Superstar (Yours Truly, Lucy B. Parker #1) by Robin Palmer

When Lucy B. Parker gets friend-dumped right before school starts, she figures things can't get much worse. But then her mom announces that she's dating Laurel Moses's dad. THE Laurel Moses ? the TV-movie-music star whose face is on the cover of every magazine. Suddenly, Lucy's life is turned sideways! Up until now, her main goal has been to just get through the day without totally embarrassing herself. And now she's going to be the less-pretty, less-talented stepsister of the most famous girl in the world!

OR

Sixth grade is hard enough for Lucy B. Parker, but it gets so much worse when her mom announces that she's going to marry Laurel Moses's dad. Yes, that Laurel Moses--the TV-movie-music star who makes Hannah Montana look like some random kid from the sticks. Suddenly, Lucy's life is turned upside down and sideways. All Lucy wants to do is get through the day without totally embarrassing herself too much, but that's hard to do when you're the less-pretty, less-talented not-quite sister of a mega superstar. 

(Image and Descriptions from Goodreads)

So, around September last year I decided to broaden my reading horizons and read more YA...girly stuff (I think there might have been a pod next to my bed when I made this crazy choice). Why? Well, because I never read this stuff when I was in the age bracket so I thought I would give it my best shot now. 

**Crickets and tumble weed**

So I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  I mean, sure, there was plenty of OTT-ness on Lucy's part but not to the crazy extent that I have read in some books and her mother was one of the less STUPID, IDIOTIC parents that I have read so that got the book some major bonus points in books. 

Although while we are on the subject of mother what the heck is it with al these parents keeping their dating secret from their children and then just dumping the information on them. I understand that there are things that a parent would like to keep to themselves but come on, just suddenly pulling a several months old relationship out of no-where and planting it in-front of your child is not fair!

One of the things that I really enjoyed was watching Lucy's feelings towards Laurel change. It was so realistic and kind of funny how I could tell she was really not wanting to like this girl but was finding it more difficult to hate her the more she go to know her.

This is a good read (and part of a series, which is always a bonus) and I think it would appeal highly to young girls up to around 13 years old.

                                                                                                         

Masques (Sianim Bk #1) by Patricia Briggs

After an upbringing of proper behavior and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. 
Her latest mission involves spying on the increasingly powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. 
But in a war against an enemy armed with the powers of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is-or where he will strike next?
(Image and Description from Goodreads)

I listened to this in audiobook form and I was piece-of-paperless for pretty much all of it so I didn't manage to scribble down random thoughts as I listened as I normally get to do - bear with me guys as I hash my way though this:)

Observation #1 - This version is a re-write from the original that was published in the early 90s, now, I haven't read the original - I think it would be pretty interesting to compare them - but there is an introduction from Patricia Briggs before the novel begins. 

I for one would not have noticed that this was her first novel if it had not been pointed out to me. Maybe if I had more experience with her novels (e.g. Mercedes Thompson Series and Alpha and Omega) it would have been glaringly obvious to me but as it stood. Nope. But then again the argument could be made that if I had read the un-re-written version I wouldn't have got past the first chapter *shrug* who knows. 

Observation #2 - I liked it! I did. It reminded me a little of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. I mean a little deeper and darker without the lightness but there was definitely something there that clicked. 

Observation #3 - I don't know if this is because it is part of a series but it seemed to just be getting started and then BANG end of story. I felt a little disappointed by this. Although there was all this drama going on I just couldn't get that sense of urgency I feel I should have had from it. The suspense (if you can call it that) just kind of plateaued out. 

Hmm... ok I am rethinking the first-book comment, maybe there are some tell tale signs this was a first novel after all...

Soooo all in all yes, I enjoyed this book but it was definitely lacking in places. :)

Bewitched and Betrayed by Lisa Shearin

Raine Benares is a seeker. She finds lost things and missing people- usually alive. But now she's been bonde with the Saghred, a soul- stealing stone of unlimited power, and must hunt down its escapees. Especially since one of them is also hunting her...

And so just like book three, in book four so much goes on I don’t know where to start…

We kick of the story and are thrown straight into the action as Raine is hunting down one of the souls that escaped from the Saghred at the end of book three.

(Taps keyboard – I don’t know what to say without totally blowing everything)

The love triangle is sorted – but I won’t say how or who – I read that in a review before I started reading this and I have never wanted to throw something at my computer so much in my life.

Sorry guys I will leave it here before I talk myself into a hole.

Oh, and remember how I was saying the maturity thing goes up with each book…well the DEED IS DONE in this book.

Leaving it here before I blow something. 

The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin

For seeker Raine Benares, a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid couldn't come at a worse time. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides.
Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she's a magical cataclysm waiting to happen.

I am a little stuck about what to say about this book, even though it is a great read everything happens so quickly it is hard to focus on anything particular. 

This is the 3^rd book in the Raine Benares series. Nothing much has changed character wise in this book. Mycheal is still the good guy, Tam is still the bad boy (and so sexy with it) and Raine is still the smart mouthed kick butt heroine.

I loved this book just as much as book one and two – though I will say that the content is getting more adult with each book. But one thing that definitely like about the books is that there is no huge time jumps between then. You know how you read some book and you finish book one and then you pick up book two and suddenly you are months ahead of where you finished in book one and it takes you half of the book to find out what has happened in the gap…? Yeah? Well, that happily doesn’t happen here. There is only a few weeks (or at the most a month) in-between any of the books - so far anyway. And this makes it so easy to pick up where you left of. 

So here we have Raine still trying to fix the trouble that started in book one when she found herself linked to a soul slurping, army flattening rock. And, just to add more trouble to the mix the demon queen wants the rock so she can release her husband from inside it. And then there is the whole collection of characters that either want to use Raine – so they can use the rock – or want her head served up on a silver platter. Oh, and don’t forget the reapers who are after her too.

  

Busy, busy, busy.

I don’t want to give too much away but so much goes on in this book that I think it would be impossible for me to give it all away.

A fun, magical, fast paced read filled with goodies, baddies and some that I am just not too sure about.

Why is it the spooky shit is always in the basement

Time honoured Benares solution – of I drink enough my problems would go away. 

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

I actually really enjoyed this book. That sounds really bad doesn’t it… But the truth is I was a little backwards about coming forwards in getting this book, but I am glad I did.

I had some reservations on several counts. One thing is that I think I am growing out of the Meg Cabot YA selection. This has nothing to do with her writing! I still think she is a fantastic writer and can tell one heck of a story but I don’t really identify with the characters anymore and find most of their decisions irritating. And the second is because I love the story of Hades and Persephone and I always inwardly cringe where there is something based however loosely) on the myth.

That being said though, I thoroughly enjoyed this read (well…listen).

Although it is something that is used over and over and over again in YA novels I love the idea of a kid being lifted out of their home environment and dumped in a new school so whenever this is in a book it gets an extra brownie point from me. Maybe that is because I was stuck in the same place all my life and would have loved to have started over somewhere new.

So, this is what happens here. Thanks to an ‘incident’ that is revealed to us through the first half of the book Pierce and her mother have moved back to the island where Pierce’s mom grew up so that they can start over. But it doesn’t quite work out to plan. Thanks to the constant appearances of John – Lord of the Dead for lack of a better phrase.

And so we haveth the story.

I did love this book but there were some things that did grate on my nerves – just a teeny little bit. The major issue that I had was the reason for Pierce and her best friend Hannah breaking off their friendship. The reason seemed so trivial and childish. Pierce understood why Hannah reacted the way she did and yet she seemed to contradict herself with her own reaction to this… Yeah, I got a little cross eyed at that point.

SPOILER – Totally didn’t see the whole teacher/student thing coming. I mean I did as soon as ‘young, male teacher’ came into the mix. I was like ‘hello, hello, hello – PLOT POINT’ But what a creep. John should have broken more than his hand. And while we are on the subject (and any of you who have read this book I would love to see what you thought of this particular bit) WHAT was with Pierce’s dad’s reaction to the whole hand breaking thing. If my daughter was being molested by some sexual predator and she had broken his hand (which she didn’t because it was John, but her dad doesn’t know that)I would have been giving her a pat on the back and signing her up for lesson where she could learn to break more than that. But oh no. Not her dad. He goes and yells at her. *grumble grumble*

And I wish that Pierce had maybe been a little…brighter at points and not so much of an ‘idiotic teenager’ (thank you Mr Smith, you took the words right out of my mouth). She seemed just a tad ditzy and I wanted to shake her and tell her to get her act together all ready.

But there was plenty to like about this book!

In the Meg Cabot tradition it is filled with the laugh out loud one liners that would have had me looking a right idiot if I was sitting in the doctors waiting room while reading this.

And thank goodness! Finally a sensible teenager who doesn’t go and do something in her mother’s house (because of being coerced by her peers) without her mother knowing about it. Thank you mom for being do funky (this mom is majorly cool) and Pierce for being sensible enough for not doing something that had the potential to get very messy pretty quickly without having permission. THANK YOU! I will admit to leaping up and down with glee at that point.

Good, enjoyable, funny, sometimes serious, sometimes sad read.

Don’t read if you are expecting a faithful retelling of the Persephone and Hades story but give it a try if you like your variations (and don’t mind it being based VERY LOOSELY on the myth).

I could go on and on about the funky little plot point and parallels but I’ll leave it here.

Oh, and mega 'did-not-see-that-coming' spin.


Favourite character - Uncle Chris. I loved Uncle Chris, he was nice. 
Least favourite character - Pierce (her attitude grated on me something rotten!) and her father. I wanted to hit him!!! I think the attitude thing must be hereditary. 

Narrated by Natalie Payne
Length - 9hrs 12mins
Release Date - 26/04/11

This was fun t listen too. There were bits were I wished I was reading it because I wanted to get to the next bit. Natalie Payne was great as the narrator. She nailed the whole 'teenage' voice thing, although it did take me a little long to get used to, the voice grated on me a little at first but I got used to it. Thank fully.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Maybe this is squinting at a story and warping it to fit aPhantom mould but just bear with me for a little while.

Frankenstein’s Monster (we shall call him Fred for the rest of this post), Fred, just wants to be loved, yes? And yet he turns into the kind of person that he does because of the way he is treated and the way that others react to him – hmmm….this sounding familiar to anyone?

The only thing that Fred requests of Frankenstein is afemale, a mate who looks the same as he does and will not be disgusted by hisappearance. All Erik wants is to be like any other man and have a wife and a home.

I also got thinking about this a little before I began typing – yeah, occasionally I think.

So here goes what I think.

Fred wanted someone who could match his appearance, a woman who had been patched together from the corpses of others. No I am not going into how Erik thinks of himself as a living corpse – although come to think of it there is a comparison there for you. But moving on.

So we have established that Fred was looking for a woman who was his equal in a physical sense. Maybe, just maybe, Erik was searching forthat one woman who was also his equal but not in a physical sense but in avocal way. Looking for that one person who could fit his voice and blend with him. After all, music is his life, his oxygen so why would that not carry onto any potential relationships. Sorry I am not putting this very clearly. Moving on before I dig myself into a hole. Now the phantom bits are done time for the rest of the post.

Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. 

I am ashamed to say that this is the first time I have even considered checking this book out. The only kind of history I have with this story is probably the same as many other peoples. The films and the TV sketches. In never really appealed to me. But I was pleasantly surprised by this novel.

It has everything.

Suspense, horror, sci-fi, crime, drama, romance. Like I said EVERYTHING!

I was actually really surprised by how sad and emotional I found in places, which caught me by surprise since I wasn't expecting it to be like that at all. I can't really go into the story a great deal as this was once again an abridges version. *shiver*. But one thing that I found a bit strange was the educated way that the monster spoke. You wouldn't have thought that this guy had been patched together from various bodies when he spoke. That stuck out to me. Perhaps there is a lesson there that appearances can be deceiving.

Frankenstein himself struck me as being a very selfish, weak, idiotic kind of man. All the way through he assumed that the monster was going to make him suffer by killing him. Idiot! This guy is smarter than that and knows that the way to torture Frankenstein is to pick off his loved ones. And it is not like he wasn't provoked. All the monster wanted was a mate, a female of 'his kind' to have by his side and share the life that he was being forced to live with him.

Frankenstein accepts this but then keeps putting it off and putting it off. The guy is a moron. He says himself that there was no knowing what the monster would do and he still continued to procrastinate in the construction of a female monster. And even went on wee holiday in between times. *cough* IDIOT *cough* Oh pardon me.

And then he changes his mind and refuses to create a female - to the monsters face!! And you know that everything is just going to go down hill from there.

And what else. He just has to rub it in the monsters face by getting married doesn't he. I am sorry! But anyone can see that is just adding insult to injury. I think I would have lost my temper good and proper at that point to if I were the monster.

His best friend, his wife and then his father all die (or are murdered - brownie points for whoever can guess who the murderer was)and then he is locked in an asylum because he is thought to be mad. But the dude was a moron in my humble opinion anyway. But he gets out of the asylum and the story continues.

I couldn't help but find it funny that Frankenstein describes the monster as being being selfish and yet I can only see the selfishness and idiocy in Frankenstein. I do not blame the monster for wanting a companion.

All in all very enjoyable if depressing book.

So there is Frankenstein for you :)

Narrator - Richard Pasco

Length - 3hrs 6mins

Published - 28/05/2005

Once again this was an ABRIDGED version of the story. Bah, humbug. It was nice and easy to listen to an easy to follow, despite having the majority of the story missing. :( The reader had a nice voice that wasn't hard to listen to for hours and I could clearly tell when he was speaking as Frankenstein, the monster or Walton.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

'What have you been judging from?...Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you been admitting?' 

During an eventful season at Bath, young, naive Catherine Morland experiences fashionable society for the first time. She is delighted with her new acquaintances: flirtatious Isabella, who introduces Catherine to the joys of Gothic romances, and sophisticated Henry and Eleanor Tilney, who invite her to their father's house, Northanger Abbey. There, influenced by novels of horror and intrigue, Catherine comes to imagine terrible crimes committed by General Tilney, risking the loss of Henry's affection, and has to learn the difference between fiction and reality, false friends and true. With its broad comedy and irrepressible heroine,Northanger Abbey is the most youthful and optimistic of Jane Austen's works. 


WHISPER STORIES IN MY EAR CHALLENGE

I have always disliked this book, mainly because of the weird and wonderful adaptations that there have been. They are just so...bizarre.

But to read (or rather listen too) I liked this. The bizarre aspect is there but it isn't as heavy as the TV films make it out to be.

But, is it just me or is Catherine a little THICK! I mean really! She is so dim that it kind of grated on my nerves at some points. I just wanted to yell at her to get a clue already. But then I suppose that she is meant to be that way. After all she has never been away from the little village that she has lived in all her life so she is a bit sheltered. But with all of the reading that she is supposed to have done you would have thought that she would be a little brighter that she is portrayed and be able to add 2 and 2 together, but instead it seems that all the novels she has read really have rotted her brain. She views things with suspicion that are completely normal and things that aren't quite right go straight over her head. Obviously some guys find that attractive but to me it was just plan irritating. 

To be honest there are only a few of the Jane Austen heroes out there that I actually like.  Some of them strike me as being weak and well... wimps. But I think I could have easily got used to Henry - if I had too.






Narrator - Jill Balcon
Length - 3hrs 6mins
Published - 26/07/2006

I found this to be a little bit of a disappointment. The reader, though great at doing the female characters wasn't terribly good at the men, she had a way of making them seem pompous so matter who she was meant to be at the time. And then there was the fact this this was the ABRIDGED version. I didn't realise this until the first part ended a little too soon to be the full story. *shiver* even the word abridged brings me out in a rash. So, all in all a disappointment. Other readers do it better justice in my opinion.
And whoever was in charge of the abridging they need a good talking too because near the end things just did not make sense at all - it could have been done A LOT better.

The White Darkness by Garaldine McCaughrean

PUBLISHED - 2005

I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now—which is ridiculous, since he's been dead for ninety years. But look at it this way. In ninety years I'll be dead, too, and the age difference won't matter.

Sym is not your average teenage girl. She is obsessed with the Antarctic and the brave, romantic figure of Captain Oates from Scott's doomed expedition to the South Pole. In fact, Oates is the secret confidant to whom she spills all her hopes and fears.

But Sym's uncle Victor is even more obsessed—and when he takes her on a dream trip into the bleak Antarctic wilderness, it turns into a nightmarish struggle for survival that will challenge everything she knows and loves.

In her first contemporary young adult novel, Carnegie Medalist and three-time Whitbread Award winner Geraldine McCaughrean delivers a spellbinding journey into the frozen heart of darkness

WHISPER IN MY EAR CHALLENGE

INTO THE OLD WORLD READING CHALLENGE

Did you know that Antarctica is classified as a desert? One of the driest places on earth? No? Well I didn't either. Amazing that!

I love this book. I first read it when I was part of the Carnagie book awards group at my secondary school and it was one of the books we were to read. I loved it then, and I am so glad to see that my feelings for it haven't changed.

So, as I have said this was a re-read from a few year ago (well-re-listen actually)

The funny thing though about this book is that, despite loving it, I have a hard time trying to explain it. It is one of those books that seems to explain itself as you read. It is easy to explain to a point anyway.

Sym, a teenage girl, gets taken to Antarctica by her uncle where his dastardly plan comes to light and she finds out that everything that she had thought about her life was a lie. Easy yeah? But then you have the added drama of Sym having 32 year old Titus Oates in her head. Is he imaginary? Is he real? You think you know until you read the end and then you are left with the question. Just what is he?

This is a great read! Sym is a great heroine who has humor, wit and a maturity that meant that I could re-read (listen :)) this at 20 and her attitude to things didn't grate on my nerves.

One matter that hasn't changed since my first read is how little Titus in in the book. I loved reading the conversations that went on between the two of them within Sym's head and I wish there were more moments like that as they mostly consisted of very funny banter between the two of them.

I would love to see a sequel.

Narrator - Ruth Sillers, Richard Morant
Length - 9hrs 20mins
Published - 01/10/2008


This was fantastic fun to listen too, especially since I could compare the audio experience to the straight forward reading. The thing that made all the difference to the audio was having a male reader for Titus - and Richard Morant as the voice of Titus was great. Although the women readers on the audios I have listened to in the past have done great jobs of playing male voices actually have a man to do the voice was what made this audio for me. Ruth Sillers had a lovely voice that I had no problem listening to for the majority of the audio. 


5 out of 5 for this audio *****

Stolen:A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher

So, a scarred dude kidnaps a young chick and takes her to some unknown location in the Australian outback. Now, use your imagination, put on your Phantom tinted glasses and that sounds really familiar doesn’t it.

But of course, it isn’t a Phantom story exactly. It is set in modern day and Ty (our Phantom) isn’t scared physically but emotionally and there isn't any music either, but I think you can forgive me for seeing this as a Phantomy book. It has abduction and Ty wanting feelings from Gemma that she just isn't prepared to give. 

And without further ado…

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

Wow, this is deep! I still have 100 pages to go but I felt like writing a little bit about it now and then I'll finish this once I have completed the book.

Ty has kidnapped Gemma from a busy airport and taken her deep into the Australian outback where her only way to survive is to stick with him. She has no idea where she is and no idea where to find help.

This book is slightly disturbing to hear Ty talk the way he does. He does not see himself as a bad guy. Or even a kidnapper. The way he sees it is this way - he has rescued Gemma from the life that she was living. (Thats just weird right there isn't it).We learn about the life that he lived before meeting Gemma and after meeting Gemma. This guy is damaged! He has been keeping an eye on Gemma from when she was 10 years old because he was curious and then when she was around 14 (from what I could figure out) his view of her changed (from whatever that view was) to him wanting to 'rescue' her.

But this is where the freaky mind trick comes in. At times he is a really nice guy. He does care about Gemma on some kind of level, although he isn't going to be letting her go anytime soon - or ever.

The book has been pretty graphic at points - which I suppose has added a sense of reality to it. I mean, there hasn't been anything blood-guts-and-gore just sickie stuff like throwing up and bile (lots of bile). And swearing. The language is pretty static, sticking with the same curses but I find it unnecessary. This is a good book because of the story line but the language does put me off quite a little bit.

Deep, deep, deep, minding bending stuff!

Right all finished. 

Sheesh, what to say, what to say...

I have read some reviews where they have said that they have fallen for Ty and that Gemma should have stayed with him etc, etc, etc. Well...I don't know if I agree. This guy had some serious issues. I mean, I would love to read a sequel don't get me wrong but he absolutely went about everything the wrong way. It is the same way that I am torn in the Christine/Erik relationship from the original novel. I would have loved for them to be together and still living happily ever after in a kingdom of music deep beneath the Opera house, but then a larger part of me screams that Erik was anything but stable and any kind of relationship would have been fraught with emotional strain...

It is an interesting read from the point of view of Gemma getting used to her situation. And you start to wonder if she really did have Stockholm Syndrome...But that is how this book screws with your head.

We don't see anything of Gemma's parents through the book other than what we are told until the very end. I found them...irritating. They weren't 3D enough to be maybe that was because I had just spent nearly 300 pages with only Ty and Gemma that they were the only ones who seemed 'Real'.

It was pretty cool that there were no chapters. This is a letter, so of course there would be no chapters. So that was pretty funky.

Ok. Bad bits....

Think, think, think.

It is only really what I pointed out at the beginning of the post. Language and graphic-iness. I think actually that a 'not suitable for younger readers' tag on the back would have been fitting. Theres nothing HEAVY but just...yeah. If you have read this you might know what I mean.

Good read though and I would love a sequel. (SPOILER) to see just what happens? Was Ty put in jail? What was his sentence? What will happen when he gets out?

-----------

So  what so you think. Slightly Phantomy I think...

Next up will be Frankenstein.