Hater By David Moody

Danny McCoyne is an average guy in a dead end job as an employee of the Parking Fine Processing office, barely getting by, living in a small flat with his wife and three kids. Life seemed pretty normal until one day incidents of random violence escalate to a condition that threatens the social fabric of the country. Those afflicted with the violent impulse are dubbed Haters.

This is a spin chilling and gripping book that is absolutely fantastic, as it really catches you from the start. It’s defiantly an older read as contains sexual and very graphic death scenes. The book is written as a parallel as there are chapters of the protagonist that are broken down with clip chapters of the 'Haters'. I think this makes it all the more gripping, as the Haters scenes are diverse and intriguing, as they hold the gory death scenes, plus they really help you to understand what’s going on in the novel.

This book is part of a sequel as there is also a second one called Dog Blood, which is also very good and based around the same protagonist, the book is not as good as Hater, though it’s very moving and hopeful.

I give this book 5* and say you have to read it as it’s truly mind boggling and you just can’t get it out of your head once you start reading it.

                                                                             

My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson

What would you do for the friend who slept with your boyfriend Nate and then had his child, not only that but for three years keep you in the dark about it, letting you love that child, become its Godmother and then have the bombshell of its parentage dropped on you from a great height?

Two years later out of the blue Kamryn gets a letter on her birthday from Adele asking her to visit her in hospital where she is dying.

Kamryn reluctantly goes to see her and to her complete and utter shock Adele begs her to adopt her daughter, Tegan. With a job she loves, a hectic social life that does not include kids, kittens and motherhood, the last thing Kamryn needs is a five year child old tied to her designer apron strings. Especially not a child who reminds her so much of a time she would rather forget.

This is a really gripping book; as it claws you in from the word go. It's defiantly not for a younger minded reader, you have to have a quite a sophisticated grown up mind for this book. Though at one point I think I recall myself with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat.

It's very much so a reality check for Kamryn and then when Tegan interferes in her work and love life, it makes the outcome a very odd one!

I would give this book a 4* rating as it's good but there's room for improvement, as it does get a bit tedious and slightly boring, it's almost like really life and no book should really be that way.

Before I die By Jenny Downham

An intense story narrated by Tessa, who is 16 and has only a few months left to live. She has a list of `to do before I die' wishes and is working her way through them, number one on the list is to have sex. Along the way you hear about Tessa's observations on life, how she faces what fate has dealt her with grace but also with rebelliousness and anger. She thinks about what it will be like for her family once she is dead and whether she will be able to haunt them. We also learn what her family think, and how they are trying to come to terms with the knowledge that they are going to lose their daughter.

This book could have been unbearably painful to read, but Downham has allowed Tessa to retain a sense of humour about her situation, along with meeting her first (and only) true love. I admit to having been moved to tears a few times, especially when she has some special moments with her younger brother.

I found this to be an incredibly moving read, while at the same time it retains a sense of dignity and humour. Downham writes beautifully and her words just flow over the pages. This was a page-turner for me and I highly recommend it.

                                                                                            

                                                                                                                             

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

This is a really captivating and interesting book that all teenagers would love. When you start reading you can't stop, when you're not reading you’re wondering about the outcome and hoping that it’s a good one!

The plot of the story is that a girl called Gemma is stolen from an Airport in Bangkok, by her stalker, and taken to a completely deserted part of Australia, where he hopes she'll fail deeply in love with him and they'd live happy ever after in the middle of nowhere.

I personally think this is a really good book but I wouldn't recommend reading it, if like me you want your outcome to be the right one. The outcome profoundly annoyed me and still does. Also the ending is very quick and seems like the writer just wanted the book to end in comparison, the beginning of the book lags on for quite a bit and you tend to find yourself reading more and more, waiting for an interesting part to come along when really it never does, plus the character in the book is very negative and quite dull. But even after all that it's still an intriguing read, where you can find out a lot of interesting facts on Australia and its land. Strangely you also find yourself craving to be in Gemma's position, as from living in nowhere she has no cares or worries and also the fact that she has someone who loves her so much that they do anything for her.

So yes I think give it ago, and read Stolen.