Othergirl by Nicole Burstein

Louise and Erica have been best friends since forever. They're closer than sisters and depend on each other for almost everything. Just one problem: Erica has superpowers.

When Erica isn't doing loop-the-loops in the sky or burning things with her heat pulse powers, she needs Louise to hold her non-super life together. After all, the girls still have homework, parents and boys to figure out. But being a superhero's BFF is not easy, especially as trouble has a way of seeking them out. Soon Louise discovers that Erica might be able to survive explosions and fly faster than a speeding bullet, but she can't win every fight by herself.

Life isn't a comic book - it's even crazier than that.

Louise doesn't just have the normal school, homework, boys and friends stuff to worry about, she also has best friend who might set fire to something while trying to save it! As Erica's back-up, Louise has made her costume, helped her find out more about her powers, train with her and down everything she can to get the attention of the Vigil's, the official superhero team. 

I'm in a superhero binge, so I did really like this. Plus it was a girl superhero! However, not only did it feel a bit young and simplified, there was also no in-depth explanation for the superhero's and where their powers came from. That back story I would have loved; we did get Erica's progression, which showed how far she'd come and her strength, but beyond the fact that she suddenly had powers, it wasn't explained. 

I love a good and healthy girl friendship and these two might have had their ups and downs but in the end, they were there for each other. Having said that, it did feel quite one sided at times; Louise was the one stuck at home, doing both of their homework, keeping Erica's secret, while Erica apparently just needed Louise around as a confidence booster. I don't know, it was from Louise's perspective so maybe Erica really did need her support but I got annoyed with her, I don't know how Louise didn't! 

Maybe a little young for me, but definitely enjoyable and refreshing to see a female, not to mention still learning, superhero and the emphasis on female friendship.

Published 2nd April 2015 by Anderson Press.

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Ahhh, it's finally here! The fourth and final book of this incredibly epic series, re-telling classic fairy tales and Winter, a.k.a Snow White, is the latest. We've seen some of her before, and there's a lot of background in Fairest, but hearing from her first hand made things clearer about her... condition. Beautiful and kind, Winter refuses to use her gift and the biochemistry has addled her brain. She has Jacin to look after her, her oldest friend and royal guard, to help her distinguish the illusions from reality. 

Winter and Jacin was so damn adorable! I'm no longer sure who my favourite couple is - actually, Cress and Thorne totally made me swoon, I think Thorne is my favourite. Oh but Kai and Cinder! Dammit, my poor heart cannot choose!

Even though it's over 800 pages, this never felt sluggish to read. Flicking between so many characters, it was bound to take a while, and of course they just couldn't stay together, they had to get separated! The plan is to overthrow Levana, but they had to get onto Luna first, and then get around the city without being found and killed. And then get the people on their side and their trust in Cinder, a.k.a Princess Selene. So, you know, not too much work to do! It was complicated and heart-stopping and all sorts of other tough-sounding adjectives that doesn't quite show how utterly horrible it was to think of the outcome if they failed. 

I adored this so much I can hardly stand it! The perfect balance of action and romance, Cinder and her crew overcome a whole lot of terrible things to get to where they end up. Everything has worked up to this moment and I loved how everything came together, even things that didn't go according to plan worked out all right in the end. And after everything they've all been through, I'd say they deserve their happily ever after! Definitely a favourite series that I can see myself re-reading again and again.

Published 12th November 2015 by Puffin.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road -- diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself. 

Amy has it tough at the moment; her brother in rehab, dad died in a car accident that she caused, and her mum moved on to a new life before Amy's school has finished. But after being on her own for a month, she needs to get the car from their old house to the new one, only she hasn't driven since the accident. So enter Roger, who will act as her driver.

What I loved about this was the literal and metaphorical journey that Amy and Roger go on. It was a proper road trip, with little detours and sight-seeing, making random friends and going to college parties. As for metaphorical journey's, they start the journey as strangers - its amazing how a stranger can be the best person to talk problems with. Amy's problems were obvious, she's still grieving her dad and her broken home. Roger had some relationship trouble, his girlfriend dumped him and then refused to talk to him; he just wants an explanation, some closure, and so is trying to track her down. Things came trickling out as they got to know each other, trust each other, and especially in Amy's case, find the courage to speak things out loud that she hasn't before.

The random trouble they get into was very fun, from pretending to be newly weds to get the last hotel room, to eating a picnic on a golf course. The people they met also helped in bringing Amy out of her shell and push her and Roger closer together. It was a story of finding yourself while travelling, seeing the sights and driving for hours on end, just talking about anything and everything. I loved the character progression, the scenarios that explored trust and getting to know new people, and of course the back roads of America. 

Published 4th May 2010 by Simon and Schuster. 

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

When he's sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over.
But when he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers - he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn't have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure.

Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about true friendships, ill-fated love and the rare miracle of second chances.

Told over alternate chapters between Lane and Sadie, we hear of Lane's new life at Latham, a boarding school for teens with drug-resistant TB. Apart from the medical sensors, it had a very old-fashioned boarding school vibe, complete with sneaking out into the nearby woods and a strict curfew. 

I liked both main characters but especially Sadie. She's made a new life for herself at Latham and wouldn't know what to do with herself if she went home. I could really feel for her; the TB had been part of her life for so long, it was strange to think of getting better. Plus she was adorably awkward and witty with a turn of phrase.

While the characters weren't developed enough for my liking (they were all nice enough but could have been so much more), I especially liked the medical twist on the social structure of a high school. All the coughing, the fear, the death, meant that there was no homework, no PE, nothing to add to the stress of getting better. For Lane, a high achiever with hopes set on Stanford, the notion of taking it easy for completely foreign to him and it took him a while to put his health first - which, by the way, seems beyond stupid to me!

Along the same lines as a classic teen contemporary, this is a welcome addition to the genre with interesting characters and a fresh take on so-called "sick-lit". 

Published 4th June 2015 by Simon and Schuster. 

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Simon Snow just wants to relax and savour his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he'll be safe. Simon can't even enjoy the fact that his room-mate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can't stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you're the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savour anything.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

Practically everyone I know has already read this and loved it, so this review with probably repeat points and with definitely gush at the awesomeness!

Simon Snow is not your typical hero; stubborn, kind of daft, not very good with his magic, and stupidly obsessed with his room mate. Speaking of which, I am completely in love with Baz. Snappy, dark, a vampire with a good heart, the way he interacts with Simon, winding him up just because and then being so careful when Simon kisses him, Baz is just perfect. I loved how the hero was a bit of a douche and the supposed bad guy was actually really sweet. And of course the real bad guy was a surprise! 

This was a brilliant ode to the Harry Potter fandom, with random little references and clever parallels with Harry and Draco rivalry and Harry's relationship with Dumbledore, but it was completely its own magical story, from the modern appliances in the magical world to the power of words for spells. 

One of my new favourites and I know it will be re-read many times!

Published 8th October 2015 by Macmillan Children's Books.

Weekly Highlights: the 'Winter Is Coming' edition

Weekly Highlights is a feature borrowed from Faye of A Daydreamer's Thoughts, where I get to highlight my posts of the week, show you my new books and talk about bookish things!

It's been quite a slow week for me. I've had the days to myself while the fiancée was at work and the parents away so I've been reading and watching too much TV and I've even started Christmas shopping! By the way, I kind of hate myself for that reference in the title. 

On The Blog

Review of The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud (5 stars)

Review of Did I Mention I Need You? by Estelle Maskame (4 stars)

Review of Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider (4 stars)

Currently Reading

Winter! It's ridiculously huge, just over 800 pages, and I'm loving it. It's taking me ages to read it though, and I don't want it to end but I really want to know what happens!

On My Bookshelf

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

After The last Dance by Sarra Manning
Two women. Two love affairs. One unforgettable story.

Kings Cross station, 1943. Rose arrives in London hoping to swap the drudgery of wartime for romance, glamour and jiving with GIs at Rainbow Corner, the famous dance hall in Piccadilly Circus. As the bombs fall, Rose loses her heart to a pilot but will lose so much more before the war has done its worst.

Las Vegas, present day. A beautiful woman in a wedding dress walks into a seedy bar and asks the first man she sees to marry her. When Leo slips the ring onto Jane's finger, he has no idea that his new wife will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

So when Jane meets Rose, now a formidable older lady, there's no love lost between them. But with time running out, can Rose and Jane come together to make peace with the tragic secrets that have always haunted their lives?

After the Last Dance is an extraordinary story of two women, separated by time but connected by fate, that will make you believe in the redemptive power of unexpected love. 

I have loved everything from Sarra Manning and this romantic historical fiction doesn't sound like it will break that tradition. Thank you Netgalley!

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them - a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His own tragedy waited until he had everything to lose - in one night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra's knee, his athletic career, and his perfect life.
No longer part of the popular crowd, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters Cassidy Thorpe. Intelligent, effortless and wonderfully weird, she is unlike anyone Ezra's ever met before. Together they discover flash mobs, buried treasure, secret movie screenings and a poodle with a questionable history.
But as Ezra dives into new friendships and new love, he is forced to ask: if you've managed to survive disaster, what happens when it strikes again?

Ezra thought he knew who he was - tennis star, most popular guy, great girlfriend on his arm - until a car accident screws the ligaments in his knee and he can't play again. His friends don't visit him at hospital and he is lost without purpose. But he finds new friends and a new reason to have fun in his life.

Alongside Ezra we had a mad collection of supporting characters. Toby was hilarious, an old friend from Ezra's childhood but fate, or maybe Ezra's ambition, let them drift apart. The rest of the guys, the debate team, were all funny and smart and bought out the best in each other. As for the love interest, Cassidy was an interesting character. Obviously she works very hard to appear as carefree and without worry but she doesn't reveal anything about herself.

Ezra basically rediscovers himself; though it might have been a horrible accident that made him this way, it actually allows him to shed all preconceptions about himself and start anew. It was all about being yourself and not letting the public perception of you get in the way of happiness. It was so very funny and very well written; the debate group always spoke like they were trying to win a game by out-witting each other using one liners. But the tragedy isn't out of Ezra's life and things get a little complicated when Cassidy finally reveals something about her past and why she moved here. All in all, a great story, amazing characters and an unforgettable message of being happy with yourself.

Published 15th August 2013 by Simon and Schuster.