For the Record by Charlotte Huang

For the Record by Charlotte Huang

Published by: Delacorte books for Young Readers

Genre: YA contemporary

Rating: ****

Tagline: Standing out isn't the same as fitting in

Chelsea, the newest frontwoman for known band Melbourne, has just begun a new life. Previous to joining the band she was just a contestant on some talent show reminiscent of X-Factor or Britain's got talent, etc etc. 

Melbourne have been on the music scene for a few years. They're famous for their old singer Hollis who after leaving the band for mysterious reasons or rather to just go to Vassar. Forced to take Chelsea on, they're about to embark on a US tour that will teach her so much more about the world. 

But as usual there's a romance in the book. A few to be rather honest. 

What comes with fame is the arrival of celebrities into Chelsea's life. One celeb in particular is a young teen heartthrob who makes her feel so good at first until the relationship becomes a little weird. (My words). I wasn't too keen on her romantic endeavours. They felt so forced, so wrong but maybe that was how Huang was writing it to be like.

I did enjoy the book. It was a quick read, something I devoured on the train and made me feel a bit better before I had my dissertation presentation. 

For the Record can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon US now.

Christmas TBR & Update before the New Year

Christmas TBR & Update before the New Year

December Books:

(What I'm trying to read anyway)

• The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe Dissertation
• Crimson Peak by Nancy Holder Dissertation
• Beowolf (J.R.R Tolkien adaptation) Pleasure read
• Truthwitch by Susan Dennard ARC
• Soundless by Richelle Mead ARC

Updates:

Unfortunately as a third year student my time is now being swallowed up by the amount of coursework I need to do and the upcoming deadline of my dissertation (and the other one). That being said I think I will be able to post a few updates but if you're looking at my Goodreads page and perhaps wondering why I've not been posting anything I'm reading, then it's because I will most likely be buried underneath piles of papers. 

I have drafted a few reviews, not much but I am hoping to get back online properly by mid January (if things go to schedule!).  Please please please bear with me!

P.S. I Still Love You (To All The Boys I've Loved Before #2) by Jenny Han

P.S. I Still Love You (To All The Boys I've Loved Before #2) by Jenny Han

Published by: Simon and Schuster for Young Reader

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Rating: ****

I've had the paperback sitting on a shelf for about a month and a half staring at me. Unfortunately due to the start of my third and final year of University and just not being in the right mood to read it, I've not properly been able to read it until now!

Jenny Han is famed for her amazing summer read series The Summer I Turned Pretty. That series made me fall in love with her writing style and the wonderful characters she creates. 

P.S. I Still Love You continues on from the first book, and follows young Lara Jean as she tries to decipher what her heart wants admist the fiasco with Peter. I'm not going to lie. As a twenty year old I had huge flashbacks for how I felt at her age and some parts I argued were a bit too fantasized but I'm not American or raised with her parents so maybe I'm wrong for feeling that way.

Lara Jean continues her deciding on whether she wants Peter or not, her sisters are so funny and she becomes as we all do, confused. I admire Han on not making her a weak character, a victim of the Bella Swan syndrome but instead simply who she is. A young teenager with the world ahead of her. I laughed and smiled my way through the book and by the time I closed the last page, I couldn't help but think of Belly from the Summer series. 

Both girls are so similar that I feel like I'm reading an alternative world version of the Summer series and that makes me feel like I'm getting another chance to relive that series. (Frantically burrows out the series.)

But there was so much that I couldn't fault. Miss Han has a fantastic way of creating teenage protagonists who mature and transform so much over the span of the series that it's almost as if we too are growing up with them. That's something I admire in authors, particularly Young Adult as it helps us become who we will be someday.

P.S. I Still Love You is available to buy from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Lock & Mori (Lock & Mori #1) by Heather W.Petty

Lock & Mori (Lock & Mori #1) by Heather W.Petty

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Genre: YA, Mystery, Retelling

Rating: ****

Lock and Mori was the type of Sherlock retelling that I think I was dying to read but didn't know. I found the book to be a simple and wonderful reworking of the popular Arthur Conan Doyle tales that I actually hadn't experienced in both print and fanfiction form. 

The book follows the unfortunate life of James Moriarty otherwise known as Mori by our lovely Sherlock, but James is no ordinary human. They're female cursed with a masculine name. However Mori is having a tough time. Her mother just died and her father isn't exactly coping in the best way, add in a few mischievious brothers and then we have a big problem.

Sherlock changes Mori's life though. He adds the sweet to the bitter and they have such a weird but cute relationship. It's something that I wish one day I could have, that easy-going banter and conversations where they just play their deductive games. It's just so cheek squeezingly adorable. 

But the reason I didn't give this a five star rating is just because some parts just didn't add up. I felt that some matters were a little illogical for a pair of high school students to get away with, but if you read the book, and I do reccommend it, then you will see what I mean.

Otherwise the book is available to purchase from Amazon UK and Amazon US now. 

Burn Girl by Mandy Mikulencak

Burn Girl by Mandy Mikulencak

Published by: Albert Whitman and Company

Genre: YA, contemporary, romance

Rating: ****

Burn Girl is the type of book I read every summer purely because it provides a getaway from reality. It's like reading Sarah Dessen, everybody reads Sarah Dessen in their lifetime because she writes wonderful stories about characters who are different and have pasts or troubles that they need help or support with.

Arlie's scarred. Her face is disfigured thanks to her stepfather and his accomplices when they blew up a Meth lab. Her mother has just died of an overdose, yet Arlie suspects there's more to the story and to top it off, she's being forced to live with an Uncle she didn't know existed until now. 

Her new school isn't kind. What school is? But Arlie gets by through her best friend and the kindness of her newly discovered Uncle. But that isn't enough turmoil for the poor girl. Instead the dreaded stepfather returns claiming her mother owed him money and now Arlie has inherited the same debt and must pay it off.

But what can a sixteen year old do? She's got no job or access to the kind of capital that the stepfather wants. In the same time as his reappearance, she's got her own problems like school, boys and her home life. The poor girl is so traumatised that she can't even taste or smell, and it's all this idiot's fault.

It's a tough cookie of a story and maybe that's why I liked it so much. Mikulencak writes a very gritty and interesting story that put me in Arlie's perspective and admire how she overcame a lot in what could be considered a short period of time. A very strong lead indeed.

Burn Girl can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Published by: Katherine Tegan Books

Genre:Young Adult, Historial, Thriller?
Rating:****

Debating whether to read this book for a few weeks, I finally took the plunge and downloaded it onto my Kindle and here we are. 

Grace Mae is different. She's locked away in an asylum whilst her proud, rich and powerful parents tell their friends and connections that she's abroad. The truth is that Grace is pregnant and that alone is enough to make this  young woman cower away into the dark corners of her very very intelligent but also rather stupid at times, mind. 

But as she's paraded around as the perfect insane patient, a posterchild for the asylum to cover up their secrets, Grace cracks and is thrown into the depths of those secrets. She meets a promising physician by accident. Her voice adding to her mystery but aiding her as she escapes the asylum only to run around Ohio looking for a murderer.

Of course noone suspects that the insane woman is a threat or that because of her previous condition, that she's no longer a lady or rather a human in their eyes. Grace is able to gleam all the information she can from the public whilst shifting into a completely new woman.

The book isn't just a tale of starting over, it's a story about growing as a person and becoming a leader, a strong and intelligent person.

A Madness So Discreet can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Published by: Corgi Childrens.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Tagline: Accidents happen, our bones shatter, our hearts break, we stay alive.

Rating:**** (Literally scraped it)

What could I say about this book?

The protagonist is seventeen year-old Cara whose family have a period every year where something bad happens. It's literally thirty-so days of lots and lots of injuries caused by tumbling bridges, falling off a bed and more. But don't worry, noone thinks they're getting abused or anything which would probably be one of the things school might consider. Yet noone truly knows why their family are targeted and it's up to Cara to try and find some answers. Joined by bestfriend Bea and step-brother Sam, Cara goes on a big dramatic journey involving supernatural themes and a ghost student.

My actual opinion of the book is that it unfortunately got interesting towards the last five or so chapters. I struggled or rather avoided finishing the book because it wasn't that interesting. I know people who have absolutely adored the novel and sing it's praises but I can't.

I think one thing I enjoyed was the twist. But then that didn't do much. It was kinda blah at parts but there was a lot of imagery that made me see their ficticious world. There's so much inside Doyle's mind that I really really want her to write about (there's a lot of fairytales inside the book that are amazing!).

The Accident Season can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Published by: Balzar + Bray

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Rating:****

Dumplin' is the book every teen should read. Heck I think most adults should give it a read! Willowdean Dickson is a self-proclaimed fat girl. She knows she's fat and she's okay with it. (Hurrah for a book about a character who is comfortable with their body). Her mother on the otherhand isn't okay with it. She's an ex pageant winner and now judge of the yearly small-town pagaent. Willow then decides to enter it after lots and lots of debating it.

Add in a lot of general fallouts with the best friend  and boy problems mixed with a large dash of the outsiders grouping together and you've got a fantastic book. I really really loved it and it made me feel a lot more comfortable in my own skin because the characters were truly something.

The book has got to be one of my favourite ones ever. I was amazed by how Murphy created this character who was quirky, funny and overall someone I wish I knew or met during my own awkward high school years. 

Dumplin' can be bought at Amazon UK or Amazon US.

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

Published by: HarperTeen

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairy tale

Tagline: When the glass slipper doesn't fit...

Rating: ***

Ash & Bramble revolves around the protagonist Pin and her waking up from one situation, to be in another. She's a seamstress at first in this world called Story, but somehow breaks out of it with a boy named Shoe. However when chased by a Godmother, things go bump.

I wasn't too sure what to think about this novel.

My main thoughts were mainly about how little I cared about Pin and Shoe. Instead I was counting the pages, the minutes and stops until I could turn my kindle off and stop reading the damned thing.

Pin isn't our typical female protagonist. She's against the grain from the very start. I liked that she planned her escape. It was intelligent and smart but also different. Pin is just not any of the female characters in any traditional fairytale not because of any of what I listed above, but because when she's placed into this different situation she chooses not to be submissive and instead thinks for herself (yay!).

But it wasn't enough. She still needed the guy to rescue her and kiss her and all that. It's just annoying that it could have been amazing and strong but instead it had holes in it from how some male characters can kinda ruin the strong woman.

As far as fairytales go, I found this retelling a fantastic idea but didn't enjoy how it unravelled. It was different for sure. But I think if I was forewarned, maybe I'd have given it a miss.


Ash & Bramble can be bought from Amazon UK or Amazon US.

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

Published by: Simon Pulse

Genre: Young Adult, romance

Rating:****

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids follows troubled protagonist Elyse D'abreau after a tragic accident that has left her incapable to speak.

In the seaside resort of Atargis Cove, she writes poems on paper and ships until one day she writes on the wrong person's ship. Meeting the famed summer resident Christian, Elyse slowly begins to exit her shell.

The book itself is quick read. I managed to read it on my way home from Chester which is about an hour max. I was bored though. There was something about this that didn't read as easy as Ocklers other novels. I just wasn't a fan and this is probably why I have so little to say about this.

The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen #1) by Jodi Meadows

The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen #1) by Jodi Meadows

Published by: Katherine Tegan Books (yay!)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating:****1/2

Wilhelmina is a princess of a fallen kingdom. It fell during an invasion by the Indigo kingdom where Wil lost her parents and ran away to watch and plot from afar, her climb back to the throne. Hiding away in the Indigo kingdom, Wil is leader of a pack of thieves and orphans who she cares for and asks to aid her.

At a chance opportunity, Wil and best friend/fellow thief Melanie hide away in the castle under the guise of migrants seeking aid. Using the time to map out the kingdom and to work out a plan to get her kingdom back, Wil is literally on her own and becomes half the princess she is. Truly in the moment she is dressed as she should have been, she becomes this wise and strong leader that gives the reader faith that the sequel will be strong and amazing.

I'd write more but I'd probably drop more spoilers than describing the book. However one thing I have always stood by is that if  a book was published by Kathering Tegan, then it is amazing. Her imprint is almost always publishing captivating and thrilling books that make readers stop and think a little whilst sending them away to other worlds to be blown away.

The Orphan Queen is out now and is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade #1) by Jennifer Estep

Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade #1) by Jennifer Estep

Published by: Kensington

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating:****1/2

Cold Burn of Magic is set in an alternate Earth where we have magical and mythological creatures and powers. It's fantastic (pardon the pun there!) 

Lila Merriweather is just another girl with magical powers who has her fair share of problems. In Cold Burn of Magic, she's unique, different and has a big secret task to do. As bodyguard to the ever so attractive Devon Sinclair (typical YA books!) Lila represses her emotions for Devon in order to remain focused and ontask. Her life isn't the average teenagers, she's got so much on her plate that I question her ability to add this potential relationship despite secretly wanting them to get together.

But Estep doesn't rush or push her characters to romance. Instead she lets them build up the passion, the chemistry to a very appropriate time ie when something bad happens etc. It's not about the romance to Jennifer, it's the story. 

The characters are introduced in a very mafia mob style. Not just the once you're in, you're stuck, but the way in how close knit the families are. Yet there's the other side to the mafia. The competition side is highly portrayed in the book very similar to Harry Potter's house rivalry. There's actually a competition that is eerily alike the Twiwizard Tournament.

As a fan of Estep and in particular her Gwen Frost series (which are amazing mythological series), I found Cold Burn of Magic exactly the same. They read so easily, so compelling and leave you wanting the next and the next until the series has ended and you're left wanting more still. I rarely read books like this. I just wish there were more. It's a fantastic first book. I was entertained and captivated. I just wish I'd read it earlier.

CBoM is out now and can be bought from Amazon UK or Amazon US

Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood

Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood

Published by: Running Press Kids
Genre: Sci-fi, fantasy, Young Adult

Released: December 8th 2015

Inherit the stars is kinda like Princess Diaries minus the "Me a princess??". Asa knows she's royal, but she's not necessarily the important one. That falls to her sister who has just been betrothed to another royal of a neighbouring planet etc.

It's literally a sci-fi royal romance that is far better than I could try to even explain. I was blown away by how amazing it was and the fact I was hooked on every word Tessa Elwood wrote. It's a very Hunger Games situation, Asa sacrificing herself to save a sister just like Katniss. But it's very different and poignant and just shows sisterly bonds differently. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, I actually hope they continue the series. I'm just going to apologise in advance because I'm more likely to forget to place the actual cover here when its revealed. The book releases Decemeber 2015 which is a long time away from the month of May. However it is worth the wait and I'm not 100% sure if they might bump it up to an earlier release date. BUT THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! Pardon the caps there but there was no other way to explain  my excitement and how much I loved this book.

The books basically a romeo and juliet but not. The lead female character is the youngest and sacrifices herself to marry a stranger just so her people can have food and the other guy's family has fuel. Add a lot of twists and more exciting stufff that I could say but actually spoil the book and it's fantastic!

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) by Danielle Paige

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) by Danielle Paige

Published by: Harpercollins

Genre: YA, YA Retellings, Fantasy

A magical return to Oz with a twist.

Amy Gumm is just another trailer park girl from Kansas. She's wears charity shop clothes, her mother steals money from her and she's basically friendless. But a tornado comes and takes her from present day Kansas and into the magical world of Oz that isn't so magical anymore. 

Oz nowadays is very different from the sunshine and rainbows when Dorothy went there. Now Dorothy has become a malevolent force, she's sucking the land dry of it's magic.

So you might ask what Amy has to do with this?

Well the title says it all...

--

I found the book on a first read to be a disaster. I didn't get past the first three chapters and just couldn't bring myself to like it. However I recently reread the book and loved it.

Just goes to show that if you dislike a book at first, you might like it months later because we're constantly shifting our likes and dislikes. I'm a strong believer in giving some books a second read and this was a perfect example of this.

Amy Gumm is a bit annoying at first, you don't pity her which is fantastic. Most authors want you to pity their protag but Paige made Amy stand out more this way. I loved how the story developed and became more and more thrilling. I just ended up devouring the book on my way home, and then rushing out the next day for the sequel.

Dorothy Must Die can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon US now.

Jesse's Girl (Hundred Oaks) by Miranda Kenneally

Jesse's Girl (Hundred Oaks) by Miranda Kenneally

Published by: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Young Adult romance, contemporary, music

Tagline: One day will change the beat of her heart

Just to let you all know, Hundred Oaks is the universe in which most of Miranda Kenneally's books are set in. She's very similar to Sarah Dessen who writes her book in the fictional town of Colby.

Jesse's Girl is a very short book. I was able to read it within the space of an hour which pleasantly surprised me. The books focuses on the life and aspirations of talented but unknown musicican Maya Henry who's supposedly amazing at guitar. Maya is a very typical musical orientated teen who knows what she wants and works very hard but she needs a little more confidence to go solo.

Her school has a shadowing day where classmates follow a person who practices their dream job and Maya manages to shadow Jesse Scott who is a huge country/rockstar. Oh and I forgot to mention the book is set in Nashville.

So she follows Jesse around who acts like a complete tool and then extremely nice. He's wary but so is she. It's weird how alike the duo can be but we all know where it'll end. 

--

I wasn't too sure about this. I loved other Hundred Oak books because they were quick easy simple summer reads but this felt different. I wasn't too sure she felt authentic enough as a protagonist yet at times she felt just right. It's strange. 

Jesse's Girl can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon USA

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Published by: Delacorte books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult romance, Social issues, YA contemporary

A new read for me especially since I bought a copy months ago. Now I've finally had time to read the book cover to cover, I can say that it's certainly entertaining.

Finding Audrey is about protagonist Audrey who suffers from anxiety, like a severe form of anxiety, and depression. We don't know exactly what happened but the book introduces the reader into the manic world she lives in. It's actually remarkable that her family haven't caused her more stress. But at the same time, you laugh and smile at how insane they are. It's literally like having that weird uncle every family has.

But Audrey's brother is the one whosuffers the most. He's addicted to some computer game similar to World of Warcraft, and their mother isn't a fan of that. A compulsive Daily Mail reader, she takes time to go out of her way and try and cure the poor lad of his addiction and in turn pushes the mysterious Linus into Audrey's life.

Whilst this all happens, Audrey is taking steps to get better and just be able to go back to the person she was before, or at least some version of that.

It's a magical story that I loved. I just wished we were told the full extent of what happened to her.



The book can be bought in the UK from Amazon or Amazon US.

The Fixer (The Fixer #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Fixer (The Fixer #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Published by: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Genre: Young adult thriller, contemporary, crime (almost)

Tagline: Any problem can be fixed for a price.

Sold as Scandal meets Veronica Mars, I was immediately intrigued by this book. And I have to say it was absolutely amazing! I'm a huge Scandal fan so reading this felt like one of those episodes and left me wanting absolutely more.

The Fixer focuses on teenage protagonist Tess Kendrick whose parents are dead. She lives with her grandfather on a ranch away from the hustle and bustle of Washington D.C. However this all changes when her sister manages to get her to move into the city and places her into a new world of politics and typical rich people problems as Scandal does. Yet as she starts at the fancy school for children of the higher up, she discovers she has a gift just like her sister.

Ivy Kendrick is a fixer. She finds and solves problems for the politicians, royals etc. She's a younger Olivia Pope in all simpleness. Tess and Ivy are typical sisters who have grown apart. There's a lot of tension between the two as expected but Jennifer Lynn Barnes makes it work. Okay so she makes it very natural and not at all over the top as some authors do.

But then there's that little problem. There's a theory that a death wasn't just a death and Tess copies her sister and delves into it headfirst whilst tackling school, family secrets and possible romance. She's not just any schoolgirl, she's a fixer like Ivy.

------
My overall opinion?

I absolutely bloody loved this book. Devoured in less than two days,  I found myself hooked on every word as the storyline developed into a fascinating and amazing storyline. I gasped and gripped my kindle throughout the shocking moments, the parts where I wanted to scream at the book and even when I was super happy about everything and nothing.

Tess Kendrick is an amazing protagonist. A strong female lead that we need more of in books targetted for young audiences!

***

The Fixer is available in hardback via Amazon UK with the paperback available from May 2016 but in the states it is available now.

Every Last Breath (The Dark Elements #3) by Jennifer L Armentrout

Every Last Breath (The Dark Elements #3) by Jennifer L Armentrout

Published by: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA, Romance, Fantasy

I absolutely adore Jennifer Armentrout. Since the day I started her Covenant series to the recently ended Lux series of which both series are absolutely amazing and may have made me cry a little (or a lot.)

But Every Last Breath was different.

This time there were no waterworks. Strange you might think? Or perhaps you might think I've become less emotional. The actual reason was simply I had no emotions for the ending. Okay so I did and they were a little negative because I wasn't completely happy. Yes there's a happy ending for our troubled love triangle but at the same time, it just read quite rushed and made me a little mad.

Yes I am aware there was a poll to see which of the two guys out dear Layla would end up with. Yet I didn't want her to be with either. She's a VERY strong female lead with the tendancy to get a little caught up with everything, but in the end she didn't really need to choose one or the other. She's less than eighteen years old. Christ. If I was with someone from that age then compared to my age now, I'd cry and probably wish I'd remained single because we don't have the best taste then, plus we experience new things daily. Off topic slightly there. But Layla didn't need to choose Roth or Zayne in that book. It could have been left open for a possible sequel in that sense. 

Back to the main story though, I thought it was a good storyline, it concludes the series like a gift box wrapped in a wonky but tied bow. Yes visualise such a thing. It was complete and good but there was room for improvement ie more words to be said I think. But this is just my opinion.

I'll forever love Armentrout and her books, the way I'll probably always sing along to swifty. 

Every Last Breath can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon US now. 

The Wanderers by Kate Ormand

The Wanderers by Kate Ormand

Published by: Sky Pony Press
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: September 1st 2015

I want to thank Sky Pony Press for sending me not just aa copy but an actual physical copy. 

The Wanderers follows the story of Flo, a young shapeshifter who transforms into a horse. But as a young sixteen year old, she has a lot of anxiety that comes with being a teenager especially one who now has to perform in the circus. Where are her parents one might ask? We don't exactly know. Its hinted that they're dead but Flo is alone. Her life is just the circus, it's all she's ever known. 

But as usual there's a boy involved. 

And he is adorable! I genuinely adored reading their relationship as it developed from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend by the end. I admit though there were parts I was a little iffy about. I just felt like there could be more to the romance or a little more something, yet that could be because I've been reading intense romance style novels like End of Days or Every Last Breath. It's different. But good different.

The circus show as they do in real life have threats. But for this particular pack, it's in the form of EOS aka hunters. The reader gets very little about them. Just snippets at first but that's okay because we're still learning about the world the book is set in. I genuinely liked the way it was so subtle and so not over the top in mentioning like Teen Wolf or other similar genre books/shows. It was simple.

I think overall the book was fantastic. I loved how quick and easy it was to read, especially considering I was reading it at seven in the morning or nine at night.There was no complex things that meant I had to stop and think and so that's why I really really liked the book.

The Wanderers can be bought from Amazon UK and Amazon USA from September 1st.

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke (Prisoner of Night and Fog #2) by Anne Blankman

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke (Prisoner of Night and Fog #2) by Anne Blankman

Published by: Balzer + Bray
Genre: Young Adult, Historical fiction

As a sequel I wasn't too sure about reading this. Mainly because of the topic and that I didn't know whether it would stand up to how amazing the first book was. However it was much much more thrilling. 

Gretchen and Daniel have been living in England, their lives so different to the ones in Germany but on Gretchen's birthday, a telegram arrives. Daniel leaves and heads back to the place the story started. Hitler's Germany.  Gretchen follows him, after recieving some money from her adoptive English family (who are super kind) and has to avoid friends, family and enemies as she tries to track Daniel down. The worst part? She sees the ones she loves, cares for get taken away by the SA/SS/police. It's a horrific thing to even imagine, let alone read. I hold a big amount of respect to Anne Blankman.

As a historical fiction aimed for young adult, I can't express how happy I was to read such a well-researched and compelling series. I was blown away by how Blankman managed to write about such a horrific time and by writing from a different perspective as well. 

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke can be bought from Waterstones, Amazon UK  and Amazon US