This week we begin with something rather adventurous for our animal-lovers: site member Cool Kids’ Creations wrote a superb review of The Rising by Tom Moorhouse. This story follows four water voles — called Sylvan, Orris, Fern and Aven — who “escape the dreaded mink who is destroying their home”. Cool Kids’ Creation particularly liked the way Moorhouse “turned a threatened species into a book full of meaning”.
“This story is about friendship, loss, adventure and their trust in Sinethis, all with a little humour thrown in. It reminds me of Watership Down, but with water voles instead of rabbits, and personally I think The Rising is better ... I think The Rising is a truly amazing book that you can’t stop reading no matter what. Tom Moorhouse is amazing!”
If you’re on the lookout for something spooky, our next pick may be the perfect eerie read! One of our young critics Felixreads penned a fantastic review of The Girl Who Wasn’t There by Karen McCombie. In this ghostly tale, Maisie moves into a new home and has no friends until she meets Kat ... who — err, isn’t there.
“[This is] one of the best books I have ever read. I couldn’t put it down. I just read, read, read. The author chose a very interesting plot which I liked very much because I am a sucker for ghost stories. Every time the ghost mysteriously appeared in this book, I wanted to read on to see what happens next!”
Likewise, continuing the spooky theme, site member XoXo, BOOK WORM_98 wrote an incredibly good critique of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. This book follows Samantha Kingston, who has the “perfect teen life” until a deadly car crash causes her to relive the same day over (and over) again.
“When I flipped open Before I Fall, I expected what anyone would expect from a NYT Bestseller - and Before I Fall delivered! It was the little things, really, that made me fall in love with this book - the small acts that Samantha did to help others; the way she saw how all actions have consequences, and that even the smallest act of kindness could go a long way. It was brilliantly written, gritty, deep and compassionate. I couldn’t give it a higher recommendation!”
Now to something for our older readers, two children’s books site members had mixed feelings about The Murdstone Trilogy by Mal Peet. This may be because the book is actually Mal’s first book aimed at adults – but teenagers are invited to read it! In this book, struggling novelist Phillip Murdstone has been told by his editor to write fantasy books in order to keep up with the latest craze.
HorseLover3000 was first to opine with their excellent review, and felt Murdstone “rather lost the plot”.
“The only thing I can say for certain about the Murdstone Trilogy is that it is one of the oddest books I have ever read ... The book is meant to be funny, but the humour passed me by completely. I think it may be targeted more towards adults, and maybe that was why I didn’t enjoy it very much, however even then I found the storyline difficult to follow and unexciting. I didn’t connect with the characters at all, mainly feeling dislike towards them, if anything. I would rate it a 3/10, because I think the idea was good in places but the plot wandered off and left me confused and bored. I would recommend it to older teens and adults (if anyone).”
Meanwhile, CaraErica praised the storyline in their brilliant review, but was disappointed with the ending.
“*SPOILER ALERT* Peet is an incredible writer and this book managed to make me laugh even in places I probably shouldn’t. However, my high hopes were tarnished when the ending was unveiled to be no better than the: ‘and it was all a dream...’ cliché. A true disappointment! ... Overall, the Murdstone trilogy makes an interesting read, but I wouldn’t rush it to the top of your reading list.”
Finally, we round off this week’s reviews with a lesson on how to be interesting. Reader emybot wrote a stupendous review of The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting by Holly Bourne — which follows wannabe author Bree who is told she needs ‘to live a life worth writing about’ and creates six steps on how to do exactly that.
“Surprisingly Manifesto was quite dark; I was expecting it to be kind of clique and Mean Girls-esque, but I was more than wrong ... The Manifesto is one of my favourite books. It was funny, dark, perfectly paced and all over relatable and if that hasn’t sold you yet, I read it all in one night! The last time I did that was when reading The Fault in Our Stars and we all know how great a book that is!”
A resounding round of applause to our reviewers for all their wonderful reviews this week! If your review has been featured above, be sure to email the book elves and we will send you a parcel of books from our cupboards.
Happy reading!
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