HALF BAD By Sally Green

As with many of the other books I've read recently, I found this one on the returns shelf at work and I liked the look of it so I thought I'd give it a shot. Just in time to, just as I was craving something of the fantasy genre.

I must say that this is a jolly good read. It well written, it's easy to read and it's incredibly satisfying.

Half Bad is set in an England where witched are common and living among the 'fains', also known as the normal, unmagical people. There has been war between the good white witches and the supposedly evil black witches, however for one young boy, things aren't as easy as black and white. Nathan is a half code. His mother was a white witch, and his father is the most notorious and feared black witch in the country. Scared of Nathan, the council keep him chained up for a couple of years. When he turns seventeen, Nathan must have received his Giving or he'll die. The only snag is that the only living relative of Nathan is his father and no one has seen him in years, so he sets off in search of Mercury, the only witch who can save him now.

As I said previously, this is a really satisfying book. There's not so much in this book to analyse. Just to enjoy. The protagonist is lovable and relateable, the antagonists are hateable and there are just enough twists and turns to keep the story interesting while keeping it so you don't have to think to much, just sit back and enjoy the story.

I would definitely like to read the sequel and then the third part when it comes out later this year. This is a book I would recommend to anyone and everyone, a brilliant read.

UNNATURAL CREATURES By Neil Gaiman

The only thing I can be really sure about this book, is that I have read it for the short story category. But because it's a book of short stories, I can't really say either way whether or not I liked it. Some I felt could have been expanded into and entire book they were so amazing, whereas others I have no shame in admitting that I wanted to skip them.

This book is basically a collection of short stories (no surprise) which all center around an unnatural creature or two. Gaiman has chosen stories which take about everything from unicorns and phoenixes, to odd spots on the table cloth.

The book set itself up with two amazing stories. The first was so amazing that it left me with a three day book hangover, and the second was just an incredibly imaginative, original and well written short story. After the amazing success of these two, the rest in to volume just didn't seem quite able to match up to the same standard and left me feeling a little disappointed. Other that those first two, I think there were two, maybe three others which lifted me out of my disappointment momentarily.

I've never particularly been a fan of short stories and although I have enjoyed reading some of these, I don't feel that this book particularly champions them and shouts 'SHORT STORIES ARE AMAZING!' I think I remain to be convinced by the short story phenomenon.

A good book, but not one I will hurry back to any time soon. I would recommend it, after all this is only my opinion and we all like reading different things. You might like it and I hope that you do. Happy reading :)

LOOKING FOR ALASKA By John Green

This is the second of John Green's books that I have read, the first being The Fault in Our Stars (Which incidentally earned itself a place on my Book of the Month list in January of this year), which I loved and therefore it would only make sense to enter this book for my reading challenge under that category of 'A book by an author you love but haven't read yet'.

Having previously read The Fault in Our Stars, and being absolutely blown away with it, and it hitting the top of my all time favourite books list in the skip of a heart beat, I'm not going to lie, I had high hopes for this one, and is I expected, the awesomeness that is John Green delivered again! I can't say that it hit the same level as TFIOS, because I don't think anything every will, but that is in no way at all, me saying that this is not a good book. It is! It is an amazing, gripping, perfectly poignant book which everyone should read.

This is the story of Miles Halter, a boy with few aspirations, a knack for learning famous last words and soon to become Pudge to his new friends, as he starts a new life at Culver Creek Boarding School where he meets the infamous and beautiful prankster, Alaska Young.
Pudge does exactly as his parents tell him not to, gets involved with smoking, sex, getting into trouble, the whole shebang, but his heart is broken after a terrible 'accident' which leaves the entire school without Alaska.

This is an amazing story which really shows how death can tear us apart as much as it can bring us together. As the reader you are forced into choosing sides between characters who are friends with each other, friends with you. Its a fact of life that everyone with die eventually, but it doesn't make things any easier when it finally happens to someone you know and love.

I would recommend this to any one of the age to read Young Adult fiction, due to a small number of graphic scenes and a running message of alcohol abuse and smoking. This is a funny and yet heart breaking book which will stay with you for an awfully long time to come.

Mr Green...  I salute you. 

THE MAZE RUNNER By James Dashner

Here we go with my second book for the 2015 POPSUGAR reading challenge, this one is heading for the category: A book by an author you've never read before, and it's true! This is the first of Dashner's novels I have ever read, and I must say that after this I wouldn't mind reading a few more.

I've got to admit that I hadn't heard about this book until I say they poster at our local cinema for the new film that recently came out last year. Then browsing through the bookshop I stumbled across a copy, (or rather thousands of copies) and I very nearly didn't buy it. I love the hunger games and when I saw the plug at the bottom about how its 'a must for fans of THE HUNGER GAMES, I was worried that I would be disappointed that it would be a non-story. Compared to the Hunger Games so that it would sell more copies but I thought What the heck and took it to the counter and paid for it.

However I now stand here with my hands held high in surrender and apology to all you Maze Runner fans out there... you were right. This book is amazing and it has indeed left me with a book hangover to such an extent, that I don't know when I'll be able to start the sequel.

Just like it says in the blurb, we begin the story just as confused as Thomas and we stay as confused as he is until starts fighting back and asking questions. From the moment the box open, and Thomas is spewed into the Glade, to the moment he falls asleep at the end, you feel everything that he feels. Basically Thomas has somehow been made to live in a huge concrete square surrounded by walls that seem to be impossibly tall. There are four 'doors', on in each wall but all that seems beyond them is black. We soon learn that the Glade, as it's more commonly known, is the centre of a giant, seemingly unsolvable maze. He is trapped in there with 50 - 60 other teenage boys and there is only one rule: Solve the maze or die. The people before Thomas arrived have been trying to solve the maze for two whole years, so why should his arrival make any difference?

Firstly, I thought that this book was incredibly well written. The idea of creating lab rat style humans is almost unthinkable and I cannot begin to think where I would have started if I were the writer of this book, but Dashner has done an incredible job of making it realistic and believable. There was not a single moment when I stepped back and said 'Whoa! this ain't real'. The author here has managed to find the perfect balance between reality and fantasy, a sometimes very difficult thing to do. As a slight aside, I love the way that each boy is nicknamed after a famous scientist, that tickled me. I loved it.

As usual I talk a little bit about my favourite character so that what I'm going to do now. Newt. Favourite character has to be Newt. He's strong, he's a leader, he's hot and I just think that if I had to be stuck in a giant hostile maze with anyone, it would be Newt. I kinda liked Chuck as well in that annoying little brother sorta way but Newt definitely had to be the one for me.

Certainly one I would recommend to all people great and small who enjoy a good book, and most definitely a book for people who think that reading is ponsey and for girls, because this book could not be further from that assumption. Give it a read, see for yourself and see if you would be strong enough to solve the maze.

THE HIT By Melvin Burgess

I must say, this has been a really enjoyable and interesting book to read. There are so many different themes and ideas packed into this book and yet it doesn't seem complicated or over crowded in anyway shape or form. I love it! Then again, I'm all for any book that has some sort of moral, especially one that makes you think about, and appreciate it more than you do already. There were a number of times while reading this book when I genuinely found myself thinking about what would be on my bucket list if I found myself under the influence of Death, or equally I might have found myself wondering whether or not I would have chosen to take it.

I think it was quite brave of the author to take on a topic like drugs and gang violence, because these are covered a lot in novels now-a-days and it can be difficult to write about it in a way that makes your story stand out from the others. But I'm am pleased to say that I think Burgess has done an incredible job and has definitely written a novel which tackles common but important themes while making it stand apart from everything else at the same time.

A brilliant book and one that I would definitely recommend, I'm looking forward to reading some of Burgess's other work.

DANCING JAX by Robin Jarvis

Oooohhh!!!! I like a creepy book every now and then, and I must say that it doesn't get much creepier and spine chilling that Dancing Jax by Robin Jarvis. (In fact it think I've only read one book creepier: Long Lankin, and I shiver just think about it)

Basically, it about an ancient Occultist who wrote a children's book which should never be read by anyone.... ever! it takes you over and turns you into a different person!

At the outset, just off reading the blurb, it sounds as if the author of Dancing Jacks (The book in the story) has got everything sussed when it comes to getting people to read his work. As a writer myself, one of my main aims is to get people interested in reading my plots and leave them wanting more. I believe that a good book should draw you into it's pages. You should feel like you're actually involved with the story rather than just reading words on a page, but I never hope that my work causes the same reaction as it does in this novel. The creepiest thing about this for me, is the way that Jarvis has taken the writers ideal, and taken it to such an extent that it becomes evil and world destroying.

I have to admit that initially I found it a little slow going and difficult to get into. The first chapter left me feeling a little disappointed, feeling like it hadn't delivered on all of the brilliant reviews I had heard about the book, but being the enthusiastic reader that I am, I plowed on through the first chapter believing that it would get better and I certainly wasn't disappointed! By the beginning of the second chapter I could hardly put the book down.

I know for certain who my favorite character has been throughout the book. Paul Thornbury. I find him adorable I really do, and as a reader, to me I think of him as a little brother, or what i would like my little brother to be like. When Dancing Jacks is finally forced upon him in one of his English classes, I found myself wanting him to break free, not wanting to read on unless he was going to be okay, all the way through the book; even though Jarvis hints at an unhappy ending, I was praying all the way through that he would never fall victim top the evil book and it's followers. I was heart broken when he finally gave in and just as Carol turns and tells Martin that Paul is no longer her son, I felt that Paul was no longer the imaginary little brother that I adopted at the start of the book.

I also like Martin's character although I'm not sure I would have liked him as my maths teach although I've probably had worse. The scary thing is, when it comes to Martin, I know people who have similar obsessions and I understand that Martin's character is totally believable. It sort of one of those where you have to see it to believe it. I really like the relationship that Paul and Martin share, because even though Martin is to become his step-dad, there is this lovely brotherly, best friend relationship between them. Initially this is good because it causes the reader to believe that Paul wont have to face his battle alone, but every time you think that Paul could do nothing  more to convince them, they believe just a messed up little boy which is heart-wrenching when you compare it to the relationship he has with martin at the beginning of the book.

It is definitely a book that I would recommend to everyone else, probably not too young-a-children though, I don't want to be responsible for night mares and sleepless nights. But I think that anyone who is looking for a good creepy read would definitely enjoy this one. If like me you struggle a bit with the first half a chapter or so, I advise just to preserver for just a tiny bit longer and all of a sudden everything will become clear and everything will have been worth it!

THE DEAD HOUSE by Anne Cassidy

Wow! What a book. I must say that this has been one of the most thrilling and hooking books I have read in a long time.

Ten years ago, Lauren's mother and sister were murdered and an attempt was made on Lauren's own life. After the tragic event, Lauren moved to Cornwall with her Aunt Jessica and Uncle Donny, but now ten years later, circumstances have unfolded and brought her back to the London house where she lost her family. Throughout the novel we join Lauren on her hunt to find the truth about what really happened that night.

The best thing about this book for me is the way that there is more than one genre all rolled into this one, fantastic book. Teen romance, horror, mystery, family, crime all feature in The Dead House.

In addition to this, Cassidy has very cleverly slid in to plots into a single story, which makes for a very interesting read, because although Lauren's story doesn't affect Jess and Donny's, their story does have an incredible impact on how Lauren's story unfurls.

My favorite character through out probably has to be Donny. Despite that fact that he causes to much pain and anguish to Lauren's Aunt Jessica, I couldn't help but feel like he was the victim in this side story which runs parallel to the main plot of the story. I feel like you have all these stereotypical story book characters like like Lauren who is a survive trying to get on with her life, Nathan the night in shining Armour and Julie who is very much the girly best friend who is obsessed with anything male. Then you have regular old Donny who gets it wrong and tries to set things right, its a place we've all been in isn't it. You mess up big time and then you try your best to fix it up. I really like the way that Cassidy has given him human emotions rather than fictional. What I mean by that is, when he goes to fix things with Jess, he isn't all bravado and laid back, he's scared and nervous like any normal person would be.

I think that the way the chapters of the book are set out is really effective. As well as having the conventional chapters, the book is split into four part:

• House of ghosts
• House of memories
• House of revelations
• House of secrets

I think these four titles really reflect the way that Lauren's emotions progress throughout the book.

I have never been a fan of traditional clowns with all their makeup and costume, so this element of the story made it particularly spine tingling for me. Initially the motif of the clown appears occasionally during the first chapters however it soon becomes evident that it is much more than that. I think this works so well because Cassidy has taken something that many people fear and turned that fear into reality.

I found I was able to connect with Lauren on a basic level, in terms of the fact that she is very determined, and although I have never been through anything as horrific as Lauren went through, I understand how hard it was for her to change her mind about her Dad, in fact the author had so well made up MY mind that I wanted Lauren to stick to her guns and not give in to the idea that she might be wrong. When I make my mind up about something, it takes a lot to change it and I see this element of myself in Lauren.

I would highly recommend this book to all people young and old, that's the beauty of this book, it fits into so many categories that everyone can enjoy it!

The 'GONE' series by Michael Grant

Despite it being a series of six books, there is no way I could ever review them as individual books; it would be like trying to write a book review for on a chapter of Harry Potter or the first half of the Hobbit. The GONE series is less like a collection of book that follow on from each other, and more like one single story that is just too voluminous to be pack into a single book.

Initially I was reluctant to pick up the first book as I thought it was going to be below my usual reading level and I didn't want to think of myself as reading a book that was aimed and written for much younger people than myself. I now see what a terrible attitude this was to have. However, in the end it was the brightly coloured pages and the contrast between black and neon that drew me to the book and force fingers to turn the first page, and I must say that after the first page was turned, there was no stopping them.

When a melt down happens at the nuclear powerplant, Little Pete Ellison uses his unknown power to create the FAYZ, a 'protective' barrier around Perdido Beach and all of its residents. However in his ignorance, Little Pete teleports everyone aged fifteen and over outside the dome, leaving hundereds of children to fend for themselves in a world riddled with mutant creatures. Fortunately, Sam Temple steps up to the plate and takes the role of mayor in this very different town. Through out the story, you will follow these children as they prematurely become young adults, as they fight to survive the FAYZ.

The thing that shocked me the most about these incredible books if the connections that you create with the characters and the way these feelings change so dramatically. The best example of this would be the connections I made with the character 'Diana Ladris'. Diana is the girlfriend and companion of the sociopath Caine. At the start of this journey I hated Diana with everything I could muster within me. I thought she was an evil witch who would do anything to get her own way or allow Caine to get his. This is very much how she was for the first three to four books in the series. I despised her character and genuinely wished ill of her if there was ever a battle or an argument between her and Caine. I wished for Caine to use his mutant telekinetic powers to destroy her in some brutally horrific way that would cause her to suffer as much as the people she herself had damaged. However when she becomes pregnant and leaves Caine to live with Sam (the other main character (the good one)), I began to truly believe that maybe she had a good seed in her heart that just needed nurturing in order to flourish. It was then I began to feel bad at myself for being so hostile towards Diana and not giving her a chance to show herself for who she really was when she didn't have Caine to perform for twenty four hours a day. I thought the way the Grant lures you into thinking to that you can trust her and that she is a changed woman, is very clever. He appeals to the human nature of his readers. It doesn't matter that you hated her before and that you wanted her dead, now she is pregnant and our own human instinct is to look after and care for this person so that they don't die and the don't get hurt; just by changing one element of Diana's situation, Grant has cleverly turned our opinion of her on it's head.

Later on in the story though, when Diana gives birth to her child, the baby is taken over by the Gaiaphage which takes the baby to use as its own body. Understandably Diana follows that dark and evil creature, following her newly found mothering instincts to look after what she believes is still her baby girl. Even though as a reader I understood that Diana couldn't possibly tear herself away from her child, I still felt deeply hurt and disappointed in Diana  that she had turned and followed the Evil one. I really felt like I'd been let down, as if I'd put my trust in a close friend and they had turned they're back on me. This really knocked my opinion of Diana for the rest of the story and even right at the end when Sam and Astrid (his girlfriend) offer hospitality to Diana, I still felt unsure of her however, because Sam had been the leader and the hero from the beginning I felt obliged to trust his judgement and not to question his decisions as after all, they were the reason so many people had survived the FAYZ.

This deep connection that I built with many of the characters, lead me to start thinking in the same way as the children trapped beneath the barrier. At the start I desperately wanted them to escape so they could be with their parents again, but as the story progressed and I journeyed with the characters, I almost became adverse to the idea of the of the FAYZ wall coming down. The young people had learnt to build a society on their own and I as a reader had been there with them while they had committed atrocities that would appear outrageous and worthy of various prison sentences to the outside world, however being there with them, I understood that these children had no other choice and that the majority of them only did what they had to in order to survive. I wanted the wall to come down only because no one would survive very long unless it did. I was scared for the young people because I knew the outside world would not understand what had happened and they would try and prosecute and drag them through councelling and various therapies. The people who had survived the trauma of living in the FAYZ would not get the medals and the heroic welcome they deserved so badly.

Right at the end of the final book, after the acknowledgements, Grant wrote a short letter to his readers, thanking them for reading his books and taking the time to take the journey with Sam, Astrid, Diana, Caine and all the others. During the letter he explains that the main thing he wanted to achieve was that his readers would be able to feel for the characters and feel as if they were really there with them.

I feel that the author has achieve his goal many times over in the course of these books, and I feel that this is only emphasised by the fact that each relationship between reader and character is completely unique from any other one.

Finally I would just like to add that I would highly recommend this series to just about anyone, no matter how old you are.

This book probably should not be read by people who feel strongly against children being exposed to violent and life threatening situations.