SKY RUN By Alex Shearer

After reading The Cloud Hunters by the same author, I assumed that this was the sequel. However I was wrong. Sky Run is a completely separate novel which is merely based in the same world as the other. When I found this out, I was a little dubious about reading it and I was afraid that I wasn't going to enjoy it was much as the first book I had read, set in this wonderful world. I was worried that I was going to miss the characters I had come to know and love in The Cloud Hunters and still have to battle through the same world without them.

However I have really enjoyed this book. I cannot say that I enjoyed it more or less than the last one as they were totally different story lines and ideas. However I did really like the homage to the other book, when Alain talks about meeting the other Cloud Hunter boat which was carrying the boy without the scars and he talks briefly about his feelings concerning the event.

Although the two books can be read totally independent of each other, I would recommend reading the two together as they really do enlighten you about the world and the situations that the characters are living in. Each book gives you extra background information about the other book which, although you wouldn't miss it as such, you certainly would benefit from reading.

I must say that for some reason I found this story less repetitive than Shearer's other sky themed novel. I found it easier to read without becoming confused or lost in the same words over and over again.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has read The Cloud Hunters and equally I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't. I have reviewed The Cloud Hunters  previously. Click here to see what I had to say about it.

THE CLOUD HUNTERS By Alex Shearer

I picked this book up for no other reason than I was browsing through the library looking for something to read, and this particular caught my eye and looked interesting. Once again, I have not been disappointed.

I think that the ideas and the storyline behind this book is really original and new. I, myself , haven't come across anything like this before. I like the idea of taking something really well known, Like sailing on a ship to find out who you are and what your destiny is, and putting it into a completely different scenario. Personally I find the idea of living on a small island as part of a bigger community quite appealing. Being able to have independence and isolation when you need it while at the same time, not being too far away from the life and business of everyday life.

There is only one criticism I have for the book and this is I found some of the names a little repetitive. I feel that there may have been possible alternatives to 'sky-fish', 'sky-whale', 'sky-seal', 'sky-walrus' etc... It just felt a little too repetitive for my liking and I sometimes lost my train of thought and definition between the items talked about.

Other than that though, I though that The Cloud Hunters was a thoroughly enjoyable book.

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES By Thomas Hardy - PHASE THE SECOND

Despite Phase the Second being the shortest of the seven sections of this book an awful lot happens to our protagonist. She returns home, we find out she's pregnant, she has the child, the child dies, she tries to find work, and she makes an attempt to try and fit back into society.

I think the reason that Hardy squishes all of this into four, relatively short chapters, is because he wants us to understand the way Tess is feeling. Tess doesn't want to dwell on this section of her life, and Hardy doesn't want us to either. He wants us to move on with Tess and realise that such a small section of her life, should not have such a massive impact on her future. This would have been particularly important to the audience Hardy was writing for, as he would have been writing for people who would have hated and loathed Tess for the situation she had supposedly gotten herself into. He wants them to move on as well and follow his and Tess's lead. I feel that Hardy is trying to convince us that purity (he describes Tess as: a pure woman) goes beyond the physical and is more importantly about the heart and the mind.

I found this section of the text rather difficult to plough through if I'm honest, but I feel this is because of the lack of speech and the greatness of all the details Hardy writes into the text. Both of these things, although making it a little hardy for the reader, play an important role in helping us to understand the character.

The lack of verbal communications with other characters helps us to begin to understand how lonely and isolated Tess is feeling. There is no one she feels she can talk to and no one seemingly willing to comfort her and treat her normally. This leads onto the effect of the masses of description. Because Tess is so lonely and isolated, she has more time to ponder on things and to pick at the fine detail in her life that she may not have noticed otherwise. We get to see deeper into Tess's perspective, while at the same time, getting a clear sense of setting and context.

I've found this phase and interesting one to read, if slightly slow. Nevertheless, I shall be looking forward to seeing what Phase the Third has to offer.

THE 100 By Kass Morgan

I first came across this book after watching the first few episodes of the new series on TV. While browsing in the local book shop, I noticed that the original book was on offer and decided to give it ago and I am more than pleased to say that I have not been disappointed in any way at all. In fact I've read the entire thing in less than 24 hours. I think I've only ever managed that with one other book before (The Fault In our Stars by John Green). The 100 is totally gripping and makes it impossible for the reader to put it down. The only regret I have is that the book finished. I just want to pick it up and start reading it again.

Now I don't want to make this a comparison between the TV series and the book, however if you have seen the TV version and are debating whether or not to read the book, go for it! Do it! The TV adaptation is so far different to the book. So many characters have been added and taken out to make it more appealing to a television audience. In fact the only characters which are consistent between the two are Clarke, Bellamy and his sister, and Wells and his father.

I like the book more because it gives insight into the everyday live of the people on the ship, parallel to the people who have been sent to earth. You also get to see the same event from two different perspectives, such as the passing of the comet.

This isn't the first time that I've been drawn to a book about younger people being left to fend for themselves in an effort to survive. Similar themes can be seen in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and also in Gone by Michael Grant. We seem to be living in a world at the moment, where we are obsessed with the possibilities of what would happen if there were suddenly a lock of law and order, who would take charge, who would survive. It seems to be quite a grim obsession we have currently, but definitely one that seems to be selling books. (which is always a good thing)

There doesn't seem to be anything mega special that jumps out at me when I think about this book. No important message forced at me by the author, no life changing epiphany which means I'll never look at life the same again. But maybe that's what make this book so awesome. It's just a darn good book without all the paraphernalia that makes reading books nowadays such hard work. Sometimes less is more.

Read it! You know you want to.

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.

THE RAW SHARK TEXTS By Steven Hall

First things first, I think that the idea and the potential behind this book is amazing. I am all for people writing about mental health and the extreme effects it can have on people. Although when I  initially read the blurb I didn't get that it was about someone suffering extreme memory loss, I was expecting it to have more of a Left-4-Dead kind of feel to it. I was really excited to read it and out of the three I borrowed from the library, this one was at the top of the list to read, however I am a little sad to say that I sincerely doubt I will finish it.

Although the story, ideas and characters are all really, really good, I found it a little difficult and heavy to read, slightly tough to push through, and the when I put the book down, I didn't quite feel drawn back to read it again and I have found myself going more than a week without even thinking about picking it back up again.

Though the biggest sign for me is the fact I have gotten to chapter five and I'm still not entirely sure why I'm continuing to read it.

Now as I always say, just because I didn't finish the book this time, doesn't mean I wont come back to it and try reading it again. Circumstances in life change and what is easy to read at one point in our life may be difficult to read three, four years down the line. Never write a book off first time, try it at least twice before you decide you don't like it. Times and opinions change and there are a lot of really fantastic ideas going on in this book.

I know plenty of people that would enjoy this book, however, at the moment, I just don't think this is the book for me.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST By Ken Kesey

I've been wanting to read Cuckoo's Nest ever since I saw the stage production at our local theatre. I must say that if I was blown away by the incredibleness of the stage adaptation then I simple cannot put into words how much I have been effected but the novel itself. As someone who is greatly affected by mental health myself, I was interested to see what society had allowed to be broadcast.

I was a little worried when I started out reading the book and it doesn't have chapters as such, only breaks in the text and it's split into four lengthy segments, however in my excitement to read the book I push forward and I am so glad that I did! I badly notice the fact that there were no chapters and i found that once I picked it up, I could hardly bring myself to put it back down again. The pages seemed to turn themselves.

One of the biggest themes I picked up on throughout the novel was social standing and hierarchy. Although it s not a society in the way that we would normally talk about it, there is still a sense of community on the hospital ward and you can see the ranks which have been put in place. The vegetables and the bottom, followed by the chronics, then the acutes, after that its the aides and the the doctor and finally the Big Nurse. This is define clearly throughout and as in Tess of the d'Urbervilles and a lot of Percy Shelley's work (I choose these two as they are the other two texts i am working with for my course), The top tier of the society holds complete control and no matter how hard the lower levels of society try to change things, it never happens.

Although he isn't mentioned too often throughout the book, I think that Pete is my favourite character.  His quietness and the way he is put aside by everyone else really reached out to me. He clearly has a need that needs to be addressed and yet he is just swept under the carpet in a hope that eventually the issue will go away. I like Chief Bromden as well, and I think the way that his narration shows his growth as a person is very clever. His thoughts and opinions become longer and braver as the novel progresses whereas he started very quiet and scared and only narrating the bare minimum.

I am really glad to have read this book and I have really enjoyed reading it. But that isn't to say that there weren't parts of the book that made me stop and think twice about the way I think and the way society thinks as a whole. I think this is a brilliant commentary on Mental health and society, as well a social politics.

This is definitely one for a slightly older / young adult audience but one that I would most definitely recommend to every one. Its such a great book, with a brilliant message and to top it all, it's so easy to read!