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 END OF MR Y By Scarlett Thomas

Well, that started the 2014/15 Six Book Challenge of with a bang didn't it?

This is the story of a young PhD student / part time teacher at the university who happens to come across one of the rarest and possibly most cursed books in the history of literature. Did I mention that the author of said book, was also Ariel's favourite author and subject of her PhD? Now all things considered, what would you do? Read the cursed book of course! She spends every penny to her name on this book, her supervisor and tutor has been missing for over a year and she figures she has nothing to lose. As it turns out, love, time-travel and having the ability to read other people's minds isn't as great as you would initially think so.

This has been a phenomenal book, and if there was a Fandom for this book, I would consider myself par of it. It was amazing and being an English language student myself, I was amazed and overwhelmed (in a good way) by this world that had been created entirely out of language, science and the science of language.

Initially I was a little confused when it first switched from narrator to the first extract of the book because there was very little to differentiate between the two. No font change or subheading, not even a chapter change in some case, and I was very confused by this, but Thomas has done a very neat job of tying this up quickly as Ariel continues to explain about how reading this particular book doesn't allow her to switch between herself and the character, she feels as if she is or should be the character in the book and therefore the mix of narratives are totally in the right place and let the reader experience as much as they can of Ariel's confusion while maintaining clarity in the bulk of the novel.

I thought that the presentation of the girls school was very interesting, and I'm even sure why if I'm honest. I only remember being particularly interested in the way that part was written and it stood out to me possibly more than any of the rest of the book did. What do you think?

I love Adam's character, he's just so lovable and stoic. Initially, I just overlooked him a little, but towards the end I genuinely felt that I wanted him back as much as Ariel did. Although; without giving anything away too much, I feel that the last few pages spoiled Adam a little for me. I feel that he strayed too far from his roots, but ultimately I think that was what Adam wanted, to stray as far away from his own life as possible, until he found something that made him happy, or at least content with his life.

I am genuinely struggling to find the words to rave about this book to the extent that it deserves!

I just love this book for its complexity, yet despite it being complex, it really isn't that hard to follow. I think the hardest part it trying to remember how to pronounce some of the scientific jargon. (just reading about quarks made me feel intelligent :P). The End of Mr Y. is a fantasticly academic book which I would recommend to most people, however:

I would just like to add a note onto the end of this here review to recommend that this book is not read by children or even 'young' adults. This is definitely one for the more mature readers due to its graphic sexual content.

Find out more about the Six Book Challenge here >>>>>  http://sixbookchallenge.org.uk/

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!