Review - Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

Title: Windfall

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Pages: 432

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Release date: 4th May 2017

Blurb from Goodreads: 

Alice doesn't believe in luck, Alice believes in love. Mostly that she's been in love with her best friend, Teddy, for the last three years. When she buys him a lottery ticket for his birthday and he wins 32 million dollars, they are thrown together with the world at their feet. Teddy decides that he will spend his money committing random acts of kindness, and who better to go on that adventure with him than Alice? In the process they get to know themselves and each other better than they ever have before, but money can't buy you love . . .

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley*

Alice has had her fair share of bad luck so she doesn't expect anything to happen when she buys Teddy, her best friend who she's secretly in love with, a lottery ticket for his birthday.

But the ticket makes Teddy a millionaire and changes his and Alice's lives.

What will Teddy do with the money?

Can Alice come to terms with the loss of her parents all those years ago?

I felt that Windfall was a realistic take on what would happen to a teen/someone if they won the lottery.

I liked how family orientated Windfall was - Alice was close to her cousin, Leo, and Teddy had a close relationship with his mum.

Alice was a good protagonist and I enjoyed reading as she realised things about herself. I didn't mind Teddy, but I preferred Leo.

The romance wasn't a huge part of the plot, which I appreciated.

The plot was enjoyable enough but it dragged a little and nothing happened that shocked me.

The blurb was a bit misleading in the sense that it takes Teddy a long time to decide to 'commit random acts of kindness' (around 70% of the way through).

I liked the writing style and found it easy to follow.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

 

My YALC Tips

It's nearly time for YALC!

For those of you that don't know, YALC is a young adult book convention at London Film & Comic Con. It's being held at Olympia, London between the 28th and 30th July.

Seeing as this will be my third time attending, I thought I would dispense my wisdom (that's assuming that I've gathered any).

Here are my tips for anyone attending YALC!

1. Take Food and Drink With You

 While food and drinks are sold at Olympia, it is cheaper to take food with you. There are supermarkets nearby if you do want to take food in with you.

2. Panels

The panels can get busy so be sure to get a seat as soon as you can.

I've attended a few panels that I wasn't sure I would enjoy and I found them interesting, so if you're not sure what to do then check out what panels are on. I've discovered several books thanks to the panels. 

3. Signings

The queues for the book signings can be VERY long. Last year I queued to see Victoria Schwab for about an hour (it was worth it) but if you can then queue for a signing as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately the authors generally do signings straight after their panels so there's a mad rush of people that have attended the panel to get to the signing queue. So I guess in that case the best thing to do is get a seat at the side and then make a run for it :)

If you can't get to a signing then authors are usually happy to sign books and talk to you while they're wandering around the floor. But be sure to check what days the authors are going to YALC for just in case you end up missing them.

4. The Schedule!

The YALC schedule can be found here.

I always print out a copy of the schedules and highlight which panels/signings I want to go to. 

There's lots going on this year that I'm looking forward to.

Authors I'm most looking forward to meeting: 

Samantha Shannon (this will be my fourth time seeing Samantha!) 
Victoria Schwab (this will be my second time) 

Elizabeth May

Lauren James (my second time)

Katherine Webber

 and Alwyn Hamilton (my second time).

The panels I'm most looking forward to: 

the SFF Now panel

the We Love Buffy panel (how cool is that?!)

and Genre-Bending.

5. Book Stalls

The books on the Waterstones stall are full price but they have some signed books and books that aren't sold at any of the other stalls. 

The publisher stalls all do sales on the Sunday and give away things that they were selling the previous days (I got a t-shirt for free from Electric Monkey). 
If there is a book that you really want to buy then I wouldn't leave it until Sunday for the sales to buy it just in case there aren't any copies left.

Also follow the publishers on Twitter throughout YALC as they give out secret passwords and limited ARCs.

And make sure to take CASH! There are cash machines nearby but they've always got big queues.

Are you going to YALC?
 

Which authors are you looking forward to meeting?

Review - Girlhood by Cat Clarke

Title: Girlhood

Author: Cat Clarke

Pages: 384

Publisher: Quercus Children's Books

Release date: 4th May 2017

Blurb from Goodreads: 

 

Harper has tried to forget the past and fit in at expensive boarding school Duncraggan Academy. Her new group of friends are tight; the kind of girls who Harper knows have her back. But Harper can't escape the guilt of her twin sister's Jenna's death, and her own part in it - and she knows noone else will ever really understand.

But new girl Kirsty seems to get Harper in ways she never expected. She has lost a sister too. Harper finally feels secure. She finally feels...loved. As if she can grow beyond the person she was when Jenna died.

Then Kirsty's behaviour becomes more erratic. Why is her life a perfect mirror of Harper's? And why is she so obsessed with Harper's lost sister? Soon, Harper's closeness with Kirsty begins to threaten her other relationships, and her own sense of identity.

How can Harper get back to the person she wants to be, and to the girls who mean the most to her?

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

 

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hachette Children's Group and NetGalley*

Harper goes to the Duncraggan Academy, a boarding school in Scotland where she has made several close friends during her time there. But she has never told them the guilt she feels over the death of her twin sister, Jenna, from an eating disorder.

Then a new girl, Kirsty, starts at the school. Harper and Kirsty have a lot in common - Kirsty has also lost a sister - and they start to grow close.

Kirsty starts behaving strangely and some things she's told Harper don't add up.

What is Kirsty hiding?

Can Harper forgive herself for what happened to Jenna?

My favourite thing about Girlhood was that it's a diverse read - Harper is bisexual and there were other LGBT characters, and there were also characters that were different ethnicities.

Reading the blurb I thought that Girlhood would be a thrilling, creepy read but for me it was neither. I also expected there to be more about Jenna, Harper's twin sister, and I would have liked to find out more about her.

Harper was an okay protagonist and I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a twin. However, I didn't really like her that much - she could be quite tough on her friends when she should have been supporting them and she was quite selfish at times.

Rowan was probably my favourite character and I didn't like Kirsty at all - I saw straight through her.

The plot was alright but it didn't grip me and not much seemed to happen.

I liked the writing style and found it easy to follow.

Overall this was a mixed read for me.

 

Cover Reveal - The Devil’s Revolver (The Devil’s Revolver Series, #1) by V. S. McGrath

The Devil’s Revolver by V. S. McGrath
(The Devil’s Revolver Series, #1)
Publication date: September 5th 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

She is Hettie Alabama — unlikely, scarred, single-minded, and blood bound to a revolver forged by a demon.

The first book in an epic, magic-clad series featuring the Wild West reimagined as a crosscultural stereoscope of interdimensional magic and hardship, The Devil’s Revolver opens with a shooting competition and takes off across the landscape after a brutal double murder and kidnapping — to which revenge is the only answer. Hettie Alabama, only seventeen years old, leads her crew of underdogs with her father’s cursed revolver, magicked to take a year off her life each time she fires it. It’s no way for a ranch girl to grow up, but grow up she does, her scars and determination to rescue her vulnerable younger sister deepening with every year of life she loses.

A sweeping and high-stakes saga that gilds familiar Western adventure with powerful magic and panoramic fantasy, The Devil’s Revolver is the last word and the blackest hat in the Weird West.

Add to Goodreads

Author Bio

 

Vicki So, writing as V. S. McGrath, is a published romance author (as Vicki Essex) and has six books with Harlequin Superromance: Her Son’s Hero (July 2011); Back to the Good Fortune Diner (January 2013), which was picked for the Smart Bitches Trashy Books Sizzling Book Club; In Her Corner (March 2014); A Recipe for Reunion (March 2015); Red Carpet Arrangement (January 2016); and Matinees with Miriam (November 2016). She lives in Toronto, Canada.

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Review - One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Title: One Of Us Is Lying

Author: Karen M. McManus

Pages: 358

Publisher: Penguin

Release date: 1st June 2017

Blurb from Goodreads: 

On Thursday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Thursday, he died. But on Friday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they just the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

 

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Penguin Random House UK Children's and NetGalley*

Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper and Simon all attend detention one afternoon, but one of them doesn't leave alive. Simon dies and the police don't think it was an accident.

Bronwyn, Addy, Nate and Cooper are all suspects, because Simon was about to reveal secrets about all of them.

Which of the four wanted Simon silenced forever?

Are any of them telling the truth?

One Of Us Is Lying was an interesting, unique read.

I liked the characters and how they interacted with each other. None of them were perfect - they all had secrets and mistakes that they didn't want anyone to find out about - but that made them relatable.

The plot was good and held my attention, but I did guess who was behind the murder around half way through. However, I didn't figure out all the details behind the murder.

I liked the writing style and found it easy to follow.

Overall this was an interesting, unique read.