Review: My Side of the Diamond by Sally Gardner

This book was so weird. I don't really know what else to say, really. Despite the quote on the front of the book, 'they came to Earth to find love', I didn't really pick up on the whole alien thing until I started reading, and it was peculiar, to say the least. The story was good; it was fast-paced and interesting. I liked that it was written from the perspective of lots of different characters as if they were being interviewed, as this meant that you got the details slowly, not all thrown at you in the last few pages. It was also good that you don't find out who 'Mr Jones' is until the last couple of pages either, as this kept the story interesting.

A note on the book itself, it is BEAUTIFUL. Designed to look like a notebook, it has an elastic to keep it closed, and it's just a gorgeous looking book.

I mean, I read the majority of this story in one sitting, so it was good and engaging, but weird. Definitely weird. If you like alien stories, you will definitely like this.

Review: 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant

I'm conflicted. I so badly wanted to LOVE this book, but something wasn't quite there for me. To be honest, I don't really buy the relationship between the two main characters. I know they say that opposites attract, and while this works in theory, I just think these characters were TOO different to really work in 'real life'.

Also, despite finding her quite irritating, Hildy reminded me quite a lot of myself - which probably says more about me than it does about this book.

The story was good; I love the idea of the 36 questions and the potential to form relationships with other people. I also liked how you find out more about each character as the story progresses, and how they came to volunteer for the study at all. This book was good and I liked it, I just didn't love it like I thought I would.

Review: The Hanging Girl by Eileen Cook

THAT TWIST THOUGH! I'll be honest, it took me a little while to get into this book, but after 70 or so pages I couldn't put it down.

The twist was so unexpected - I actually gasped out loud and I rarely do that when reading books. This book was really well written; fast paced and interesting so that you want to keep turning the pages.

I go back and forth about how I feel about Candi/Skye/Cate. At first she was likeable, then you learn her secret and you question her character, despite understanding why she did what she did, and then the rest of the story is her going backwards and forwards between someone you like and someone you don't. But despite everything she does, you can kind of see WHY she makes these decisions - or I can, anyway.

This was an ideal book for me - exciting, fast-paced and wrapped up well. All in all, it was fantastic.

Review: Mischling by Affinity Konar

I'm so thankful that this book has a happy ending, because it is hard-going up until that point. It perfectly highlights the horrors of Auschwitz, and following the story of twins Stasha and Pearl makes it all the more terrifying.

Before starting this book I had actually just finished reading 'The Red Ribbon' by Lucy Adlington, which is another holocaust story, also set at Auschwitz, and it was interesting (if interesting is the right word) to read about the same time period from a slightly different point of view. Equally heartbreaking, but both with a hopeful ending.

This novel does a fantastic job at hinting at the horrors that went on in Dr. Mengele's lab without explicitly stating it outright. This is an important distinction because in a fiction book about a very real event, there is a fine line between telling and hinting at, and this author does that fantastically.

A brilliant book, if that's the right way to describe it. A haunting story with a hopeful ending, that's written well enough to enjoy.