Newest Teens Reviews
Teens
0.4 by Mike Lancaster
Kyle Straker's taped testimony begins with an editor's note:
The peculiar format that you are holding - a book - was still the dominant form of information storage at the time the tapes were made. There is a reason why I insisted on this archaic format which will, I hope, become apparent as the narrative progresses.
Kyle lives in the early 21st century in a quiet village full of ordinary people. Full review...
Quarry by Ally Kennen
Scrappy's life is going absolutely nowhere. His mother has left his father. His sister is saving like mad for the deposit on a flat so that she can move out too. His grandfather is descending into senility. His school is about to be demolished. His best friend Silva gets all the girls and he's worried about the school villain, Judge, picking on him. His father, paranoid about a visit from tax inspectors, slaves over the scrapyard's books all night and so his temper is unpredictable. Very unpredictable. Full review...
Captivate by Carrie Jones
Zara, her werewolf boyfriend, Nick, and their friends Issie and Devyn think their pixie problems are over. They've trapped Zara's dad, a pixie king, and his followers in a house surrounded by iron to stop them getting out and killing more teenage boys. But, Zara's dad is growing weak in his iron prison, and his territory is ready for the taking. That's when Astley turns up, a pixie king himself, when he's around Zara's skin turns blue, the true colour of a pixie. Only being half pixie, and having not been turned, why is Zara reacting like this? But Astley isn't the only pixie king that's made his way to Maine to claim the territory, and he's certainly not the most evil. Full review...
Witches War: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Calla Tor has always known where her life is heading. Grow up, become mated to Ren, lead the new pack formed of her packmates and his, serve the Keeper who they are assigned to serve. That's the way things are for alphas, and servitude is the sacred calling of the Guardians. Then Calla breaks one of the fundamental rules of her society – she saves the life of a human boy, Shay. She hopes to never see him again, but when it becomes clear that he's somehow important to the Keepers, and Calla is charged to look after him, she finds herself spending a lot of time with him. Full review...
Need by Carrie Jones
Zara's stepfather died in front of her after seeing a man at the window - it spooked him so much that his heart failed. Her mother is concerned about her, Zara's not herself, she's hollow after the sudden loss of the closest thing to a father she's ever had. So, she's sent away to live with her Grandmother, Betty, in Maine. However, Maine isn't the safe haven that Zara's mother thought it would be. People are going missing, young boys to be precise, the same thing that happened just before Zara, her mother and stepfather moved away from Maine to start with. Full review...
The Medusa Project: Hunted by Sophie McKenzie
Many teens (and older people, too!) wish they had a super-power or two: life would surely be easier if you could read other people's minds or move objects without touching them. But if this fascinating series about a team of crime-fighting teenagers shows us one clear thing, it is that psychic powers can bring as many problems as solutions. Dylan, the central character in this particular volume, is an angry, bad-tempered girl whose bristly exterior echoes her gift of protection her from physical harm. She is not well-liked by the other three, and this becomes a real problem when she finds herself having to deal not only with terrible revelations about her father, but with the appearance in her life of a mysterious boy, Harry. Why does he know so much about her? And can she trust him? Lonely, vulnerable Dylan is in the ideal position to make poor judgements and get herself into serious trouble. Full review...
Ice Maiden by Sally Prue
Franz isn't popular in the village. It's 1939, and the German boy is on an extended holiday in England. Unsurprisingly, the local boys don't appreciate an enemy in their midst. Franz isn't happy at home either - he mistrusts his Nazi parents and he remembers the rounding up of the disabled, the gypsies and the Jews, and the smashing glass at night. Lonely, Franz spends a lot of time on the common, observing the natural world and the wildlife, in all its beauty and cruelty. Full review...
K'Barthan Trilogy: Few Are Chosen by M T McGuire
The Pan of Hamgee is a relatively inconspicuous fellow living in the world of K'Barth, the setting of the battle between the overbearing, alien Grongolian settlers and the fanatic Resistance, described aptly by The Pan as being 'The lesser, but only very slightly lesser of two evils, possibly.' Naturally, The Pan wants nothing to do with this political conflict but due to a number of unfortunate cases of wrong place, wrong time and disastrous luck, he has somehow been drafted in as the getaway driver of a group of bank robbers, and somehow come into possession of a magical thimble with the power to allow teleportation, an object greatly desired by K'Barth's despot ruler Lord Vernon. Full review...
Rosebush by Michele Jaffe
Firstly, I've got to say this book was incredibly hard to put down. The plot is so absorbing I found myself trying to read a page at every opportunity I got. I was late for work on a few occasions because I couldn't pull myself away. This is one of the best books I have read in the last few months. Full review...
Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
We left Curzon and Isabel at the end of Chains, just after they'd escaped slavery in New York at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. We pick up again with Curzon - Isabel has run off to find her sister - stumbling slap bang into the middle of the Battle of Saratoga. Cornered into enlisting into the Patriot army, Curzon isn't blind to the ironies in his situation as a slave fighting for the freedom of white men. Full review...
Being Billy by Phil Earle
Billy is a 'lifer' - he's been in care for eight years. He's angry, defensive and folded up inside himself. He's prone to vandalism and violence and barely a week goes by without his careworkers needing to restrain him. He doesn't really go to school and even when he does, Billy is so far behind that there seems little point. The only joy in his life comes from the twins, his little brother and sister. Louie and Lizzie can't keep him out of trouble, but they can provide an anchor and Billy delights in caring for them. He reads them bedtime stories and sits by the door of their room until they fall asleep. Full review...
Soul Screamers: My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
After Kaylee and her friend Emma sneak into an over 18's club, Kaylee gets unnervingly distressed by the sight of a girl dancing, feeling as if she needs to scream. As Emma, along with the mysterious Nash, try to calm her and remove her from the club, she tells them that she's convinced the girl is going to die. Waking up the next day to turn on the news, she finds out she was right. And then it happens again… Kaylee's convinced she's a freak and there's something deeply wrong with her, but Nash seems surprisingly unfazed by this, while her aunt and uncle are both acting strangely. What's wrong with her? And why does she know less about herself than they do about her? Full review...
When I Was Joe by Keren David
We meet 14 year old Tyler and his young mother Nicki at the police station as he gives a statement about a stabbing he witnessed. Unfortunately for them, some of the people involved would rather not allow him to testify against them and he's forced to flee for his life, moving into the Witness Protection scheme and starting afresh in a new school. Despite the vicious thugs on his trail, there are certain compensations to life at his new school. Formerly just a face in the crowd at St Saviour's, the mysterious newcomer quickly becomes popular, especially when he gets involved in athletics and is coached by older teen Ellie. Not everyone's happy with the impact he makes, though, and he needs to worry about rivals in school nearly as much as he does about the gangsters who are still trying to silence him. And then he meets a girl with a dark secret of her own… Full review...
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Miranda has quite a bit going on in her life. Since her best friend Sal was punched on the street for no reason, he's been distant, shutting Miranda out of his life. This loss leaves Miranda somewhat adrift, as she and Sal have been inseparable since they were at day care together. So she strikes up a friendship with Annemarie, but that involves coming between Annemarie and the stuck-up Julia. And then Colin joins the group, which adds yet more complications - Miranda likes Colin, but she's worried he might like Annemarie. Full review...
Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe
Jane Jonas has been troubled by dreams lately. Dreams so vivid, it's almost like they're real. In them is a green eyed boy who believes they are each other's destiny. But in the real world, Jane has met Evan. Charming, charismatic, damaged Evan – intoxicating, incredibly attractive and just a little frightening. Jane has never been the sort to have friends, let alone boyfriends. And Evan is perfect, isn't he? Full review...
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Set in Western Africa in 2070, in a world which has been forever changed by Peace Bombs, released years ago by an environmental group to counteract the effects of a US nuclear bomb, teenage heroine Eiji grows up knowing she is different. The Peace Bomb has given many people superpowers, hers being to communicate with shadows. But five years ago, the warrior queen Jaa beheaded Eiji's tyrannical father, and Jaa has returned seeking Eiji's help. While her mother forbids her from leaving her town, the shadows tell Eiji that if she doesn't go with Jaa war is inevitable. What can she do? Full review...
Tyme's End by B R Collins
Bibi feels like a fish out of water. She's right in the middle of the most difficult of teenage years, the ones in which you don't feel as though you belong anywhere. Bibi's feelings are exacerbated because she is adopted. Friends of the family took her in after her parents died and they have done their best by her. They love her and, despite everything, Bibi loves them. But she doesn't feel as though she belongs to this family and she thinks constantly of her real parents and her real home in the Middle East. Full review...
Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
Right from the fantastic prologue, which tells us this is the story of the girls with their short skirts and bright eyes and big-city dreams, this is a book which had me completely and utterly hooked straight away. Cordelia Gray and her friend Letty Haubstadt run away from their small hometown in Ohio just after Cordelia's wedding, Letty determined to become a star in New York while Cordelia seeks the infamous bootlegger Darius Grey, convinced he's her father. Meanwhile, in the Big Apple itself, flapper Astrid Donal wants to get her boyfriend Charlie to commit to her but isn't sure if she can trust him. This first book in the Bright Young Things series follows the three girls over a few weeks which will change all of their lives. Full review...
The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
It's Eastern Europe during World War II and orphaned Roma brothers Andrej and Tomas are journeying through war-ravaged countryside carrying a precious and secret bundle. It's an odd kind of journey because they really don't have anywhere to go. They have a great deal to avoid, however, such as soldiers with rifles, bombs, and villagers who would decry them on sight. As Andrej trudges on, worrying about Tomas, he is thinking it's just another night, just another village in ruins. But he's wrong. The boys stumble across a zoo. The cages are still standing, intact and locked. And the animals have no food and water. But they are alive. And they can talk. Full review...
Entice by Carrie Jones
When I got this book I didn't realise it was the third book in a series, and to start with this put me off; I thought I'd be the one stood outside the window watching everyone else at the party and not understand what was going on. However, as I started to read I started to feel more included than I thought I would (there is a nice little reminder paragraph at the start that filled me on what I had missed). So, although I recommend you start with the first book in the series, Entice does have its own legs and is very capable of standing on them. Full review...
How To Get What You Want by Nina Grunfeld
How To Get What You Want is a self help book aimed at young people 'at a crossroads in their life', who are unsure what to do next. The author is a Life Coach who recognises that simply knowing what you want to do is half the battle towards achieving it, and sets out to help the reader identify who they are and what they really want using self awareness type exercises like the 'Balance Chart'. Later on the book deals with how to achieve those goals by giving advice on how to focus and think positively. Full review...
The Dead by Charlie Higson
Ok. I'm writing for two sets of readers here: those who have read the first book in the series, and those who have not.
The Dead is a prequel to The Enemy but both books are set in the same post-apocalyptic world in which the adult population has been decimated by a killer disease. Those that survive roam the streets as zombies, looking for untainted human flesh to eat. The only untainted flesh belongs to children who were fourteen or under when the disease struck, and were somehow immune. The Enemy is set two years after the epidemic, when it's getting more and more difficult for children to find food and shelter by scavenging and they are beginning to realise that they need to band together to start forming the prototype for a new society. Full review...
Beautiful Creatures: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Growing up there, Ethan Wate always thought Gatlin was a normal enough Southern town, if you could forgive the inhabitants' obsessions with the War of Northern Aggression. That was until he met Lena Duchannes and got plunged into her family's own civil war, as her family fought to get the young Caster to choose either Light or Dark. If you've haven't read Beautiful Creatures, the first novel in this sequence, break off from this review and go out and grab it now! If you have, you'll remember that Lena's 16th birthday left her with a choice to make that would kill half of her family. This book follows Ethan as he tries to support her through that choice but watches her get pulled towards her Dark cousin Ridley and a new boy in town, the mysterious John Breed. While the first novel was more of a romance, this is an adventure story which sees Ethan, his friend Link, new girl in town Liv, and a variety of others embark on a journey to save the day. Full review...
The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan
Sam's just moved to a new school yet again, but this time he's made a good friend really quickly. He and Lloyd get on so well together that they're spending time with each other after school a lot - until they make one horrible mistake and end up trapped in a car speeding far away from their hometown, with a strange and creepy driver. Once they reach a big house, Sam is quickly separated from Lloyd - can he figure out a way to escape alive? Full review...
The Dark (The Dead 2) by David Gatward
We pick up exactly where we left off in this second book in David Gatward's The Dead series. Lazarus Stone has been killed (twice), resurrected (twice), been to the world of the Dead (don't ask), become a Keeper (dangerous job), got himself a personal guardian angel (Arielle, alcoholic), a Dead guide (Red, whose skin's fallen off), and has gone some way to locating his father (prisoner of the Dark and seriously not having a good time of it). Along with best mate Craig and ex-possessed nurse Clair, Lazarus has a mission. Full review...
Matched by Ally Condie
When the Society Matches Cassia to her best friend Xander, she couldn't be more thrilled. Unlike the other girls, she knows her Match – doesn't need to read his details, go through the motions of dating as dictated by the Society, doesn't need to worry they won't get along. Full review...
The Hollow: The Haunted by Jessica Verday
In The Hollow, Abbey tried to cope with the disappearance of her best friend and her feelings for new boyfriend Caspian - only to find herself losing her grip on sanity when she discovered Caspian was dead, a Shade, rather than another real person. After a summer away from Sleepy Hollow, she returns, trying to concentrate on making perfumes and getting science tuition from nice cute Ben - but then Caspian reappears. Will the two find true love? Why are there so many other weird strangers around Sleepy Hollow who Abbey keeps meeting? What exactly DID happen to Kristen? Where do Katrina Van Tassel and Nikolas, the famous Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, fit into all this? And does anyone who missed the first book have any hope of following what's going on? Full review...
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
Carlos Fuentes isn't interested in living in America with his over-protective brother Alex, but his mother sends him there for his senior year of high school to try and keep him out of trouble. Kiara Westford is happy to help a new guy settle in - at least until the shy stutterer actually meets the bad boy. Despite their initial dislike of each other, they're thrown together when Carlos has drugs planted on him and her well respected father takes him in to stop him being sent back to Mexico. Will these two headstrong youngsters find love? Full review...
The Nowhere Chronicles: The Double-Edged Sword by Sarah Silverwood
When Fin's guardian, Judge Harlequin Brown is murdered, life as he knows it becomes a whole lot more exciting and dangerous. In the course of one life-changing day, he learns that there is a pathway between his London in 'Somewhere', and an alternate London of a parallel world called 'Nowhere', and that the fates of both worlds are now under threat from a group of rogue Knights, who have the ability to travel between these worlds using their double edged swords. Full review...
Dark Secrets 3: The Back Door of Midnight by Elizabeth Chandler
Like the first four novellas in the Dark Secrets series - previously released in two 'bind-up' editions - this story features a teenage girl returning to Wisteria, Maryland and trying to find closure on past events. In this case, Anna is summoned there by a letter from her uncle asking her to return to the place where her mother died so that he can tell her something important about their family, but by the time she returns her uncle is dead, his body found in the boot of a burnt out car. Her aunt seems crazy, and her first instinct is to get out as quickly as possible, but instead she's drawn into the mystery along with her cute neighbour Zack. The O'Neill women have always been said to be psychic, and Anna starts getting her own flashes which may draw her towards a solution - but also further into danger. Full review...
Monster High by Lisi Harrison
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting a bit fed up of all the vampires, werewolves and other creepies that seem to have popped up since the explosion of hype around Twilight. So, when this book landed on my doorstep, I can't say I held much hope for it. Full review...
Burning Secrets by Clare Chambers
Daniel, his mother and his sister Louie are escaping the city to spend six months on the isolated island of Wragge. They're all escaping something: Daniel's mother is still getting over a broken marriage; Louie is prone to black depressions and self-harming; Daniel has just been released from a youth offenders institution after a conviction for fire-setting resulting in the death of an old itinerant. There's plenty to leave behind. Full review...
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Ben's thirteen and an only child. You'd think he was entirely used to being the centre of attention, then, wouldn't you? But this isn't really the case. Ben's parents are academics. His father is a fiercely ambitious behavioural psychologist and his mother is both completing her doctorate and acting as her husband's research assistant. Ben is used to coming second to the advance of science. He can cope with that. Usually. But then his parents up sticks and move him all the way across Canada. Why? Because his father's new university is prepared to underwrite his new project - raising a chimpanzee as human and trying to teach it American Sign Language. Full review...
Sigrun's Secret by Marie-Louise Jensen
It must have seemed to Sigrun that she had an ideal life in Iceland, breaking and training the colts on the family farm or helping her mother, Thora, who was a healer. Life seemed to be complete when her father's ship returned home and the family was together again. It was not to last though. Sigrun's parents were hiding a dreadful secret and when it caught up with them, Sigrun, her father and Asgrim, her brother were forced into exile in Jorvik for three years. She was completely unused to the busy city life and disliked the violence and cruelty she found around her. But – at the same time – her own skills as a healer and midwife began to blossom. Full review...
Birth of a Killer (The Saga of Larten Crepsley) by Darren Shan
Larten Crepsley leads a hard, hard life. One child amongst many, born during an industrial revolution, he works horrendously long and dangerous hours in a silk factory even though he's yet to see his teens. If the family is to eat, there is little choice. The foreman is a violent bully, issuing regular beatings, and nobody dares challenge him and if it wasn't for his orphan cousin, Vur, Larten's life would be grim indeed. But things never seem quite so dark when you have a true friend, do they? Full review...
Learning to Scream by Beate Teresa Hanika
Malvina is thirteen years old, the youngest of three children in a dysfunctional family. Her father is a very grumpy teacher, with little understanding of children, whilst her mother seems to suffer permanently from migraine. She has a good friend, Lizzy, and they play together as much as they can, united in their dislike of the 'boys from the estate'. Her grandmother died last year, leaving her granddad on his own and it's Malvina's job to go and visit him and take him his meals. The family think this is a great arrangement because they know how much Granddad loves Malvina and looks forward to her visits. There's a problem though. Malvina doesn't like going, particularly on her own. Granddad kisses her on the mouth. Full review...
The Joy of Spooking: Unearthly Asylum by P J Bracegirdle
The district of Spooking is still a problem for the evil diplomats from Darlington, the city that surrounds it. It was in the way of their waterpark last time, and now puts a stop to a new sewage plant. Actually, chiefly in the way last time was Joy, who still calls it home. A cold, decrepit, run-down and gothic home in her instance, but home nevertheless. But the evil diplomats are still making their plans to redevelop the place. If only Joy could claim historical prestige for it with her beloved author E A Peugeot as a son of Spooking. Full review...
The World Turned Upside Down by Leila Rasheed
Stratford upon Avon 1642 – The English Civil War has come to the town. Mary is a young Catholic at a time when her religion was regarded with deep suspicion. She is drawn to Jack, even though he is a Roundhead soldier with no money, land or status, and he is from an inferior background to her. Full review...
The Monstrumologist: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
While the celebrated monstrumologist Dr Peregrine Warthrop has spent his life tracking down dark and mysterious creatures, the existence of some of these fiends is too much for him to believe. In fact, there's a split between Warthrop, his former close friend John Chanler, and their mentor Von Helrung over whether there really are such things as vampires, werewolves, and the terrifying wendigo, rumoured to be the ultimate predator. Warthrop scoffs at the other men's belief in this creature - and at one point in the book gives an interesting lecture on why it's impossible for it to exist - but nevertheless goes in search of Chanler when he disappears searching for it. It's not just friendship that drives him to look for his colleague though, as he's asked by Chanler's wife Muriel - who is Warthrop's former fiancee. The search for Chanler takes the monstrumologist and his young assistant John Henry deep into the Canadian wilderness, but when they return to New York they bring back someone - or something - that can endanger their lives. Full review...
Moorehawke Trilogy: The Rebel Prince by Celine Kiernan
After spending the entire of The Crowded Shadows, the excellent second book in this series, looking for it, the Protector Lady Wynter Moorehawke has finally discovered the hidden camp of her childhood friend Prince Alberon. Can she, along with her travelling companions Razi Kingsson - Alberon's brother - and Christopher Garron, persuade the Rebel Prince to make peace with his father, or is their quest to end in bloodshed and failure? Full review...
