Newest Teens Reviews

Things We Couldn't Explain by Betsy Tobin

General Fiction

Jericho, Ohio - 1979.

Annemarie is a clever, funny and spirited girl. Born with sight, she turned blind as a child, but more than compensates for her disability. Living amongst the small-town folk of Jericho, she has a relatively standard, suburban life, schooled at home but more than friendly with many in the town - especially her charming neighbour Ethan.

All is calm, until one day Annemarie finds herself pregnant. Full review...

The Queen Alone (Chronicles of the Tempus) by K A S Quinn

Confident Readers

Katie is back, and once more she's back in Victorian England. This time, however, she isn't quite sure who called her back in time or for what purpose and, unfortunately, something went wrong as she came and she brought someone else along with her! In the final episode of the Chronicles of the Tempus we see Katie trying to save Prince Albert's life, trying to prevent Britain messing up the outcome of the American Civil War, and rescuing Queen Victoria from an asylum! Full review...

Shiver the Whole Night Through by Darragh McManus

Teens

Aidan Flood's life is miserable; he's not only bullied but he lost his girlfriend to someone who works at the local carnival and even heard that from someone else. Life is just rubbish and needs ending totally. This is something he almost manages to accomplish as well if it wasn't for a do-gooder passer-by. The next morning while coming to terms with the fact he's still alive, he hears that Slaine McAuley, a girl he knows vaguely, has killed herself. The only thing is that Aidan knows she hasn't – she told him herself after she'd died. What did happen to her and why does she choose to tell him, of all people? Aidan is on a mission: he will find out. Full review...

The Piper by Danny Weston

Teens

Peter and Daisy are evacuated on the eve of World War Two to The Grange at Romney Marsh. Something seems wrong from the moment they get there: there are children dancing in the garden and strange music that plays at night. When Peter realises that Daisy might be in danger he’s willing to do anything he can to fill the promise he made to his mother, keep his sister safe. Full review...

The Murdstone Trilogy by Mal Peet

Teens

Philip Murdstone is becoming a bit of a has-been. The once-acclaimed children's author has won literary awards, dontchaknow. Literary. Got that? But these are past glories. His novels about young outsiders are no longer anything new. In fact, his agent can't even sell his latest. And Minerva Finch, said agent, is all about what she can sell. There's nothing for it, she tells Philip, but a foray into fantasy. He's going to have to write a sword-and-sorcery epic. She's even got an A4 blueprint of what's required: realms, minions, dark lords, dwarves, elves, swords, and all the rest of it. Fantasy, you see, is selling by the bucketloads, containerloads, downloads. Full review...

Young Bond: Shoot to Kill by Steve Cole

Teens

Shoot to Kill may be the sixth Young Bond in the series, but it is the first to be written by Steve Cole. He has taken over the reins from the highly capable Charlie Higson. Like the adult Bond books, the character has seen many people write about him since Ian Fleming’s death, so there is no reason to think the quality would suddenly drop after a new author comes on board. In fact, Cole is able to inject a little more energy into a series that was starting to flag. Full review...

Misty Falls by Joss Stirling

Teens

Misty is always getting into trouble thanks to the Savant ability which means she can't lie and causes people around her to be brutally honest if she's not careful. Can she find happiness? Or will the serial killer stalking the Savant community strike at Misty or one of her friends? Full review...

Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan

Teens

Sorry-in-the-Vale has been taken over by Rob Lynburn and his merry band of evil sorcerers. But Kami Glass has never been one to let danger of death and dismemberment stop her on her quest for truth. And Kami has to know the truth about what happened to Jared, Jared who rescued her brother and hasn't been seen since. Full review...

Rebecca Is Always Right by Anna Carey

Teens

First things first: I must admit that I chose to review this book entirely based on its title. After all, what better book to keep on the coffee table and brandish at my husband when I'm making a point? What I did not realise when I volunteered is that it is the fourth book in a series that began in 2011 with The Real Rebecca, for which Anna Carey won the Senior Children's Book prize at the Irish Book Awards. This has its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you can tell that the characters are established and well-rounded. On the other hand, there are such frequent references to past events – presumably, adventures from the previous three books – that it is clear this is an instalment in an ongoing story and not a stand-alone book. Full review...

The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick

Teens

If anyone ever suggests to you that science and art (or philosophy) don't go together, give them this book! The Ghosts of Heaven presents four fabulous stories from different time frames linked by the natural constant of the spiral. The introduction provides a lyrical explanation of the birth of the universe, the Solar System and us and of the dimensional spiral we call the helix. It also explains that we can read the stories in any of the twenty-four possible orders we please. Full review...

Doctor Who: 12 Doctors 12 Stories by Malorie Blackman, Holly Black and others

Confident Readers

How long do you keep your birthday presents for? A week, a month, a year – or life? Is that time-scale different, perhaps, when you're nearly a thousand years old? I only ask because Doctor Who is, of course, both 51 (in our earthly, televisual representation) and 900 and more in human years as a character. In 2013 we were given a great book that gave us a story for every Doctor Who we've seen on TV, in honour of the 50th birthday proceedings. But now is a year on, and we're a further Doctor down the line. And so what was '11 Doctors, 11 Stories' is now '12 Doctors, 12 Stories'. So while many of us would have cherished and kept said birthday present, the only addition is the last, which like the rest was available as an e-book. So it's worth revisiting what I said about the book last time, then chucking in the (what might only be temporarily) concluding story at the end. Full review...

Opal Plumstead by Jacqueline Wilson

Confident Readers

Living in Edwardian England, Opal Plumstead is a fiercely intelligent girl. She has already won a scholarship to a public school and dreams of going to university. But all her ambitions are snatched away when her father is sent to prison and Opal is forced to abandon her education for a job in the Fairy Glen sweet factory. The other workers there find Opal snobby and arrogant but the factory's owner, Mrs Roberts, notices her artistic talent and treats Opal as a protege. Through Mrs Roberts, Opal learns about the suffragette movement and even meets the legendary Mrs Pankhurst. Full review...

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Teens

The year is 1959, and a small group of black students are attending Jefferson High, a previously all-white school. Barely anyone is happy that Sarah Dunbar and her friends are going to Jefferson, and the group face a terrifying ordeal as they're surrounded by people who want to see them fail. Chief amongst them is Linda Hairston, daughter of one of the town's most vocal segregationalists. But when Sarah and Linda start working together on a school project, they start to realise they may have more in common than they think - and friendship might not be all they're looking for from each other. Full review...

Spark by John Twelve Hawks

Science Fiction

Jacob Underwood is dead. At least, he thinks he is.

Suffering the after effects of a traumatic accident, Jacob believes he is dead, just a spark existing inside a body, but unable to fully interact with anything around him. Emotionally detached and living in a shadowy, silent world, Jacob is the ideal assassin. When a new hit is assigned to him, Jacob must prepare himself - and his journey will change both his self, and how he sees the world around him. Full review...

The Cure For Dreaming by Cat Winters

Teens

Olivia Mead is strong, independently-minded and unrepentant in her beliefs, but there is a certain natural vulnerability to her personality which makes her so appealing. She isn’t a ruthless, remorseless warrior. She is a human being who simply wants to be treated like one, rather than a pet. She isn’t an elusive and daunting beauty, because this isn’t the point of her character. Her beauty lies in in her firmly held values, which she sticks by even at an age when it would be so easy to go with the flow. Full review...

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Teens

I was sent here because of a boy. His name was Reeve Maxfield, and I loved him and then he died, and almost a year passed and no-one knew what to do with me.

Jam's grief for Reeve has left her paralysed. She does nothing but think of him and the forty-one days of their relationship. She's not interested in school. friends, food, family, even therapy. And so, in desperation, Jam's parents send her off to a boarding school for Kids With Problems. Full review...

The Real Test (Shades 2.0) by Jill Atkins

Teens

Ryan had just passed his driving test at the first attempt and he knew it meant that he was a great driver. There was just one snag: his mother wasn't exactly on board about this and wouldn't let him borrow her car. There was always an excuse as to why it just wasn't possible, even when he'd promised his friends that he could have the car so they could go off somewhere. Finally he got his Mum to admit that she was a bit worried about him using it - but she did offer to go out with him so that he could get some practice in. Ryan knew that the time for practicing was past. I mean, he'd passed his test, hadn't he? Full review...

The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr

Teens

It’s the winter of 1941 and we are in the Ukraine. A fourteen year old girl is hiding in a wood on the vast and bitter-cold steppe. Her name is Katinka, a name from folk song and fairy tale, and she has been befriended by two of the wild Przelowski’s horses. Full review...

Aftershock (Shades 2.0) by Jill Atkins

Teens

She's MADDY, you know, not MADELEINE, but that's only one of the problems which she has with her parents. They might be on holiday in one of the most beautiful places on earth, but her mother simply will not lighten up. She's always complaining about what Maddy does, what she wears or doesn't wear (there's not nearly enough of that bikini...) and Maddy has had enough. She slams out of their bungalow and goes down to the beach - but it's not long before the sea is all sucked away and tragedy hits. Will Maddy have the chance to apologise for all the hurtful things which she said? Full review...

ZOM-B Family by Darren Shan

Teens

REPEATING STANDARD WARNING! If you haven't read the first book in this series, STOP READING NOW! NOW! Spoilers ahoy! Full review...

Skulduggery Pleasant: The Dying of the Light by Derek Landy

Teens

Everything comes down to this. The war between the Sanctuaries was merely a prelude to the real battle, the fight against Darquesse, perhaps the most powerful sorcerer of all time. Prophesied to burn everyone and everything to ashes, her arrival heralds the end of the world as everyone knows it, and the stakes have never been higher, the need never greater, for Skulduggery Pleasant and what remains of his allies to do what they do best: kicking evil very hard in the face. Full review...

Eren by Simon P Clark

Confident Readers

People - Mum, mostly - are keeping secrets from Oli. Why have they had to leave London and come to live in the country with Uncle Rob? Why hasn't Dad come too? Why does everyone keep turning off the TV news every time it comes on? Why does Em's dad dislike Oli when he doesn't even know him? When will Dad come? When will life go back to normal? Full review...

Young Sherlock: Stone Cold by Andrew Lane

Teens

Every human being is a mystery, even to themselves, so there's a particular pleasure to be found in tracing the roots of someone's interests and life's work. Just how did our hero develop his ability, for example, to tell a person's character, profession and history within minutes of meeting him or her? In this, the seventh volume in the series of books about the early years of the famous Sherlock Holmes, we see how events and a most intriguing couple of mentors combine to lead him down a path to his eventual role as a consulting detective. Well, if he survives till adulthood, that is. Of all his talents the most pronounced one does seem to be the knack of finding people who are determined to kill him. Full review...

The Rising by Tom Moorhouse

Confident Readers

Strife and Kale are two young water voles who can sniff out trouble better than their careful sister Ivy and to the fury of their protective mother, Aven. They just can't help it. But Kale isn't telling Strife everything - he has a secret. When long-lost Uncle Sylvan arrives warning of danger and the siblings eavesdrop on the adults' conversation, Kale's secret is exposed. Even though she doesn't fully understand it, Strife follows her brother into danger to avert a bigger danger. The quest on which these two young water voles embark will test them to their limits and they'll need all the help Uncle Sylvan and Fodur the rat can provide... Full review...

Wolf Brother: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver

Confident Readers

Living six thousand years ago, after the Ice Age but before the spread of agriculture, Torak and his people understand the natural world. They revere the animals they hunt and never waste an ounce of prey. A deer provides them not only with food, but also with clothes, water carriers, shoes, rope, even needles. Torak and his people also understand spirituality. They see the sacred in the seasons and the cycle of the moon. And they believe in demons. Full review...

Found by Harlan Coben

Teens

It's been eight months since Mickey watched his father die in a car accident. Since then, he's been drawn into the work of the mysterious Abeona Shelter, rescuing children and young people from dangerous situations. The latest person to go missing is Ema's online boyfriend. Mickey isn't convinced he exists, but Ema's adamant they need to look for him. Meanwhile, Mickey's nemesis Troy has been taken off the basketball team after failing a steroid test. Troy isn't exactly Mickey's favourite person, but he knows the team won't play so well without him, so when Troy asks Mickey for help to prove his innocence, Mickey reluctantly agrees. Full review...

No Stone Unturned by Helen Watts

Teens

Kelly doesn't have any friends at school. People don't like travellers. So she's glad to find a new friend in Ben over the summer holidays. Even Kelly's dog, Tyson, likes Ben. Exploring the disused quarries local to their village of Wilmcote, they find some interesting treasures, including an old boot. So when school starts again and Mr Walker sets a local history project, Kelly decides to find out more about the old quarries, the coming of the railway and the use of Wilmcote limestone in the construction of the Houses of Parliament. Ben offers to help and soon the pair uncover worrying evidence about what really went on all that time ago... Full review...

Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Teens

Willow is not like other girls. She is not just smart, but certifiably gifted. She gets on better with adults than she does her peers. She loves patterns and plants, the colour red and the number 7. She is charming and adorable and quirky. She is one of the most real characters I've met in a book this year. And she is hurting. Full review...

The 100 Society by Carla Spradbery

Teens

Grace and her friends at the Clifton Academy boarding school have a secret. They have resurrected the 100 Society and intend to complete the grafitti tagging of a hundred locations around the city. A scandal involving a previous incarnation of the society means that this is an expulsion offence so Grace is playing with fire. But to her, the 100 Society isn't a game; it's an obsession. And she's determined to complete the mission. Full review...

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel

Confident Readers

William Everett's father has risen high in the railway. But it wasn't always thus. He spent many years working for Cornelius Van Horne as a manual labourer, cutting and blasting through swathes of Canada and laying tracks. When Will and his father witness the laying of the last piece of track, there's an avalanche. And Will's father saves Van Horne's life. Promotion and success followed and now Van Horne is dead, Will's father is general manager and the world's biggest train - the Boundless, at 987 carriages long - will carry his body in perpetuity. Full review...

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Teens

Hayley is back in her childhood home after years on the road with her father, trying to outrun the past. She doesn't really remember living here, nor does she really want to. Not when her father can't drive under bridges for fear of snipers. Not when he's self medicating with alcohol and drugs. Not when he refuses help from the VA. Full review...

The Witch of Salt and Storm by Kendall Kulper

Teens

Avery wants just one thing: to take her place as the witch of Prince Island. The witch who controls the winds and helps the whalers on their way. The witch whose charms on which the whole island relies. But Avery's mother, who has rejected magic, came and stole her away. Avery's prison in her mother's house is a luxurious one - there are dresses and trinkets and ponies most girls would die for. But Avery doesn't care. All she wants is to get back to her grandmother and to continue her witch's apprenticeship. Full review...

Splintered Light by Cate Sampson

Teens

When she was just a child, Leah's face was horribly scarred in an attack in which her mother and another woman died. And it's all brought horribly back when the man convicted is released years later after new evidence has emerged. Charlie's father is that man. And Charlie wants more than anything to reunite with his exonerated father and help him get revenge on the people who falsely accused him. Then there's Linden, newly released from a young offenders institute, whose brother Victor has an inexplicable obsession with this years-old crime. All three teenagers are defined by a single calamity. But what really happened? Full review...

Pills and Starships by Lydia Millet

Teens

Ravaged by the effects of global warming, disease and an increasingly unsustainable population, the future in which Nat and her brother Sam live is a far cry from the world of their parents' youth. Corporations run the remains of their society, forbidding the birth of new children, using a ubiquitous supply of pharma drugs to keep the population in check, and perhaps most sinister of all, taking control of death itself. Riddled by depression Nat's parents have decided to buy a death contract to take their Final Week in a slickly engineered resort in what remains of Hawaii. As the days tick down, Nat finds herself following the lead of her more cynical and rebellious brother, and begins to genuinely question the system that she has previously accepted all her life; however, what chance do two teens possibly have against the all-seeing, all-powerful corps? Full review...