Newest Teens Reviews
Antigoddess by Kendare Blake
Athena and her brother Hermes are a lot less godlike than they used to be. In fact, they are dying. Athena is being slowly suffocated by feathers growing inside her and Hermes's body is eating itself. Literally. They are on a road trip to find out exactly what it is killing the gods and to save themselves if they can. No matter the cost to themselves or others. Gods don't count costs. Full review...
Split Second by Sophie McKenzie
Nat and Charlie are connected long before they meet. They were both there the day a terrorist bomb decimated the marketplace. Nat was trying to find his brother and stop him because he's pretty sure Lucas is the bomber. Charlie was sulking because her mother wouldn't let her get a tattoo. And the bomb went off. Charlie's mother died. Nat's brother was left in a coma. In this Britain of the near-future, beset by an endless cycle of more and more austerity, where people queue for free food handouts and racist extremist groups are increasingly dominating the public conversation, neither Charlie nor Nat had thought anything could get any worse. But it did. Full review...
Tregarthur's Promise by Alex Mellanby
Mrs Tregarthur has assembled a very strange assortment of children for her hiking trip on Dartmoor. She seems to have collected the misfits, the trouble makers, and the unwanted. In other words, the children that will not be missed. This is of course more than a simple day trip. Mrs Tregarthur has made a dreadful promise which can only be fulfilled by the children. The children are more of a handful than she expects though and fail to reach the cave as quickly as she would like. When an earthquake drives some of the group into the cave for shelter the teacher shouts out the very strange words to Alvin: Keep my promise. Save him! Alvin soon has other things to worry about though as a cave-in leaves the group trapped. Eventually finding their way out on the other side, they find themselves in a primeval forest with no way back to their own homes or time. Survival will become a battle which not all of them will win, but their biggest danger will not be the cold, starvation or dangerous animals. It will be from the other children. Full review...
Under Attack by Jim Eldridge and Dave Shepherd
My sons are army barmy as they say, and have been begging for military stories so I was delighted to see this in the Barrington Stoke range. The book reminded me a bit of a cross between the old Commando comic books and Action Man books with heroes blazing to the rescue, but sadly I found something lacking. It is a very short story and packed with action, but there really does not seem to be any character development. The story itself is very simple but flat. The Taliban attacks a hospital repeatedly and the British Army comes to the rescue. A very small child is shot and the doctor elects to perform emergency surgery on a kitchen table rather than waiting for the helicopter to arrive, but the Taliban haven't given up. The doctor valiantly tries to operate to remove a bullet next to the child's heart under the most desperate of circumstances, without blood, anaesthetics etc.... all the while under heavy fire. Will the British Army be able to save the day? Full review...
Gamer by Chris Bradford
Gamer is written for the child who would rather be in front of a console than reading book. Even the cover depicts action with a scene that changes to depict fighting if you tilt the book. This isn't to say it lacks depth. This has a well developed plot, and very good characterisation, but the action never stops. It is perfect for children who are used to the high adrenaline experience of a video game, but it has plenty to offer the child who loves books as well. Full review...
Have a Little Faith by Candy Harper
Faith has been moved into a different form to separate her from her friend Megs, as the teachers seem to think they're a bad combination. On the plus side, the school are bussing in cute boys for their choir - and Faith is ready to get to know the dreamy Finn a lot better. Until she realises he's singing a duet with her sworn enemy, at least. Can Faith get the boy? And will she be able to move back into the same form as Megs by impressing Miss Ramsbottom with her new found maturity? Full review...
The Dead Men Stood Together by Chris Priestley
A young boy lives in a harbour town with his mother. It's a happy life, but the boy misses his father, a sailor who left for the sea a year ago and died far from home. He also dreams of the sea and of adventure. So when his uncle comes to visit, full of stories of faraway lands and treasure, he is entranced. He ignores the warning from the pilot's son. How could his uncle be the devil? And, despite his mother's tears, he follows his uncle to sea. Full review...
Shine by Candy Gourlay
This is not a ghost story even though there are plenty of ghosts in it. And it's not a horror story though some people might be horrified. It's not a monster story either, even though there is a monster in it and that monster happens to be me.
Thirteen-year-old Rosa doesn't get out much. She lives with her father, a doctor, and their housekeeper-come-governess in the remote island community of Mirasol. It's always raining on Mirasol. And it's a superstitious place. People believe that if the rain stops, evil will come. And they also believe that monsters can stop the rain. Monsters like Rosa. Full review...
Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess
Set in a world only a book could inhabit - half in a post-apocalyptic future, half in the mists of the myths of the past - Bloodtide retells part of the Volsunga saga - Icelandic tales of gods and heroes and villains. Civilisation has long abandoned London to its criminals and its gang wars, going so far as to surround its borders with released halfmen, genetically manipulated creatures with a lust for violence. With the population trapped inside the city walls, Val Volson has risen to a position of power. Only King Conor is left standing in his way. But Val wants peace. He wants unity so that his people can break out of the city and prosper. Full review...
Night Witches by LJ Adlington
Rain Aranoza comes from Rodina. It's a nation of science and rationality. It holds no truck with superstition and religion. And, in the tradition of all authoritarian societies, it is ruthless in stamping out traces of the Old World and its belief in witches. Rodina is controlled by a network known as Aura and Aura encourages denunciations. Control is enforced by the Scrutiners and Aura instructs citizens in even the minutiae of their daily lives. Full review...
Blinded by the Light by Joe Kipling
Some time in a near-future Britain, things look very different. The Sandman virus wiped out most of the population. The fortunate few live in one of three Neighbourhoods, each protected by the Boundary. Beyond the Boundary is Outside - a wasteland populated with infected feral Echoes. Luckily for MaryAnn, she lives in the Neighbourhood that was once known as Manchester. And she's a rich and privileged Alpha. Although her parents aren't celebrities - which MaryAnn would like, because then she'd be invited to cooler parties - they are influential in the Light, the Neighbourhood's leadership. So MaryAnn has designer clothes, servants, and nothing more to worry about than bagging a date with peer group kudos. Full review...
The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
I'll break from my usual reviewing style of starting off with a plot summary here, for reasons which will shortly become obvious, and just start by saying The Testing is an interesting dystopian read, with a wonderful narrator, which I'd definitely recommend. Full review...
The Phenomenals: A Game of Ghouls by F E Higgins
Once again, I’ve jumped right in here – going straight to the second book in a series. As it happens, A Game of Ghouls is not a bad one to do that with. You’re never left confused because you haven’t read the first one (A Tangle of Traitors) because they keep you up to date enough for it to be a fairly good stand alone. You want to find the first one though, because if it’s going to be anywhere near as good as this one it’s a book you want to read. Full review...
Up In Flames by Nicole Williams
Elle Montgomery has spent her whole life doing exactly what she's supposed to - what everyone else thinks is how she should live her life. Outside, Elle is smiling politely and perfectly happy with her perfect-fit boyfriend. Inside, Elle is screaming for the chance to do something a bit wild. Full review...
Heroes (Most Wanted) by Anne Perry
Trench warfare has widely been acknowledged as one of the most soul destroying forms of combat. It broke men physically and mentally. Death seemed inevitable for many, and life was so horrible that at times it must have come as release. So what is one more death among the multitudes? To Chaplain Joseph Reavely every death counts, but he can not let this one go. Morton was not killed by enemy fire - he was murdered and Joseph will not rest until justice is done. It sounds pretty straight forward, but there is far more to it than this and justice is truly poetic in this case. Full review...
Moose Baby by Meg Rosoff
Jess is a pretty average teenage mother - except for one thing. Instead of giving birth to a normal little girl as she was expecting, she ends up delivering a 23lb moose calf by C-Section. It seems there has been a cluster of non homo-sapien births to human mothers. For some unexplained reason, a number of women have given birth to animals - mostly moose. Jess feels confident she can cope with the trials and tribulations of teenage parenthood. She can handle the midwives' harsh looks, her mother's disappointment and her boyfriend's parents' disapproval. But giving birth to a moose instead of a human may be more than any mother can adjust to. Full review...
Memory: She's Dying to Remember by Christoph Marzi
Jude can see the dead. His life has changed immeasurably since he saw his first ghost about six months ago. He's lost interest at school and become even further distanced from his father, who works away a lot. Instead, he spends most of his time in Highgate Cemetery with the shapeshifting vixen Miss Rathbone and a circle of dead people headed by ex-rock star Gaskell. Jude feels more at home with ghosts than he does with the living. Full review...
Dead Brigade by James Lovegrove
Sergeant Jonah Hammond's career has been at a standstill in the years since he launched a complaint against a reckless commanding officer whose arrogance resulted in the massacre of British soldiers. Now that same officer is offering Hammond another chance. This time Hammond won't have to worry about some idiot getting his men all killed - because they are already dead. Hammond has been given the task of training a crack squad of reanimated soldiers, immune to pain, disease and capable of fighting with massive injuries. These living dead are reanimated by nanobots. They are capable of learning, following instructions, and meant to be incapable of independent thought. However, it soon becomes apparent that things don't always go the way they are meant to. These are not mindless killing machines; a part of them is still human, still the soldier they once were, trapped within a decaying corpse, kept refrigerated until ready for the next mission. They have no life, nor do they have the luxury of death. Full review...
The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
This is the memoir of one of the youngest people on Oskar Schindler's famous list of Jews saved from the Nazis during World War II. It opens between the wars, with Leon's family living in the small Polish town of Narewka. There wasn't much money but everyone was happy. Leon's father moved to Krakow in the hopes of making a better life and when Leon and his siblings eventually join him, you can feel the wonder of a little boy new to the big city. Full review...
The Burning Shadow (Gods and Warriors Book 2) by Michelle Paver
A year after the first book in this series finished, we rejoin Hylas who has been captured, enslaved, and forced to work in the copper mines on Thalakrea, a volcanic island. The Crows still have the dagger of prophecy, so this evil clan is still in control. Hylas is determined to escape and find his missing sister, but the mines are dangerous and run by ruthless slavers. Full review...
Cruel Summer by James Dawson
Twelve months after Janey Bradshaw's suicide, her friends get together in a secluded Spanish villa. After a year apart, there's a lot to talk about - but the elephant in the room is Janey's death. Ryan Hayward isn't convinced she killed herself - and when someone else from their old school turns up, they seem to confirm his suspicions. Except very quickly, there's another dead body, and Ryan and his friends need to get rid of the corpse. Of course, where there's a murder victim, there's also a murderer - who can it be? Will anyone stay alive to find out? Full review...
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
On the run from the Darkling, Alina and Mal are together at last. But when he emerges from the Shadow Fold with a horrific new power, the Darkling could prove himself to be more dangerous than ever. Alina will be torn between her growing power, the man she loves, and her patriotism - can she survive the oncoming storm? Full review...
Hold Your Breath by Caroline Green
Tara can locate lost objects - keys, phones, and even people. But she knows that this strange ability can bring trouble, so when bully Melodie Stone goes missing, she wants to keep her visions to herself. The images she sees won't go away, though - should she risk humiliation, or worse, by trying to find her? Full review...
New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay
After being expelled from her boarding school, Rain Mackenzie gets sent abroad to New England, to live with her parents and attend the local high school. Not expecting to like anything about the place, she's surprised to find herself immediately falling for the school heartthrob Jesse Devlin. Will they end up together, or will Jesse's girlfriend Amber get in the way? Full review...
Phoenix by SF Said
Lucky thinks he is a normal Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing to him and he can feel a mysterious power rising within him. When he wakes, his bedclothes are scorched. And when his mother finds out, Lucky's world is turned upside down and he finds himself on an alien spaceship, on the run, and in the middle of a warzone. Everything Lucky has been brought up to believe is being tested. The war between Human and Axxa is raging, so why does Lucky's mother trust alien renegades more than she does humans? Where is his father? What are the secrets his mother has kept from him all his life? Full review...
Spy Society by Robin Benway
Sixteen-year-old Maggie Silver is a spy, just like her parents. Well, not quite like her parents - she's far better than either at cracking safes. They've always worked as a team, though, so when the Collective - the mysterious organisation that give them assignments in righting wrongs - choose her for a solo run, she's not sure what to expect. Thrown into high school for the first time ever, she's got a clear mission - make friends with Jesse Olivier, stop a security leak, and get out. Making friends with Jesse is easy. It's the getting out witout anyone getting their heart broken which might be tough. Full review...
The Flappers: Diva by Jillian Larkin
Clara Knowles and Lorraine Dyer are both devastated by Marcus Eastman's upcoming wedding. Can either of them stop it? Meanwhile, Gloria Carmody is socialising with business mogul Forrest Hamilton, as befits an icon of flapperdom. But it's not just pleasure for Gloria - if she can get some information about Forrest for the FBI, her future with boyfriend Jerome could be a bright one. If not, she could be back in jail in the blink of an eye... Full review...
The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce
Taylor Oh has inherited a curse from her mother. Fated to help ghosts of murder victims get revenge, or be taken by the Darkness herself, she lives her life in fear of being consumed. It's bad enough trying not to alienate her only friend, and persuade her father that she's not insane - but when school bully Justin gets murdered, she's left trying to solve the crime and also cope with the realisation she's becoming attracted to him. Full review...
The Black Dragon (Mysterium) by Julian Sedgwick
Danny is a fish out of water at his public school. Half Chinese, he's still a newcomer after over a year, having grown up in a circus called The Mysterium. Those days behind him, he delights at the chance to go to Hong Kong with his guardian aunt Laura, even while she's there working as an undercover journalist, investigating nightmarish Triad gangs. Once in that exotic world it's a quandary to know just what side who is on, what with corrupt crops, people who are not as they appear and more – but what on earth is the connection between all this and the dark, disastrous ending the circus suffered? Full review...
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Em and Finn are being held prisoner by the Doctor. They never see each other but are able to communicate through the cell wall. This is a blessing but also a curse: they can each hear the interrogations and torture meted out to the other. Neither talks but how much can they take? And then Em finds a note hidden in her cell. It's from her future self and it tells of fourteen escapes. And fourteen failed trips back to the past to try to put things right. There's only one way left. Em must kill someone she loves. Full review...
Love in Revolution by B R Collins
Everyone in her village - in an unnamed Basque country - loves pello and Esteya is no different. It's the national sport and its heroes are national heroes. That the holder of the Kings Cup hails from her village is a source of pride to Esteya, her twin brother Martin, and everyone else. Except older brother Leon. So when the Bull comes home for a visit, everyone is excited. And when a young peasant boy challenges him to a game, everyone laughs. And when the peasant boy wins, everyone is shocked and discomfited. Except Leon. Leon, a communist sympathiser, sees it as a symbolic victory of the peasant over the dissolute regime of the King. Full review...
