Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

This book is marketed entirely wrong. Look at that cover. Look at that blurb. So this is a sexy romance about two brothers who fall for the same girl right?

Nope!

Invincible Summer is a book about family more than anything else. In particular, it's a book about a family which is falling apart. This was unlike any other contemporary I've ever read and it was so damn brutal at times. In a nutshell, this book spans four summers and tells the story of two families who meet at the same beach every year. Our main family is the McGills, with Chase being our primary protagonist. He's sort of the sensible one of the family and is the middle brother. He has an older brother Noah who is never around when he's needed, a younger sister named Claudia who is maturing at a frightening speed and finally a younger brother named Gideon who is deaf and refuses to learn how to communicate with anyone. As well as the siblings, we have two parents who are having increasing marital problems with each year.

The other family is the Hathaways with the only really important character being Melinda. She has spent years not-quite-being with Noah and is just starting to also not-quite-be with Chase. Melinda is one of the most interesting characters to me and the real tragedy of this book in my eyes. She is treated like utter crap by everyone, has to deal with something very major and gets no sympathy from either Chase or Noah despite everything she goes through. It works within the context of the story and the narrative style but I did dislike how she was handled and it is the main reason the book didn't score higher.

The other main reason is the sheer amount of quoting Camus that occurs. Every bloody character is obsessed with spewing out at least one quote every chapter and it just feels like pretentiousness. For me, it ruins the actual depth of the story since the emotionally-charged, character-driven scenes get rudely interrupted by philosophical piffle. It weakens the story as a whole and makes me wonder why the author feels like she can't rely on her own words.

Overall though, this book was such a surprise. It packs an emotional punch to rival any Courtney Summers book and I know the plot will stay with me for a long time. It is a million miles from a fun summer read but instead you get a nuanced and brilliant look at family life and the charged relationships that can come from it. When so many books fail to do gritty realism right, this one definitely deserves more attention.

Overall Rating:

.5

9 Days and 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno

SPOILERS FOR 99 DAYS AND 9 DAYS & 9 NIGHTS BELOW.

This is really impressive. So my main problem with 99 Days is that I could not understand at all why Molly would be messing around with Patrick when her relationship with Gabe was so great. And in this sequel, I have no idea why Molly would mess around with Gabe when she has a great new partner in Ian.

This book was soooo disappointing. I'm not an idiot, I knew from the start that Molly and Gabe would end up back together. I just wasn't expecting it to be something I really didn't want to happen. The Molly at the start of this book is in her first year of college, she has a new boyfriend and has grown up a lot. And at the end of the book, this is all just thrown away.

Again, all of Molly and Ian's relationship flaws are so non-existent. She gets angry that he isn't seeing the real her when apparently her new college persona is fake and she's just pretending to be someone else. Nevermind that she is no longer upsetting people and has gotten her life together. Apparently that isn't being true to herself and so she should revert back to her teenage self and continuing dating a guy that she has already cheated on once WITH HIS BROTHER.

Once again, I still enjoyed this book for what it was due to the writing style and various other elements. However, I have never been so utterly baffled by a romance series before. Clearly Cotugno and I have vastly different opinions on what constitutes a good relationship if she can make me do a complete 180 on who I ship Molly with between books. I felt sorry for Ian and disagreed completely with how Molly's character arc was handled. If you read the first one though and liked it, this one isn't really much worse. In all likelihood, you'll enjoy this one too.

Overall Rating:

99 Days by Katie Cotugno

It's been a fairly long time since I read a fluffy YA romantic contemporary. It's not my favourite genre but every once in a while (usually when I'm on holiday) I get the craving for some good old-fashioned fluff. This book however turned out to be a lot more interesting than your typical sweet romance.

The premise of 99 Days is that our main character Molly used to date a guy named Patrick until she cheated on him with his brother, Gabe. Now I don't like cheating stories which made Molly a little difficult to sympathise with, something which didn't get easier the more stupid her decisions became. Having been away from her hometown for a year, Molly must return for 99 days before she goes away to college and face the music. You see, Molly's affair was revealed when her mother wrote a best-selling book about it and as a result, everyone in the town hates her. The only person who is still nice to her is Gabe.

This is one of those books that is only fueled by poor decisions and characters behaving stupidly. Molly is the worst offender and she gets stuck in a love triangle between two brothers. I found Patrick deeply unlikable and could not understand Molly's attraction to him at all, especially when Gabe was so sweet and his 'offences' in their relationship so minor. I thought I was going to hate this book but the strong writing style pulled through and I actually quite enjoyed it.

If you can switch off your brain enough to not be bothered by the insanely poor decisions of the characters, then this is a surprisingly complex and interesting examination of the aftermath of cheating. I liked how it didn't shy away from showing what happens when teenagers make poor decisions and the exploration of Molly's relationship with her mother was also fairly interesting, albeit something which could have had more of a focus. Overall I really enjoyed it and I am interested in reading the sequel.

Overall Rating:

.5

#Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil

Now this was a pleasant surprise. I honestly didn't expect much from this book. The blurb is kind of insane-sounding and while I've enjoyed a previous book from Gretchen McNeil, I also found it pretty standard YA horror fare. There is nothing standard about #murdertrending and that's honestly why I kind of love it?

This book has one of the most unique plots I've ever seen. It takes place in a world where a reality star has become President *cough Trump dig cough* and has transformed the capital punishment system into entertainment for the masses. Now people convicted of serious crimes get put in a prison where they could be attacked by any one of eight professional murderers as they go about their daily business. Our main character Dee finds herself in this situation and is accidentally catapulted to fame when she kills one of the professional murderers in a trap meant to kill her. The rest of the book is about her trying to prove her innocence whilst escaping the clutches of the murderers.

The main reason I was so surprised by this book is that I find the blurb a little misleading. It doesn't really explain how the executions work, which is that prisoners live their daily lives and get randomly attacked/kidnapped by one of the murderers, each of which has their own niche theme. This is the most creative and fun aspect of the book (as weird as that sounds) and it's a shame it isn't pushed more on the blurb. They range from a murderous hipster, a cannibal, someone who dresses their victims up as princesses, someone who kills through crafting hobbies and several others. Almost all of them stand out in some way and it leads to some very gripping and humorous horror scenes. One of the main strengths of this book is that it handles its insane premise excellently, never becoming too serious but also not failing to bring some truly disturbing and engaging moments as well. It hits the perfect balance which is impressive considering how easily this could have become just a big joke or unaware of its own silliness.

There are some weak spots that prevent this from being perfect. The characters are entertaining enough but just shy of feeling like real people (maybe due to the insane situation they're in). The plot gets very convoluted at one point and there are some 'twists' which either fall flat or just confuse the story briefly. This all happens in the third quarter of the book, with the final quarter being the best part of all (in my opinion) so it's not enough to detract massively from the story.

Compared to the previous book I read by this author, #murdertrending is a big improvement. This is great for anyone who enjoys the camper side of horror but still appreciates that darkness and attention to detail that prevents it from being a 'so bad it's good' read. I know I'll remember this book even years from now thanks to its unique and creative tone, and I look forward to more from Gretchen McNeil in the future.

Overall Rating:

Dead Famous by Ben Elton

Confession time-I enjoy reality TV. Not all reality TV but a hefty chunk of it. Any show that has a strong focus on people interacting with each other (so think Love Island, not X Factor)  really appeals to me. Blame the psychology degrees. Anyway, this is a murder mystery based around a reality TV show which meant I HAD to pick it up, and I'm so glad I did.

Dead Famous is a pretty unique mystery in that you get about halfway through before you find out whose been murdered. Rather than being annoying, it's actually quite fun to try and work out who is dead and why. It adds another layer to the mystery which is a good thing given that I found the actual ending pretty easy to predict. However, despite the predictability I enjoyed every second.

Ben Elton's writing style is phenomenal. Every character in this is written perfectly. All of the reality stars are familiar caricatures but they have the depth necessary to prevent them from being uninteresting. The police characters take the back seat but in the way that they should. Every character has their own motivations and these are both clear to the reader and usually sympathetic or at the very least, understandable. The general pacing and other writing elements are similarly well done. This is fairly long for your average mystery but it certainly doesn't feel that way when reading it. The fact that everyone has a motive for the murder is also done well and it's no easy feat to pull off.

Sadly, this wasn't quite perfect enough to make it into the 5-star read category. The ending was very predictable and while it didn't exactly drag, there was a long time before you found out the identity of the murder victim and it may have been slightly too long. I would still strongly recommend this book if you enjoy mysteries or humorous social commentary. I don't hear enough people talking about it and it's a shame.

Overall Rating:

The Extinction Trials by S.M. Wilson

Ooh boy. So when I first saw this book, it was on Amazon and I presumed it was self-published. You see that little sticker on the cover that says 'The Hunger Games meets Jurassic Park'? Yeah, this book is literally a rip-off of the Hunger Games premise only stupider and now there are dinosaurs. Imagine my utter surprise when I walk into Waterstones and see this being promoted. It's a real book alright.

Of course I had to read it. The main character is called STORMCHASER KNOX. She has PURPLE EYES. There are DINOSAURS. So I picked up this book expecting a good laugh. I certainly got that but to my surprise, it was much better written than I was expecting.

There are many elements that make up a book. Let me be clear-the writing style of this book is actually pretty good. Everything else varies from just kind of silly to genuinely bad, but this got a much higher rating overall than I was expecting and so the author deserves some credit for that. They deserve absolutely no credit whatsoever for the nonsensical worldbuilding however. The plot of this book makes zero sense and it just goes downhill from there. So Stormchaser is our main character. She is a firm loner without a family and only one best friend to speak of. You remember how Katniss had to enter the Hunger Games to save her sister? Well, Stormchaser chooses to go to an island of dinosaurs entirely voluntarily. Her friends/competitors on the island all have better motivations than her, and yet she's still desperate to win and steal the prize from them. That sure is one likable protagonist!

This fictional world is so confusing as well. I think it's maybe meant to be set in the future but that makes no sense. Even being kind and assuming it takes place in an alternate timeline doesn't help much. In this universe, there are only two continents-one for people and one for dinosaurs. The people continent is running out of space so they want to conquer the dinosaur continent using the mystical power of...DNA. Apparently the only way to get DNA is to steal a dinosaur egg. Not a single character in this book goes into any detail about DNA and I can only assume the author has no idea what it is or how it works. Anyway, the whole premise of the Extinction Trials is that people volunteer to go to the dinosaur continent and then undergo some physical and mental tests to determine their suitability. The top 100 then go to the island, the majority die every year and then the survivors get free food for them and their families. That is the only incentive for applying, and while that is a good incentive if you have hundreds of siblings, it is not a good motivation for Stormchaser.

The ending is the dumbest part of all and I'm going to need to spoil some things.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So as mentioned, Stormchaser has no reason to enter beyond her desire to see the world of dinosaurs. Her surviving teammates on the island include her love interest who has a sick sister, and this other guy who has his own family to feed, plus the families of several dead teammates that he's promised to pretend are his own. When they return from the island, they are the only people with an egg (they actually have two which is important). The evil scientists in charge then change the prize so that all three of them can't win; instead, two of them must claim an egg and those two will get a prize. For some reason love interest claims both eggs, then Storm claims both eggs and then other guy claims one and says Storm got the other. To sort this out, they make everyone compete in further challenges (which are nowhere near as intense as the narrative implies they're going to be). Storm takes part in these and WINS. She voluntarily beats out two guys with legitimate reasons to win because...she wants to?

END OF SPOILERS

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Granted that isn't saying much given that my expectations were rock bottom, but it's enjoyable enough and I can see kids liking this quite a lot. If you want a genuinely good dystopian novel though you will have to look elsewhere. For a 'so good it's bad' read however, this could be great.

Overall Rating:

.5