The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life by Dani Jansen

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Second Story Press in exchange for an honest review.

There is a recurring trend I've noticed in YA fiction recently where queer female characters get involved in running plays. It's actually a really fun trend and it's one of the reasons The Year Shakespeare Ruined my Life caught my eye. Our main character is Alison, a high-achieving queer girl desperate to be valedictorian. She gets coerced into directing a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and her life gradually begins to fall apart as she juggles the stress, friend drama and a budding relationship with cool girl Charlotte.

This book was a lot of fun and there were several elements I enjoyed. The general writing was good and the plot was serviceable. Unfortunately I found the whole thing just a little bit tropey. Our main character is incredibly passive, which works for the play subplot but not for the romance. I never really bought that Alison cared for Charlotte because Charlotte was the driving force for the relationship throughout. This meant I found it a bit hard to relate to Alison as she came across as a bit flat. I did really like the sibling relationship and Alison's sister was a pretty interesting character. I just wish Alison had played a bigger role in her own story.

Having said that, this book is still a fun, light YA read. It was nice to read a queer story where the main character was already fully out and that side doesn't play a huge role in the story. Alison was also very relatable in parts, mainly when her anxiety is clearly the driving force behind her passivity. Overall, this is by no means a bad book and if you want a quick and easy read with some nice rep, look no further.

Overall Rating:

.5

I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Albert Whitman & Company in exchange for an honest review.

This book is at risk of being called a Sadie copycat and it really deserves so much better than that. I Hope You're Listening is the story of Dee, a girl whose best friend was abducted in front of her when she was very young. As a teenager, she now secretly runs a podcast which aims to help find missing people. When another girl is taken from the house her best friend used to live in, Dee finds her worlds starting to collide as she struggles to keep the podcast a secret and find out what happened to her best friend.

This was a really enjoyable YA contemporary with some thrillery elements thrown in. Dee was a fantastic protagonist who felt very real and also very likeable. She's queer and I loved how a female/female relationship was woven effortlessly into the story. Early on I was worried the solution to the mystery was obvious, but thankfully it went in a different direction and things were not as predictable as I suspected. I actually felt the plot went in a really interesting direction and that helped distinguish it a lot from similar things. Tone-wise, it really is nothing like Sadie and has a more down-to-earth and less bleak vibe, so also be aware of that if you're interested in reading this.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking out this book. It tells an intriguing story using characters with a lot of heart, with some nifty representation thrown in. The podcast element is a core part of the story and isn't an attempt to cash in on the trend, and I really liked the plot and writing style.

Overall Rating:

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Inkyard Press/RB Media in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolute delight this book was! I was drawn in by that gorgeous cover and the intriguing premise, and this book definitely surpassed my expectations. These Vengeful Hearts is the story of Ember, a girl set on revenge against a mysterious society at her school known as The Red Court. This society takes requests from students and puts out 'hits' on people, taking down their reputations, relationships and more. Ember's older sister lost the ability to walk after being targeted by the group and so Ember is determined to join them and take them down from the inside.

Firstly I really have to compliment the writing style of this book. It goes for more of a contemporary than a YA thriller tone, and as a result it was incredibly enjoyably and well-paced. There was plenty of intrigue but where most YA thrillers fall flat in their execution, These Vengeful Hearts managed to excel by making it focused on characters and the relationships between those characters. I adored Ember and I found her very compelling. Even throughout her more morally-ambiguous actions, she remained both sympathetic and likeable. The side characters were similarly complex and I found them all vivid and distinct, which again doesn't always happen with YA fiction.

Secondly, this is a very well-crafted book in terms of pacing and plot. Rather than relying on cheap cliffhangers or nonsensical clues to keep you reading, instead it lulls you into a false sense of security with the contemporary tone. You get used to things being a certain way and then the Court will suddenly change or raise the stakes and you are caught off guard. I was lucky enough to get both the audiobook and the e-ARC and I ended up listening to the whole thing in the space of a few hours because I was so absorbed in the world. I would recommend the audiobook as a great way to consume this story and it makes for a very enjoyable experience.

Overall, I would strongly recommend this book for people who enjoy the plots of YA thrillers but are usually disappointed by the writing. As I have said, it isn't quite a thriller in tone but this was definitely more of a positive. I know I will remember the world and characters of this book much longer than I usually would with a book of this type, and I am very excited for a potential sequel.

Overall Rating:

.5

After the Silence by Louise O'Neill

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Quercus Books in exchange for an honest review.

After the Silence is a quiet book. It creeps into your mind and sits there, a seed which continues to grow long after you've finished reading it. Before this, I have only read two books by Louise O'Neill, both of which I adored but neither of which were rooted in reality. It was interesting to see her style in a more grounded setting and I was pleased to see that the writing still managed to be beautiful and thought-provoking.

This is the story of Keelin, a woman living in the shadow of a murder accusation launched against her wealthy husband. Ten years prior, a beautiful girl named Nessa was murdered at their house party whilst a terrible storm raged on. Her husband Henry was considered to be guilty by everyone but could not be charged. Now in the present day, two filmmakers have come to the island to make a documentary about the dead girl. Told in the past and present, we soon learn that Keelin has some secrets of her own.

If you're looking for a typical thriller, this is not the book for you. The mystery is not hard to solve but it's also not really what the book is about. This is more of an exploration of Keelin's life, how she ended up with not one but two abusive husbands and how her life came to be the way it is. It explores the various facets of abuse through different lenses and also paints a picture of Irish culture on a small island. It is a deeply absorbing story and one I know I'll remember for years to come.

I only had two flaws with this book which stopped it being perfect. Firstly, I found it very difficult to tell what time period I was currently reading about. This may have been changed in the final copy but my ARC had no dates, only subtitles for some chapters which meant it was always a few paragraphs before I could tell when it was meant to be. The other thing is more personal taste but I feel the book ended too soon. There isn't really a concrete ending and things are left very open, and it was the plotline with Alex I found particularly frustrating with the way it ended (or didn't).

Apart from those minor niggles, After the Silence was an immensely enjoyable read. It wasn't the thriller I was expecting but I definitely loved reading it and I thought it had a lot of interesting things to say. If you like O'Neill's other work, this is a fantastic new addition to that and it's well worth the try for anyone looking for an absorbing story.

Overall Rating:

.5

Who We Were by B.M. Carroll

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Serpent's Tail / Profile Books in exchange for an honest review.

Who We Were is the story of a group of people who all attended school together. Years later, a reunion is due but someone is sending everyone nasty emails spilling secrets from their personal lives. There was also an incident that happened at the school in the past which we learn more about as the book unfolds.

Initially I was overwhelmed by the number of characters, and it did feel like there were slightly too many POVs. However, the characters were pretty distinctly written so once you got used to who was who, it was easy to keep track of. The various plots were interesting enough, and it was fun to see how the storylines came together. I would say this is closer to Big Little Lies in tone rather than a traditional psychological thriller.

I am reviewing this a few weeks after I read it and sadly I can't remember anymore detail, but I know this was a well-written thriller and one I definitely enjoyed reading at the time. I found the style very compelling and easy to read, and I would certainly like to check out this author's other work.

Overall Rating:

.5

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Christina Henry and I was extremely excited for this book, so when I say I am a little disappointed that does not mean this book is bad. This is her first book I've read not based on a fairytale/historical story and I was eager to see what she could do. Sadly this has got a completely different tone from her other work which threw me.

Ghost Tree is the story of Lauren, a fifteen year old girl who lives in a town called Smiths Hollow. Her dad was brutally killed the year before and ever since then, things have been going wrong. When two girls are found dead in a neighbour's yard, Lauren starts to uncover a dark mystery surrounding the town involving a monster and a whole lot of dead girls.

I will be brief with my criticism because I really wanted to adore this book. Firstly, it felt like it skewed a lot younger than her other works. I've seen it shelved as both YA and Adult, but the style reads on the young side of YA for me with the content being less suitable for younger readers. This left me feeling confused as to how to judge it. As an adult book it is way too repetitive, especially for its length. Nothing much happens for the majority of it and I found the writing a little simplistic to even say that character development was happening during that time. I would be far more forgiving of this if I knew for certain it was for younger readers, although then I have to question the more graphic content. The story itself is relatively formulaic, with nothing that happened surprising me at all.

If you're wondering why my rating is 4 stars after that quite large complaint, the main saving grace of this book is the end. The climax is fantastically paced and written, and this is where Henry really got to shine. I was genuinely very gripped and it was such a breath of fresh air after the rest of the book dragging a bit. I would 100% be interested in a sequel to this story because I feel like the characters really came into their own at the end and I think there is potential for an engaging plot to come after it. Even though I knew what would happen, it was so well-written that I didn't mind.

Overall, I am saddened that I wasn't blown away by The Ghost Tree. I have read all of Christina Henry's standalone books and this one just felt so different, both in tone and audience. Ultimately this was shelved as an adult fiction book specifically on NetGalley, and for that audience it definitely misses the mark.

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