The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 

48%

01.05.23

I should have paid attention to my own advice after reading the second book in the series. This book was a mess: poorly structured, full of awkward exposition and populated with one-dimensional characters. And how did all the drama of the three books culminate? In a very brief chess tournament. What a let down.

Holes - Louis Sachar

59%
23.10.18

My daughter was initially reluctant to read this but, once she started, she finished it in two sittings. As we were on holiday with no other books, I then had to lend her my Kindle and re-read my old copy. It's neatly written, of course, but I'm not sure it's quite as clever a fable as it would like to be, and I was left wondering what exactly it was trying to tell me.

Here's my review from 16 years ago. It seems my tastes have changed.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness

58%
01.07.18

There's no denying that Patrick Ness is among the most accomplished and inventive authors of Young Adult fiction. He's great at developing characters and experimenting with ideas, so the 'off-centre heroism' premise for this was intriguing. But it didn't really work, ending up an uncomfortable mix of sketchy fantasy and teenage angst.

The Swish of the Curtain - Pamela Brown

67%
13.06.18

With a sudden burst of nostalgia for this childhood favourite, I ordered the new edition from the library. And, while it's not exactly the epic tale of theatre folk I remembered, it's still a delightful, perceptive and engaging account of a group of overachieving children (mostly aged 13+ but teenagers had not yet been invented). It's even more extraordinary for having been written by a 14 year old, evidently an overachiever herself.

La Belle Sauvage - Philip Pullman

73%
30.12.17

There's no better way to round off the year with master storyteller Pullman's new novel eclipsing all others, carrying readers away into his vivid world like the engulfing flood in the book. It's not really for children, I think - though kids would do well to absorb the obvious political and social commentary here. My only criticisms would be the surprising upholding of traditional gender roles (compared with Lyra's later heroism) and the open-ended, slightly unfocused nature of the story, setting it up for the two sequels.

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness

62%
07.05.16

Beautiful and terrible - that's the world of the admirable Patrick Ness and a painful mirror on the real world. This fable is spun from delicate words and difficult circumstances - a tour de force, I suppose, but lacking a core emotional engagement that would really have drawn me in.

Malorie Blackman - Noughts and Crosses

53%
12.05.14

I like Malorie Blackman so I sought out this young adult classic. It's bleak but then most YA novels are (hooray for Louise Rennison and her silliness). The politics of the dystopian world are cleverly imagined and the complexity of the characters' situation is clear. But it just didn't seem very well written or plotted, so it wasn't as gripping or convincing as I'd hoped.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

49%
06.12.13

And this is a much-hyped YA classic? Rarely has a narrator been more irritating or a book more cynical. It's weird without being quirky, and introverted without being clever. Even Grease handles teenage angst more effectively.

Terra - Mitch Benn

57%
22.08.13

Mitch Benn is that clever, satirical musician on Radio 4. You can tell this is the sort of book he'd like his daughters to read. I'm not entirely sure whether it's the sort of book I'd like to read, though. The alien world is well realised but the characters and sporadic, slightly preachy plot less so.

Wonder - RJ Palacio

69%
27.02.13

You can read this in a couple of sittings while you're in bed with the flu (as I did) and yes, it is ever so slightly cheesy and preachy. But on another level, it's a surprisingly complex exploration of the nature of appearance, identity, friendship, growing up, even parenthood. It's wise, funny, engaging, quirky, and the narration from a variety of kids' viewpoints gives it a further level of insight. There's even an extensive quote from The Magnetic Fields and yes, if Steven Merritt were to write a book, it would probably be a little like this one.

Geekhood - Andy Robb

57%
08.06.12

Andy Robb seems like a thoroughly nice bloke. Not that I've met him but we've chatted on Twitter, which is what passes for real life these days. His outlook is reflected in this rather sweet story of teenage angst, which at times is reminiscent of the wonderful Louise Rennison in its awkward situations, embarrassing adult figures and total absence of sex and drugs and all those other exciting things young people are supposed to do but that us squares (I wasn't even cool enough to be a geek) never got round to doing. And if I'd have known the intricate skill involved in painting a fantasy figure, I wouldn't have given my brother such a hard time about his "little men". Well, actually, of course I would have done - that's teens for you.

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

59%
10.04.12

The bodycount just kept on rising as characters new and old died in a variety of gruesome ways. But otherwise what should have been the big ending to a thrilling trilogy was shocking only in its understatement. Did it prove that war is futile while simultaneously glorifying graphic violence? Perhaps it does, in the sense that the whole thrust of the plot turns out to be rather a waste of time. Important and complex moral and political issues are raised in ways that adult novels often shy away from, but when it loses its focus, it loses the reader's loyalty.

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

65%
03.04.12

The curse of The Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers inevitably afflicts the middle episode of a trilogy. You're pretty confident that the main characters will survive to the final part but the plot still needs to be moved along without any significant showdowns. So what is an author to do? How about chucking in a bit of politics and a frisson of uncertainty for the first half then abruptly ramping up the death, destruction and needless violence? Yeah, that'll do it. You could say it's brave stuff for the teenage market, but really it's like Harry Potter without the magic and the class issues. And that's a compliment. If only the jarring word "stuff" wasn't chucked in so often.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

71%
24.03.12

With the film at maximum hype level this week, I thought I'd better catch up on its source novel to see what I've been missing. Evidently I've been missing children killing each other on live TV - when they're not practising their surprisingly advanced wilderness skills. Yes, the plot is a little creaky if you think about it too hard; yes, the language and style are frequently lumpy and cliched; and yes, it was so gripping that I read it in three days and have already downloaded the sequel. So, high marks not for literary achievement but for just being a darn good read.

New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

42%
26.11.09

Oh well. This is a poor parody of her own work. Choice lines include: "My best friend is a werewolf; must he also be a monster?" and, mostly aptly, "this has all gotten too ridiculous". Indeed.

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

70%
15.11.09

I've come rather late to this current bestseller - everyone I speak to has already read it, the bookshops are full of vampire spinoffs, and the second film of the series is imminent. So is it worth the hype? Clumsily written, poorly structured, unsympathetic characters, transparent reference to what was then a hypothetical movie version... and utterly compelling. It's been a very long time since I stayed up late, reaing furtively. There's always room for a little escapism via teenage wish fulfilment, even in one's 30s. Now, who can lend me the sequel?

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? - Louise Rennison

60%
29.06.09

The final confessions (really?) and finally a happy ending after 9 previous cliffhangers. Nothing new - still the Mallory Towers parallel universe of fives courts, berets and teenagers who do no more than snog. But it's a world you want to be a part of, whatever your age, and make friends with the eccentric characters. I'll miss it - but spinoffs are likely. [Ju's note: well, there is a new spinoff and it looks a bit rubbish. Time will tell...]

Stop in the Name of Pants! - Louise Rennison

57%
25.07.08

Talking of fluff, more of the same from the irrepressible Georgia, this time with an unusual dark tone as Angus the cat, rather movingly, almost dies. But otherwise fun and 'vair vair' silly. [Ju's note: It turns out there's an adult edition of this - no, not the one with all the sex and drugs that are mysteriously missing from Georgia's teen life, but one with a slightly arty cover and ironic quotes on the back. Surely nobody can be ashamed of their addiction to such a sunny series? I'm out and proud, with 3 shiny volumes of Georgia chronicles on the shelf opposite the front door, for visitors to admire or ignore, as they choose.]

Luuurve is a Many Trousered Thing - Louise Rennison

53%
10.07.07




More of the same, which is becoming formulaic as the series goes on. It's still fun but entirely inconsequential and - as always - unresolved. It's very funny, though.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling

47%
26.07.07




I like Harry P, I really do, but 3 million copies sold in a day and in return we get tedium and disappointment. Yes, the world of Harry is vividly realised, and the characters are three dimensional and complex - but so is the plot so 400 pages of wordy backstory are required to make the ending appear slightly less predictable than is actually is. I wonder if any editorial intervention was allowed at all - certainly it has its moments of sparkle, but mainly it's self-indulgent introspection. A pity that Rowling doesn't feel the need to try - she owes her life to Harry too.