Lily Alone by Jacqueline Wilson

When Lily's mum goes away on holiday with her new boyfriend, she supposedly leaves Lily's brother Baxter's dad in charge of the kids, though he never turns up.

Lily is only eleven and has to be Lilymum as she calls herself when looking after the siblings, Pixie, Bliss and Baxter who are all younger. As they her teacher come knocking getting suspicious when Lily isn't in school for three days and can't see her mum, he grows suspicious and so Lily takes herself and the others to camp out in the local park.

It's very dangerous as they stay there and forage for food whilst trying not to get noticed and even resort to desperate enough measures they have to sneak into someone's house and try to steal food!

As well as that, Bliss climbs a tree and gets into serious trouble as the branch prepares to snap, changing their lives in many ways as their mum turns up, arrested by the police and social workers split Lily from her beloved siblings.

Lily may have day dreamed about living alone when she's older, but she would do anything for her siblings as she does when she's forced into this horrible situation. All about neglect and not coping on her mum's half as she herself wants to just be a kid in some ways and her own idea of fun. It was a gripping read seeing how the children survived as they lived wild in a public park where it is obviously unsafe to stay.

Room Empty by Sarah Mussi

What a stunning book this has been to read.
Personally, as a sufferer of issues of many kinds, I can relate to many points in this book.

The story is set in a mostly government funded treatment center in Berkshire. The resident we focus around is Dani who seventeen, lived in care all her life and whom is anorexic. She has just found her friend, Carmen, dead by suicide and she found her. Her other friend, Fletcher is a drug addict and insists on being there for Dani and wants her to be there for him through his stay too.

She also has the alien, who insists on supporting her which is inside her head and is the more irrational, impulsive, emotional side of her. This side of her comes to light most often after she starts to remember being locked in a room with the dead body.

There is a great mystery to be solved within this novel as well as the turbulent yet loving relationship that builds and grows between Fletcher and Dani. I have to say as Dani's memories start to come back stronger in flashbacks to her, the fast paced and emotional ending to the book leaves me full of hope for Dani and Fletch.

I really recommend this book, thanks to the publishers allowing me to review Sarah's new book and make sure you read this one. A top pick of mine for 2017!

Do You Speak Chocolate? by Cas Lester

Jaz is part of a friendship group she doesn't fully love as her best friend Lily becomes more distant and closer to Kara, so when Nadima arrives in her spare desk seat at school she knows they'll be great friends.

Despite Nadima not speaking a word of English!

Until a chocolate bar in exchange for a dreamy version of Turkish Delight cements that deal seemingly.

However, as she chats to Nadima via emojis on their phones and in stilted English Nadima can understand, they become great friends, staying over for tea at each others and meeting their families. They go shopping and share BFF bracelets cementing their new friendship.

Though they do have their moments of falling out as Jaz finds out she's fled Syria with her family and wants to help Nadima by giving her the money from Charity week only Nadima doesn't need charity and in causes a rift which means that Kara steals her away from Jaz.

Feeling lonely Jaz tries her best to patch things up and prove she's a good friend truly and can she also befriend Kara at last?

This is a book showing what many young people are suffering through as their families and them flee war wrecked countries. We see the horrors and emotional turmoil it can cause and Nadima's story is a critical one to be heard in young adult fiction. I have never read a refugee based ya before and found this a great first one to find, it shows how friendship can help someone as we watch Nadima become more comfortable in the school and around the others and taking part in the activities, she doesn't just sit out. Even though she misunderstands something's she is helped and we should all take note of how the characters act towards those from other countries as all to often they still face prejudice and judgement yet in this book there's none present it is idealist that way and hopefully will become true in real life.

Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Sam and Ilsa are twins, only Sam is seen as the better half of the pair as Ilsa says. Sam is gay, a high flying musician and has it all going for him.

Ilsa however, is seen by Sam as a carefree party girl where as he feels tightly wound and gets anxious easier.

The pair are hosting a final dinner party for their six friends as they're set to graduate. There's KK Ilsas best friend, Johan whom is Sam's crush, Parker whom is Ilsas ex, Jason Sam's ex, Li another friend of Ilsas and finally a potential boyfriend for Sam found by Ilsa, Frederyk.

At the dinner party, hosted in their grandma's large appartment, Sam struggles to keep control so let's loose by drinking where normally he wouldn't while Ilsa tries to ignore Parkers attempts at reigniting their relationship while she also has a secret to share with the group. There's food aplenty, alcohol antics, a surprise thunder storm, crushes falling for others, kisses randomly happening, spur of the moment life decisions and individuals wanting to be exactly that for once in Sam and Ilsa's cases.

For me it wasn't gripping, it was a quick read though and the final reflection chapter made it for me a better read as we could see a bit more character evolution rather than just judging them from one night's actions but seeing how they've grown over ten years as they revisit the site of their last hurrah.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this for them!

Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson

Taken to the foundling hospital as a baby, Hetty is fostered until she reaches the age of six and is brought up with many siblings, Gideon, Martha and Eliza are also fostered from there too.

She hates the idea of going back to the foundling hospital when she's six as she'll have to stay until she's fourteen. But her not by blood relation brother, Jem says they'll marry and be happy together when she's old enough.

Hetty loves seeing the wonders of the Circus when it arrives from Elijah the elephant to her loved Madame Adeline whom invites her up to ride with her on her horse and calls Hetty her little star.

Then her time is up at home and she's forced into the Foundling hospital where she's trained to be a seamstress and makes enemies of Sheila and Monica but a friend in Polly even battling influenza together as tragedy strikes Hetty's old foster family life.

Then, suddenly Polly is adopted out of the hospital to replace a rich couple's dead daughter!

In a turn of events, on an outing for the jubilee, Hetty runs away when she spots the circus and ends up across London, in a close call with a man where she gets helped by a kind girl selling flowers and have a run in with an aspiring author, Miss Smith, whom returns Hetty from her jaunt to the foundling hospital where she finally learns her real mum would have called her Sapphire and was hiding in plain sight all along. In this historical mystery fiction.

I found Hetty a great character of a girl, strong willed and unafraid to be herself even when others disagree with her she holds herself strong and sure. It's shocking to think in the past many girls sufferred the way the foundlings did or served horrid masters but Hetty had something positive in the Circus to hold dear in her memories and heart as she yearned to return and perform one day and that goal as well as to be a writer showed her fiery spirit staying strong.

Opal Plumstead by Jacqueline Wilson

In a tale told during suffragette times as women fight for the vote, going fourteen year old Opal is forced to leave her school scholarship after her father, a promising hopeful author to be is found guilty of stealing money from his employer after indulging in many extravagant purchases for his family.

As Opal, her sister Cassie and her mother all take on jobs to afford the rent now the man of the house is disgraced in prison, Opal suffers the eye of hopeful young Fred, Patty an awful girl and hates not seeing her best friend Olivia as she's forced to work at Fairy Glen Sweet Factory.

Her sister grows close to a man she met while working whom has been painting herher. As Opal progresses in her job at the sweet factory, she grows close to the owner, going to suffrage meetings and to tea with her too where she eventually meets her son, Morgan after he returns from Oxford.

Her mother grows more sour and hateful of her life now after failing to work any normal workhouse jobs. She also grows more despairing over her 'lying' daughters as she struggles to believe they have fallen for decent men after her own husbands betrayal.

As the story progresses, Opal and Morgan become fond of each other but the war comes between them both as he has to go and fight. Cassie and Daniel are a well matched couple as Cassie leaves home to be threatened never to come back by their mother. While Opal's father becomes a shadow of the former gentleman he was once before the year the novel is set over happened.

It is a taxing time war and this family goes through hell before that even gets declared. From the start I found the book hard to get into as times now are obviously very different to times then.
However, as the story unravelled and developed, I grew find of Opal and her kind character even if her family and friends didn't all stay loving and caring towards her as they were very bitter and judgemental, her story is portrayed as a tragic one eventually and for poor Opal it was sadly how things often went back then with war meaning losing loved ones and than prison changes people. It was a very honest realistic retelling of the first world war and time leading up to and into it for hard pressured families I feel.

36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant

Paul and Hildy partake in a university study about thirty six questions that are asked between strangers to see if they fall in love by the end of the study.

Paul originally takes part as you get paid to do so while Hildy is curious about the study. As the pair delve through the questions, asking deeper and more hard hitting ones as time wares on, the pair become friends but are they closer to more than that?

A strange but intriguing premise which to me wasn't as fun as I expected it to be. Their getting to know each other while obviously forced seemed promising but didn't draw me in and I found myself quite bored with the storyline to be truthful unfortunately.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Clean by Juno Dawson

Lexi is a heroin addict, thanks to her caring brother Nikolai, she enters treatment at a residential mansion on a secluded island.

We learn her story in stages as the chapters are set in treatment step orders and reveal more as she opens up in therapy and group therapy. Her boyfriend got her hooked on pills and heroin, she met Kurt amongst all the other high fliers as she's an heiress but was it love or using her for her money?

We also discover her turbulent family life growing up with her father's endless affairs and the drama surrounding each time he was caught and how her mum struggled with her anger towards her husband as their failing relationship failed. We also learn of her friendship troubles especially with old friend Antonella.

There's plenty of drama at the residential mansion and wildcard character Sasha is a dangerous likewise who causes a ton of crazy drama which leads to a thrilling gripping situation towards the end of the book as things retake a dangerous turn...

The book focuses on many mental health issues in the treatment from OCD, sex, drugs, alcohol, anorexia, bulimia, self harm all multitudes of addictions and shows the journey the group goes on together confusing in their issues and making friends of sorts. I particularly liked trans girl Kendall and Lexi making friends as they didn't judge each other but found a friend to help them at a hard time in their life. Lexi and how she comes to terms with who Kurt made her become and how with Brady she slowly crushes on him made clear her clarity was getting better and she was becoming herself again properly getting to see things clear with new eyes on the situation she had been through and how she had been used. The book highlights it's not an easy battle getting clean hence the title as many characters think about it do, relapse or worse. There's killer secrets packed into this gripping novel, Juno's writing never fails to captivate me and never let's me down!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

It Only Happens In The Movies by Holly Bourne

Audrey meets Harry when she starts working at upmarket cinema Flicker. Audrey is just getting over her heartbreak by ex Milo after he started dating Courtney despite having sex, really badly with Audrey as they reached their six month anniversary and heartlessly dumped her.

It doesn't help matters when her best friend Leroy is all loved up with his boyfriend Ian too. She also proceeded to shut out her girl friends Charlie, Alice and Becky as at home her mum's divorce has led her to keep having breakdowns where she gets violent and suicidal thoughts. She also struggles to juggle work, school and her Mum as UCAS dates loom ahead too along with her dad wanting their house sold too.

Working at Flicker and meeting Harry, she plays a zombie bride to flirty Harry in his film he's making and naturally the pair get closer but she still doubts boys and doesn't want to fall in love again.

Love isn't a choice she realises as her dad chose to move on from her Mum and get her step mum pregnant as he fell out of love with her mum.

But can she and Harry successfully be more than friends and have their own movie fairy tale romance?

Holly writes great, gripping fiction for teens and this one was so unique, there's zombies and love as well as heartbreak, friendship drama but not too different from the norm of romance as you see from above hard topics such as sex, divorce and mental health are deeply rooted into the novel and prove that everything can all happen at once but how we choose to handle it all can get to anyone and be too much to handle. Harry reminded me of Augustus from The Fault In Our Stars at times and was a fun character to read about while Audrey seemed so strong and able but knew when she needed to reconnect with the  world she'd been shutting out for so long.

The Unlikely Hero Of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

Set in room 13B primarily, this novel is all about Adam and his sudden crush, love and infatuation with Robyn, the new girl to his OCD therapy group.

In group, they are all assigned a superhero which they are addressed as by each other and group leader. It's inevitable that Robin and Batman are Robyn and Adam.

We see each one's struggle with their own rituals and past issues as they slowly open up in group with a lot of coinciding mental health issues not just OCD discussed from self harm, eating disorders, etc.

Adam has to write lists for his individual therapy sessions and through those we see his struggles and wishes along with his dosage of meds as the novel goes on, Robyn is getting better while Adam is sinking back into more rituals and habits.

Robyn also has a lot in her past from her mother's suicide to self harm and purging which show up as a surprise for Adam as he doesn't expect it but then again, he never expected Robyn until she walked into group one day.

Adam's home life is also poor as his mum is an extreme boarder and also starts to receive threatening letters in the post which turn out to be from a surprising person and a deep complex issue dealt with.

A lot of complex issues collide in this book which could possibly trigger sensitive people out there with frequent references made throughout to counting obsessively and being unable to enter your own house because of needing to follow rituals. However it is an open and raw look into the life of suffering with OCD day to day and was eye opening at how it can be so detrimental on day to day life and relationships. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the religious aspect as Adam introduces Robyn to Catholicism which I have no issue with but it didn't manifest into a hard-core plot involving Catholicism, Robyn was just opened to the idea and joined as did the group visiting the cathedral with Adam many a time.

Bonjour Girl by Isabelle Lafleche

Clementine, half French and half Chinese, now runs a blog all about fashion and attends New York's Parsons school of design staying with her cousin Maddie. At Parsons, she meets Stella a fellow fan of colour clothing unlike most Parsons students, Jake, a fellow fashionista who stands up for her when someone acts meanly towards her and Jonathan a cute photographer whom her cousin introduces her to.

With her scholarship she affords to start her blog but it soon sours from a dream as she starts receiving a lot of hate comments online from people finding out that she had scholarship funding, famous relatives and her unique diverse ideas the hate evolves  as Stella and other student, Ellie keep up the cyberbullying until Jonathan gets Clem to use his lawyer friend to take action after learning what Stella gets up to at the college...

As ideas get stolen and clothes go missing, cattiness between students amps up Clem realises show cut throat New York really is.

She comes from a family of high flying ladies, a model, an opera singer, TV personality etc and we see how women are made to be the powerful ones in this book. I loved the collision between fiction and real life as real bloggers and style blogs were mentioned throughout as Clems inspirations.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Wave Me Goodbye by Jacqueline Wilson

When ten year old Shirley thinks she's going on holiday to the country she thinks her Mum is going too, until it dawns she's going alone, evacuated because of the imminent war.

On the train she is sat next to Jessica, a St Agatha's convent girl where they are looked after and taught by nuns to be proper ladies though the other girls on the train from that school are mean to Jessica and Shirley but they still become form friends quickly.

Upon arriving in the countryside, Jessica and Shirley have to split up as they aren't going to stay at the same places, it unsettled them but they promise to stay friends. Shirley winds up left with a few other children and so they're forced into villagers with rooms. Shirley ends up also placed with Kevin a boy who's also ten but very tall and Archie a young bald boy. They stay with the mysterious Chubby, a bossy housekeeper and her friend Lady Waverley.

In the countryside they still have to attend school and horrid Marilyn from back in London is also there though all the children are scared of their mean teacher who shouts a lot and uses threats of the cane style contraptions on the kids hands to keep them behaving.

Shirley later sends a postcard to her Mum which describes how it was on her first day and how horrible she found it, however it causes her Mum so much concern she travels to meet the women taking care of her daughter and is so horrified she wants to take Shirley to stay with her boss's relatives.

Mrs Waverly also lets Shirley in on her secret room and confides in her about why she keeps what she does in there, it is very moving only a situation involving Kevin and him then running away leads him and Shirley into a dangerous encounter.

Throughout the book, as expected from a novel set in wartime England, there's old time language and what would be considered minor swearing but time appropriate. There's mentions of objects from wartime England and the caricatures depicted the time and theme of the book tremendously. Shirley was a great character and she really earnt a place in my heart over how kind she was and cheeky when necessary!

I was super excited to read this book and it fulfilled my dreams of it being a great book once again from Jacqueline. It was an emotional journey and super realistic keep your tissues ready!

Like Other Girls by Claire Hennessy

Lauren attends St Agnes's a posh girls school her mum is the head teacher of which causes issue for her as home issues get dragged into school later in the book.

Her old best friend Steph is transgender becoming Evan and through flashbacks to the past and events between herself and Steph show us a whole new side to their relationship as more than friends.

Lauren herself is a cis girl and is a member of a local LGBTQIA group where she makes good friends with Ellie and Steph also used to attend their meet ups until things became awkward between the pair.

In the book we early on see reckless sex and heavy drinking mentioned as she falls in with boyfriend Justin and his friends whom are scum in the language they use about Lauren. Justin is a flake of a boyfriend and coldly cuts her out of his life as she desperately tries to contact him as she suddenly realises she's late and now pregnant.

We see her battle with abortion and where to get one as she lives in Ireland and soon outs a clinic to a newspaper whom blast the story. She also flees to England to seek an abortion over there as her only resort which sees her use devius ways to afford it.

All this time though, she keeps it to herself and confides in no one and starts drinking more and more until she attends therapy and finally opens up to how she truly feels about everything that's happened in her life.

In the upcoming school musical she has to play a man singer which angers her as she watches the other girls get better roles she wished for but she turns the situation around after confiding  in her friends about the newspaper story on abortion not being fair was through her and so the play becomes her own.

This was a hard novel to get into but eventually it picked up after about one hundred pages and more drama was thrown in from the abortion perspective. While a good book with that storyline, I did wish for more with her friends and their love lives as mostly it seemed confusing to keep up and would've preferred it to be a little easier to follow who was what and  with who. I do commend it as a good novel about LGBTQIA issues but for me I need  to possibly read up on the more newer types of sexuality to appreciate it more, the abortion side was well played out as it's real life events still as people fight for abortion to be legal in Ireland and so is doing well raising further awareness in the future generations.

Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin

When Gen gets together with Peter neither of them could've been prepared for what happened next and now Gen is left with the consequences all alone after Peter abandoned her at the abortion clinic she had to go to.

We see from a split perspective of past and present events, from her meeting Peter a religious guy supposedly and now after the abortion struggling to understand how and why he won't get in touch.

After care sees her friend Rose looking out for her especially as word gets out Peter is now with his best friend Vanessa. It just so happens Vanessa used to be Gens old best friend. Struggling to move on, she suddenly meets  Seth at a party held at her cousin Delilah and a spark is instant between them, only the next day
Gen and Seth's lives collide once again when he introduces her to the idea of auditioning in New York as he is also a theatre lover and urges her to perform again as her dad would want her to.
We also see everything come full circle for Gen when Peter suddenly shows up out of the blue once again and a family tragedy reunited the cousins after a fall out.

In Gen's life we see her lack of parenting for her or her sister as her dad does from a heroin overdose due to a life long battle with drugs in the scene of him being a playwright and their Mum suffers with her mental health and isn't always reliable to be around. The themes of abortion, pregnancy and suicide/mental health are dealt with in a way we see how it causes pain for each involved and those around them and just how much a support network can help as well as a good shoulder to cry on as Rose is a strong and supporting friend of Gen's. I also loved how each chapter started with a title from the list of after abortion care and how it plays a part in the story.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

Freida isn't the most popular of the girls, but her friend of now drifting from friend, Isabel used to be ranked number one in this book all about being the best and most desirable girl manufactured in order to be chosen by a man.

These girls are made specially for the men, carefully designed and kept until one day their men arrive and select them to begin a life with where they need to produce only sons and never daughters as all women are manufactured. If they can't be a companion, the girls are either destined to be a chastity at the school or a concubine forever or even worse, underground experiments.

Megan is now the most popular girl ranked at the top out of all their year and despite Isabel, Frieda's old best friend only ever wanting to be on top, she soon battles with her weight which is heavily discussed in this book by all the girls as they criticise each other hardcore as they need to be perfect to the men. There is also more than meets the eye as we learn later on as to why Isabel distances herself and struggles to cope in some ways.

As the boys begin their visits to the school to spend time with potential partners, Freida feels honoured to be Darwin's choice many times as he's the best ranked number one, however Megan isn't happy about this at all but when Freida tries to hard to be accepted, the best and gives in to her feelings she ends up paying the price in the end.

This book is brutal and vain but in a great way, a bit triggering for anyone with an eating disorder  I feel but besides that it was an intriguing storyline and essential looking at real life Barbie or Brats being made in the way the girls are spoken about in the book. It was very honest in topics discussed from sex, marriage and the girls relationships with their bodies which portrays they were more human like in attitude than brainwashed into set ways of thinking though they did have rules to follow for the so called ideal life to be theirs.theirs

The Skincare Bible by Dr Anjali Mahto

Firstly, this book has a great simple yet unique stand out cover to me with the gold on pink girly vibe really drawing my eyes to it.

Being someone whom has tried a cleanse, tone, moisturize way of life everyday mixed up at times with a swipe of cotton pads with micellar water on or a hasty face wipe if not a flannel and water over my face for years now, this book really has opened my eyes to how much is involved in skin and caring properly for it.

After all, skin is our largest organ essentially and goes through a lot everyday and not just enduring cuts and bruises when they happen as we're reminded in this book, our skin constantly grows, changes and needs caring for.

With plenty of amazing scientific facts about skin and detailed diagrams to show us our skin's make up, we learn about skin types, colours and their differences and what each requires for optimum health. There's concise guides for what skin types prefer what products or just how pampering yourself can pay off for mental and physical health and happiness.

I liked how the author shared their on experiences of skin troubles such as acne and throughout the book talked about the mental health effects skin issues can bring be it acne, aging or stretch marks etc loads of us have the same common issues and need to stop judging others around us or worry what they think of us we are all doing our best but we can of course use the right products and have a healthy diet to help too!

We may take skin for granted but it's certainly been waiting for a book on the market to draw us to finding out what we should do for it sooner rather than later. I liked how the book is like a friend, there to guide, non judging where we may have gone wrong before but is comforting and busts the myths behind beauty industry jargon surrounding skin care.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this for them!

Mind The Gap by Phil Earle

When his best friend Mikey's dad, Vinny dies, we witness one boy's efforts he goes to to help his best mate get over and handle the death better than fighting with their estate's gangster, Trev.
Travelling all cross London we encounter people who didn't like Vinny at all by the end of his life unfortunately, as he was a failed big time actor who never got a big break. Meanwhile, Mikey's mum is a drunk and seems uninterested in her son's life.

Inevitability seems to pull Mikey to the underground not just to find his best friend but there he finds something he needed more than anything.

As death can effect us all in different ways, here we witness the anger and frustration after a close death coming out of Mikey showing how not processing it can hold you back as he just wants a reminder of his dad.

A short to the point read about death and it's aftermath, inspired by a real story which sounds fascinating too.

Dork Diaries: Crush Catastrophe by Rachel Renee Russell

Nikki is back once again, this time though she is caught up between crush drama as new boy Andre partakes in an exchange student event with Nikki's school.

Brandon, Nikki's long time crush soon gets jealous after the pair are together all the time at school, despite him still hanging out with Nikki as they train her puppy together and get close on most occasions!

Then when their impending Bad Boys tour band slot gets threatened by Nikki getting accepted on an art study in Paris where Andre will happily play tour guide, she has a huge decision! Though as social media bites back with altered photos of her and Andre begin to circulate the school, will Brandon still want anything to do with her or will he assume she's with Andre?

Nikki herself makes her decision between both events and writes her feelings for each boy into a letter for each, only for there to be a mix up which leads to a shock revelation from her number one enemy, McKenzie herself!

A super quick fun read, I am addicted to reading Nikki's dramatic diaries and love her sketches too! Super fun, girly and humorous, this is a book for girls with a crush!