The Midnight Sun by Trish Cook

Suffering from a severe illness called XP, Katie is refined to her and her dad's house all day while the sun is up or she could get severely ill with cancer of the skin and die, just from exposure.

But when the sun's down she comes out of their house and plays her guitar on the local train platform, where she finally meets Charlie, the guy she sees pass by her house every day, object of her lust and affection's.

So when the pair start meeting up at night, with the help of her friend Morgan setting it up, she starts to experience life like other teenagers do.

It was a really beautiful story about a girl who just wants to live her life they way teens passing her by literally can. She comes into her own discovering what lies outside her house and we can see how much it changes her life as she finds love and friendship and the wonders of the world around her suddenly make themselves more known to her.

Ella On The Outside by Cath Howe

In this book we meet Ella whom always feels on the edge of friendship group's at her new school. She falls into a friendship with Queen of attention Lydia whom seems to use Ella to find out more about their classmate, mysterious Molly whom doesn't mix with anyone and sits alone.

Pressured by pushy Lydia into investigating into Molly's life and what she herself hides from inside her house. As Ella uses her photography skills to document what she finds, she learns true friendship and helps a woman in need...

As Ella also has to protect a secret about her family, she discovers a lesson about trust and true friendship despite first appearances.

It was a great book as we are not only drawn into the mystery of what is hidden in Molly's house but also over the fact of the fake friend and true possible friend angle in the story too. It was a read that teaches kids not to judge each other just on outwards appearance but on what we as people are truly about as we each have different interests and secrets.

Another Place by Matthew Crow

Claudette has bipolar one and after release from her section she finds that her distant friend Sarah has gone missing. Sarah grew up not knowing a true home as she grew up in care.

The streets are tough and we soon learn Sarah was mixed up in something bigger than herself. As Claudette focuses on Jacob, a photographer, Ross a local lad and Dan a dangerous individual whom many owe things too, she sets about discovering the truth of what happened to Sarah and if she's alive or dead.

It's gripping and worked well flashing back to the past seeing the girls become friends and how Sarah had to fight to survive. It combines so many issues from drugs, care, family and friendship as well as knowing who you can rely on to trust the most.

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

Kayla is about to turn sixteen and have a party thrown by her ever working mum whom doesn't listen to what she wants.

Nicole is her best friend only now she's too busy dating Kayla's secret crush Ben to notice and turn up to the party.

Janae is Kayla's nemesis at school, everything she isn't and will never be, so when she turns up at the party with her mum Kayla's angry and in disbelief.

When she wishes her past wishes will come true, she's not disappointed, when she wakes the next morning her life changes for the next week as endless gumballs, Raggedy Ann and Barbies Ken all appear in her life as well as some other shocking things too. However despite the awkward situations that follow, by the end we see in retrospect her wishes coming true have kind of some her a favour in some cases.

It was such a fun read! I read it in one day as I was so hooked on to the action about what the next wish would be, would relationships and friendships break or not etc, it was a total girly read and if you want a laugh this book will give you that with the bizarre situations that happen!

Soft Thorns by Bridgett Devoue

Bridgett is an amazing girl I followed on instagram many years ago when I found her beautiful poetry on there. With moving poetry about an array of topics from beauty, life, love, pain, eating disorders, abuse, depression and more. They're all serious but moving and beautifully written poetry worthy of a read by anyone whom has been affected recently or in the past by any of the discussed topics. She perfectly captures imagery of a romantic relationship and all the up and down sides of it you can go through.

I never knew that Bridgette suffered with chronic pain, as do I and found myself relating to her voice so much in certain poems for sure.

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

That's Not What Happened by Kody Kepplinger

Leanne lost her friend Sarah at school during a massacre when a male sixteen year old opened fire killing nine students. Only now Leanne is setting the record straight and has discovered the truth about what happened by getting the survivors and her now friends to write their account of the day's events in letter form.

Eden a gay girl, Miles a troublemaker and Denny, a blind student with a guide dog Labrador called Glitter also witnessed the attack as well as Kellie a goth girl, from in the bathroom where Sarah the so called religious girl was killed too with Leanne her best friend witnessing it all happen.

I liked the book featuring a mix of disabled and asexual characters as it's against the normal seen in young adult never too often. The aspect of a shooter as a sixteen year old in a place of legal gun use too was interesting and showed a further element of mystery about the shooter into the mix though I was disappointed in how little we see his story and whether he was known to all the group. It felt truly authentic and horrific alike when a real American shooting has taken place sadly and I'm glad it was fiction and not fact for once. It was a greatly emotional and moving story especially in a time where acts like this can be committed at any time it seems.

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

The Girl In The Window by Penny Joelson

When Kasia one night see's a young girl looking like she's being kidnapped she also sees a person in the window facing hers across the road.

Ellie her best friend visits her as Kasia can't leave her bedroom, after suffering tonsillitis, she developed an infection leading to CFS/ME. Leaving her chronically tired and weak.

As she begins to pace herself into getting downstairs and then to visit Mrs Gayatri next door, she also wonders who's in the window opposite hers as no girl ever leaves and the owners deny her being there. It is thanks to Mrs Gayatri she meets Navin and gains a new friend.

As new friends are made, new hobbies found and even getting themselves into serious danger to save many people, this book proves much drama despite Kasia having ME/CFS and being confined just to her house some days she has an adventurous time finding out about the girl in the window.

I loved Penny's last book so much, this one I'm glad to say didn't disappoint me at all either and instead I got quite emotional reading about Kasia's struggle with ME/CFS. As a sufferer of Fibromyalgia of which ME/CFS goes with hand in hand, I know what it's like to be in constant pain, be never endingly tired and dream of a life living not just existing and plans on hold. It was definitely relatable and new to young adult fiction being brought up as I haven't come across another book to mention or include a character with ME/CFS. It was a great story concept and shows how little trafficking is mentioned in fiction for young adults so brought a whole new element to the mix and not just making it a ghost storyline again like in a lot of books. I found myself reading it in one sitting, full of drama and mystery it's a thrilling read.

The book dealt with the subject of human trafficking very well and showed the danger girls can be in realistically.

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

It's Not Me It's You by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Avery has sworn off boys while completing her history assignment on her past relationships with boys throughout her schooling.

As her friend Coco, enemy Bizzy, best guy friend Hutch etc all weigh in on her relationship past too, we see from all their views the relationships Avery has had and been through.

From discovering her worst relationship to finding her heart's true desire and saving her prom too after her enemy destroys it all despite them both being on the prom committee.

It was a typical teen voice book and was good but not amazing as it was literally just about Avery's boy history and current prom situation a tiny bit. It was quite childish and Avery seems to always be defending herself in each relationship look back when she should just accept what happened and move on.

Nothing Tastes As Good by Claire Hennessey

Julia is a girl affected by her past, Annabel is the voice urging her on into disordered eating, a voice of a girl who died due to her anorexia.

In order to get a message home from beyond the grave, Annabel must help Julia to become happy believing Julia is stressed and sad because of her pressure she puts on herself to be perfect, flawless in her future career as a journalist and run the school newspaper efficiently.

However as deeper issues surrounding an older man come to light, broken friendships, new friendships and even a relationship bloom and soon Julia is destroying but living her life at the same time during her rocky patch inspired by Annabel's memory.

This was a strange read personifing yet making anorexia a ghost at the same time. Julia was a believable character to suffer as you see her become engrossed in discovering Annabel and her desire to be perfect on the newspaper team.  It was realistic but could be triggering at places too. I feel the writing flitted from amateurish to just uninteresting in areas but I finished the story and that was good overall.

Hope by Rhian Ivory

Hope is a talented singer facing a tough time, rejected from her drama school of dreams that she and her dad imagined her going to.

Now her dad is gone and Hope feels sad and alone she can't face her GCSEs and rejects her friends despite her discovering her violent mood swings are more than just PMS after talking with a lady she works with at the hospital she help out singing at she discovers she had PMDD, something very much unknown.

She also has to recover her voice after messing up her audition and decide on her new future plans while she also navigate a the possibility of a chance at love with the guy whom saved her life as she was onboard a boat...

It was a touching novel and very much emotional as we see a young girl cope with death, new dreams, love possibly and PMDD which I had never heard of but seems very much like more information should be made known to girls about it.

Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee by Mary G Thompson

Amy and Dee are cousins two years apart when they get taken from by their local river and are hidden away in a woods in a secluded cabin with their captor, Kyle.

Only years on, Amy is now back and finding her way home aged sixteen and now preferring to be called Chelsea, after that is what her captor called her for so many years.

Meanwhile, Lee, Dee's older sister and her mum push for answers about what happened to Dee whilst we see through Amy's flashbacks just what happened to her and what the pair endured while being captured and unable to be free.

I thoroughly loved this book and the creepy doll mystery around Kyle and why he took and what he did to the girls during their lost years. It built up the mystery and kept me hooked on discovering everything. One of the best YA mystery books!

Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon

In this book, we meet Rosie a girl with Downs syndrome whom is in love with her boyfriend Jack. The only trouble is her dad who wants them to split up as Jack has anger issues due to his head being hurt as a baby.

So when Jack gets sent away to deal with his anger, he writes to Rosie via postcards her dad hides away but she discovers.

Using her initiative and wanting to be with Jack, Rosie plans with her friend Lou's help, a way to get to Brighton and sets off with her bag of belongings including her birthday money to fund her trip.

Only things don't go to plan and she finds herself encountering kind strangers, new friends, kind mum's, then a darker world of secret work and the dangers it can lead you into to, especially when you can't escape...

Rosie is determined, brave and severely in love. This book was amazingly bold and daring whilst it captivated me from the start with the unique collision of characters and plot. We go on a journey with a smart protagonist proving her parents she able to do things and not giving up on love especially.

An absolutely astounding debut from a brand new author in YA!

My Secret YouTube Life by Charlotte Seager

Lily is a Youtube vlogger who goes by the name LilyLoves
However her life isnt perfect as she deals with her drunk boyfriend who's a wannabe rock star who treats her badly.

Then there's Issa, a follower of Lily whom wants her so called perfect life for herself, only to be forcing it to happen and it doesn't in the way she dreams as she uses others photo's on her blog to enhance her life to the online world to have startling friendship consequences for her.

When Lily and Issa see each other, a shocking actions sets the two spiralling and we witness their lives break and then to realise what truly matters in life and how they can grow and evolve from their shared experience.

It was a typical Youtube experience, believable and crazy from both girls perspectives. It deals with cyber bullying and online hate as well as tabloid news and how the media can spread lies and truths but blow them out of proportion. For a debut it shone through all the other YouTube fiction books I have read sounding more grown up in  tone of language and relationship issues raised.

Behind Closed Doors by Miriam Halahmy

Josie lives with her mum in their house full of her mum's so called treasure, which is just charity shop buys hoarded so much they can't use hardly any rooms of their house and all their money funds the collection.

Tash lives with her mum and at times her mum's creepy boyfriend who seems to fancy Tash and make creepy advances towards her touching and striking her as well as trying to get into her room late at night.

When Josie's mum forgets to pay the council tax, she ends up in prison and Tash finds solace in the secret hoarder house after Josie confides in her about her mum and meets Tash stay as she isn't safe at home.

Throughout the novel we are the girls struggle to cope on hardly any money and having to plan showers, washing and food, as well as deal with serious criminals and getting boyfriends. It's light and dark, mixed in moods as they face better and worse times as they fight to survive together and not get taken into care. It was a remarkable read, fighting to survive and being made homeless aren't seen enough in YA books and this sets the standard.