Novelicious - Everything Chick Lit

YA Review - Della Says: OMG by Keris Stainton

Della’s over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party – but then she discovers her diary has disappeared...
When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della’s distraught – how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

Before anything else, it's fair to say that Keris Stainton is a very good friend of mine. I have been tantalised with excerpts of her writing for years and so in receiving this book, my expectations were very high. Regardless of my friendship with Keris - this is a completely honest review.

The concept of this book really appealed to me. I have been writing in diaries since I was 11 years old, and one of my worst nightmares is that somebody might find and read them. The thought that they may be put onto the internet or shared with anyone else gives me the complete heebie jeebies! For such a thing to happen to the protagonist, Della, immediately keeps you turning the page to see whether she can retrieve her diary and all of its secrets.

I thought this book was wonderful. Keris has a real skill of writing three dimensional characters; the kind of people you would like to exist in real life, and perhaps be friends with. Della was no exception. A lovely, smart, funny teenager dealing with the ups and downs of life as an adolescent. Her thoughts and feelings on life and the events happening around her were so well observed and very realistic. A perfect narrator.

The supporting cast were colourful and a joy to read. I especially loved Della's parents, who - far from being the kind of 'parenty' parents you may expect in a teenage novel - were very cool.

In-between searching for the missing diary, Della is enjoying a burgeoning romance with her long term crush - Dan. I think that this plot was my favourite of the whole book. For a start Dan was absolutely delicious. I was worried about just how delicious I found him (you know, with him being a teenager and all), but have been re-assured by others who have read this book, that this is completely normal. In reading this, expect to get a crush on Dan. It's inevitable.

The kissing scenes between Della and Dan brought on a touch of nostalgia. They snog and snog and snog some more. Kind of made me want to be a teen again, when kissing for HOURS was the most exciting way to spend your time.

I found this book refreshingly real, well written, witty and atmospheric. I highly recommend it and can't wait to see what Keris offers us next!

A snogtastic 10/10

Buy This Book

Read the first chapter

Visit Keris' Website

YA Review - My So Called Afterlife by Tamsyn Murray

"I knew it was time to move on when a tramp peed on my Uggs..".

 Meet Lucy Shaw. She's not your average fifteen year old - for a start, she's dead. And as if being a ghost wasn't bad enough, she's also trapped haunting the men's toilets on Carnaby Street. So when a lighting engineer called Jeremy walks in and she realises he can see and hear her, she isn't about to let him walk out of her afterlife. Not least until he's updated her on what's happening in her beloved soaps. With Jeremy's help, Lucy escapes the toilet and is soon meeting up with other ghosts, including the perpetually enraged Hep and the snogtastic Ryan. But when Jeremy suggests Lucy track down the man who murdered her, things go down hill. Can Lucy face up to the events of that terrible night? And what will it cost her if she does?

This book was awesome. While reading it, I almost forgot that it was aimed at young adults because it was one of those novels that seems to transcend age range. The kind of book that anyone will enjoy.

The character of Lucy was brilliant. Sarcastic and a little stroppy - but totally funny with it. Her jokes and observations had me chuckling aloud at many points during the book.

The whole afterlife concept was done brilliantly. The rules by which Lucy could leave her toilet (the place where she died), and the way she was able to interact with other ghosts, were believable and original. For a while there I almost believed that what happened to Lucy really is what happens after you die!

I liked that Tamsyn didn't shy away from the circumstances of Lucy's murder. Certain parts of this plot really creeped me out. Lucy's death was sadly, the kind of senseless killing that happens all the time in real life. While this was completely upsetting, it also served to engage me in what happened to Lucy and whether she did find her killer.

Altogether a funny, insightful and totally original debut!

8/10

Buy This Book!

Visit Tamsyn's Website

Read Chapter One of My So Called Afterlife

Top Ten - Our Top Ten Young Adult Fiction Blogs and Websites

Seeing as you may have stumbled upon Novelicious hoping for a wealth of knowledge about the YA genre, and we are only a one YA day a week website - I thought I would offer up some link love and direct you to some of the most fantastic Young Adult Fiction blogs and websites out there on the internets.

Here are out top ten for your perusal!

1. Wondrous Reads - An excellent YA reviews blog run by Young Adult Fiction expert Jenny. Each book is graded from A+ to D

2. Chicklish - Teen fiction site run by author Luisa Plaja. Tagline - "Reader, I snogged him!"

3. The Story Siren - Hugely popular blog run by Kristi. Started the well known In My Mailbox feature

4. Bookalicious Ramblings - Very pretty and well written blog covering YA, Chick Lit and Historical Fiction

5. Rhiana Reads - New blog on the block - also covers chick lit!

6. The Crooked Shelf - Excellent YA reviews. Tagline "memoirs of a YA addict"

7. Chick Lit Teens - well established YA site including features such as 'Cover Judge' and 'Chick Chat'

8. I Was a Teenage Book Geek - Run by Lauren from Brighton - brilliant blog title!

9. So Many Books, So Little Time - Great reviews site with lots of excellent links and features

10. Teen Fiction Cafe - Good looking site - encourages conversation!

Have I missed any? Do you have any suggestions?

xx

YA News - Della Says:OMG by Keris Stainton

This debut novel from Keris Stainton will be released on the 6th May this year and I'm too excited about it.

The blurb reads...

Della’s over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party – but then she discovers her diary has disappeared...
When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della’s distraught – how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

How excellent does this sound? I have read an extract of this novel and am getting a leedle impatient with waiting to read the rest!

You can pre order this book by clicking here (it's also in our bookshop) and you can visit Keris' lovely website by clicking here!

YA Review - Split by a Kiss by Luisa Plaja

Jo has just moved to America with her mum. She's always been a fairly average girl - not a nerd but certainly never one of the popular kids. But on her first day in her new school, she seems to be adopted by the It girls - and is invited to one of their parties. There, she meets Jake Matthews, officially the hottest boy in school, and when they begin to play the kissing-in-the-closet game, Seven Minutes in Heaven, amazingly Jake picks Jo join him in the closet! She can't believe her luck. But the reality of being kissed and groped by Jake is not quite as great as the fantasy...Jo has a choice to make: should she carry on, kiss Jake and secure her position in the It crowd - or should she tell him where to get off and risk relegation back to the land of the ordinary ...? At this moment - Jo splits. She's Josie the Cool - girlfriend of Jake, member of the It crowd. She's also Jo the Nerd - rejected by the It crowd, single ...Will her two halves ever come back together again? Is Jake the guy she's meant to be with or could some of the other people she meets along her journey - Rachel the scary goth, David the misfit or Albie the rocker - be the answer?

I have mentioned before that I am relatively new to the world of YA fiction but, bloody hell, it's good!

I ordered Split by a Kiss because I was looking for something that might fall into the category of teen Chick Lit, and Luisa Plaja's first novel drew me in (just look at the above blurb - how could somebody not buy it!).

It was a really, really excellent read.

The first thing that got me about this novel was the voice of Jo, the protagonist. It was engaging, funny, and very true to life. Jo splits between two worlds (one as the nerd and one as the cool girl), and I found it very impressive that the voice of Jo was maintained so well, despite her being in such different situations.

Win! Two copies of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver to Giveaway!

 
So, as you can tell from the review below, I am completely in love with Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Here at Novelicious we have been lucky enough to recieve TWO advance copies to giveaway to you, our fab readers!

You can enter this competition by leaving a comment on this post telling us why you want a copy of Before I Fall. The best two answers win a copy of the book. WORLDWIDE ENTRIES ACCEPTED!

This contest will close on Sunday 28th February at Midnight (UK TIME)

Good Luck and stay tuned for an interview with Lauren Oliver herself, later on today :D

UPDATE - This contest has been extended and will now close at midnight (uk time) on TUESDAY 2ND MARCH!!

Review - Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

 To kick off our regular YA Wednesday, we are dedicating the whole of today to Lauren Oliver and her fantastic debut book - Before I Fall ! The book is released in March of this year, and is properly amazing.

Here's the review...

 
They say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me

Sam Kingston is dead. Except she isn't.

On a rainy February night, eighteen-year-old Sam is killed in a horrific car crash. But then the impossible happens: she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the day that she died.

Forced to live over and over the last day of her life the drive to school, skipping class, the fateful party she desperately struggles to alter the outcome, but every morning she wakes up on the day of the crash.

This is a story of a girl who dies young, but in the process learns how to live. And who falls in love... a little too late.

BEFORE I FALL is a brave and complex novel about the territory between life and death. As astonishing as The Lovely Bones and as luminous as Jenny Downham s Before I Die, it will make you want to live every day as if it were your last.

Every once in a while you read a book that takes your breath away. You finish the last page and sit staring into space for a few minutes thinking, ‘ Wow’. And then you think about how long an amount of time it would be appropriate to wait before you read it again.

This is what happened between me and Lauren Oliver’s debut novel – Before I Fall.

The book was sent to me for review and, to be honest, I wasn’t that interested. It didn’t really tie-in with what we were already reviewing on Novelicious, plus I had never really read any YA up until that point.

 

Review - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Reviewed by Rachel Guzman

Synopsis

About three things I was absolutely positive:
First, Edward was a vampire.
Second, there was a part of him–and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be–that thirsted for my blood.
And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife -- between desire and danger.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

I finally decided to read this series after hearing from everyone who had read it that I will become instantly obsessed, knowing it was considered an 8th grade reading level I figured it would be a fun easy read and that's that.  Well it was a quick read but only because I was so drawn into this fantasy romance that I couldn't put the book down.