The Fandom by Anna Day, 2018

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Cosplay ready, Violet and her friends are at Comic-Con.

They can’t wait to meet the fandom of mega movie, The Gallows Dance. What they’re not expecting is to be catapulted by freak accident into their favourite world – for real. Fuelled by love, guilt and fear, can the friends put the plot back on track and get out? The fate of the story is in their hands ...

(402 pages)

I'm sure there are times we've all daydreamed about entering our favorite fictional universe. For me it's always been Hogwarts and Camp Halfblood; for you, it might be District Twelve or the Shire or any number of other fictional settings. We love our favorite books, we dream about our favorite characters, and we imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes.

I love this idea of seeing what that would really be like. Because, as Day's characters find out again and again, it probably wouldn't be nearly as glamorous as we like to think it would be.

Day does a fabulous job of thinking through the morals and the implications of bringing a fictional world to life. In a dystopian world, real people are really suffering–hundreds, thousands of them who may not have speaking parts but suddenly have feelings. The cruelty added to bring tension to the main character's surroundings is more inhumane when it's really happening. The romance which seems so sweet on the page becomes a lot more selfish in real life when it distracts from the life-or-death rebellion missions.

I love books that make me think about things on a deeper level, and The Fandom did just that.  I do still have some bones to pick with it, though. For one thing, I think Violet had one too many friends. I got Alice and Katie mixed up more than once, and I didn't really see the purpose Alice served that couldn't have been fulfilled in other ways. I also thought that the bad language (swears up to and including the f-word) were unnecessary, forcing me to skip recommending it to people I otherwise would have handed it to. I also didn't really see the need for the romance subplot, though I suppose others might like it more than I did.

All in all, I liked The Fandom quite a bit but it still felt like something was . . . missing. I enjoyed the ride, though, and you may too–just remember that some of the language and violent content is not meant for younger readers!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange, 2016

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1919. Henry has moved to the countryside with her parents and her baby sister, Piglet – all still scarred by the death of her brother. Alone in her head, she begins to explore her surroundings, encouraged by her only friends – characters from her favourite books. Nobody much notices when she wanders into the woods at the bottom of the garden and meets Moth, a striking witch-like woman. Together they form a bond that could help Henry save her family.

(304 pages)

What a lovely and thoughtful read.

I had no idea what I was in for when I picked it up, which I think made the experience even more delightful. In this review, I'll try to discuss my own reaction to the book without spoiling too much of the experience of going into it blind for you.

Because it's an extremely atmospheric book. It's set in a big, rambling old house with secrets tucked quietly away inside its walls. It's set right after the end of World War 1, at a time when the fighting had ended but the reverberation of pain from so much death was still echoing in the air. It's the story of a young girl who has suffered terrible loss and trauma, using her imagination to cope with her new reality–but the lines become blurred, and one begins to wonder what is real, what is imagined, and whether Henry is beginning to suffer from hallucinations like the ones her mother has developed.

I wish I could delve more into the characters of the story, because I felt they were strong as well, but as I said I don't want to spoil too much. My only real complaint is that some of them were a tad stereotypical, and that one or two of the later plot turns were a little too contrived/convenient for me. I loved the book best when Henry was just wandering around in the house and the adjacent forest, exploring the world. But of course the plot had to come to some sort of climax and denouement, and I think that what Strange chose to do is perfectly fine and does wrap the book up very well.

And with that, I think I'll stop. I definitely recommend The Secret of Nightingale Wood to everyone who is interested. If you read it, let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Washed Ashore by Kerr Thomson, 2017

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On a wild Scottish island, a tragedy washes up on the storm-beaten shore: the bodies of a whale and a man. Fraser, desperate for adventure, and Hayley, visiting from Texas, become tangled in the mystery.

But Fraser's younger brother Dunny is distraught by the discovery. He hasn't spoken in years, and lately he's been acting more strangely than ever.

Together, the three meet a man living in the abandoned caves nearby. They start to wonder if he might lie at the center of something darker than they had previously thought. For the whispering sea conceals a terrible secret, and to discover the truth, one of them must learn to listen...

(320 pages)

Washed Ashore showed up unsolicited on my doorstep one day. I picked it up, shrugged, and read it with basically no expectations about the story (except that there would probably be a whale involved).

Now that I think about it, it's good that I didn't read the description too closely because it basically has nothing to do with the actual story. I mean, the bare-bones idea of the bodies washed ashore and Fraser, Hayley, and Dunny's presence in the story is right, but I'm still not sure who the synopsis is talking about what it says that "one of them must learn to listen." I have inklings, but no firm idea.

Anyway, moving on. What did I think of the book? I thought it was pretty good. I think it's awesome that it's set in Scotland and written by a guy who lives in Glasgow, because I'm actually moving to Scotland in a few months to attend college in (the essentially small fishing town of) St. Andrews, Scotland. My copy of Washed Ashore actually came before I'd made my final decision to go there, and then I read it soon after the decision was made. That's a pretty cool coincidence! I like getting a peek at what life is like on the small Scottish isles, definitely. Though I have to say that I struggled to connect with Hayley at first–I just couldn't believe that there was no part of her that could stop moping about leaving home long enough to look around and appreciate the fact that she was living among the natives on a beautiful little island in gorgeous-freaking-Scotland! Honestly, travel is simply wasted on some people. The only time she ever seems to acknowledge the "other-ness" of Scotland, besides one time when she notices that the shoreline looks kind of nice, is when she's referring to Fraser as "the Scottish boy." This phrase is thrown around almost constantly throughout the book, and from context I think it's basically supposed to have the same connotations as "the boy next door" (i.e. "the boy we've put a special label on and who will eventually be a love interest for the female protagonist"). Meh. Both of these phrases really don't tell us anything about the boy in question, so I don't really like them.

Anyway, the romance plotline is actually handled quite well and I enjoyed watching how all the characters interacted with each other. My favorite character may have been Dunny (who is autistic, though the way Thomson chose to incorporate that into the plot was . . . interesting), just because he seems really sweet and Hayley and Fraser aren't all that nice to or understanding with him. I also felt for Hayley, who is struggling big-time with her parents' separation and upcoming divorce (after her father left them for another woman), and I'm rather horrified about what her mother almost does while on rebound. I liked Fraser least of the three main characters, just because he has the most advantages–knowing everything/everyone on the island, unlike Hayley, and being able to communicate with other people in a way that Dunny can't–and yet is still such a jerk at times to both of them. He's especially thoughtless with Dunny, which is hard to see. Fraser does grow on me, though.

As for the plot itself, I can't discuss much without spoilers. There are some interesting themes explored, that's for sure. I can't say that I love the way everything ends up–it's a little too mystical for my tastes–but I suppose that could just be part of the Scottish culture. There are some interesting ethical dilemmas brought up in connection with immigration and the like, which really got me thinking. I can't go much into this here, so I suppose I'll just say that I don't blame immigrants for fleeing hopeless situations but I also think countries should have the right to decide who they admit into their borders.

Anyway, though, Washed Ashore was a pleasant book that I enjoyed reading but which didn't blow my socks off. It would make a perfect summer read for any of you still looking for something to pass the time with in the next few weeks.

Disclaimer: I received an unsolicited, complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher.

The Impossible Clue by Sarah Rubin, 2017

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Math whiz Alice Jones has already cracked a mystery or two. She's smart and she's fearless, so who else would her classmates turn to? But when a famous local scientist vanishes from a locked room, Alice and her detective skills graduate to the big leagues.

Dr. Learner had been working on a top-secret invisibility suit that everyone wants. Rumor has it he's disappeared under suspicious circumstances . . . literally. But is wacky science really behind his vanishing? Or is it something more sinister? Alice won't stop until she knows the truth . . .

(304 pages)

I'm a huge sucker for mystery novels, always have been and always will be. That's why I was very pleased to have The Impossible Clue show up on my doorstep a few weeks back–it looked so perfect, like exactly the sort of absorbing and fun read that I needed.

And I was right, for the most part. This was definitely an entertaining read, and–for all my years of reading mystery novels–the plot continually took turns that I legitimately didn't see coming. At the same time, though, I had a hard time growing to like the main character Alice. She's a really smart math geek who loves puzzles and museums and all things logic. That's all great, and I can totally connect with her on a certain geeky level (even though I'm still not as good at math as she is at just twelve). The trouble, though, is that Alice is extremely sure of her own abilities . . . and aware of how they compare to everyone else's. Right from page one she's constantly judging the people around her, deciding who is worth her time, and then basically ignoring everyone else. I really felt bad for Sammy, the emotionally needy and slightly thick boy who introduces her to the case. He practically worships Alice, but she is constantly running to avoid him and tuning out when he's talking and giving him throwaway errands to run. She's flat-out rude to him many times, and even though she recognizes toward the end that she might be hurting his feelings she never seriously considers treating him more respectfully.

While I'm being negative, I'd like to also point out that I don't really think much of Alice's supposed devotion to logic and certainty. She's constantly making snap judgments about people and situations, and her deducement of what was actually going on (though certainly very clever) hinges almost entirely on shrewd guesswork. She had no proof for almost anything, so the dramatic ending is slightly ridiculous. I for one am still putting the pieces together and figuring out why her announcement even makes sense.

Now that I've got the negative bits out of the way, I'll be the first to admit that I devoured the book–flaws and all. Like I said, I adore mystery books of all shapes and sizes. This one was a fun brain-twister that kept me guessing and kept the suspense up. I thought the family dynamics were very well done, and that Alice's father was particularly realistic. He's an actual human being, just for starters! In too many middle-grade novels the parents are simply cardboard cutouts who sit in the background and let their kids run around all they like. Having him be a reporter who loved his children deeply but got incredibly wrapped up in pursuing his stories was a really good touch.

All in all, this isn't the most memorable mystery novel I've ever read but it's certainly not the worst. I quite enjoyed reading it, and I appreciate the hours of excitement it provided me. I may keep ahold of my copy and re-read it sometime just to see how it reads a second time through. If I do, I'll be sure to come back and add a postscript if I come out with a wildly different opinion!

Disclaimer: I received an unsolicited ARC of this novel from the publisher.