Dying to Know You - Aidan Chambers

Dying to Know You – Aidan Chambers


Pages: 275
Publisher: Bodley Head (RHCP)
Release Date: 26th April 2012 
Edition: UK hardback


Other Titles by this Author: The Kissing Game


Shy, likable Karl is in love with clever, beautiful Fiorella. To prove his affection, she demands that he bare his soul to her in letters. The difficulty? Karl is convinced he can’t write, or at least not well enough for Fiorella, who loves books and words. In a Cyrano de Bergerac-like twist, Karl sets out to persuade Fiorella’s favourite novelist to write the letter for him. When the famous author unexpectedly agrees, a series of misunderstandings ensues, resulting in a startling revelation, a near tragedy, and an unexpected friendship that transforms the lives of all three.


In this smart, exhilarating book about love, identity, and finding one’s own voice in the world. Aidan Chambers shows once again why he has been called “one of young-adult literature’s greatest living writers” (Booklist). 


Dying to Know You is a soft and unassuming novel about love, friendship, loss and finding yourself in the most surprising places and with the help of unexpected people.


I hadn’t read any reviews of Dying to Know You before I began reading it so I didn't really know what to expect from it; a very rare occurrence now days, and you know what, it was lovely. I was actually quite shocked when I started reading and found that the story was told from the perspective of the unnamed writer that Karl asks for help. I loved how their friendship developed. It was a touching relationship that really helped both Karl and the writer to move on and to discover and re-discover their talents. 


One of my favourite elements of the novel was how Aidan Chambers connected the ideas of love, communication and language; it was a very thought-provoking way to approach all of the issues that arose in the novel. Everything from love, grief, dyslexia, ageing, friendship, art, writing and depression was either discussed or experienced by the characters in Dying to Know You and yet it wasn’t heavy and suffocating as an issue-novel can be, but gentle and contemplative.


Dying to Know You is a thoughtful and insightful novel and after turning the last page I was left with the impression that just maybe this writer’s story could be Chambers’ too...


For my 2012 Contemporary YA Challenge


Sophie

In My Mailbox 114

This meme was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. Check out their blogs for more information. All summaries are from the book jackets unless otherwise stated.

For review:

Dads, Geeks & Blue Haired Freaks – Ellie Phillips

I was having a good hair day when this whole thing started.

It was my birthday and in honour of making it to fifteen I’d given myself purple streaks. But then I got the Dadcard and everything flipped.

I pulled the Dadcard out of my pocket and stared hard at it.

It had to be a joke right? A nasty mean joke – but from who? There was absolutely no way I was expecting a card from ‘Dad’. Because Dad didn’t really exist...

One girl’s search for her dad using the Internet, some boys and quite a lot of hairspray.

Thanks, Electric Monkey!

Alchemy – WJ Wignall

Book two of the Mercian Trilogy

A demon ended my childhood. I was not bitten, do not think that of me, but in a very real way I was infected, and the darkness of that creature creot into my heart. It is lodged there still, and the only way I’ll ever be free of it is to rid the world of the demon itself...

The vampire William of mercia continues to search for answers about his long, undead life, together with Eloise, the girl with whom his fate is entwined. But the darkness doesn’t yield its secrets easily.

As they edge closer to the truth, it becomes clear that something evil knows their every move, and this time it’s targeting the person Will needs most of all.

Lost in a frozen landscape, powerful adversaries are locked in a battle that not everyone can survive, as destiny collides with a sorcerer’s dark arts...

Thanks, Electric Monkey!

1.4 – Mike Lancaster

‘Everything I think I know is a lie.’

Peter Vincent doesnt understand his own world. His father – the creator of artificial bees – has made sure of that.

As a human upgrade is revealed, Peter stars to uncover a conspiracy; a conspiracy that unravels his family, his friends, himself. When the bees attack, Peter may be the ast hope for all of us.

Even after the 0.4 it’s still a brave new world...

I actually haven’t read 0.4 yet, even though I’ve had a copy for ages. Thanks, Egmont!

New Girl – Paige Harbison

The Queen Bee’s missing. Will you be next?

It’s hard fitting in as the new girl among the rich elite at Manderley Academy, especially when you’re assigned to the old room of the perfect, popular Becca – who disappeared. What really happened to Becca? And what other sinister secrets lurk in the school’s dark hallways?

Learning to survive Manderley’s cut-throat social scene, you can’t help but follow in Becca’s footsteps, even falling for Max, the boy she left behind. Althouh sometimes it seems that Becca’s still out there, watching you take her place.

Waiting to take it back.

I have a blog tour for this later on in the month so look out for that! Thanks, MIRA/Midas.

Bought:

The Immortal Rules – Julie Kagawa

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked – and given the ultimate choice. Die…or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her ownmortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend – a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the midless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what – and who – is worth dying for…

Yup, another copy of this. This time my pre-ordered US hardcover.

Black Dawn: The Morganville Vampires – Rachel Caine

When a tide of ferocious draug, the vampire’s deadliest enemy, floods Morganville, its elclectic mix of residents must fight to save their town from devastation.

Chaos has taken over the quiet college town of Morganville as the threat of the draug rapidly spreads with the help of the city’s water system. Whilst most of the locals have already fled, student Claire Danvers and her friends Shane, Eve and Michael choose to stay and fight.

Things may take a turn for the worse when vampire Amelie, the town’s founder, is infected by the master draug’s bite. Unless Claire and her friends can find an antidote to save Amelie and overcome the draug, Morganville’s future look bleak…

I LOVE this series.

We'll Always Have Summer - Jenny Han


If only summer could last forever.


Her whole life, Belly has been in love with the Fishers. Susannah was like a second mother to her, Conrad was her first love, and Jeremiah was her first real boyfriend. Now, after two years, Jeremiah gets down on bended knee and offers Belly what she has always wanted...to be Belly Fisher.


As Jeremiah and Belly head back to Cousins Beach to plan their wedding, Conrad comes home to tell Belly he made a mistake when he broke her heart. Now Belly must confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face a truth she has possibly always known: She will have to break one of their hearts.


I pre-ordered this to complete my collection and for Conrad's letters to Belly eve though I received the UK edition a few weeks ago. I'm adding this last minute as I discovered it hidden away under a pile of paper last night!

Sophie 

I'll Be There - Holly Goldberg Sloan

I’ll Be There – Holly Goldberg Sloan


Pages: 312 (ARC)
Publisher: Piccadilly Press
Release Date: 4th April 2012


Where there is love, I’ll be there.


Raised by an unstable father who keeps the family constantly on the move, Sam Border hasn’t been inside a classroom since he was eight. He’s always been the rock for his younger brother Riddle, who stopped speaking long ago and instead makes sense of the world through his drawings. Then, Sam meets Emily Bell, and everything changes. The two share an immediate and intense attraction, and soon Sam and Riddle find themselves welcomed into the Bell’s home. But Sam knows his happiness is too good to last...


Told from multiple perspectives, Holly Goldberg Sloan’s debut novel offers readers romance and a gripping story. I’ll Be There is a story about connections big and small, and deftly explores the many ways that lives are woven together.


I’ll Be There was not at all what I expected; it thoroughly surprised me.


I was expecting what the synopsis promised: a traditional, deeply romantic contemporary YA novel with dashes of family drama and hints of social pressure. Instead I got lots of unexpected issues moulded into the characters, largely mental health problems and maybe more subtly, prejudice, but more than anything, I’ll Be There was about the invisible connections and ties that people are joined by. It was kind of fascinating how the events snowballed from a single split-second decision by one person and ended in lots and lots of drama. I do think that this theme was taken a little too far with the ending, however. It was too perfect for me; everyone got their just desserts and it all ended how you would want it to end, and I just don't think it would have worked out like that in real life.


The sense of destiny, I guess,  was brilliantly replicated with the narrative style of I’ll Be There. Holly Goldberg Sloan writes in an omniscient third person voice that allows the reader a glimpse into every character’s viewpoint and situation. I especially loved the glance into Riddle’s mind in throughout the novel – the way he thinks and the way he sees the world is kind of beautiful, actually. It was also really interesting to see just how much knowledge that I would take for granted that Sam hasn’t learnt from moving around and not going to school, especially when he is getting to know Emily in the beginning of the novel.


This may be connected to what I was expecting from I’ll Be There and didn't really get, but I didn’t feel the relationship between Sam and Emily. I saw in Sam’s thoughts after the incident and the way thoughts of her brought him back and in Emily’s grief and closing herself off from the world, but I didn't think that there was enough before the...incident (I’m trying to be spoiler free!) for me to properly gage their feelings for each other, though I was most definitely hoping that they would be reunited by the end of I’ll Be There.


Holly Goldberg Sloan took I’ll Be There from a contemporary romance to an edge-of-the-seat thriller that’ll make you wonder if you’ve ever been unknowingly part of a chain of events that changed so many lives.


For my 2012 Debut Author Challenge and 2012 Contemporary YA Challenge


Sophie 

Insurgent - Veronica Roth

Insurgent – Veronica Roth

Pages: 525

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release Date: 1^st May 2012

Other Titles in this Series: Divergent

I have done bad things. I can't take them back, and they are part of who I am.

Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. but she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief  and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future.

Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever...because her more shocking choice and sacrifices lie ahead.

Divergent was one of my favourite books of last year and the tantalising ending left everyone salivating for Insurgent.

It had been nearly a year when since I read Veronica Roth’s debut when I began Inusrgent so I was a little rusty on the ins and outs as I hand’t had time for a re-read. I think this may have affected me in that I didn’t fall in love with Insurgent like I did Divergent. I couldn’t remember plot points that were brought back up and not explained again, even briefly,  and I struggled to remember who lots of the minor characters were and what their significance was. I also failed to recall which factions they were members of and I still failed to retain that quite important information. It was little things like this that tarnished my enjoyment of Insurgent a little which is a massive shame, really.

But there’s one thing about this series that I can’t really fault: Tris. She is an excellent heroine. At points in Insurgent, she annoyed me a little, but that was purely because she wasn’t doing what I wanted her to do! And if she had done what I wanted, she wouldn’t have been her so she’s forgiven! Veronica Roth really demonstrated how hard Tris has had it and it clearly showed that although brave and completely kickass, she’s human and, she too, has limits to what she can handle. Watching her come undone and put herself back together again makes for a very interesting sideline to the constant drama and action.

One of my favourites elements of Insurgent was Tris and Four’s (I refuse to call him Tobias) relationship. In Divergent, they were just getting together and starting out, but in Insurgent, they were there. Their relationship changed and developed so quickly and often that I’m surprised they didn’t give each other whiplash. I constantly wondered whether they’d be able to stay together with what was happening to them and the choices they, especially Tris, were making,

Although Insurgent didn’t quite match up to Divergent for me, I still loved it and I’m excited for the next book.

For my 2012 Dystopian YA Challenge

Sophie

In My Mailbox 113

This meme was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. Check out their blogs for more information. All summaries are from the book jackets unless otherwise stated. 


I came back to uni last week to find a pile of packages waiting for me that had built up over the last three weeks and there is also two weeks worth of post here: that’s why there’s so many! 


For Review:

We’ll Always Have Summer – Jenny Han


Just when she thought she had all the answers...


Isabel has only ever loved two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher.


One broke her heart; the other made her happier than she ever thought she’d be. But each brother is keeping a secret, and this summer Isabel must choose between the Fisher boys, once and for all.


Which brother will it be?


An amazing surprise from Razorbill! Even though I have the US edition pre-ordered and on it's way, I devoured this and posted my review earlier in the week.

Insurgent – Veronica Roth


I have done bad things. I can't take them back, and they are part of who I am.


Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. but she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief  and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future.


Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever...because her more shocking choice and sacrifices lie ahead.


YAY! Thank you, HarperCollins! 

Dying to Know You – Aidan Chambers


Shy, likable Karl is in love with clever, beautiful Fiorella. To prove his affection, she demands that he bare his soul to her in letters. The difficulty? Karl is convinced he can’t write, or at least not well enough for Fiorella, who loves books and words. In a Cyrano de bergerac-like twist, Karl sets out to persuade Fiorella’s favourite novelist to write the letter for him. When the famous author unexpectedly agrees, a series of misunderstandings ensues, resulting in a startling revelation, a near tragedy, and an unexpected friendship that transforms the lives of all three.


In this smart, exhilarating book about love, identity, and finding one’s own voice in the world. Aidan Chambers shows once again why he has been called “one of young-adult literature’s greatest living writers” (Booklist). 


Really looking forward to this – thanks, RHCP!

Changeling – Philippa Gregory (ARC)


The year is 1453 and all signs point to it being the end of the world.


Accused of heresy and expelled from his monastery, handsome seventeen-year-old, Luca Vero, is recruited by a mysterious stranger to record the end of times across Europe. Commanded by sealed orders, Luca is sent to map the fears of Christendom, and travel to the very frontiers of good and evil.


Seventeen-year-old Isolde, a Lady Abess, is trapped in a nunnery to prevent her claiming her rich inheritance. As the nuns in her care are driven mad by strange visions, walking in their sleep and showing bleeding wounds, Luca is sent to investigate  and all the evidence points to Isolde’s criminal guilt. Outside in the yard they are building a pyre to burn her for witchcraft...


I’ve never read Gregory before so I’m really looking forward to this. Thanks, S&S!

Chain Reaction – Simone Elkeles


Like his brothers, Luis Fuentes is a risk taker; whether he’s scaling the Rocky Mountains or dreaming of a future as an astronaut, he’s always looking for the next thrill.


Nikki Cruz lives her life by certain rules – don’t trust a boy who says “I love you”, boys lie to get their own way, and never date a boy from the south side of Fairfield. Then she meets Luis at his brother Alex’s wedding and suddenly she’s tempted to break all her rules.


Getting Nikki to give him a chance is Luis’s biggest challenge, until he’s tempted by a gang-member to enter the same dark and violent world that nearly destroyed his brothers’ lives. Will Luis’s feelings for Nikki be enough to stop him from taking the ultimate risk?


Can I just quickly say something to get it out of my system? Yes? Thanks. SQUEEEEEE. I love this series and it’s SIGNED! Thanks, S&S and Simone!

How to Keep a Boy as a Pet – Diane Messidoro


Can taming a gorgeous boy really be as easy as walking a dog?


‘I refuse to spend my life swooning pointlessly.’


Circe Shaw is on a mission.


‘I must transform into a fabulously sophisticated journalist and discover the amazing scientific truth about boys.’


But life is beyond complicated. Circe has to deal with a poisonous rival, her mum’s annoying ‘just friends’ men and her own Dark Past.


Can Circe’s daring investigation really teach her the facts of love?


Will it help her finally get a boyfriend?


Or will it break her heart...?


I’m really looking forward to this; it sounds fun. Thanks, Electric Monkey!

Adorkable – Sarra Manning


Welcome to the dorkside. 
It’s going to be a bumpy ride...


Jeane Smith’s a blogger, a dreamer, a dare-to-dreamer, a jumble sale queen, CEO of her own lifestyle brand and has half a million followers on twitter.


Michael Lee’s a star of school, stage and playing field. A golden boy in a Jack Wills hoodie.


They have nothing in common but a pair of cheating exes. So why can’t they stop snoggin?


Three words: Sarra Manning YA. Gah, so, SO excited. Thanks, Atom!


I also received copies of :
Unrest, Michelle Harrison (finished copy, S&S)
I’ll Be There, Holly Goldberg Sloan (finished copy, Piccaddilly Press)
The Hunt, Andrew Fukada (S&S)
The Drowned Cities, Paolo Bacigalupi (Atom)
Until I Die, Amy Plum (Atom)
Goddess Girls: Athena the Brain, Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams (Atom)
Goddess Girls: Persephone the Phony, Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams (Atom)
Monster High: Back and Deader Than Ever, Lisi Harrison (Atom)


Bought: 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post – Emily M Danforth (ARC)


When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief she’ll never have to tell them that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.


But that relief soon turns to heartbreak, as Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth. She knows that from this point on, her life will be forever different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and not making waves, and Cam becomes an expert at this – especially at avoiding any questions about her sexuality.


Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. To Cam’s surprise, she and Coley become best friends – while Cam secretly dreams of something more. Just as this starts to seem like a real possibility, her secret is exposed. Ultra-religious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to “fix” her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self – even if she’s not exactly sure who that is.


I spotted this in my local Oxfam Bookshop and remembered CJ Skuse talking about it on Twitter so I decided to give it a shot!


Sophie