Review: Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

This is another book that I picked up to read ahead of #yalc. I've seen the eponymous hero grinning at me from the cover in the school library for years, and never once felt the urge to pick him up. I don't know why, maybe the graffiti font or the garish colours made me think this was a book for boys who needed bright colours and grinning skeletons to make them pick up a book. Oh how wrong I was!

Firstly, Skulduggery isn't really the hero. Granted, cheating death and surviving as a living skeleton detective with awesome combat and magic skills is pretty heroic, but wait until you meet Stephanie. She's just a teenage girl, chilling out alone in the house that her dead uncle bequeathed her, when she gets thrown into a secret world of magic and ...erm... Skulduggery! The end of the second chapter had my heart racing, and I've already used it as a good example of storytelling with a student I'm tutoring.

As Stephanie is just learning about this new world and trying to figure out how she fits into it, she doesn't  play too much of a part in the numerous action scenes, and does end up being rescued by Skulduggery and his allies on several occasions. What she does have in abundance though, is determination. Despite many characters warning her off the path she has chosen, she is committed to discovering who murdered her uncle and helping Skulduggery to prevent his arch-nemesis from awakening an ancient evil. There's a small part of me that cheers every time Stephanie does something badass in the book - this is a girl that boys enjoy reading about. I'm so unimpressed with the stories in the recent press, such as this one in The Times, about men and boys not being able to read books written by or about females, or deemed to be good by females. Stephanie would kick Frankie's Magic Football right where it hurts! (Don't even get me started on footballers writing books for children...)

The grimace suggests that, perhaps, she already has.

I devoured this book. The fast-paced action, the snarky dialogue and colourful characters made it a real pleasure to read. It's definitely a good book to hook a reluctant reader, as the gripping story and short chapters make it really accessible, but there's also lots in there for more accomplished readers - references to other stories and myths, and Landy is clearly a lover of language - the names of his characters are perfect. For adults who are interested in a bit of YA fiction, if you like Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, you will probably like this.

Why not the full five stars? At the novel's climax, the brilliant dialogue and description was definitely playing second fiddle to the epic fight, and Landy's subtleties that I'd appreciated earlier on became somewhat lost. However, once I have finished my mission to read as many of the authors attending YALC, I will definitely be picking up the rest of this series, as I think this is going to be one awesome adventure!

Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This book had been recommended to me by a girl in Year 9 last year, and despite having owned a copy since December, I only just got around to reading it, in readiness for #yalc, where the author will be appearing. Having only read one of Ness's short stories before, this seemed like the book to start with as it not only won the CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway Medals for writing and illustration in 2012, it also won the National Children's Book of the Year, the Red House Children's Book Award and the Kitschies Red Tentacle award (Best Novel) for speculative fiction. Phew!

But does it live up to the hype? It's a relatively short book - just over 200 pages - but it feels even shorter, as it's absolutely compelling and un-put-downable! Conor, a teenage boy whose mum is battling cancer, is plagued by nightmares and then a monster visits his room one night. At first Conor assumes that it is just another nightmare, but when he awakes to find his bedroom floor covered in yew tree leaves, he realises he's going to have to give the monster what it wants - the truth.

I really enjoyed this book, as it blurred the lines between reality and dream, science and spirituality. In a way, it reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which also used magic and old gods to help a young boy through several experiences of loss. Both of these books have a magical quality of their own, that instantly immerses you in the world of the story, and has you feeling the pain, the fear and the comfort that the protagonists themselves experience. 

What I especially enjoyed about this book, were the stories told by the monster. Conor complains that they're terrible stories because they don't have happy endings, but these stories, to me, are captivating because they, A) establish that not all stories have happy endings, B) present a moral ambiguity that is true to real life, and C) highlight the complex, often contradictory nature of people. That's pretty heavy stuff for a YA book, but massively important stuff too, so hurray for Patrick Ness who doesn't shy away from the tough stuff or dumb it down for the younger audience! 

With that in mind, I don't think this book should be limited to a YA readership - there is an important message in this books for adults and children alike. Ultimately it is a magical story about the limits of reality. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and vice versa. Sometimes, even though you try your hardest and do everything you can to help someone, it' still not enough. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do, for others and for yourself, is to let go. This is a beautifully written, subtle and symbolic story that I would recommend certainly to teenagers, but also adults, especially the ones that think YA fiction is all about sparkly vampires and and other such nonsense!

  

Once I've completed my YALC readathon, I'm really looking forward to reading Ness's Chaos Walking trilogy and More Than This.

One Month On...

Yesterday marked the monthiversary of my #100happy days challenge. Am I happier? Yes.  Is this because of the challenge? To be honest, I don't really think so, but I'm liking taking the photos, and looking forward to my photo album at the end of it.

Some highlights so far have been, in ascending order:

                            New books...                                     New hair...

                            New job...                                          New house... For the boys, at least!

So taking the photos hasn't made me any happier, but on the days where I haven't been to the hairdressers or got a new job, it has made me more conscious of the little things that make me smile. And without sounding too much like an old hippie, I would encourage anyone who's feeling a bit down in the dumps to try and be more mindful of the things that bring them joy, even fleetingly, because it does start to change your outlook on things. I find I am worrying a bit less, especially about things outside of my control, and actually doing more, as I'm actively trying to do more things that make me happy and not just mooching around being a bit 'meh'.

I've been reading more (which was one of my goals when I started this blog), and will try to get some YA reviews posted on here, ahead of me and a friend attending the first EVER Young Adult Literature Convention #yalc. This is doubly if not trebly happy-making as the books I've read so far have been excellent, but to see lots of brilliant writers speaking on panels and running workshops for a whole weekend (plus an exclusive fringe soirée) is going to be AMAZING!!!

I've been writing more - although, clearly not on here. I entered my first short story competition and was chosen as a runner-up. I later found out the most of the entrants were teenagers, which did slightly take the edge of my achievement, but never-mind... I've also started an online fiction-writing course with the Open University, which so far has been really interesting. The best thing about it? It's totally, utterly, 100% FREE! Reader, you too can sign up here if it sounds like something you're interested in. There's lots of other free courses from other universities on all manner of subjects, so have a look. Now. And then come back again!

Lastly, I've been making more. Later this year, I will become a great aunt! I know, how did I get this old? This has meant that the crochet hooks and knitting needles have been out and clicking away; the previously threatened crochet post will become a reality soon! I'm also knocking up a rather lovely pair of book bags for my friend and me to take to YALC so we can stock up on signed copies of our fave authors' works. Can you tell how excited I am about this? Only 52 days, 12 hours and 45 minutes to go. 

Ho hum.