Diary of a Crush: French Kiss by Sarra Manning

Some of you may be familiar with Sarra Manning’s more recent work writing excellent adult fiction novels, the amazing Unsticky is my favourite, but before she took the step into more meaty writing, she penned a trio of young-adult novels in the Diary of a Crush series.

The trilogy all beings with French Kiss, in which we are introduced to Edie, also known as Edith, who is trying to adjust to her new life after moving to a new town. Things are helped somewhat by the attractive Dylan, who she admires from afar at her new college. Dylan is a messy-haired, elusive art student, and it just so happens that he’s noticed Edie around college, too.

As you might imagine, French Kiss is written in diary format; the first person point of view creates a few laughs and an insight into Edie’s world. I’ve found that the best book in the series is the last by far, and French Kiss is just the beginning. So stick with it, it improves as you get onto the second and third book! Not to say that the first isn’t any good, it may just a little too typical of a teenage book for some readers.

This is the kind of humorous girly teenage read that is perfect for fans of the Louise Rennison Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series. You may be familiar with Manning’s other young adult novel, Adorkable, which was nominated for various teenage book awards. I haven’t actually read Adorkable, but I have only heard good things!

Manning originally penned the Diary of a Crush for the teenage magazine she worked for, Just Seventeen. The editor gave our author the opportunity to write a weekly romance column, and it is here Edie and Dylan’s story began. You may have heard or even read them already; the books were released back in the 2000’s, but are now set for rerelease this year. Manning has updated the references to popular music, for a 2013 audience. With this in mind, the books have also been made available in e-book format for the first time.

Since I first read this series, way back in the noughties, young adult books have change dramatically. The plot of your typical YA book now involves vampires, werewolves and other supernatural characters all getting themselves into unrealistic situations. This trilogy takes me back to when girls used to enjoy reading about another girls love life. Diary of a Crush is how girly, teenage chick-lit used to be; a quick easy read, ideal for summer. Nothing too series, but enough to laugh at and pass onto your friends when you’re finished, and I miss that.

Sarra Manning is a brilliant author, able to engage her audience, whether through humor, a good romance and witty dialogue – or a mixture off all three. She hits the nail on the head with this series and I am desperately looking forward to reviewing her new adult fiction novel, It Felt Like a Kiss; due for release in February 2014.

You can purchase the first book in the Diary of a Crush series here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diary-Crush-French-Kiss-Number/dp/0349001561/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375622614&sr=1-1&keywords=diary+of+a+crush

The following books are Kiss and Make Up and finally Sealed with a Kiss.

Trolling on Twitter: The Jane Austen Debate and Petition for Online Support

David Cameron has recently been campaigning for tighter rules to be put on Internet websites that will prevent child abuse pictures from being accessible to the public. There has also been a call for stricter rules on social networking sites after a woman was attacked by so called ‘trolls’ on the popular site Twitter last week, receiving tweets from a young man threatening her with rape.

The situation arose after the woman, Caroline Criado-Perez, a feminist campaigner, had spent the week successfully campaigning for the Bank of England to feature the classic female novelist Jane Austen on the new £10 note.

When it became widespread news that a woman novelist was to grace the British banknote, Caroline received a torrent of rape threats and abusive language on her twitter account for supporting the idea. Since then, her followers and thousands of other Twitter users have demanded that action is taken after the abuse escalated and Caroline was threatened with rape by one male user. In fact, the worst of the abuse was from men, with one tweeting, “I will find you.” When another woman stepped forward to defend Caroline from the abuse, she became the next subject for the online trolls, who quickly turned on her.

How has it become the norm for anyone - men, women and teenagers - to sit behind a computer screen and send abuse to someone else? It is bullying for the twenty-first century. For the majority of people, the internet is an amazing phenomenon that if employed in the right way, can help with work, socializing, obtaining information, buying and selling, booking and adverting… The list is never-ending. But for a small amount of simple-minded people, they use it to send abusive messages and belittle others without ever revealing their true identities.

Perhaps that is just the way of the world, people have a good thing, but there are always those that have to go and spoil it. Or perhaps this isn’t something we should blindly accept. Some are now calling for Twitter and other sites such as Facebook, to add an ‘abuse button’ to aid people who are subject to threatening language. An online petition started a week ago had already received 15,000 signatures by only the next day.

What do you think? Will adding an abuse button solve the problem? Or should move be done to tackle the issue of online-abuse? In this case, two men have been arrested for sending abuse to the two women. They have since both been released on bail. But not every man sending abuse will get arrested, and 99% get away with it, without any consequences. Some are arguing that by naming and shaming the men who troll women like this, any future employer doing research on them as a possible employee will come across the abuse they sent and it will harm their employability. But is this enough?

What are your thoughts on the subject? Leave a comment and let me know.

Book Review: Charm by Sarah Pinborough

We all know the story of Cinderella, but Charm turns the classic fairytale on this head. 

You may or may not be familiar with Poison, Sarah Pinborough’s first novel that twists Snow White into a dark, sexy fairytale for an older audience.

Pinborough, realizing there are more stones to be overturned and plenty more fairytales to be re-told, is back with a second novel, Charm; this time putting her own unique spin on Cinderella. 

It is a cold, relentless winter that seems to have gone on far too long in the town where Cinderella lives, in a cramped house in need of refurbishment. Money is short and Cinderella doubles as a housemaid for her stepmother, Esme, and stepsister, Rose. It is an unpleasant existence, getting up at dawn each morning, preparing the porridge, kneading the bread, stoking the fire and making the house comfortable for her family.

The first chapter sets a chilly winter scene in the heart of a far away land. A man goes around town putting up posters warning the townsfolk that a young child has gone missing in the woods. As so the fictional scene is set. It is when we meet Cinderella that Charm becomes more of a chore to read, than the initial enjoyment.

First of all, I would just like to point out I give all books a chance and this has to be the only book so far this year I have really disliked. Secondly, I haven’t read any other books by Pinborough, so can only judge her writing on this novel alone. The first problem was Cinderella, who is an annoying, selfish girl. It would be easier to sympathies with her having to do all the housework, cooking etcetera if she didn’t moan and whine about it so much. The fact that she feels she deserves better tells me that she probably doesn’t; you don’t get what you wish for, and thinking that she is a much better person that her stepsisters makes her the exact opposite.

Another reason my initial love of this book was spoilt was down to the, quite frankly, unnecessary sexual content that sprang out of nowhere. One minute Cinderella is having a conversation with a guy, the next things have moved on to another level entirely. I felt is it was rushed and out of place - there is no need to ‘sex-up’ a story that didn’t need it. The fact that these scenes were so irregular and rushed made them hard to connect with, from a reader’s perspective. These kind of scenes also cancel out a large proportion of the target audience. Because it is not a book suitable for children, it can only be read by adults. However it is a simply written book - perfect for children but too ‘easy’ and straightforward for a more mature audience.

It’s a shame I didn’t like it because Charm had all the right ingredients for a perfect fairytale novel, but they turned sour the more I read. I can’t fault the writing itself, it’s just written for the wrong audience. If this book was marketed at a young adult audience, it would have been ideal, but it just seems to have been handled all wrong. As an adult, this book does not appeal to me; including sex-scenes in a children’s book was never going to work on a classic such as Cinderella. 

I didn't like it, but that doesn't mean you won't. Pinborough has another book out later this year, Beauty, so clearly someone likes them enough to publish them. Give it a read and see what you think. 

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Book Review

 Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl requires no prior information in regards to the plot and characters. We all know exactly who Anne Frank is, and the fate she and her family met at the hands of the Nazi’s. All because they were Jewish.

 The first entry in Anne Frank made in her diary was 12th of June 1942, and merely a month later, along with her father Otto, her mother, Edith and elder sister, Margot, she went into hiding. Anne kept writing in her diary throughout the next two years of her short life. The last entry was made on the 1^st of August, 1944. They were arrested three days later. 

 I view her diary as having two different sections; firstly, about Anne herself and life in the Annex, and secondly, the political side and life on the outside. As any young teenage girl would, Anne gives open and honest accounts her life during the war. Because she did not intend for her entries or ‘letters’ to be read by anyone other than herself, her honesty is refreshing and not masked by what she thinks others want to hear.  

Anne paints a humorous picture of the second family the Frank’s share the Annex with, the van Pels’, or as they are called in the diary, the van Daan’s. Anne sees Mrs van Daan as a flirt, and a woman in need of constant attention. But this brings some much needed laughter to Anne’s situation. She also writes about the arguments and harsh words said between Mr and Mrs van Daan. Due to the small space the seven residences are imprisoned in, it is only natural that tempers will run high. Little food is a constant source of tension which grows worse with the addition of another person to the Annex; Fritz Pfeffer (called Albert Dussel in Anne’s letters.) Anne is made to share a room with Dussel, which at first she doesn’t mind. However, he makes strange noises in the night, “like a fish gasping for air,” Anne writes, and she soon finds reason for disagreements with him.

 She writes truthful about the disagreements she has with her mother, and how she feels about love and life. Her relationship with Peter is one that is recorded most fully in her diary; from her first impressions of him, to her eventual desire for a friend and companion in the Annex.  I didn’t expect to enjoy Anne’s observations and thoughts as much as I did. She writes with the intelligence and manner of someone far older and wiser than she was.

 It is interesting to read about the month of Anne’s life at the beginning of the dairy, before they are confined to the Secret Annex. She notes down some of the restrictions placed upon Jews, and remarks about her life before the war. For example, Jews are unable to ride bicycles or travel on public transport.

 The only contact the residences of the Annex have with the outside world is via their wireless radio and through their contacts. It is through their helpers – namely Bep (Elizabeth and Miep) - that they survive; they supply essential food, company and information to keep them all sane. The radio is their key to keeping up to date with the war; they listen to the BBC, waiting to hear some good news. Anne talks of what she would like to do after the war; she looks forward to returning to school and decides that she will publish a book about being a Jew in the Secret Annex, for which her diary will be the foundation.

 There was a question as to whether the diary was genuine; and it is not hard to see why. The ability Anne has to express her ideas and feeling through putting a pen to paper is one that many an adult would struggle to do so fluently and in such a captivating and passionate voice, let alone a young, teenage girl. She truly has a gift for writing.

 The copy I have reviewed is the 70^th Century, definitive edition, which includes all the entries Anne made in her diary, including five or so pages discovered before the turn of the century, and with an Afterword to end the book. The Afterword states, rather matter-of-factly, the sad fate of each resident and their helpers. Reading it gave me goose bumps. But it is the pictures that make Anne’s tale all the more harrowing. There are twenty-two photographs of the residence of the Annex included in this copy; some of Anne and her family before the war, and a few - including a look at the bookcase that hid them from the world - taken shortly afterwards.  It is the context that goes with Anne’s story that makes the diary such a powerful piece of writing.

 The legacy of Anne Frank will always be available to captivate future generations, and remains a warning from the past. I feel I owe it to Anne to urge you to read this short account of her life; it is the least we owe her.

Book Review: Spook's: Alice by Joseph Delaney

Quick warning to those that aren’t up-to-date with the series, this review may contain a few spoilers…

Alice is not only book twelve in the Wardstone Chronicles but also the penultimate installment, which means only one thing; the series is almost coming to its long-awaited climax. Having followed the series for years, I am sad to be nearing the end. But the work doesn’t just stop in the County, so let’s get to the review.

Alice, perhaps not surprisingly, follows the character of Alice from the series; in the same way Delaney has previously written Slither’s Tale and Grimalkin.

Alice, loyal companion of Tom and the Spook, get’s straight down the business; travelling into the realm of ‘The Dark’ to find the third object needed by the Spook and his apprentice, Tom, in order to destroy their greatest enemy, The Fiend. The Dark is not a place anyone would want to go – a place where the non-human folk end up when they die on Earth. It just so happens that Alice has done her fair share of killing some on the more dangerous and evil creatures over the year – or at least been a helping hand – and by travelling into their realm, they finally have the chance to take their revenge.

This makes for a bad situation for Alice but a brilliant, action-packed story for the reader! Alice not only encounters past threats but also takes readers down memory lane by revisiting her childhood through an encounter with a particular enemy. Unlike the majority of the books in the series, Alice isn’t told through the viewpoint of our hero and protagonist, Thomas Ward, but, as the title suggests, is written in first person by Alice.

As always, Delaney is able to effortlessly create an atmospheric world fit for witches and other such unsavory creatures that I have grown to love so much. I feel that Alice is slightly more gruesome than previous installments, particularly the scenes in which Alice remembers magic she saw her mother, Boney Lizzie (my old favourite!), preforming when she was a child. It involves flies and rats, that’s all I’ll say!

The writing is easy enough for a younger audience to read by the content is gory enough for adults to enjoy just as much as children. It is vital – and enjoyable - to start at the beginning of the series and read the books in order to be able to fully appreciate this series as one of the best of the decade.

Another thing to touch upon before I finish is that this series is currently being turned into a film, called Seventh Son I believe, which is scheduled to be released towards the end of this year.

If anyone is interested in the order the Spooks series should be read in, I have complied a list below:

1)    The Spook’s Apprentice
2)    The Spook’s Curse

3)    The Spook’s Secret
4)    The Spook’ Battle

5)    The Spook’s Mistake

6)    The Spook’s Sacrifice

7)    The Spook’s Nightmare

8)    The Spook’s Destiny

9)    Spook’s: I am Grimalkin

10) The Spook’s Blood

11) Spook’s Slither’s Tale (reviewed here...)

12) Spook’s: Alice