Matched by Ally Condie

Paperback, 366 pages
Published December 1st 2010 by Razorbill (first published November 30th 2010)
ISBN 0141333052 (ISBN13: 9780141333052)

Blurb: "On her seventeenth birthday, Cassia meets her match. The Society dictates that he is her perfect partner for life, except he's not.

In Cassia's society, Officials decide who people love.
How many children they have.
Where they work.
When they die.

But, as Cassia finds herself falling in love with another boy,
she is determined to make some choices of her own.

And that's when her whole world
begins to unravel..."

Goodreads has really mixed reviews for this book so I wasn't sure if I would like it or not but I really enjoyed it, it's such a good book! It's one of those stories that really draws you in. I really like the writing style and the characters are interesting. I particularly liked the relationship between Cassia and her grandfather.

This is kind of a Nineteen Eighty-Four for young adults. Obviously, George Orwell's books are in another league to this but nevertheless the story poses questions about society and how you think you would act in those circumstances.

Some reviewers had a problem with the questions about the Society that are left unanswered, but I think that adds to the environment that the author wanted to create. It's all about information control, if the characters knew everything and could become more involved than it would be more of a democracy. In the Society, information is closely guarded and no-one is allowed to speak about their jobs to people in different areas so that no one person has the knowledge to complete a whole process, like growing food. It makes people reliant on the system. Anyway, rant over, I just think that the book is really cleverly planned and doesn't deserve the criticism it has received from some. The fact that the Society seems so perfect at first glance is what makes it more worrying the further you read as you notice more and more that isn't quite adding up.

On a lighter note, I really liked Cassia's relationship with both Xander and Ky, and I can understand why she is torn. I also love that the written word is such a liberating part of the story (you'll have to read it to find out what I mean).

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series and finding out what happens next. I'd give this book 8.5 out of 10.

The Secret Supper Club by Dana Bate

Paperback, 480 pages
Published December 6th 2012 by Canvas
ISBN 1472102312 (ISBN13: 9781472102317)

"If twenty-six-year-old Hannah Sugarman had her way, she'd be whipping up carrot cakes and running her culinary empire. Instead, she spends her hours cooking up papers on the financial crisis. It doesn't help that no one in her life takes her passion seriously - not even her boyfriend.

When her relationship implodes, Hannah decides to jump-start her life by hosting a secret supper club out of her landlord's flat. Her underground operation presents some problems. Running an unlicensed restaurant out of someone's home is not, technically speaking, legal.

As the success of Hannah's supper club grows, so do the number of secrets she is forced to keep. Can Hannah keep her pop-up restaurant underground? When mysterious guests turn up for dinner, can she handle the heat? Or will she have to step out of the kitchen? A charming romantic comedy, The Secret Supper Club is a story about finding yourself, fulfilling your dreams, and falling in love along the way.

(Note: This is the UK edition of THE GIRLS' GUIDE TO LOVE AND SUPPER CLUBS)"

I just want to say that I loved this book. It was really fun and I could really relate to Hannah. The author really made her seem like a real person, there was so much depth and history to who she was. I liked that she was unsure of herself and sometimes didn't know if her life was going in the right direction. I think that the way Hannah deals with her parents' conflicting expectations of her was really good. How she develops in the book is great and at times so funny I was chuckling to myself on the train, which was a little awkward I can tell you! I also loved that she was a little bit crazy and couldn't stop it from showing, it's great to know you aren't the only one.

When I was first recommended this book I had my doubts about how good it would be, even though I knew that my friend and I have very similar tastes in books. I thought, secret supper clubs, what on earth are they? How do they work? Etc etc. However, the story behind this completely turned my thoughts around. Even though I'm not a massive foodie - chocolate is my main culinary passion - this makes me want to try new foods and flavour combinations. You can tell that the author is really passionate about food like her main character.

As the blurb says, this really is a charming romantic comedy, frothy and fun but with a story that answers questions that we all have about our lives. I give this a 9 out of 10. It left me feeling really happy and enthusiatic about life.

White Rose Rebel by Janet Paisley

Paperback, 400 pages
Published June 5th 2008 by Penguin (first published 2007)
ISBN 0141026790 (ISBN13: 9780141026794)

"Anne Farquharson is a Highland girl – tempestuous, bold, determined to be her own woman. Yet the clan Farquharson is threatened. The Highlands suffer at the domineering hand of English King George, while there are rumours that Bonnie Prince Charlie, exiled to France, is raising an army in a bid for the throne.

When Anne marries a clan chief and creates a shaky alliance, she is doing more than taking his bed. Soon she is drawn into the heart of a brutal and bloody conflict, and as the Jacobite rebellion escalates, she and her husband find themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield."

I read this while I was visiting Edinburgh in Scotland, what an amazing city, and it was great to get into the Scottish spirit with this! I must also add that I'm not at all biased that she is also an Anne - what a great name that is...

Anyway, this is great historical fiction! A good level of historical research has clearly been done but the story is well constructed to fill gaps in the historical evidence. The author creates characters that you really care about and she definitely made me want to learn more about Scottish history! Although she could have developed the relationship between Anne and her husband a little more at the beginning of the novel to make their interactions during the rebellion stronger.

Anne is a really interesting character and it's great to read about women (not just Anne's character) who made decisions for themselves and fought for what they believed in during this time, it's just a shame so much evidence about her life was destroyed during the course of time, or due to the patriarchal system, as the author argues.

I really enjoyed this book although it took me a while to really engage with the story and be drawn in to the world of the Jacobite rebellion. Therefore I think this deserves a 7 out of 10.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Paperback, 215 pages
Published May 24th 2012 by Headline (first published January 2nd 2012)
ISBN 0755384032 (ISBN13: 9780755384037)

"Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Imagine if she hadn’t forgotten the book. Or if there hadn’t been traffic on the expressway. Or if she hadn’t fumbled the coins for the toll. What if she’d run just that little bit faster and caught the flight she was supposed to be on. Would it have been something else - the weather over the Atlantic or a fault with the plane?

Hadley isn’t sure if she believes in destiny or fate but, on what is potentially the worst day of each of their lives, it’s the quirks of timing and chance events that mean Hadley meets Oliver...

Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it."

Having read loads of really positive reviews about this book I was expecting to really enjoy it. Unfortunately, this book just didn't seem to click with me. I didn't notice any sort of amazing connection between Hadley and Oliver, perhaps because their time together on the plane only seems to take up a few chapters. I think including more of their conversations on the plane might have made the romance more believable. I don't want to give away any spoilers so I can't comment too much more on their time together, but I did like their honesty with each other in the rest of the story.

Hadley's character also annoyed me a bit as she was really self-involved and didn't seem to consider anyone else's perspective. However, I did like how her difficult relationship with her Dad was resolved, those scenes were the most emotional in the book for me.

It's a sign that I didn't really enjoy it that it took me so long to read - it's a really short book but I didn't finish it for nearly a week. I wasn't that interested in finding out what happened. I would probably give it 4 out of 10 - it was a good idea, it just didn't really work for me. Did anyone else find that?

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Paperback, 423 pages
Published 2012 by Headline Review
ISBN 0755380541 (ISBN13: 9780755380541)

Literary awards: UK National Book Awards for International Author of the Year (2012)

"Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart—he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone—but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place, things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them."

This is another book which I had heard was really worth reading so I decided that winter is probably the best time to read it to get the best feel for the book. I'm pleased I did read it at this time of year - despite a distinct lack of snow in England at the moment - as the magic of the book seems to fit with Christmas, even if the story has nothing to do with the festive nature of the season.

This book really makes me want to visit Alaska. The descriptions are exceptionally vivid and create an amazing atmosphere for this moving and magical story. The author evokes great sympathy for the main characters, Jack and Mabel, who are both trying to deal with their circumstances in different ways. They are both very interesting characters with a lot of depth to them which make the magical moments in the story more believable.

Faina is also a really interesting character, who you never fully understand. Her fey-like nature and mix of childish-innocence with seemingly age-defying wisdom definitely intrigued me. I love that the magic that seems to surround her is never fully explained, as if the author had tried to define it I think it would have spoilt the story. I also liked that speech in the scenes with Faina did not use quotation marks as it really made you wonder to begin with if she was real, and brought more questions later on in the story.

I really enjoyed entering the world of this book and I would give it 9 out of 10.