Hostage Three by Nick Lake

'I close my eyes, and wait to be killed. My name is Amy Fields. But the men call me Hostage Three.'

Dragged along on a so-called trip of a lifetime, Amy Fields is the victim of her Dad's mid-life crisis. His workaholic tendencies have pushed the two of them apart ever since her mother's death, but when Amy intentionally flunks her last exam at school, he decides it's time to act. Sailing around the world for a year should give them plenty of quality time together, right? Only trouble is, there's some extra baggage abroad in the shape of her Dad's young girlfriend. Cringe!

Baring a touch of seasickness and an amorous captain, the trip is a snoozefest until their boat is attacked by pirates. Yes, pirates. The real life kind with AK-47s, GPS and multi-million pound random demands. Not a cutlass in sight. And just like that, the passengers become prisoners in their own luxury home.

You've been warned: this novel is difficult to put down. Nick Lake's talent for suspense make it all too easy to keep turning the pages. Amy is a refreshing heroine, with real flaws and a healthy dose of teenage angst. Her tempestuous relationship with her father adds richness to the tale, and her mother's story slowly unwinds as the novel progresses, allowing the reader to better understand Amy's mood swings.

The setting is unique and the plot inventive, but the real page-turning element comes from Amy's irresistible tension with the pirate Farouz. Predictable maybe, but the genuine tension and affection between them is brilliantly drawn. Whilst the feminist inside me groaned at this stereotypical romanticizing of the hostage situation, the romantic was cheering them on. What can I say, I'm a sucker for chemistry.

The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones

Roddy Hyde lives in an alternative world called Blest. It's much like the UK, the road are terrible and there's no trains, but it's a slightly different shape. Oh, and magic exists. Which is fine, until the wrong people begin to manipulate it and Roddy and her small sidekick Grundo are the only ones to notice. As the magic of Blest begins to unravel and their loved ones start disappearing, Roddy and Grundo are forced to call in some help.

Nick Mallory is stuck on plain old earth but is desperate to escape and explore other worlds. After all that longing, when he's suddenly whisked away it feels like a dream. Within a few hours it turns nightmarish as he's threatened by a hugely powerful wizard, stalked by a Panther, chased by police and bothered by a starving goat. 

Then Nick meets Roddy. Which is good because she's a bit of a looker, but bad because she wants him to help her save Blest. Having hoped for some more experienced help, Roddy resigns herself to working alongside Nick. It would just really help matters if Nick could just work out how to get to Blest...

Diana Wynne Jones is such a talented storyteller that she immerses you in these alternative worlds from the word go. Nick and Roddy's monologues are distinct, but are woven together effortlessly as The Merlin Conspiracy progresses. It's a long novel for a children's book, but there's enough action to keep a keen reader enthralled. The main characters are cleverly drawn with authentic voices. They don't always get on, but they're not constantly at each others throats. It felt real to me, with the gentle tension of a long family holiday. It's just one of the ways in which Diana Wynne Jones' ambling pace pays off.

Nick, Roddy and their unlikely band of followers have a hard task ahead of them in saving Blest, with only a small handful of adults to help them. With good on their side, and The Merlin Conspiracy being a children's book, the reader has a sneaky suspicion that they'll succeed. Diana Wynne Jones skilfully keeps the suspense alive, despite avoiding the temptation to throw in the multiple, sudden plot changes of a Sophie McKenzie novel. The intelligently elaborate plot will charm adult and children magicians alike.

The Knife That Killed Me by Anthony McGowan

'The knife that killed me wasn't a special knife at all. It didn't have any runes on it. It's handle wasn't made of ivory or rhino horn, but cheap black plastic. It was a kitchen knife from Woolworths, and it's blade wobbled like a loose tooth. But it did the job'.

Paul Vanderman never set out to carry a knife. It doesn't suit him at all. But when the school tyrant Roth plucks him from anonymity and commands him to pocket one, Paul is unable to refuse. Roth's hypnotic influence over the entire school drags them all into an all out war with the neighbouring school, Temple Moor. In a world where adults are either absent or powerless, any resistance to Roth is going to have to come from a fellow pupil.

Step up, Shane. King of the alternative kids, Shane is a refreshing leader. Self-possessive and calm, he does his best to repair the damage Roth causes to the school. But his friendship isn't enough to save Paul from Roth's dark attraction. And when Shane is hospitalised it seems there's nothing to stop events hurtling towards Paul's apparent death in a knife fight.

I read this book with a teen book group. They're aged 13 and I was initially worried about their reactions to the knife scenes. Roth is a nasty piece of work and Anthony McGowan describes his twisted behaviour in graphic detail. The humiliations he dreams up for his enemies are downright horrific. Paul describes these with a helpless horror, compounding the sense that the events of the book have been predetermined.

Adults are noticeably either absent or useless in The Knife That Killed Me. Paul's parents barely surface from the TV and the teachers in the novel are either pathetic or terrifying. It's a bleak depiction of school life from Anthony McGowan. Hope is offered by Shane, and the well-meaning teacher Mr Boyle, but they can't combat Paul's secret fear that Roth's aggression lives on in himself.

Despite the building tension, The Knife That Killed Me seemed to falter at the very last hurdle- the ending. The general consensus from the teens was that it was cheesy and an anti-climax. It just didn't seem to sit with the rest of the book which, aside from the passages looking ahead to Paul's death, had been straightforward and authentic. Nevertheless, an intelligent and gripping drama on a topic that is too often ignored in fiction.

A Time for Silence by Thorne Moore

In a gloomy corner of Wales a wreck of a cottage holds the secrets of Sarah's family. Keen to renovate her Grandmother's old home as a weekend retreat, Sarah isn't prepared for what she will find. Her grandmother Gwen was the epitome of dutiful housewife, Gwen's husband John was the pride of the village choir. As Sarah brings the cottage back to life, she hopes to recreate a sense of this unknown family. A mother playing the piano, children dutifully gathered around her knees. A father returning home after a hard day's work in the fields.

As Gwen's voice begins to be woven through the narrative, we soon gather that Sarah's nostalgia grates awkwardly against the truth. The family's quaint cottage was the site of a murder. Sarah's grandfather was shot in his own home. But who was the murderer, and why were they never caught? And why was this kept secret from Sarah for so long? 

Desperate to reveal the truth and keen to avoid confronting her coming wedding, Sarah launches a full-scale investigation. In much the same way, Gwen willfully ignores the dark truths in her own home, determined to show a united, honourable front to the world. Can Sarah solve this mystery alone? And is she ready for what it will reveal?

A Time for Silence is a gripping family drama published by Honno Welsh Women's Press, which strives to promote local female writing. My copy was given to me by my godmother, as Thorne Moore is an old friend of hers. Aware of her natural bias, it took me a few weeks to begin reading. But after a few short chapters I was hooked by the simplicity of the women's voices. 

Thorne Moore captures the importance of the everyday details, conversations and daydreams that make up our lives. Piece by piece, she builds these women's lives until they sneak into our affections. This is especially true for Gwen, a character whom I have next to nothing in common with. The most chilling part of Thorne Moore's skill is the way that she represents evil. Far from a distant, unknowable and easily hated quality, evil exists in the everyday. By documenting the growth of this within a seemingly perfect family, Thorne Moore emulates real life. 

The good news is that she sets this all in the past, soothing the reader with the brightness of Sarah's home improvements. This foray into family research ultimately strengthens Sarah, allowing her to approve the future having learnt from the past. But for me, this didn't lessen the important truth within the novel: that evil is most corrosive when it's buried in everyday, seemingly normal lives.

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

A confident and talented music hall performer, Nimira is tied of being billed as an exotic sideshow. She didn't travel hundreds of miles from her eastern home to wind up singing for next to nothing.

So when powerful sorcerer, Hollin Parry offers her a better wage and a bigger stage, how can she say no? Nimira has been chosen to duet with a musical automaton, a robot with impeccable piano skills, and is taken back to Parry's mansion to practice.

But is Nimira really better off in Parry's care? Strange noises from the attic, macabre fairy specimens and rumours of impending war keep Nimira from being able to relax in her new home.

That is, until she discovers a friend in the shape of a cursed fairy stuck in the body of the automaton. Determined to bring the automaton back to life, Nimira begins to uncover Parry's secrets and quickly becomes tangled in a secret world of sabotage and deathly magic.

Jaclyn Dolamore's tale felt like a breath of fresh air in many ways. Nimira's voice is clear and consistent. Sometimes she's strong, sometimes she collapses in tears. As much as I love the confident, strong and physical characters so popular in Young Adult fiction right now, I think it's really important to have a wide variety of characters for readers to identify with. Do you agree, or do you cringe when protagonists appear vulnerable?

The truth is, Nimira lives in a world in which she's officially powerless as a female. Although Parry sweeps her away from the leering men of the music hall, as a lone young girl, she still depends on male approval for survival. To gain any kind of autonomy in the old fashioned world portrayed here, she has to display strength. But unlike the Katnisses or Beatrices of this world, Nimira's strength lies in persuasion, integrity and kindness, rather than physical skill or agility.

Magic Under Glass has been billed as a romance but I think Nimira and Erris's relationship is more complex than that. There's is not a simple case of boy meets girl, and although it was touching to see their physical connection grow- all their interactions are coloured by the limitations of Erris' automaton body.

So whilst I'm more swayed by adrenaline filled thrillers like Throne of Glass and Divergent, I think there's definitely an audience for this quirky and charming tale.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel is the first in The Infernal Devices trilogy, a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments series (yes, I'm confused too). Set in a dark and eerie Victorian London it begins with the arrival of sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray, fresh off a boat from the big apple. 

A friendless orphan, Tessa has returned to England to live with her errant brother Nathaniel. In his place, Tessa is met by two cold women, the Dark sisters, and soon imprisoned in their London home. Believing Tessa to have special powers they force her to undergo painful magical transformations. It's soon clear that there's something not quite human about Tessa, but how did the sisters know? And where is Nathaniel?

Tessa's London is threatened by a magical underworld of vampires, warlocks, demons - held together by self-appointed peacemakers, The Shadowhunters. Just as the sisters begin to hint at an upcoming forced marriage to their master, The Magister, a shockingly handsome Shadowhunter named Will arrives to sweep her away to safety. 

Installed in the Shadowhunters headquarters Tessa continues to ask questions. Is she safe with The Shadowhunters? What does The Magister want with her? And why does Will mercilessly tease her one moment, then completely ignore her the next?

This is a thrilling, satisfying instalment that definitely made me keen to continue with the series. In some ways it reminded me of the Harry Potter books - multiple characters and sub-plots knocking around a building so old and impenetrable that it's almost a character in itself. Magical beings climbing out of the woodwork and a baffled but likable main character with unwanted power. That being said, I'd much rather have Tessa fighting in my corner than Harry.

There were more than enough twists to keep me reading and Cassandra Clare kept me guessing along with Tessa on which characters to trust. Whilst there are some touching scenes, genuine portrayals of friendships and a little bit of romance, most of the book is concentrated on the action. And this makes it a brilliant read. 

Enough questions were answered in this instalment for it to feel like a complete story, whilst those that went unanswered are intriguing enough to make me impatient to begin the next book. Highly recommend.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Imagine a world without war. Sounds great, right? 

For 16-year-old Beatrice, peace has come at a price. Her world is divided into factions, each of which prioritises a different human characteristic. Beatrice and her family live in the Abnegation faction where all members are expected to act selflessly at all times. Beatrice's problem? She's human.

Exhausted from constantly suppressing her individuality and self-interest, Beatrice approaches the traditional choosing ceremony. As they reach adulthood, teenagers are required to pick the faction that they belong in. This faction is where they will remain all their lives. No pressure then.

Beatrice faces a decision which is often mirrored in adolescence on a slightly less intense scale. Does she love herself more than her family? Can she bear to leave them in order to be free to be herself? And if so, for which faction?

This novel struck me as authentic, thrilling and touching. It was easy to empathise with Beatrice as she struggles to first know herself, and then prove her worth in an unfriendly world. She goes through a huge amount of trauma in the novel, coming out physically and emotionally changed. But these challenges only strengthen her individuality, and it's fascinating to watch her grow.

The action scenes were nail-biting and believable and all the characters, evil and good alike, had human faults. Veronica Roth doesn't shy from portraying the worst of human nature - but there are also moments of humour, friendship and hope. Best of all - it features a tension-filled romance without making this the focus of the novel.