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You are here: Home / Archives for New York

New York

Book Review: She Is Not Invisible, by Marcus Sedgwick

1st July 2014 By Julianne Leave a Comment

Last time Laureth Peak spoke to her father, he was researching his book in Amsterdam. But he hasn’t called or texted her in several days. And then she gets an email from a stranger, saying that he’s found her father’s notebook in New York. Laureth is alarmed – he’s not supposed to be in New York. She’s even more concerned by the fact that her mother doesn’t seem to care about the notebook turning up in the wrong place. So she decides to go to New York and find her father – or discover what has happened to him.

The only problem is, she can’t go alone. Laureth is blind, so she has to take someone with her, to help her navigate the new city and the only person she can trust is her seven year old brother, Benjamin…

(Note on Laureth’s blindness – at my book club, we discussed whether we thought that the blindness was supposed to be a surprise. It is written like it is, but if you’re reading this review you’ve probably read a synopsis which mentions it somewhere – I saw the one on Goodreads before reading the book!)

She Is Not Invisible is a book that grabbed me right from the start. I loved the characters. It was amazing to read a book told from the point of view of a blind character, something I’ve never done before. I loved Laureth’s relationship with her little brother Benjamin. I loved Stan, and the stories behind their names. I loved Mr Walker. I was really intrigued by Laureth’s parents and their relationship.

I didn’t love the plot so much, or more precisely, the ending. Most of the book feels like set up time. We are told about various coincidences and given philosophical background information but it all just kind of fizzles out and I was left wondering what exactly the point was meant to be. Maybe the point is that there is no pointt, or maybe the point is supposed to be the feelings we feel when the book ends. I don’t know, but in either case, it wasn’t quite enough for me.

I really enjoyed meeting Laureth and the other characters, and I would still recommend this book. It’s really interesting and clever and even funny in places. But I didn’t feel like it all got the ending that it deserved.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: blindness, Marcus Sedgwick, New York, teen fiction, teenage fiction, YA, young adult

Book Review: Jessie Hearts NYC, by Keris Stainton

9th May 2014 By Julianne Leave a Comment

Yes, this maple syrup is super-Canadian, but maple syrup features in the book. So nyah.

Jessie desperately wants to get over her ex-boyfriend, and can’t think of any way better than spending her summer in her mother’s New York City apartment with her best friend Emma. There’s even a potential new love interest on the horizon for her, Ben, one of the actors in her mum’s play. The only thing that seems to stand in the way of her happiness is her relationship with her mother, which has always been difficult.

Finn has two major problems. One, he is in love with Sam, his best friend’s girlfriend, and two, he doesn’t know how to tell his dad that he finds the idea of working in insurance utterly boring.

Coincidence after coincidence has Jessie and Finn sharing scenes – but it seems like they will never properly meet!

It took me a while to get into Jessie Hearts NYC, because it’s quite succintly written and I prefer a bit more detail to draw me in, but after I got to know all the characters I was hooked. I loved that Jessie and Finn keep bumping into each other. It might be a tad unrealistic, but it’s so much fun (in a frustrating kind of way) to keep seeing them come so close to
talking only to go their separate ways!

I was also really interested in Jessie’s complicated relationship with her mum. They don’t relate to each other very well and this has caused problems throughout Jessie’s life. Emma, Jessie’s best friend, was a bit of an enigma, but I’m not too bothered because she has her own book!

I finished reading Jessie Hearts NYC over a month ago and it’s really stuck with me, partly because of the relationship between Jessie and her mum, but also because it’s full of vividly memorable scenes, like a good film (which it could be). New York plays a really important role in the story, providing a vibrant backdrop for all of the emotional drama, and even though I’ve never been there, it was easy for me to imagine the locations.

I would recommend Jessie Hearts NYC to those who would like a quick, romantic read, but also to those who love reading about difficult mother/daughter relationships. I loved Della Says: OMG! so I will definitely be reading Keris’ other books, and to be honest, I’m ashamed it took me so long to read this one!

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: book review, books, British, Keris Stainton, New York, summer, teen fiction, teenage, teenage fiction, UKYA, YA, young adult

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Hi! I'm Julianne and this is my book blog. Click my picture to read more about me.

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