4 stars

Review: All of the Above

08:00

All of the Above
By Juno Dawson

 Source: Library, paperback
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, LGBT+, Mental Health, 
When sixteen-year-old Toria Bland arrives at her new school, she needs to work out who her friends are in a crazy whirl of worry, exam pressure and anxiety over fitting in. Things start looking up when Toria meets the funny and foul-mouthed Polly, who's the coolest girl that Toria has ever seen. Polly and the rest of the 'alternative' kids take Toria under their wing. And that's when she meets the irresistible Nico Mancini, lead singer of a local band - and it's instalove at first sight! Toria likes Nico, Nico likes Toria, but then there's Polly...love and friendship have a funny way of going round in circles.


I really liked Juno Dawson’s other book, Under My Skin, so I knew I was going to enjoy this one too, even if I knew it would be a little different. This book was comforting, and so much fun! It was a quick read, and a brilliant book, so I’d highly recommend it to fans of the genre!

It was very much a character driven book, and I adored most of the characters. I wasn’t keen on Toria - the protagonist - but I loved everyone else! I cared so much about the plot, because of how loveable everyone was. I felt like the characters were my best friends, and I do wish they were real!

This book discussed lots of pretty dark themes, and handled them very well. I’ve heard a few people saying to got a bit crowded, and should have just focused in more depth on just one important topic, but that’s not the case for me! It was true to real life, and I think it was handled so well. It has some very important messages, yet is still a super fun book.

One thing that makes this book stand out from others of the same genre is the poetry. There’s about 10 poems in the book, so they don’t occur very often. I think they fitted in really fell with what was happening, and added a lot to the story. Some of the more emotional ones were especially moving, so I do hope Juno’s books feature more poetry!

I really liked the ending. I thought everything was wrapped up well, and gave me full closure. Overall, this was an important book, yet a light read. It was everything I hoped for, and I really enjoyed it!

5 Stars

Review: Under My Skin

08:00

Under My Skin
By James Dawson

 Source: Borrowed, paperback
Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Thriller, Paranormal, 
Meet Molly Sue. Once she's under your skin there's no getting rid of her...

Seventeen-year-old Sally Feather is not exactly a rebel. Her super-conservative parents and her treatment at the hands of high school bullies means that Sally's about as shy and retiring as they come - but all that's about to change. Accidentally ending up in the seedier side of town one day, Sally finds herself mysteriously lured to an almost-hidden tattoo parlour - and once inside, Sally is quickly seduced by its charming owner, Rosita, and her talk of how having a secret tattoo can be as empowering as it is thrilling. Almost before she knows what she is doing, Sally selects sexy pin-up Molly Sue, and has her tattooed on her back - hoping that Molly Sue will inspire her to be as confident and popular as she is in her dreams.

But things quickly take a nightmareish turn. Almost immediately, Sally begins to hear voices in her head - or rather, one voice in particular: Molly Sue's. And she has no interest in staying quiet and being a good girl - in fact, she's mighty delighted to have a body to take charge of again. Sally slowly realises that she is unable to control Molly Sue... and before long she's going to find out the hard way what it truly means to have somebody 'under your skin'.


I really didn’t expect to love this as much as I did! I’ve heard good things about some of James Dawson’s books, but not as much about this one. I’m so glad this was my first book by him, because ended up absolutely adoring it. I can’t find one fault - this book is perfect for me! It’s everything I’ve been looking for and more.

It was so creepy too! I was actually pretty scared of this book. After finishing it at 9pm, I was buzzing, and couldn’t sleep for a long time. I’ve heard a few people saying this, but I didn’t really believe it until well into the book. At first, it was even making me want a tattoo even more, but now I’m not too sure...

I adored all of the characters right from the beginning. I loved Sally - she was strong, independent, yet at the start, there was plenty of room for development. She made all the right decisions, and I was never irritated by her. Whenever she did something, I was like “yes, girl!”. Fist pumps all the way for Sally.


Another thing I loved about this book was the plot. I loved how fast-paced it was - from the very beginning we were jumped into the action, and it was never slow at all. There were plot twists after plot twists, and I was overwhelmed by how shocking it was! Some people who’ve read the book won’t think that, because there was gentle parts in the story, but I found these just as engaging as all of the action scenes, because of how much I loved the characters.

This is one of those books that really is best when you don’t know much about it. I’ve tried really hard to not spoil it here, but you should just go and read it! This has become one of my favourite books of all time, and I honestly can’t tell you how much I love it. I think I’ll definitely be re-reading this one.