Review: Never Apart by Romily Bernard

NEVER APART

Author: Romily Bernard

Series: -

Release date: 3^rd October 2017

Publisher / Source: Entangled Teen

Pages: 400

Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis (Goodreads) How many times would you die for love?

What if you had to relive the same five days over and over?

And what if at the end of it, your boyfriend is killed…

And you have to watch. Every time.

You don’t know why you’re stuck in this nightmare.

But you do know that these are the rules you now live by:

Wake Up.

Run.

Die.

Repeat.

Now, the only way to escape this loop is to attempt something crazy. Something dangerous. Something completely unexpected. This time…you’re not going to run.

Combining heart-pounding romance and a thrilling mystery Never Apart is a stunning story you won’t soon forget.

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Never Apart was a fascinating quick read for me as I was eager to find out what was going on! With twists and turns aplenty, I found this book to be completely captivating.

Our MC’s are Grace and her boyfriend Ander who die on repeat every five days, trapped in an alternate reality they wake, they run and they die always at the hands of their former friend, Finn. They fall in to a parallel world with the same outcome every time but the difference is they come back a different version of themselves.

In their latest fall, things are different, Ander hasn’t found Grace and her twin Jem, who has been absent in the other falls is again with the family; things have never changed so it has left them confused. In every alternate reality they try to work out a way to change the end result but they have never succeeded, I don’t want to reveal too much to avoid spoilers but it was a thrilling mystery that was done very well and kept me engrossed from the very first page.

All of the characters were written well and played a pivotal role in the overall story, Grace was such a ‘real’, likeable character. I adored her! She is a shy girl with anxiety and she was extremely relatable. Ander is a character with a lot of issues, he was my least favourite, Finn was wonderful! He had the most depth and despite not instantly liking him by the end of it all, I loved him and his sense of humour.

Never Apart is wonderfully written with a superb premise and fascinating characters, and an alternating now and then timeline which I don’t tend to enjoy but it worked well for this book.

I can’t fault Romily Bernard's writing and her creative, imaginative story-line, it was a fast paced read that really left me surprised at the end of it all, it was wonderfully executed. My only problem with this book was I didn’t find the ‘then’ sections as engrossing as the ‘now but I still enjoyed it for the most part.

Thank you to Entangled Teen via NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Never Apart.

Review: Girl on the Run by B.R. Myers

GIRL ON THE RUN

Author: B.R Myers

Series: -

Pages: 336

Publisher: Nimbus

Release date: First published 21^st September 2015

Synopsis: When seventeen-year-old track and field star Jesse Collins’ dreams of a full scholarship are shattered after the sudden death of her dad, she leaves home to work as a summer camp counselor to escape the small town nosy stares... and her own secret guilt.

After a mix-up at registration, she’s put in charge of a boys’ cabin, and the head counselor, Kirk, predicts she won’t last the first two weeks. In the midst of fending off four twelve-year-old boys who are hell-bent on mortifying her and a growing attraction to Kirk, Jesse finds the inspiration to run again from an unlikely source. But getting her old life back isn't that easy and soon Jesse will realize that a good pair of legs can take a girl far, but she'll never outrun the truth.

Review: 3 out of 5 stars

Our main character is seventeen year-old Jesse Collins, a girl with a proven record as a track and field star; she’s had high hopes of going to university on a full scholarship but everything comes to an end with the death of her beloved father; she quits running and puts all of her dreams on hold.

Jesse heads off to Kamp Krystal Lake for a breather and is mistakenly put in charge of four twelve year-old cheeky boys; it’s predicted that she won’t last a week by the head counsellor Kirk but she sets out to prove everyone wrong.

Some of the things Jesse had to endure would send a normal person running but she wanted to give her mum a break to grieve without worrying about her and also prove to herself that she can do it. I loved her strength and her eagerness to tackle most things head on; she also made some great friendships whilst she was there all whilst being pranked and embarrassed by her group on a daily basis. Her inner dialogue was great!

I loved the relationship that Jesse came to have with her young group – Spencer was the biggest troublemaker and the camp owners’ son, identical twins are Liam and Duff who is hearing impaired and Scotty, who is the best of the bunch; they could be quite trying but she was persistent. We also had the typical beautiful mean girl who was trying to sabotage Jesse’s job.

There is romance between Jesse and Kirk which was slow progressing as well as with two others boys (quite brief) which I felt wasn’t needed (not exactly a love square/triangle); I ended up enjoying Jesses and Kirk’s moments together but I felt there was something lacking.

Besides not loving the romance, I also felt there was nothing that was unique about this YA Contemporary read that would make it stand out against others; it was an entertaining and easy read but it wasn’t a title that left me completely wowed.

Overall, Girl On The Run was written well and was a pleasant surprise. It was an engrossing, at times emotional read with fun, engaging characters and witty dialogue.

I would like to thank Nimbus publishing via Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

About the author: Always in the mood for a good scare, B.R. Myers spent most of her teen years behind the covers of Lois Duncan, Ray Bradbury, and Stephen King. Her YA contemporary coming of age novel, GIRL ON THE RUN, was chosen by the Canadian Children's Book Centre as a BEST BOOK for TEENS for 2016. 

When she's not putting her characters in awkward situations, she works as a registered nurse. A member of the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia, she lives in Halifax with her husband and two children—and there is still a stack of books on her bedside table.

Review: This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

This Mortal Coil

Author: Emily Suvada

Series: - 

Release date: 7^th November 2017

Publisher / Source: Simon Pulse

Pages: 432

Young Adult Fiction / Science Fiction

Synopsis (Goodreads)

In this gripping debut novel, gene-hacking genius Cat is the only one who can decode her late father’s message concealing a vaccine to a horrifying plague.

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash though firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself? 

Review: 5 out of 5 stars

I don’t know where to start with this review! I haven’t read a book that has had me completely engrossed and wanting more in such a long time. Despite the complex world-building and intricate plot I couldn’t put this book down.

Catarina Agatta is the daughter of a legendary geneticist, she is also a professional hacker who can destroy a mainframe and complex firewalls, something that she also learnt from her brilliant father. When Cat’s dad, Lachlan Agatta is kidnapped by a shady organisation known as Cartaxus, she is left to fend and protect herself from the deadly plague outbreak which turns regular humans in to zombie like creatures that explode and further spread the disease.

When a Cartaxus soldier appears with news of Catarina’s father’s death, her world is turned upside down and she learns that everything that she once knew has been a complete lie and there was more to her father’s work than she originally thought and she may be the last hope in eradicating the deadly plague with a vaccine that was created before her dads death.

Catarina was a wonderful character, she really shone with her strength, determination and her lack of fear; her life hasn’t appeared to be easy with her often describing her father as absent so she was independent and more than capable to look after herself. Cole is a specialised soldier with implants to protect Catarina and I absolutely adored him! He was a mystery and one that I enjoyed getting to know. We have a small amount of romance but it was definitely in the background. The side characters weren’t as developed but each played an important role in the storyline.

The world-building was extremely technical, creative and complex and I admit I did find myself confused at times, In Catarina’s world people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they like. I couldn’t picture the implanted technology and how it all worked, it all seemed very robotic and was a little too much for me. The plot was intricate and was filled with many twists and turns that I didn’t expect, it all came together very well.

Overall, This Mortal Coil is a very well-crafted story with complex characterisation and some shocking happenings. Suvada’s writing is extremely readable and smooth; I enjoyed every moment of it and I look forward to reading more books by this author. A fabulous debut!

About the author:

Emily Suvada was born and raised in Australia, where she went on to study mathematics and astrophysics. She previously worked as a data scientist, and still spends hours writing algorithms to perform tasks which would only take minutes to complete on her own. When not writing, she can be found hiking, cycling, and conducting chemistry experiments in her kitchen. She currently lives in Portland, OR, with her husband.