Dick King-Smith has an extraordinary written voice for telling children's stories.

How many reviews for Dick King-Smith can a person write?
Essentially, all his stories are the same.
Good, and all the same quality of goodness.

Thank you, Dick King-Smith for helping me reach my reading challenge this year. :)

This was a disappointment.
It was last year when I randomly decided to read All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and then frantically convinced my mum that she had to read it too, and then tried to get everyone I knew to read it as well. It was amazing, and that isn't enough to say how good it was.
So when I heard that a new book by Jennifer Niven had been written... I just had to read it. One day, working at the library, I saw it there on the shelf and immediately put all other books on hold to read this one instead.
And it had a really strong beginning. Wow, amazingly unique characters, what rare circumstances, blah blah blah.
But as the book went on, the characters became more whiny and unrealistic. The writing (Obviously trying to impersonate the way that teens speak) was irritating. The plot got lost somewhere along the way.
I love contemporary fiction. It's usually one of those genres I can count on. It's not for everyone, I know, but I really like it. Unless, it is written like Holding Up The Universe.
The thing is, there is absolutely no point at all in contemporary fiction if the reader doesn't care about the characters. And I'm sorry to have to say it, but Jack and Libby simply bored me. Halfway through the book I was telling someone about it, and I could not remember Libby's name - because it really didn't stand out to me that much, and she as a character just began to annoy me. I put this book down and quite happily didn't pick it up again for a week. That's always a bad sign - when you can put a book down and not care about the next time you will be reading it.
I admit, it was informative. It was supposed to be an eye-opener, I can tell.
Jack and Libby didn't feel like real people to me. They felt simply like tools, to try and make me feel pity for them. The things they did made no sense whatsoever, and there was so many huge jumps in this story with no explanation, none of the story was emotional for me.
Little heads up - if you're going to read this, make sure you've already read We Have Always Lived in the Castle. There's major spoilers in this book.
All the Bright Places is still golden for me, and Finch and Violet still have a special place in my heart, but I won't jump quite so eagerly into another Jennifer Niven book in the future.

I read this for the Concorde Book Awards 2017.
This was a cute short murder mystery which I probably would have enjoyed a lot more a few years ago.
Written like an old fashioned Enid Blyton, this murder mystery is different from what you may be used to. An all girls boarding school where they still use the word "Crikey!" mixed with a murder... it's a very nice combination.
This story was narrated by Hazel, secretary of the Detective Society. At times, she came across as whiny and repetitive. Daisy, President of aforementioned Society, was just the right mix of fabulous and incredibly annoying - a very well built character.
The story was predictable, but I think that's okay for a children's book. This book did have a lot of big concepts and subjects for a children's book, though.
A nice read which took me a while to get through because I wasn't impelled to read it - however, probably would be amazing for 10-12 year olds.

This is a book completely about loss.
I was expecting an up building story about how to cope no matter what happens, etc etc (I do love a good happy story).
For me, I feel like the sadness and darkness lasted for too long.
We don't get to know pearl throughout this story - we get to know her mum, definitely. we get to know her dad, gran, neighbour, teachers, best friend.... but Pearl?
She has a bad temper and can be irrational. she is sarcastic. She is struggling with the loss of her mum... and that's about it.
I don't understand how she could be so horrible to her perfect best friend and yet let people like her random neighbour help her. it didn't seem to make any sense.
but then, I feel like this book has a good message in it. We get so used to the lives we live, but everything could change in a moment. how would you or me cope with that? it's a deep question and this book makes you ask yourself that.

It was good, but not exceptional.
Unlike I Am Number Four, this book was told from 2 viewpoints - one was familiar, John Smith (number 4). The other was new, Number seven.

The book begins intriguingly, and then becomes dull. And then, in about the last 1/3 of the story, things begin to pick up.

If you're looking for a book which has thought-provoking, beautiful quotes and unexpected plot twists along with lovable, imperfect characters... don't read this book.

If you want an easy read about a good old fashioned adventure and a few aliens and a reasonably good plot, then do read this book.

I'm giving it 4/5 for the story, not for the writing.

I probably will read the next book, but I'm not in a hurry.

THAT ENDING.
I was waiting for that throughout the whole book. I should've known that Lauren Oliver would be dramatic and leave it to the last chapter.

This book was better than its prequel, Delirium. There was a lot more happening and a lot more excitement in this story.

The problem with Lauren Oliver is that she always writes the obvious. In the two books I've read, it's been very rare that I've actually been surprised by any of the plot developments.

In this book, Lena was a better character, but still not amazing. Parts of the story irritated me, and felt forced. Lena did not moan as much in this book, as in the last one.

I definitely will go on to read the next book soon.

I've FINALLY finished it.

when I was younger, I adored the Percy Jackson world but decided that I wouldn't try to continue reading for fear of spoiling the great childhood memories. However a friend convinced me to go back on that, and I wish they hadn't.
This book is great for children who are discovering bigger books and who are into action adventures.
for older readers... It didn't work so well for me.
I went into this book looking forward to a quick easy read, and came out the end feeling like the storyline dragged horrifically. I became bored of the book about halfway through, and that feeling didn't leave me.