Review: Finding Sky by Joss Stirling

Finding Sky is the latest in a stream of American high school romances that pitch good girl against bad boy with extraordinary powers.  Sky, like Bella before her, is the new girl in the school who finds herself drawn, against her better judgement to the mysterious cool guy that her friends warn her against. And Zed, the cool guy in question, like Edward before him, is a member of a tight-knit protective family all of whom have their own special powers. But there the analogy dies.  There are no vampires here, just ‘savants’, human beings just like any other with the exception of super-tuned senses that enable them to talk telepathically, read the past or future or move objects without touching them.

Sky is no Bella either. For starters, she’s English and that fact alone provides the equally English author with no end of opportunities to have fun at the expense of our so-called shared language. She’s a feisty number too, more than capable of holding her own, and of making, often difficult, decisions. And that points to another difference: because in many ways this is as much a book about the choices people make when they are given power as it is a romance or a fast-moving thriller.

This also happens to be one of the best written books about at the moment. The prose is pacey, witty and a delight to read. It sucks the reader in effortlessly, placing them firmly in the mindset of a shy and emotionally damaged English girl struggling to come to terms with her natural attraction to a fine specimen of adolescent manhood, her appalling past and her exciting potential future.

The lovely folk at Oxford sent me this review copy. If you want one for yourself please order it via the link below and Amazon will then send a small contribution towards the maintenance of this blog

Review: Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

This, the second of Yancey’s Monstrumologist series, does not disappoint. Gore, horror and general yuck-factor opportunities abound along with an evocative depiction of early twentieth century New York and further development of the two key characters of Will Henry and Dr Warthrop.

The Curse of the Wendigo is almost two separate novels rolled into the one. The first half follows Will Henry and Dr Warthrop as they track down Warthrop’s old sparring partner John Chanler who has disappeared in the Western Canadian wilderness. This is the landscape that adults will know from Twin Peaks and X-Files and Yancey draws all that televisual eeriness into his book with an expert’s touch. The second half takes place in a richly drawn New York where appalling slums nestle alongside exquisite high society and both Will Henry and Warthrop get to interact with the opposite sex. This is new territory for the series and bodes well for the next book. The poignant description of Warthrop’s liaison adds a level of complexity to his character and provides something of an explanation for his enigmatic personality. Will Henry’s new friendship, by contrast, provides light relief and a tempting glimpse of what might be to come.

This is a book for horror fans who are bored sick of vampires, werewolves the usual array of evil characters. And, speaking from experience, this is definitely not one to read at twilight in an empty room!

Originally written for writeaway.org.uk