Author: Eden Maguire

Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books (15th October 2009)

Pages: 276

ISBN: 978-0-340-98862-6

Grade: B (79 / 100)

Not alive. Not dead. Somewhere in between lie the Beautiful Dead.

For those of you who aren’t aware of The Beautiful Dead series it centres around the four deaths of high school pupils, Jonas, Arizona, Summer and Phoenix in the space of one year. Each story investigates in complete secrecy one of the deaths to allow the victim (is that really the right word) to move on.

Arizona looks at the death of, well Arizona whose death has been put down to suicide. But something doesn’t add up – does drowning yourself really sound like the strong, confident, Arizona who is Ellerton High School’s high maintainance drama queen.

Darina’s investigation must begin in order to help Arizona like she helped Jonas but time is running out.

I fell right back in love with the world of the Beautiful Dead as soon I started reading Arizona – I’ve seen them described elsewhere like zombies (really?) I see them more like enhanced ghosts with special powers and wings and I still love the investigative angle the stories take.

This story is looking at the death of Arizona, someone who I didn’t feel very warm towards in the first book but oh my, their are some big reasons in there which explain why she felt she had to come across in that way and as the book moved forward the more and more I warmed to her and actually liked her by the end, especially as she began to open up to Darina about her life.

Talking about characters I was surprised to see how strained Arizona’s home life was, I don’t want to give too much away but I don’t think I would of liked to live there. This being said I think kind of understand where they were coming from. Darina was as cool as ever and her relationship with Phoenix was still present – but still I feel it’s secondary to the main story (at the moment at least).

For me the story was a little slow to get going but once it picked up it was quite hard to put down especially as new elements were added and the investigation got into full swing, so much so that the eventual ending did take me by surprise – even making my hair stand on end in places.

I think you could pick Arizona up without too much worry about being lost in the plot as much of the backstory which is actually relevant to this book is weaved reasonably seemlessly into the story which is helpful if (like me) you read Jonas a little while ago.

I enjoyed Arizona and I loved the investigative elements and I think anyone who likes a lot of supernatural and a bit of romance will find them an enjoyable read.

Characters: 15 / 20

Plot: 16 / 20

Ending: 19 / 20

Writing Quality: 14 / 20

Enjoyment: 15 / 20

Total Mark: 79 / 100

What does this mean? Check out my grading system.

Each Friday Book Reviews This Week takes a look at reviews published in the Young Adult book blogosphere to help us all find great new (or rediscover older) young adult books and while were at it celebrate the work of all the young adult book bloggers out there

Here’s a selection from this week (ordered alphabetically by title).

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan – reviewed by Lauren at I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Almost True by Keren David – reviewed by The Beacoup Review

All American Girl – Ready Or Not by Meg Cabot – reviewed by Carla at The Crooked Shelf

Aries Rising by Bonnie Hearn Hill – reviewed by Karen at Teenage Fiction For All Ages

Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James – reviewed by Jenny at Wondrous Reads

Claire De Lune by Christine Johnson – reviewed by Lauren at I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Candor by Pam Bachorz – reviewed by The Bookette

Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda – reviewed by Rhiana Reads

Day Of The Predator (Time Riders) by Alex Scarrow – reviewed by The Bookette

Della Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton – reviewed by Mostly Reading YA

Empress Of The World by Sara Ryan – reviewed by Lauren at I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Glee – The Beginning by Sophia Lowell – reviewed by Jenny at Wondrous Reads

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter – reviewed by Iffath at Love Reading X

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan – reviewed by Kristi, The Story Siren

Passing Strange by Daniel Waters – reviewed by Sophie at I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon – reviewed by Sophie at I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Raised By Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – reviewed by Carla at The Crooked Shelf

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles – reviewed by Sophie at So Many Books, So Little Time

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce – reviewed by Iffath at Love Reading X

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams – reviewed by Asamum Booktopia

The Radleys by Matt Haig – reviewed by Summer at Chicklish

Touching Darkness (Midnighters) by Scott Westerfeld – reviewed by Asamum Booktopia

Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick – reviewed by Jenny at Wondrous Reads

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler – reviewed by The Bookette

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan – reviewed by Kristi, The Story Siren

Atom Books this week announced that the Twilight covers were turning white (and bright crimson) in time for Christmas.

This redesign will be unique to the UK and Ireland and Little, Brown’s territories which include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India. They will be published by ATOM on the 14th October 2010 and will be replacing the black paperbacks in bookshops for the final months of the year.

For me the new white covers are instantly recogniseable as Twilight thanks to the unmistakeable graphics on the front but I’m not sure if I prefer them to the standard black ones or the film tie in ones. I prefer different ones for each book.

I don’t think the pictures below really do the white covers justice as they miss off the crimson red to the page edges!

Twilight

Here I prefer the film tie in version I think because of the colours – to me it feels very atmospheric.

New Moon

For New Moon I prefer the original black one – I love the way the black contrasts with the red.

Eclipse

For this one I prefer the Movie Tie in, but I can’t really explain why.

Breaking Dawn

For obvious reasons we don’t yet have the film tie in version of the breaking dawn cover – and I’m slightly torn between them.

As I said at the start I don’t think the Amazon pictures really do the new covers justice and if I saw them in the shops I think my opinions would probably be quite different! Which covers do you prefer? Will you be getting the new white covers?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This is the first time I’ve taken part in Waiting On Wednesday and it’s because I just couldn’t resist this week and to be honest it was between two – the other one can wait till next week

This week’s Waiting On Wednesday is… (cover kind of gave it away) … Entangled by the Lovely Cat Clarke. Over To Amazon:

The same questions whirl around and around in my head:
What does he want from me?
How could I have let this happen?
AM I GOING TO DIE?

Entangled introduces a new and powerful British voice in YA fiction. Clarke intertwines vivid characterization with a compulsive plot and an emotional intensity that will make her many dedicated teenage fans.

The cover is gorgeous and the description sounds really, really good. Alas we are going to have to wait until the 6th January 2011 before it is published by Quercus Publishing, let the countdown begin!

This weeks book trailer of the week is the trailer for The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller. It is quite simple but very effective and intrigues me enough to want to go out and buy it (when it comes out of course). Plus I love the music

The Eternal Ones is written by Kirsten Miller and published by Puffin, it is due to be published on the 19th August 2010.

Author: Keris Stainton

Publisher: Orchard (6th May 2010)

Pages: 270

ISBN: 978-1-40830-427-3

Grade: A* (93 / 100)

At a party held for her sister Della is completely over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush. But her happiness is short lived when she discovers that her diary has gone missing.

Scans of it are appearing on Facebook, in text messages and elsewhere so how can Della enjoy what she’s got when she knows someone, somewhere is reading all of her deepest secrets.

I’ve been dying to read Della since it was first published back in May, so much so that I finished it in record time (for me that is). And I have to start by saying: I. Loved. It. These are the first three words that spring to mind when I think of Della Says: OMG!

I loved the characters, especially Della’s ability to carry on – I only managed to keep a diary for a short amount of time (wasn’t very interesting – believe me). But I would hate to have anyone read it so for the things that Della was keeping in hers I would have been horrified, not to mention petrified about what would happen next.

And all this when she has just had her first kiss with her long-term crush. At first I though what rubbish timing for her. Having said this if it wasn’t for him and her best friend, Maddy – who just have the best attitudes to the situation ever – I think this could have been a whole different story.

As it is, it’s a heartwarming and funny story which features loving parents. It touches on issues that many YA books simply don’t talk about whilst at the same time not making a big deal out of it – it strikes the perfect balance.

And that’s not to mention how funny it is particularly from the conversations Della has with her parents but also elsewhere – in places I just couldn’t stop laughing and whenever I had to put the book down, I was reading it as soon as I next could.

I can’t finish this review without picking up on my old employer, Bowlplex – Keris managed to perfectly describe the centre, not to mention (the loud) music and wierd lighting. Thankfully for my centre we only had a DJ on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights!

Overall Della Says: OMG! is a strong debut novel from Keris and I honestly can’t wait for more.

Characters: 19 / 20

Plot: 18 / 20

Ending: 17 / 20

Writing Quality: 19 / 20

Enjoyment: 20 / 20

Total Mark: 93 / 100

What does this mean? Check out my grading system.

Each Friday Book Reviews This Week takes a look at reviews published in the Young Adult book blogosphere to help us all find great new (or rediscover older) young adult books and while were at it celebrate the work of all the young adult book bloggers out there

Here’s a selection from this week (ordered alphabetically by title).

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan – reviewed by Jenny at Wondrous Reads

Almost True by Keren David – reviewed by Amber at The Mile Long Bookshelf

An Abundance Of Katherine’s by John Green – reviewed by Asamum Booktopia

Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey – reviewed by Sophie at So Many Books, So Little Time

Conspiracy 365 (June) and Conspiracy 365 (July) by Gabrielle Lord – reviewed by Kate at Chicklish

Dark Life by Kat Falls – reviewed by Jenny at Wondrous Reads

Day Of The Predators (Time Riders) by Alex Scarrow – reviewed by Lauren at I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda – reviewed by Rihanna Reads

Doctor Who: Apollo 23 by Justin Richards – reviewed by Karen at Teenage Fiction For All Ages

Glee: The Beginning by Sophia Lowell – reviewed by Mostly Reading YA

Glee: The Beginning by Sophia Lowell – reviewed by The Beaucoup Review

iBoy by Kevin Brooks – reviewed by Sophie at So Many Books, So Little Time

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel – reviewed by Kristi, The Story Siren

Jealousy by Lili St. Crow – reviewed by Jenny at Wondrous Reads

Jealousy by Lili St. Crow – reviewed by Lauren at I Was A Teenage Book Geek

Manifest by Artist Arthur – reviewed by The Bookette

Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake By Sarah Maclean – reviewed by Carla at The Crooked Shelf

Rain by Kate Le Vann – reviewed by The Bookette

Take Me There by Carolee Dean – reviewed by Voracious YAppetite

The Demon’s Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan – reviewed by Asamum Booktopia

The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee – reviewed by Kristi, The Story Siren

The Poisoned House by Michael Ford – reviewed by Iffath at LoveReadingX

Author: Sophia Lowell

Publisher: Headline (5th August 2010)

Pages: 218

ISBN: 978-0-7553-7737-4

Grade: B (79 / 100)

This is the book for any fans of the hit TV show Glee, it starts (and finishes) just before the television series starts and is for all intents and purposes a prequel – giving you the backstory.

Go back with the Glee characters before the mania began, find out why Rachel started thinking of Finn as more than just a jock, when did the secret romance between Quinn and Puck begin and how on earth did the Glee club function without the Fearless Mr Schuster?

Before I begin I should point out that I love Glee (how it managed to pass by the rest of my family I have absolutley no idea), I loved the story and I especially loved the songs – many of them I preferred over the orignal (can I say that?) so approaching the book was interesting in that obviously one of the key parts of the show (the songs) was missing.

This aside I felt the book really captures the spirit of Glee, it may not be the TV series but it stood up well on it’s own ground, we start with a Glee club that can honestly hardly be called a club, if you thought it was in dire straights when the show started, it’s even worse at this stage, only four members and, well, no Rachel.

I felt the book really captured the characters – you could really here Coach Sylvester speaking with her remarks never failing to make me smile and we even see glimpses of Mr. Schuster as the seeds were being put in place for him to take over looking after the Glee Club. Overall I really sympathised with all the Glee kids, being at the bottom of the social ladder and being pushed around by certainly the Cherios and the Jocks must suck big time, but they all got on with what they really wanted to do – perform, quite inspiring really!

I really enjoyed seeing the characters life before Glee and found it interesting to see Rachel’s two Dads something which I don’t recall getting too much coverage in the show.

This all being said I was at first a little uneasy with the voice to start with, as like the show does it keeps moving to different points of view – this was only a minor problem as I got used to it after a couple of chapters and then we were off.

Glee: The Beginning was nice book, it had a story which could hold you to the end and serves as a nice way to fill in the gaps between the last series and the next. I think Glee fans (like me) would probably enjoy it more than anyone who has just passing interest in the show.

Characters: 17 / 20

Plot: 12 / 20

Ending: 15 / 20

Writing Quality: 17 / 20

Enjoyment: 18 / 20

Total Mark: 79 / 100

What does this mean? Check out my grading system.

Thanks to Headline for sending me a copy of Glee: The Beginning to review.

I’ve been thinking about adding a rating system to Books 4 Teens for a little while but wasn’t really sure which way to go with it and how would it work – I have an idea for one system which I’ll explain below which should also be kind of self explanatory on the reviews and also will allow you to see how the rating was reached.

This could all go horribly wrong, wish me luck

The System

Ok, so I wanted the system I used to allow you to see how the final rating for each review was reached while at the same time giving you an at a glance idea as to what I thought of the book.

Soooo, this system is going to be a little bit like the GCSE grading system using letters starting from U (I’m pretty certain no book will recieve this rating) moving up to G through, H up to A*.

In addition to recieving a ‘grade’ each book will get a percentage out of 100. For example a fantastic book could potentially get a grade of A* and a percentage of 100 on the other hand an equally good book but not the best book ever could still get a grade of A* but get a percentage of say 85.

This way not only do I have a way of indicating which books I highly recommend (ie grade C and upwards) but you also get to see more accuratley how each book review compares with another (if you wanted to that is).

Finally at the bottom of each review will be a breakdown of what I am looking at, with each of the 5 sections below getting a mark out of 20.

• Characters
• Plot
• Ending
• Writing Quality
• Enjoyment

These marks are added together to get the final mark out of 100 and this final mark will be used to get the ‘grade’ for the book as follows.

• A* = 91 – 100
• A = 81 – 90
• B = 61 – 80
• C = 51 – 60
• D = 46 – 50
• E = 36 – 45
• F = 26 – 35
• G = 15 – 25
• U = 0 – 14

Why do I think I’m going to regret this – eek!

This weeks trailer of the week is actually the winning entry in the House of Night: Burned Trailer Compeition where part of the prize was to have their trailer made into the winning entry for the book Burned in the House of Night series.

So without further ado, here’s the wining trailer.

Burned (House of Night) is written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast and was published by ATOM on the 27th April 2010.