Heartside Bay: The New Girl by Cathy Cole

Book Details

Author: Cathy Cole
Ages: 10+
Rating: 4/10
Number of Pages: 211
Plot: After leaving London to escape her past, Lila Murray arrives in Heartside Bay looking to make a fresh start and prove to her family she has changed. However when she meets Ollie, Heartside High’s football star, Lila makes an enemy of Eve, the school’s rich and popular Queen Bee. Eve will do anything to eliminate her competition and get Ollie, putting Lila’s hopes of a fresh start on the balance. As Lila tries to balance her new persona, her rivalry with Eve and a mysterious secret admirer, Lila is thrown into a world where she must decide whether love is more important than keeping the trust of her parents and new friends. A story of teen love and friendship, the Heartside Bay series is a great light-hearted read for any teenage girl.


Review: I bought this book, and a couple from the rest of the series, as a way to break the reading slump I suffered after taking my AS level exams in June. I had never heard of the series or the author and, being a massive fan of classics and dystopian novels full of action, had little experience reading the more light-hearted romantic comedy style novels. After buying the book I feared the worst – a book that lacked any action or had the eloquent flair of a classic piece of literature, I had little hope that this would appeal to me. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Despite the book not completely overwhelming me and changing my whole perspective of literature, the novel did manage to grasp my attention whilst slowly getting me back into reading after those long months of exams. The Heartside Bay series, despite lacking any real plot twists, has a range of characters that any teenager can appeal to and although the plots of each of the books may appear to be a little far-fetched in places, the books are an enjoyable read.


Having read Girl Online by Zoe Sugg (or Zoella) late last year, I feel that the Heartside Bay series contains similar themes and characterisation making it an ideal read for any of you who enjoyed Girl Online (the sequel to which is due to be released late this year). The book revolves around this whole idea of fresh starts and new loves, themes that are apparent in books like Girl Online, and Cole manages to present these themes in a way that they are not too cliché. Despite this, there are distinct moments within the novel that are extremely cliché, for example, the name of the town and the fact that it is the “love capital of Britain.” In addition to this, at points I felt that the plot was too dense and thus made the overall story feel unbelievable. This can be seen in the ending – which I won’t go into detail about in case some of you haven’t read the book or the series for that matter.

“I want to be called Lila in Heartside Bay,” she said in a tumble. “Not Lil. If I’m ever going to settle in around here, I have to start again. It’s time for me to be someone else.” – Lila Murray

Overall despite the book not having the usual dystopian theme to it, the Heartside Bay series contains memorable characters and ideas that, although a little cliché, are light-hearted and so create a book that is a fun, short read. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books like Girl Online or for any of you who are looking for a romantic comedy style of writing.

Beautiful Malice By Rebecca James

Book Details:

Author: Rebecca James

Ages: 15+

Rating: 6/10

Number of Pages: 353

Plot: Following a devastating tragedy Katherine is forced to move away to start a new life and escape the ghosts of her past. In her new life she looks to live a quiet and solitary life away from the temptations of her past, until she meets the interesting Alice. Katherine’ new life is thrown into jeopardy as she realises that Alice is not the friend she thought she was and Alice has a cruel and dark side. Full of tragedy, betrayal and love this book will have you in shock from beginning to end.

I was given this book as a present for my birthday and was interested to see what the book would be like as I had never read anything from the author before. The book, at first, was quite hard to follow as the chapters continually jump from 3 time periods. However, after persevering I began to really enjoy the characters and was intrigued by the plot.

After getting to grips with the unusual choice of structure, I really enjoyed the diverse range of characters and how they affect Katherine’s story throughout the novel. I loved how the author chose a range of different personalities in her main characters, I especially liked Mike and Philippa. I wasn’t too struck on the main character Katherine as I thought at times she was a bit pathetic when it came to her encounters with the somewhat psychotic Alice. Despite the sometimes annoying persona of Katherine, I thought the characters were realistic and well thought out. I also liked how the reaction to Katherine’s story of her past differed from person to person, I think that this truly reflected how people would react in real life.

So, despite liking the characters there were parts of the plot that I didn’t really like and seemed a little implausible. Overall I thought the whole concept of the book was both unique and quite shocking at parts. After the first few chapters, I really enjoyed the 3 separate time zones featured throughout the book as I think they made the characters more realistic and made it easier to make an emotional connection to Katherine and her family. The structure also I felt made the big reveal at the end more shocking.

 

“So. Were you glad, deep down? Were you glad to be rid of her? Your perfect sister? Were you secretly glad when she died?" – Alice

 Overall, I thought the characters and the structure of the book were well thought out and the book as a whole was shocking and jaw-dropping. Despite not liking some of the structural choices and Katherine I eventually got into the story and enjoyed the book. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys novels full of shock and tragedy.

 

Reviewed by Daisy Wallis

Mars by Jasmine Rose

Book Details:

Author: Jasmine Rose

Ages: 13+

Rating: 8/10

Number of Pages: 159

Plot:  Amaryllis Wolfe is struggling with her recent breakup with her boyfriend Ethan; her life is full of confusing moments as her ex tries desperately to win her back. Amaryllis’ life is turned upside down when the new boy Logan Masterson pulls her aside in class and tells her she is beautiful. Logan is full of mystery; until he reveals his secret.... he has cancer. This book is full of romance, heartbreak and the odd moment that will make you laugh out loud.

I was sent this book by a book publisher and was extremely excited to see what it would be like. I have since read the book several times, and each time I find more elements of the book that I love. The book follows a similar story line to The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, so at first I was a bit sceptical about the plot, but after reading the whole book I loved the characters and the plot just as much.

I especially loved the development of Amaryllis and Logan’s relationship, as I felt it perfectly mirrored real life teenage relationships. The author clearly made all of the characters, even the more minor characters, like Amaryllis' Dad, likeable, for example Jenna, Amaryllis' best friend is extremely sarcastic yet the reader can tell that she loves Amaryllis like a sister. My favourite character was Logan as I thought that despite him having cancer he deeply cared about Amaryllis and added humour to the book at point where it was quite sad. 

"I don't love you, because I love my sister and my parents. What I feel for you is different. It's something so profound that my heart feels it'll fall out of its chest if you ever get hurt," he smiles at me. "I'm completely, totally in love with you, Amaryllis." - Logan 

Overall I absolutely adored this book! Despite it feeling quite similar to the work of John Green at the beginning, the remainder of the book was truly unique. The characters each had their own distinct personalities that make the reader instantly relate to the individual characters. I would gladly recommend this book to anyone who loved The Fault in Our Stars or any other John Green book. If you would like to find more about the author or book, find them on Goodreads;

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23279048-mars

Reviewed by Daisy Wallis