Review: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson (August 2011, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, ISBN: 0857071955)

Review: Hunting Lila is the first in a two book series featuring Lila Loveday. Seventeen-year-old Lila has the ability to move things with her mind and a run in with two muggers leaves her shaken when she almost blinds one of them. Fleeing the home she shares with her Dad in London, she crosses the Atlantic to be with her older brother Jack and his best friend (and secret love of her life) Alex in California. The boys, who are four years older, are in the Marines working on a top-secret project.

Lila is struck by the security in Jack's house and is soon under constant watch herself by either Jack or Alex (not such a problem there...). Alex eventually reveals that they are working to capture the people who killed her mother five years ago when the family lived in Washington. Lila continues to dig for information and is then approached by a stranger asking for her help. Then all hell breaks loose and Alex and Lila go on the run to escape both the alleged bad guys and the good guys who may actually be bad guys as well.

Alex, Jack and Lila are reunited briefly but then they are trapped and trade-off is arranged and Lila gets to find out the truth about why her mother was killed and by whom. A further exchange of information puts everything she thought she knew in doubt.

Hunting Lila is a very enjoyable love-story/thriller (with shades of X-Men) with a gorgeous, strong bloke (with a gooey centre) and a tough yet vulnerable beautiful female lead who have known each other forever but are finding it hard to say how they feel about each other until it's almost too late. The story twists and turns so you're not sure who are the bad guys and who are the good and ends with such an unexpected reveal that you'll want to grab Losing Lila ASAP!

[Losing Lila also contains a short story from Alex's point of view, The Moment. Also available is the short story Catching Suki, set before Hunting Lila but which should preferably be read after Hunting Lila, which can be downloaded via Sarah Alderson's website.]

Review: Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie

Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie (March 2012, Simon & Schuster Childrens Books, ISBN: 0857070991)

Falling Fast is the first part in the Flynn trilogy which is to be narrated by River; River is 16 and looking to love and be loved. Along with her two best friends Emmi and Grace they go along to a local boys' school to audition for the female roles in Romeo and Juliet. Though River is a better actor than Emmi, when she sets her eyes on Romeo, played by Flynn, she is overcome with emotion and fluffs her test. Emmi secures Juliet and Grace and River get other parts which means that several times a week they have to rehearse with the boys...

Slowly River and Flynn begin a relationship but he is moody and swift to anger and River, though soon deeply in love, is not sure Flynn is her Romeo; what's with all his secrets and his intense personality? Frank discussions are needed if they are to last...

Falling Fast charts a passionate but fragile relationship between the insecure River and the chip on his shoulder Flynn and shows the difference between expectation and reality. It's a quick read but still covers some serious issues. I found River a likeable and believable character. The three girls are quite grown-up what with getting drunk and the varying degrees of experimentation with sex (from none to frequent). There is also an aggressive/frightening scene with some drunks. If you want something along the same lines but more innocent then try Kay Woodward's Wuthering Hearts.

I look forward to seeing where the story goes in the second instalment, Burning Bright. In the meantime you can download  Acting Friends, a prequel, written for World Book Day, here.

Review: Wuthering Hearts by Kay Woodward

Wuthering Hearts by Kay Woodward (July 2011, Andersen, ISBN: 1849392994)

Review: Fourteen-year-old Emily Sparrow lives in a small Yorkshire town near the Brontes home of Haworth. She wants to be an actress and is desperate to star in this year's school production. But she is horrified to hear that it is to be Wuthering Heights.

Robert McBride has just joined the school and is tall, dark, handsome and very moody and Emily is smitten. But what is his problem? When circumstances lead to him moving into her home temporarily she gets to know "charming Robert" but still meets the grumpy version at school.

When both of them are cast in the play it seems that there's an opportunity for the two to rehearse together and so get to know each other and Emily, hopes, time for him to fall for her.

Things don't go as planned, however, and there are both tears and laughter before the two understand each other better.

Wuthering Hearts is a charming romance tale which touches on a couple of serious issues along the way. Emily is a lively, believable and funny narrator who I wanted to be not so quick to blame herself all the time for the misunderstandings with Robert. She has an adorable Auntie O acting as a mum substitute, dispensing wise advice. I loved the trips out in the wild moors and the visit to Haworth, which are both brought vividly to life.

Wuthering Hearts is a short and snappy read which should leave you wanting to read both Emily Bronte's original classic and Kay Woodward's previous book, Jane Airhead, and is suitable for younger teenagers (and older!) and any slightly younger children who like reading about a romance.