The Yellow Room by Jess Valance

It's about half past seven on Tuesday morning and it's freezing in my bedroom so I'm doing my usual trick of gathering all of my uniform together in one quick sweep, dragging it into bed with me and getting dressed completely under the duvet.

Paperback, 263 pages

Published July 28th 2016 by Hot Key Books

Summary

Sixteen-year-old Anna receives a letter from her father's girlfriend telling her he has died and asking to meet. Anna is drawn to Edie: her warmth, her character, her ability to rustle up delicious meals, all of which her own mother is seemingly incapable of... and the way she can tell Edie the secret that is buried inside her.

A tautly told, compelling tale about mothers and daughters and the lengths that some will go to, to make their dreams come true.

****

As you head into this book, you quickly realise that all is not rosy in Anna's life. On the outside things look normal but there is something Anna is not telling us and it involves the super creepy, stalkerish Leon. I wasn't sure what he was up to in the beginning, but he creeped me out as soon as he stepped into the book. I swear he made me shiver with uncomfortableness. He takes manipulation and bullying to whole new level.  

Anna has a secret which is consuming her life. It's one of those secrets that perhaps shared with another wouldn't seem so bad, but as Anna is lacking in having someone to turn to for advice, it's eating away at her.  She comes from a one parent family and her mum really doesn't have a lot of time for her, in fact let's be honest, she gives her no time at all, even bailing on one of the most important days of her life. 

So when Edie appears on the scene, all warm, caring and willing to listen, it's not surprising Anna likes her and wants to spend more time with her. 

I really liked Edie. And I don't think I'm supposed to. She is the most mixed up, screw loose character in the book who goes to some extreme lengths to show her allegiance, but her heart is warm and she will do anything to protect Anna. 

The book gets creepier as the story progresses and you hope that Anna will see through the sugar glaze before it's too late. 

Having met Jess and followed her on Twitter, I am so pleased to see her wicked sense of humour is revealed in her writing. At times I was giggling when I'm not sure I was supposed to. It's like Jess slipped the jokes in under her editor's nose. 

I really enjoyed The Yellow Room and I will definitely be reading Jess Valance's first book, Birdy in the near future. 

A realistic look at the deteriorating relationship between a mother and daughter. Be careful who you trust with your secrets, because they might just use to bring you down. 

If you're looking for a super creepy page turning contemporary, then this is the one for you. 

Between The Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Reviewed by Georgina Tranter

Published by Hodder & Stoughton on the 5th July 2012

Pages - 361

Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a brave king and a beautiful queen, who were so much in love that wherever they went, people stopped what they were doing just to watch them pass. Peasant wives who were fighting with their husbands suddenly forgot the reason for the argument; little boys who had been putting spiders in the braids of little girls tried to steal a kiss instead; artists wept because nothing they could create on canvas came close to approximating the purity of the love between King Maurice and Queen Maureen. On the day they learnt that they were going to have a child, it is said that a rainbow brighter and grander than anything ever seen before arched across the kingdom, as if the sky itself was waving a banner of joy.

Goodreads Summary

Delilah knows it’s weird, but she can’t stop reading her favourite fairy tale. Other girls her age are dating and cheer leading. But then, other girls are popular.

Delilah loves the comfort of the happy ending, and knowing there will be no surprises.

Until she gets the biggest surprise of all, when Prince Oliver looks out from the page and speaks to her.

Now Delilah must decide: will she do as Oliver asks, and help him to break out of the book? Or is this her chance to escape into happily ever after?

*****

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult has teamed up with her teenage daughter Samantha to write a novel for young adults. Between the Lines is the result of this partnership, and as a huge Picoult fan I couldn’t wait to review this title. Would it work, could she write as successfully for a younger audience?

Delilah is a sixteen year old school girl who dreams of happy endings. With divorced parents, Delilah is aware that real-life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to and she seeks solace in the books that she reads. One day in the school library she finds a book on a shelf that she has never noticed before. Taking it home she is immediately drawn into the fairy tale world of King Maurice and Queen Maureen.

She reads and re-reads the book to the extent that she knows every page off by heart, then one day she hears a voice from within the book - Prince Oliver is talking to her! Delilah is the first reader who has ever been able to hear him and they strike up a friendship that develops as time goes on. The big question is, how can they be together when one person lives in the real-world, and the other is trapped inside a book? Suspend your disbelief and think back to the favourite book that you always return to reading (my favourite is Diana Wynne Jones’ Fire and Hemlock) and imagine what could/would happen if the book could come to life.

The book is set into three distinct parts - the fairy tale, Oliver’s story and Delilah’s story and all written in different coloured inks with pictures from the fairy story to accompany the reader into the world of Between the Lines. We follow the story of Oliver and his quest to rescue the beautiful Princess Seraphima from the clutches of the evil Rapscullio. We then learn of Oliver’s desperation to escape the world that he is trapped in and his wish to enter into the real world. Delilah is having a hard time at school, she has already broken the knee of the head cheerleader and is clearly not very popular; she would much rather escape into fiction where things are clearly defined and the ending is always happy.

I loved this book, it’s nearly 400 pages long but it never felt like a struggle. The way that it is broken up makes it really readable, and the illustrations are so beautiful that this is a book I definitely want to share with my daughter when she is old enough. I questioned all of the positive comments that I initially read about this book, could it be that good, and were parents really reading it alongside their daughters - well it is, and they are. No violence, drugs or sex; just pure escapism, romance and fairy tales. Do Delilah and Oliver get their happy ending though? There’s only one way to find out, go between the lines.

If you are a big fan of Jodi Picoult, you might be interested in taking part  Jodi Picoult reading challenge which can be found here organised by the lovely Suko. 

Amy & Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout

Pages - 304

Published by Simon & Schuster in 1999. This edition published in 2006

Challenges - Fall Into Reading and 100 books.


I picked this book up from the library a couple of months ago and it has taken me such a long to get around to reading it. I am so glad my library allows you to keep renewing books as I hate to take them back unread.

Amy & Isabelle is one of those books that progresses really quietly until the ending where all is revealed. It looks at the relationship between Isabelle, a struggling single mother secretly in love with her boss and Amy, a shy young girl, who embarks on an affair with her maths teacher. The book details the breakdown of their relationship over one summer as the affair comes to light. By the end of the book, their relationship has moved to a new level and you witness the journey they had to travel to reach it.

This book is about real life and real relationships and how people deal with the blows that life throws at them. The relationship between mother and daughter is such a difficult one and probably mirrors thousands of similar relationships around the world where the parent and child have such differing views of life.

I loved the character of Amy, as this book witnesses her coming of age. She goes from being a very shy girl who blossoms into a woman and realises what she wants out of life. Amy ends up doing some things that I felt she wouldn't be proud of, but I feel they were part of her journey in growing up and finding herself.

Isabelle learns a lot from Amy as the book progresses. When Amy's affair with her teacher is discovered and time passes, Isabelle begins to see parallels between Amy's life and her own. Isabelle changes her attitude towards the people around her and finally lets people into her life. The book follows the journey of two lonely people who learn to embrace life and the people around them.

I really enjoyed this book, as I found I could relate to both characters. Through Amy, I could understand the difficulty of those teenage years and dealing with the strong emotional feelings that occur within us all during that time period. Through Isabelle, I could see why she kept so many secrets hidden from pubic view,but they made her appear stuck up and aloof. I preferred it when she became more open with the people around her. I have always viewed myself as quite an open book and I have always thought that too many secrets can fester. Better out than in!

The minor characters within the book are interesting too. It is made very clear within the pages of the book that the grass is not really greener on the other side. Barbara Riley appears as the epitome of everything Isabelle would like to be. Yet as the book progresses, you find that Barbara's life is not an easy one and just like everyone else, she has her own problems to deal with.

If you like books that look at the relationship between mothers and daughters,then this one is for you. You will witness both mother and daughter finally coming of age.

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The Magic Lasso