REVIEW: Kill the Music by Nansi Kunze

Title: Kill the Music

Author: Nansi Kunze

Genre: Young Adult. Mystery. Romance.

Publication Date: July 1^st 2013

Publisher: Random House Australia

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Rating: 5/5

Book Depository | Amazon

If everyone loves the world's hottest band, who's trying to destroy them? Most people would love to be Lorna Powell, travelling the globe with her brother and his mega-famous band. Then again, most people don't realise just how annoying four handsome rock stars can be. A new home and a new school seem like the start of a normal life - until Lorna overhears a chilling plot to silence the band forever. Soon Lorna is drawn into a frantic attempt to identify the killer before they strike. But it's not easy to track suspects around the world when she’s got homework to do and secrets to protect. And when gorgeous lead singer Marius starts to act strangely, Lorna wonders if she’s had the wrong idea all along . . .

Hand me a book by Nansi Kunze and it’s pretty much a given that I will adore it, not only that but I will read it in about two hours or less. Nansi’s books are probably the most enjoyable books I’ve ever read- there just so quick and easy to get through, but at the same time they are incredibly intelligent and witty. I could talk for hours about Nansi’s books but today, I’m just focusing on this one.

This one is a little bit different to her past two books. Mishaps and Dangerously Placed, which are both mind-blowingly amazing, are a bit Sci-Fi, but Kill the Music is something different. It’s a sort of mystery, contemporary, romance, action, almost even a bit spy-ish, and all these elements together makes for one hell of a book. It starts off normal enough and then suddenly, you’ve been thrown into the world of Lorna and Turmoil, and then before you know, you finished the book and its left a big gaping hole in your heart for Marius. (Maybe that was just me, though).

Lorna, like all of Nansi’s main characters, is wonderful. She seems so real, even though her life is something out of a teenage girls dream. But Lorna is not a pop-star herself, she’s just a normal girl going through high school, or at least attempting to go through high school. I think the fact that Lorna is just a normal girl who struggles with classes and making friends and annoying older brothers (something that I have very much in common in Lorna) is what makes her such an amazing main character. At the same time, she is so very badass- let me ask you this, how many teenage girls do you know that will try and take down a killer to save her brother and his friends? Personally, I would terrible at it. But that’s what makes this book so fun- it’s the fact that yeah, Lorna is a normal high school girl, but she also fiercely protective of the ones she loves.

Talking about the ones she loves- the boys of Turmoil. Oh my god. I swear, if they were a real band- I was be their biggest fan. They are just so funny (and incredibly attractive) but they’ve also got this sweet side that you get to see through their interactions with Lorna. Flint, Lorna’s brother, is adorable. I think that’s the only way you can describe him. It felt like he was my older brother with all of his protectiveness and silliness and even though there were times where I felt so embarrassed for Lorna- he was still a great brother and a great character. Marius. How to explain the beautiful Marius? Basically, I think I have a new literary boyfriend. At first, I wasn’t a fan of him- he sort of seems to be one of those real rock star, arrogant types but as the book progresses you actually get to see how wonderful he is. By the end, as I said before, there’s a big gaping hole in my heart where Marius belongs. He’s actually a real person, you know? I refuse to believe otherwise.

This story is just amazing. Both the plot and the characters are as important and fun as the other. They work so well together, it wouldn’t be the same story without the characters and they wouldn’t be the same characters without the story. I think that shows just how perfectly they fit together. And as for that ending...well...*heart melts*. 

You can also check out my review of Nansi's second book, Dangerously Placed

REVIEW: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Title: Rebecca

Author: Daphne Du Maurier

Publication Date: January 30^th 2003 (Originally published 1938)

Publisher: Virago Press Ltd

Format: Paperback

Pages: 441

Rating: 5/5
Blurb: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.

This special edition of "Rebecca" includes excerpts from Daphne du Maurier's "The Rebecca Notebook and Other Memories," an essay on the real Manderley, du Maurier's original epilogue to the book, and more.

Review: ‘Rebecca’ is one of those classics that you don’t really hear much about anymore- sure there are people on the internet who adore this book but people my age, or at least people my age around here, generally have no idea that this book exists or any idea of very many classics at all. I love classics, I really do- but I hadn’t heard of this book either until my grandma recommended it to me. My grandma isn’t much of a reader anymore and she barely remembers all the books that she read when she was younger, but this book stood out in her memory. Now, I can see why and I have no doubt that when I reach her age that this book will remain in my memory.

From the very first line, I was drawn into this book and into Manderley and the lives of those who lived there. The first couple of chapters are so mysterious and I especially like how they are written after the events of the novel which is reasonably easy to tell, but you still have absolutely no idea what those events were. The lines between the past, present and future are all blurred within the book which, of course, makes it more interesting but I think it also adds to the beauty of the novel. The imagery within the book is so mindblowingly wonderful. Manderley was described so beautifully and carefully that it actually felt like I was walking through the haunting corridors and the beautiful gardens alongside Mrs de Winter.  

The plot of the novel is unbelievable- not in a bad sense, but in the way that it was so perfectly written. I didn’t see any of the twists coming until they happened and even afterwards, they still surprised me. I liked how each twist and turn was presented in the novel at exactly the right time- nothing seemed to rushed or too slow or like it was too forced- everything just flowed perfectly. Talking about perfect, I think the characters were all written exceptionally. Each character had their up and downs- I felt sorrier than anything for Mrs de Winter, but there were moments when I didn’t know whether I liked Maxim or hated him, as with Mrs Danvers- I both hated her and pitied her at the same time. Rebecca, herself, was one of the most difficult characters to decide on- every time I grew more sympathetic towards her, something would pull me back into disliking her and even with the end, I still couldn’t decide how I felt.

There are so, so many things that I could say about this book. Honestly, I just adored it so much and I’m really glad that I read it. I definitely think ‘Rebecca’ is one of those books that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

REVIEW: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brain Selznick

Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brain Selznick

Publication Date: April 1^st 2011

Publisher: Scholastic

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 525

Rating: 5/5
Blurb: With 284 pictures between the book's 533 pages, the book depends equally on its pictures as it does on the actual words. Selznick himself has described the book as "not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things." The Caldecott Medal is for picture books, in 2008 this was first novel to receive.

The primary inspiration is the true story of turn-of-the-century French pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès, his surviving films, and his collection of mechanical, wind-up figures called automata. Selznick decided to add automata to the storyline after reading Edison's Eve by Gaby Wood, which tells the story of Edison's attempt to create a talking wind-up doll.

Méliès actually had a set of automata, which were either sold or lost. At the end of his life Méliès was broke, even as his films were screening widely in the United States. He did work in a toy booth in a Paris railway station, hence the setting. Selznick drew Méliès's real door in the book.

Review: This is another one of those books that I’d heard heaps about from all sorts of people, all of which were good reviews, but just never got around to reading it. I think the sheer size of this book was what originally put me off- I’d read books with more pages, but the book itself was this big, heavy hardcover that looked rather menacing despite it being a children’s novels.

In all truths, this book is perhaps one of the easiest books that I’ve ever read, and I don’t mean in writing style or anything like that, but in the sense that it was fast paced and enjoyable. I actually read/looked at all 525 pages of this book in one sitting that lasted about half an hour- that’s how quick this book was for me. One of my favourite things is the pictures and I especially like how they were used to replace words rather than having both the pictures and the words- I think this book is one of the greatest examples of ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. The detail taken with each of the pictures was outstanding, despite them all being in grey-lead pencil (I might be wrong as I’m not an artist but I think it’s pencil). For me, the use of both words and pictures meant that I felt more of a connection to Hugo- like I knew him better because of both these elements than I would have with just one.

Moving on. I enjoyed the actual storyline as well, especially due to the fact that while most of it was fiction, there was fact throughout the story too. I liked how all the characters were written and how there was a little bit of mystery with each of them.

Needless to say, I loved this book so much and I would definitely recommend it to absolutely everybody no matter your age.

REVIEW: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss #2)

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publication Date: October 2011

Publisher: Penguin Australia

Format: Paperback

Pages: 338

Rating: 5/5
Blurb: Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn't believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit-more sparkly, more fun, more wild-the better. But even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighbourhood.

When Cricket-a gifted inventor-steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Review: Last year, one of my absolute favourite books that I read was Anna and the French Kiss- honestly, even just thinking about that book brings both pain and happiness to my heart. So when I think back on Lola and the Boy Next Door as I write this review, those feelings are pretty much the same.

There are so many aspects of this book that I want to talk about so this review will be sort of split into several parts. The first being, characters. I love Lola. I’m just going to start off with that. Lola is quite the opposite to me, she loves her costumes and standing out and she’s quite dramatic, which just isn’t me at all. This being said, I really enjoyed reading about her and her life. I will say that Anna is still my favourite- speaking of which, I did a crazy little happy dance when Anna and Etienne made a cameo in this book. I liked that though this was the story of Lola we were still able to connect with Anna and were shown how her life had developed after the end of Anna and the French Kiss. I’m very excited to see how Anna and Lola may be able to fit into the third book of the series. I adored Cricket as well, from the absolute first moment I just thought he was so cute and funny, there were moments where I wanted to whack him in the back of the head with a very heavy book but I still loved him. (This being said, once again, he will never quite replace my love for Etienne St Clair). Of course, I absolutely hated Calliope Bell which is just the only reasonable feelings you could have towards the horrible thing.

Like with Anna and the French Kiss, the entire plot isn’t about the romance between Lola and Cricket. There is actually a much stronger message in this book than you’d expect from your usual young adult/chick lit kind of book. It’s about believing in yourself and becoming the kind of person you want to be, it’s about caring for your family and friends no matter how very messed up they might be. This is why I loved this book so very much and will continue to try and force absolutely everybody in the world to read both this book and Anna and the French Kiss. Oh, you haven’t read either of them? GO! NOW! Don’t come back until you are done, possibly with tears in your eyes and a very aching heart.

Honestly though, I really do recommend that you give these two books and the third one (named Isla and the Happily Ever After, to be released May 2014) a go because they are really quite brilliant. Even if you aren’t a fan of contemporary romance novels (I’m not really), I promise that you won’t be disappointed.