Reading Roundup | April Book Reviews

Hi, I am so happy with my reading progress this year and I think so far I've made some great choices with the books I've decided to read. I'm yet to find a book that has blown me away but I'd recommend all the books featured in this months reviews. We read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for this months #Sassybooks pick.

 April Reading Roundup - Year Book Count 11

The Year of The Rat

Author - Clare Furniss

Page Count - 352

First Published - 2014

This was a book I picked up as part of a bulk pack, a young adult novel featuring a girl suffering from grief after the loss of her mother. Pearl loses her mother due to complications during pregnancy, she leaves her family with a premature baby to look after. Pearl was happy the way things where and is filled with hatred for her new little sister Rose, who she see's as the Rat. Pearl starts to fail at school and stops being social and basically loses the will to carry on. 

I feel the book only lightly covers things like depression and missed out on things that could have given it more depth. The weirdest thing is that Pearls mother comes and visits her after her death, the first instance being the day of the funeral. This is left quite open to interpretation of either being real or a figment of pearl's imagination but I don't feel it helped with her recovery, the book was a bit far-fetched in places due to this. I did still enjoy the story, it was a quick read and the book ended on a positive note.

Room

Author - Emma Donoghue

Page Count - 402

First Published - 2010

To Jack Room is the whole world. At five he has never seen past the four walls that keep him and his Ma confined by their captor, hidden from the world. Room is an award winning book which is now a movie, I saw the trailer for the film and knew I wanted to read it. The book is split into five sections, one for each part of Jacks perception of the world at different times. Written from Jacks perspective in the language of a five year old, his innocents and belief in his mothers words forming his understanding of his world. I was a  little worried about the writing style but it was really lovely to read.

This book was a really good read, I'm not normally a fan of massive chapters but I had the time to sit and really enjoy reading this book over the Easter weekend. I was drawn into the story and found Jack so sweet, you're rooting for the family the whole time wishing only the best for them. It's a tragic story but one that makes you re-evaluate the world.

All The Rage

Author - Courtney Summers

Page Count - 257

First Published - 2015

This story is told from the perspective of Romy a rape victim. She's ignored and called a liar, no one in the small town wants to believe that Kellan the towns golden boy would do wrong, least of all his father the town sheriff. To make matters that much worse Romy falls out with her best friend after she betrays her by providing evidence that makes her rape claim seem even more questionable. The ordeal effects Romy in so many way but she just keeps on going regardless, trying to put the past behind her and dealing with bullying on a daily basis.

Within the small town there is a party that takes place every year, the worst kept secret and a type of right of passage. It's the following morning that Romy finds herself on the side of the road unable to remember what happened too her, but she's not the only one to have gone missing. There is so much going on in the story it starts with a flash back to the night of the rape for Romy to wake up on the side of the road unknowing of what happened too her. The book then jumps two weeks into the past retelling the story up until Romy wakes and then continuing into a mystery tale of what happened to the missing girl.

The actual rape story is a little underdeveloped and over shadowed by what happens next. I thought that it would go deeper into Romy's feelings but she generally just bottled everything up, I guess that was her coping mechanism. Overall I enjoyed the story it was a quick read and one that I didn't predict the ending, which was nice.

Have you got any book suggestions of what I should add to my TBR?

Sam

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