Book Spotlight: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

The fancy fictional fantasy novel has taken Goodreads by storm, but with Mare Barrow (a 17 year old at the heart of the dystopian world of Reds and Silvers) it’s hardly surprising. By Lucy Baker.

Readers beware: this book will leave you with an equally satisfying and infuriating need for more. I made one big mistake last February: I pre-ordered Red Queen. 

Now, many of you may be thinking ‘if this is a book spotlight, why was it a mistake to pre-order it?’ and the answer is simply that now I have to wait until 2016 for the second book to be released. Not to worry though, if this book spotlight interests you, a prequel is on it’s way for the 1st September. 

So why read Red Queen? Well, if you’re a fan of Graceling, X-Men or The Hunger Games and fancy something a big lighter than Game of Thrones, it’s probably the book for you.

It’s a debut YA medieval fantasy novel written by  22 year old prodigy, Victoria Aveyard, with a promise to be released on screens somewhere in the near future. 

The novel is set from the point of view of Mare Barrow, a commoner living in the Stilts, a girl with red blood in a sea of elite silvers that have god-like powers. Yet, somehow, she finds herself working in the Silver Palace and quickly discovers that—although she may have red blood—she herself possesses a deadly power. 

Now if you’re thinking: this sounds a bit too much like Red Rising, don’t fret. Beyond that little snippet there aren’t many similarities and Red Queen conjures a world of it’s own. Of course, there’s no denying that the books has faults—as every book does—some of the material is similar to other fantasy novels, for example. But, despite this, the book still shines through with a minimum 4 star rating on nearly every review site.

However, if you’re in the market for flirtatious fiction, I’d be a bit cautious of Red Queen. Sure, there’s an element of romance, and—of course—love interests, but the real focus is all on Mare and the sparked division between Silver and Red.

So, has this book spotlight sparked an interest? Are you ready to enter Mare’s world—or are you as divided as Red and Silver?

The Changing World of YA Literature

A look at why the amount teenagers read has increased and why you should join them. By Chloe Dench

According to some media reports, the number of young adults reading has increased dramatically in the past few years. This is fairly shocking, as we teenagers these days have so many entertainment sources competing for our attention. But what exactly is causing us to turn off our screens (at least temporarily) to switch our attention to what could be considered old fashioned entertainment?

Maybe it’s the fact that reading really isn’t old fashioned anymore. E-readers and online fiction have brought the world of literature to the modern world. Like with films or music, e-readers mean you can now have books at your fingertips 24/7, making it not only easier to buy books, but also to carry them or to read more quickly. However, the figures for young adults reading have not shown such a clear increase since the creation of e-readers. Some studies show that our age group actually read less online than older age groups. For me, as much as I love the convenience of my kindle for instant downloads and reading on the go, nothing beats a real book. In terms of quality and ease of sharing, not to mention the significantly lower price, real books win every time.

So if it’s not the introduction of e-readers that has got more young adults reading, what is it? Maybe it is the power of social media and internet presences. Most of you will have at least heard of John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, a book that undoubtedly would not have achieved the success it has done without his YouTube success or online fans sharing his work. Social media allows readers to connect with each other and with authors in a new way. An author releasing sneak previews can tempt readers to read on or buy the next book in the series. 

Social media has also changed who can become an author. Obviously, anybody could choose to write a novel, but the chances of getting it published in the traditional way are quite slim unless you are an established author. It’s hard to ignore the ‘online presences’ getting book deals these days; bloggers, vloggers etc. are all getting in on the action and causing a lot of controversy in the process. Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, received huge backlash after rumours that her book was ghost-written. It’s clear that publishers only offer these online celebrities book deals to sell to a wider audience, but if this is part of the reason more of us are reading these days, it shouldn’t be seen as such a bad thing. 

As a Literature student, I am a bit biased towards the benefits of reading, but I’m not the only one who thinks reading more can only be a good thing. Mark Zuckerberg, has pledged to read at least 25 books this year. If even the creator of Facebook thinks it’s a good idea to spend more free time reading, what’s stopping you? 

Book Review: About A Boy

Award winning English author, Nick Hornby is author of, ‘About a Boy’ - which is a ‘coming of age’ novel set in the mid 1990’s. Adapted into a film in 2002 staring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, the original novel has sold over a million copies. The film adaptation is better known than the original novel (thanks to Hugh) however it is now time to bring it back to life. Read the review of the novel by Violet Daniels below. 

Nick Hornby is an English Novelist and screen writer who is better known for his novels, ‘About A Boy’ and, ‘High Fidelity.’ Hornby tends to write in first person which often features the obsessive nature of his protagonists. ‘About A Boy’ managed to win the E.M Forster Award in 1992 soon after the film adaptation was released; making this novel suddenly become even more highly acclaimed. 

Meet Marcus: he is pale, gawky, awkward but highly endearing. In this case, he is the protagonist of, ‘About A Boy 'and he is obsessive but Nick Hornby uses this in a way which makes the novel highly humours. However in creating this humour through Marcus, Hornby also manages to portray the challenges of adolescence that many teens still face across the world. As we see the story begin to unfold, we see Marcus change and develop throughout. By the end of the novel he is a little less pale, a little less gawky and a little less awkward. However he remains highly endearing.

The second protagonist in this novel is Will Freeman: a middle aged, rich off his own rocket man who’s whole purpose in life is to keep himself entertained in order not be defeated by boredom. You may be thinking: how can a middle aged man possibly be bored? Quite frankly, Will has no life. Without children, a wife, or a job he is lonely and hopeless and crying out for attention to distract him from the boredom he feels from day to day life. In order to refrain from boredom Will tells lie after lie to everybody he knows which manages to get him into mess

after mess. This mess Will creates for himself results in Marcus becoming his imaginary son, in order for Will to seem more appealing to the women he is trying to chase. Yes, he is quite the womanizer. Therefore this is how both Marcus’ and Will’s paths manage to cross, Marcus has to pretend to be Will’s son. In doing so Will manages to accustom Marcus to the teenage styles of the 1990’s. He loses the baggy, rainbow sweaters that are hand-me-downs of his mum’s and suddenly owns Nike trainers (thanks to Will). Thankfully he is no longer awkward and gawky but able to make friends with people at school. And in turn Will gains a son who brings out the feminine sides to him which women apparently find attractive. You might be thinking– what a weird novel? It is a bit but at the same time it is highly amusing and has established itself as a comedic novel and film. 

Aside from the comedy element, ‘About a Boy’ intertwines the horror of mental illness which is featured in Marcus’ Mum, Fiona. Fiona is crippled by depression and having to singlehandedly bring up a young boy. A combination of this results in her having a mental breakdown which is witnessed by Marcus when he arrives home from school. 

Aside from the comedy, ‘About a Boy’ proves itself to be so much more than a laugh and a light hearted quick read. Beneath the sarcasm and humour lies the outcome of depression and mental illness which is evidently very relevant in todays society. 

The rest of the novel follows the lives of Marcus, Will and Fiona as they untangle and end up solving their shambled lives together. For a book I picked up for a quick read, it ended up being a lot better than that. As a result I would highly recommend it to anyone. 

Rating: 3/5

Book Review: A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones is the first in A Song of Ice and Fire series. It’s an epic journey told by author George R.R Martin. The first series alone has captured the hearts of 24 million. Will it capture yours? Read the review of, ‘A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire’ by Violet Daniels.

It was a cold, dark Sunday evening when I picked up ‘A Game of Thrones.’ It had been lying on my ‘to read’ pile for weeks but I hadn’t felt the need to dive into it before then. The rain continued to pour and the wind battled the delicate glass of my windows and it was then that I thought it would be the right moment to pick it up.

A Game of Thrones hit our TV screens with lust, blood, war and drama since April 2011. TV critics have either loved or hated the infinite series that continues to provide us with bloodthirsty battles and various raunchy love affairs. However have you ever considered tearing your eyes away from the screen just for a moment to pick up the book? Who knows, maybe you will after this article.

A Game Of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire has dominated the bestseller section of our high street booksellers for years. The story is the first in a major series by George R.R Martin and it in captures the heart of the War of the Roses whilst maintaining its original set of characters and families. The story revolves mainly around one family in particular, this family is named the ‘Stark’ family. The narrative of the novel is told through various characters in the story but it features the family of the Starks heavily throughout the tale. Eddard Stark is the head of the family who is King Roberts right hand man. Being best friends with the King obviously has its virtues, however we soon find out that it can land Eddard Stark and the rest of his family in a lot of trouble.

As the story unfolds the battle for the Iron Throne commences and with this comes family feuds and intense violence on the battlefield. The feature of the Iron Throne bestows acts of treachery amongst Ned and a split in his family emerges–  they are torn apart and no longer have their father for protection. His many children now have to fend for themselves in a corrupt kingdom without their claim to the King for protection. 

Whilst the Stark family is torn apart by the various feuds at court we also meet other characters in different houses along the way. 

You will also be captured by the enthralling, steamy romance between Daenerys and Khal Drogo; a couple that are joined together for marriage in the beginning go the book. Husband, Khal Drogo is of Dothraki and Daenerys is of the house of Targaryens. Their marriage is a lusty romance which ends in tragedy, however I know it will grip you throughout the whole novel as it certainly never failed to grip me. With the Dothraki we enter a completely different world; a world of passion, culture, intense romance and unfortunately, tragedy.

Martin manages to capture eloquently the lives of many families in the times of the Wars of the Roses and thus this makes it an intriguing read from a historical point of view. It’s hard not to fall in love with the complexity of the novel and I found myself emotionally invested in the fate of the Stark family. I was enchanted by the words from Martin as he pinpoints all the intoxicating aspects of the Wars of the Roses. If you are thrilled by action, drama, by history or by romance then get yourself a copy of this book!

Overall rating: 4/5