Becky's Book Reviews

A beautifully rendered retelling of Peter Pan, the likes of which you’ve never seen before. Warning: You may end up pretending that this version is the original story you’ve grown up with. Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell(first published in 2016 by Simon Pulse) Summary: For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home. Her mother believes they are being hunted by brutal monsters, and those delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. Gwen’s only saving grace is that her best friend, Olivia, is with her for the summer. But shortly after their arrival, the girls are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and dragged to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey. And Gwen begins to realize that maybe her mother isn’t so crazy after all… Gwen discovers that this new world she inhabits is called Neverland, but it’s nothing like the Neverland you’ve heard about in stories. Here, good and evi...

This is the story of twins coming together, falling apart and rebuilding what is left when the planet they’ve been circling has thrown them both out of orbit. Disclaimer: Review originally appeared on Women24 . A copy of the book can be purchased via Raru.co.za . I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (first published in 2015 by Walker Books) Jandy Nelson has been a favourite of mine ever since she first wrote The Sky is Everywhere. She casts a spell with words, weaves them together and paints a world mired in linguistic art. The years between Jandy writing The Sky is Everywhere and I’ll Give You the Sun was interminably long; Jandy certainly seemed content to keep her fans waiting while she churned out yet another masterpiece. You know what though? The wait was completely worth it. I’ll Give You the Sun is an exquisitely written novel with a seemingly simple premise. Jude and Noah are twins who’ve always been close. From sharing the sun, the planet and the stars (metaphori...

The book has made waves on an international scale, but just how does the film adaptation of The 5th Wave compare? Disclaimer: Review originally appears on Channel24 , one of Women24's sister websites. This review should really be titled: “I watched The 5th Wave so that you don’t have to.” As a book lover, I suffer from the eternal delusion that somehow, somewhere, someone will perfect the art of adapting a book to screen.  This fantasy of mine is a curse because I really should know better by now. Yes, I’ve seen glimpses of brilliance on the odd occasion, but overall, many a book lover (myself included) would tell you that THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER.  And never has it applied more to a movie than this instance. In light of this, here’s my advice: If you are going to watch the movie, read the book first ( check out my review here ) .  If you’ve read the book, don’t watch the movie (unless you’re very curious, in which case even then, you should wait till it’s out on DVD)....