Becky's Book Reviews

A mysterious epidemic that may not be all that it seems, a missing girl who may hold the key and two gutsy teens who won’t rest until they have all the answers they’re looking for. Disclaimer: This review originally appeared on W24.co.za . Click on the link at the bottom to purchase a copy of the book. Huge thanks to Pan Macmillan SA for sending me a copy to review. Contagion by Teri Terry (first published in 2017 by Orchard Books) Ever had one of those books that made you believe you’re reading one thing, only for it to be something a lot more different than you anticipated? Teri Terry’s Contagion is that book for me. It’s definitely different in a good way because it offered a refreshing take on a concept that I’ve previously seen in TV, movies and other books. The story revolves around Callie, a missing girl, a killer strain of flu that’s evolved into a nationwide pandemic and Shay and Kai two teens – Kai being Callie’s older brother -  who not only want to find Callie, but wa...

What would you do if you only had 3 minutes and 4 seconds to save your own life? The Call by Peadar O’Guilin (first published in 2016 by David Fickling Books; review first appeared on W24.c0.za ) Peadar O’Guilin’s book is a novel I’ve been hearing about a lot over the last couple of months. And with good reason because it features a strong-willed heroine, disabled by polio, in a battle to survive and prepare for The Call – an event that forces all those eligible to participate in a fight for their lives in the space of three minutes and four seconds. Sounds, intriguing, yes? Well, it’s certainly that and more. For one,  disabled heroines in fiction are pretty rare. Disabled protagonists in dystopian horror novels? Practically unheard of, and something that immensely appealed to me. Here we have a heroine who has everything going against her. She’s been crippled by polio and attends a survival training college where she endures being mocked by her peers and where almost everyone, in...

In today’s post, I’m featuring both a review and spotlight post. As part of the Arcana Rising celebration, I’ve recently been giving the opportunity to review Poison Princess, the first book in a Arcana chronicles by Kresley Cole. I’m sure most of you have heard or read the books, but just in case you haven’t, Poison Princess is about a girl who has debilitating visions of an apocalyptic future and explores what happens when those visions come true. Today, Arcana Rising, the fourth book in the series is out in the wild. I don’t want to give too much information about the book as I’ve just finished the first one, but have included a brief synopsis for you below (following my review of Poison Princess). Source: Review copy from the publishers. You can purchase a copy of the book from Raru.co.za   Summary: Goodreads Publication date: August 19th 2014 Publishers: Simon & Schuster #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces The Arcana Chronicles, post-apocalyptic ...

Torture, branding and extreme bullying set in a society that places its value on perfection, is the focus of Cecelia Ahern’s (bestselling author of P.S. I Love You) new book. Disclaimer: Review originally appeared on Women24 . A copy of the book can be purchased via Raru.co.za . Flawed by Cecelia Ahern (published in 2016 by HarperCollins UK) Trigger warning: Torture Imagine living in a world where everything you do is under scrutiny and one bad decision, lie, action or choice could result in you being branded as an outcast. And imagine if this society places the ultimate standard of living in the upholding of morals, ethics and general conduct of its citizens. This is the world that our protagonist, Celestine, a young girl on the cusp of adulthood, inhabits. Here, you’re either model-perfect or you’re flawed, and the price and punishment for being the latter is living a life enforced with rules and regulations.  It’s one where public shaming is a blood-sport and one that means liv...

Today I’m very excited to be part of the global tour for Cecilia Ahern’s debut YA novel. As you probably know, Cecilia is no stranger to the world of literature. With a good series of best-selling rom-coms behind her back, she’s not only proven to be one of the most popular authors in the world, but some of her books have also been made into movies – most notably, P.S. I Love You. This time around, Cecilia ventures into YA dystopian territory with her new novel Flawed, which is absolutely brilliant, by the way (I read it in one sitting and my review will be up later this week). In today’s post, I’m sharing a list of Cecilia’s top 5 YA novels, but before I do, here’s some information about the book.  About the book: Celestine North lives a perfect life. She’s a model daughter and sister, she’s well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she’s dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan. But then Celestine encounters a situation in which she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks...

A harrowing read that deals with the subject of surrogacy as a form of servitude, in a society that is dominated by wealthy and privileged royals unable to bear children of their own.   Disclaimer: Review first appeared on Women24.com . You can purchase a copy of the book on Raru.co.za   The Jewel by Amy Ewing (UK edition first published in 2014 by Walker Books Ltd) The blurb of this book describes Amy Ewing’s novel as being, and I quote, “The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Other Boleyn Girl in a world where beauty and brutality collide.” In reality, it feels a little more like Suzanne Collins meets Margaret Atwood.  That said, despite the similarities, Amy Ewing’s The Jewel is probably one of the most interesting dystopian Young Adult fiction novels I’ve read this year. In fact, once the book actually diverges from the more familiar aspects of The Hunger Games, The Jewel ends up being a pretty engrossing novel that tackles a subject I haven't seen explored in the Young Adul...

Today on The Book Fairy’s Haven, I’d like to welcome South African author Melissa Delport. Melissa, who’s the author of dystopian fiction novel, The Legacy, has kindly agreed to write guest post on dystopian and science fiction as part of her book tour stop on my blog. Strangely enough, her post coincides with my most recent author guest post from Georgia Clark who, in her article highlighted 5 reasons why she loves the genre so much . Melissa’s take, while certainly in the same vein, delves into why she thinks this genre is still so popular, especially given the fact that there’s such an over-abundance of it. Personally, I adore the genre, so I’m hardly complaining… but, enough rambling from me, and over to Melissa (You can scroll down for more information about both the book and the lovely author). Why the sci-fi and dystopian fiction genre continues to be so popular (despite the fact that there seems to be almost an over-abundance of it) Dystopias and Science Fiction may go together...

I’d like to welcome the lovely Georgia Clark, author of YA contemporary novel She’s With the Band, and newly released dystopian novel Parched, to my blog today. As someone with an invested interested in dystopian fiction,  especially given the fact that most of them deal with highlighting socio-economic, political issues, violence, rebellion and revolution in a manner that’s a lot more magnified than in most genres , I was thrilled when Georgia graciously agreed to feature on my blog. In her post today, she tells us about the 5 things she loves most about dystopian fiction; and, having read the post, I have to say that I couldn’t agree more with her points.  Without further ado, here within some information about the book, followed by her thoughts on dystopian literature.   About Parched: Parched is a riveting story about post-apocalyptic survival set in a time and place that pits the small number of haves against the have-nots. After suffering the death of her scientist ...

Today I’d like to welcome YA author, Jennifer Ridyard to my blog. As one half of the duo who wrote the dystopian novel Conquest, a book I enjoyed and recently reviewed, Jennifer is someone who is actually no stranger to my blog. Last time I featured her, Jennifer wrote an awesome guest post on why science fiction isn’t just a guy thing (I’d highly recommend that you check it out). In today’s spot, I chat to Jennifer about the concept behind Conquest , what it was like writing with John Connolly (co-author of the book, best-selling author of a popular crime thriller series and, her actual partner) and what’s in store for the next book. For those who haven’t heard about Conquest before, you can check out my in-depth review which I posted here , and add it to your Goodreads pile . If you have read the book, just a note of caution: there are one or two spoilery questions below (but don’t worry, I’ve highlighted it clearly so that you can just skip pass those if you’d like). Welcome to the...