Skulduggery Pleasant: Midnight

Valkerie Cain is officially back in business after (sort of) recovering from the trauma of becoming her alter-ego Darquesse. Though her first mission to stop the rise of a powerful sorceress known as Abyssinia was not a huge success, she and Skulduggery are doing everything in their power to track her down. One wrong step after another leads them to old and new enemies… but they have bigger problems. Valkerie’s younger sister is snatched from between her fingertips by a ruthless killer with a grudge. With no help or guidance, she must find them and bring seven-year-old Alice back, before it’s too late. She has until midnight to find her. That gives her six hours. Midnight. The clock is ticking…

In the book, there is a march that is against the idea of mortal refugees from another dimension being allowed to live in their city, Roarhaven, which is only populated by sorcerers. This is not something the author made up just for our entertainment. Though Derek Landy did make up “Dimension X”, this situation happens in real life. In 2004, a referendum took place in response to the ongoing concerns about refugees in Ireland and it put into the constitution that children born in the country who didn’t have Irish parents didn’t get citizenship.

As usual, Derek Landy’s book was rib-crackingly hilarious though, it did end with a heartbreaking cliffhanger. I cannot wait for the next book (number 12?) and hope that the series will never end. The rating is a definite 6 out of 5 and I would recommend it for over tens due to threats, violence, death and difficult words.

The Darkest Minds

By Alexandra Bracken

A horrible disease wipes out the majority of the world’s children. No child is left untouched, no family is left untarnished. The surviving children gain abilities they never asked for. The world is in trouble. Ruby is sixteen. She is dangerous. And she is alive… for now.

At the age of ten, she was forced from her home and sent to Thormund, a brutal state rehabilitation camp where she and the other children are often treated cruelly and unfairly. There she must learn to suppress her powers or face the consequences. But what if mastering them is her only chance of survival? Escaping Thormund and entering a world she barely recognises with the education of a ten-year-old, Ruby must face her troubled past to be able to look into her future. Being followed by what feels like most of the world, Ruby and her three new friends must find the one place where they are safe, the one place where they might be able to stop running.

I loved The Darkest Minds, though there were some chapters that were a bit disturbing and horrible. One of the chapters involves a sexual assault. This is where a person in a position of power forces someone who is vulnerable or young to engage in acts against their will. This is frequently used in teenage literature for many reasons. In some books, it glorifies it and describes it as the norm but I think that it is used in this book to bring to light the fact that 1 in 5 American high school students experience assault from someone they are dating. This book is definitely against assault. We can see that from the way the other characters acted after they found out. They immediately wanted to leave the place they were safe because of it, even though it was dangerous to do so. This book is riddled with threats, violence and death so I would not recommend it for under elevens. I think it a brilliant book for people who love the Gone series and the Hunger Games.

Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda

By Becky Albertalli

It all started with that first email… Well, actually it didn’t. For Simon, it started a long time ago. You see, Simon has a secret: nobody knows he’s gay. But when his emails with the smart and adorable Blue falls into the wrong hands his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Suddenly his junior year has become much more complicated, with school play rehearsals, bullies and more. His emails with Blue get flirtier by the day and he doesn’t know who to trust. Simon knows that everyone deserves a great love story, but falling for Blue has become a bigger deal than he ever imagined.

I fell in love with this book the first time I read it. During the story, Simon has to try and get Martin a date with Abbie, who obviously doesn’t like him. I think that this is extremely sexist since Simon doesn’t even talk to Abbie about it. In the movie, Love Simon, Abbie says that Simon shouldn’t have tried to control her since it was her body, not his. I think that she was definitely right. Also, Martin really should have just asked her out instead of blackmailing Simon into doing it for him. I think that this is not explained well enough in the book and that some of the people reading it (adults and kids) may take it for granted, which they should not. Apart from this, I really enjoyed the book. It is definitely a must-read for everyone over tens -there is drinking, swearing, homophobia and sexism (among other things), but it is a brilliant love story for everyone (even people who don’t like normal love stories, this is one of those odd ones out).