Missing Ellen Review

Title: Missing Ellen

Author: Natasha Mac a’Bhaird

Release Date: 7^th October 2013

Publisher: O’Brien Press

‘sometimes it feels like I’m the one who’s missing. I’m like a ghost looking on at everything that’s happening and not really a part of it at all.’

Ellen and Maggie have been best friends for as long as they can remember – sharing clothes, passions and secrets. But now Ellen’s not there and Maggie’s left alone. Looking back over the events before Ellen’s disappearance, Maggie tries to make sense of her friend’s actions. At school and at home, she feels no one understands what she is going through – except maybe Liam, the boy next door who has always had feelings for Ellen.

Ellen has gone... can Maggie cope without her best friend?

This book is written with the past running alongside the present. Maggie's letters to Ellen explain what is happening after Ellen has left and the rest of the novel gives us an insight into what happened previous to this.

I really didn’t see this ending coming! Throughout the novel, Ellen is simply referred to as 'missing'. The title of the book offers two meanings, Ellen is missing (she is Missing Ellen) and Maggie is 'Missing Ellen'.

The novel also offers us the stories of two characters as well as that of past and present. We are shown the disastrous life of Ellen and her dysfunctional family, her fascination with boys and lack of interest in how her actions affect others. In complete contrast to this, there is Maggie, a young girl in no hurry to grow up, who just wants to enjoy herself at the local disco but who gets dragged into trouble by her best friend. Even with Ellen gone, Maggie struggles to deal with life without her friend, determined to be loyal to Ellen even if this challenges her own happiness.

I had a friend like Ellen when I was younger (in fact we are still friends now) and I know how Maggie feels about being treated second best to her friend's newest romance. However, despite always being treated this way, Maggie feels compelled to support her friend and this is why what happens to Ellen is so distressing for her, she feels that she should have supported her friend better, maybe even 'seen it coming'. Maggie's character is really likeable and at the beginning of the novel, so is Ellen's, as they are both teenage girls having a good time. However, Ellen's erratic behaviour and apparent disregard for her friend's feelings meant that she simply became more irritating as the book went on. This didn't mean I felt any less upset at the end (you really need to read the book to find out what happens), as I had sympathised with Maggie throughout and so felt her pain (yes, there were tears!).

While I don't feel like the novel preached, it does contain a lot of lessons in common sense. It deals with families, friends, alcohol, relationships, school and growing up in a really serious way. Allowing Maggie to tell her story instead of Ellen adds another layer to the tale, allowing readers to see how she feels.

I think that different readers will all take something different from this novel, as I said, I had a friend like this in high school and so understood Maggie's point of view. But those who behave/d more like Ellen in their youth might sympathise more with her character and feel lucky that their story didn't end like hers.

5/5 Emotionally compelling and haunting, right to the end.

With many thanks to O’Brien Press for sending me a copy of the book.

Hysteria Review

Title: Hysteria

Author: Megan Miranda

Release Date: 14^th February 2013

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

YOU WANTED HIM.

YOU NEEDED HIM.

YOU KILLED HIM.

LIFE CAN CHANGE IN AN INSTANT.

FEAR CAN TAKE YOU TO THE VERY EDGE.

Mallory’s old life is dead. Her boyfriend is gone; his blood washed from the kitchen tiles. Still it stains her mind. She can’t ever go back.

Monroe Prep School is her new start. But everyone thinks they know what happened that night. They think they know her. They don’t.

SECRETS ARE DEADLY.

SECRETS ARE THE ONLY REAL CURRENCY.

Mallory killed Brian. But things didn’t end there. Not only is Mallory tormented by Brian’s mother but she can’t get Brian to leave her alone either. Mallory’s parents are unsupportive when it comes to dealing with Brian’s death and how it has affected her mentally. They think that sending her off to Monroe Prep School will change things but Mallory finds that she can’t escape her demons. If anything, they have followed her there and are nearer than ever to dragging her down. Will she ever be free of the ghosts of the past?

Hysteria had a very ‘Point horror-esque’ feel to it. Mallory is haunted by the boy she killed who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. She is tormented by Brian’s family and the girls at school; even those who pretend to be her friends have ulterior motives.

The setting of the boarding school creates the perfect atmosphere for the eerie content of the novel. The descriptions of the bedrooms, corridors and woods that surround the school all captured my imagination and created a dense space that the characters filled (the descriptions of Mallory’s kitchen also creates an intense sense of space). However, I felt that when Mallory leaves the school and stays with her mother in a hotel, this sense of claustrophobia was lost and took away from the haunting sense of the book.

Mallory’s characterisation was convincing, the first person narrative means that her fear is passed onto the reader directly. The flashbacks are really interesting and as each one occurs, the events of Brian’s death are untangled for the reader and reveal more about Mallory’s character and the truth about what happened, although we later find out that even Mallory’s account can’t be entirely trusted.

I did enjoy this book but felt a little like the ending was rushed. The entire book builds fear and terror throughout but then everything comes to a head and is resolved within the last few pages and as I mentioned previously, when Mallory leaves the school, the tension in the book almost disappears. I felt like the ending deserved more time than this as what happens was actually quite interesting!  

3.5/5 Overall the book is worth a read for some atmospheric moments but the ending might disappoint those who like a proper resolution.

Between the Lines Review

Title: Between the Lines

Author: Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Release Date: 20^th June 2013

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton

Delilah knows it’s weird, but she can’t stop reading her favourite fairytale. Other girls her age are dating and cheerleading. But then, other girls are popular.

Delilah loves the comfort of a happy ending, and knowing there will be no surprises.

Until she gets the biggest surprise of all, when Prince Oliver looks out from the page and speaks to her.

Now Delilah must decide: will she do as Oliver asks, and help him to break out of the book? Or is this her chance to escape into happily ever after?

Oliver has always played the fairytale prince, just as the author wrote him. But what happens when Oliver doesn’t want to be stuck in the fairytale anymore?

When Oliver meets a reader, Delilah, the first person who has ever been able to hear him, his dream seems closer than ever. But even with Delilah’s help, how can he leave the story? Will he ever get a real happily ever after?

This book was absolutely fantastic! I am a bit of a fairytale fanatic (my dissertation focused on adaptations of Little Red Riding Hood) and this book was so fun and easy to read. It has the same sort of feel to it as Inkheart by Cornelia Funke with book characters that come alive although it is written in a much simpler style and has a teenage romance element. Inkheart has a much more detailed story whereas Between the Lines is more about the character’s emotions rather than a really complex plot. There are three stories; Between the Lines, a fairytale written by Jessamyn Jacobs, the first person narrative from Delilah (a girl in the ‘real world’) and a first person narrative written by Oliver (the fairytale prince from Jessamyn’s Between the Lines).  Although this might sound slightly confusing, the chapters are titled so that the reader is aware of which story we are in and each tale has its own font. Not only does this give each writer their own character but it makes the book look impressive and really interesting. Each narrative is brilliantly constructed to create the individual characters. Delilah’s tale offers us a teenager in turmoil, she is head over heels in love with someone she can’t even touch. Oliver’s story offers an unusual twist to the normal fairytale, showing the reader what happens when the story isn’t being read and how the characters feel about playing their roles as they were written by the author. Both stories are enchanting and delightful.

 In her acknowledgments at the end of the book, Jodi Picoult talks about the e-book generation and how she ‘wanted to create a story that was a keepsake – one you’d pass down to your children because of its beauty and design [...] we wanted a novel that took one’s breath away’. That is exactly what has been created. The brilliant content of the book is mirrored in the fonts, gorgeous illustrations and wonderfully detailed silhouettes that are used throughout the novel.  I have mentioned before about my love of illustrations in young adult books and Between the Lines really captured my imagination because of the beauty of the pages. It is a perfect example of how the physical page can add so much more to a novel than a digital one.

I thought that the characters of Delilah and Oliver were really well created and believable, I know what it is like to fall in love with your favourite book and Delilah’s story fantastically captured her emotional attachment to the written word.  An interesting point was raised when Delilah’s Mum disapproves of her reading the fairytale as she is a teenager but then encourages her to snuggle up and watch a Disney DVD. Why is it that people associate written fairytales with children?!?! Anyone can enjoy them and should enjoy them and I hope that as many people as possible, adults, children and teenagers alike, read and enjoy this story, just as I have.

5/5 A beautiful fairytale