How To Ditch Your Fairy

Title: How to Ditch Your Fairy

Author: Justine Larbalestier

Genre: Fiction 
Audience: Young Adult 
Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: In New Avalon, people have personal fairies that help with some aspect of their lives. There’s shopping fairies which mean you always find a bargain, loose change fairies, good hair fairies and then there is Charlie’s fairy – a parking fairy. This means whenever Charlie is in the car, the perfect parking spot will appear. Charlie hates her fairy – she doesn’t drive and it makes her a target for people like Dander Anders who always want her to drive places with him. She will do anything to get rid of it, but how do you ditch your fairy?

What I thought: I picked this up because I’d really enjoyed Larbalestier’s other books, Liar and Magic orMadness. I found this a lot harder to get into and if it had been the first of her books I’d read, I’m not sure I would have chased up her other books. It picked up towards the end, but really didn’t grab me at all.

Recommended for: those who like Larbalestier and want to read all of her stuff.

Challenges: 100+ Challenge,  Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love YA Challenge

Magic or Madness

Title: Magic or Madnes
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Magic or Madness
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: Reason Cansino's mother Sarafina, has spent her whole life trying to keep Reason away from her grandmother. Esmeralda. According to Sarafina, Esmeralda is an evil woman who believes in magic and practises terrifying rituals. Then Sarafina ends up in a psychiatric hospital and Reason is delivered into her grandmother's care in Sydney. Her thoughts are focussed on escape, until she opens the back door and finds her self in the middle of a New York winter. If magic is real, what else has Sarafina lied about?

What I thought: Justine Larbalestier may very well be my new favourite Australian young adult author. I grabbed this after reading Liar and loving it. This was brilliant! Like Rowling, Larbalestier has taken magic and placed it in the ordinary world. Reason's paranoia at finding herself in the house of the woman her mother has frequently described as evil and terrifying is palpable. You yourself as the reader are unsure whether or not to trust Esmeralda. I really felt for Reason as she faced the collapse of her world and everything she thought she knew and coped with being in New York! I look forward to reading more of this series and finding out what happens next.

Recommended for: those who are like good quality YA fantasy.

100+ Challenge,  For the Love of YA Challenge, Aussie YA Challenge

Liar

Title: Liar
Author: Justine Larbalestier
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Book - Library

Synopsis: Micah Wilkins lies - all the time, about everything. But this time, she promises to tell the truth. Her boyfriend was been brutally killed and while no one knew she was his girlfriend, she knows she didn't kill him. But what is this family illness she has? When did she really last see Zach? And is she really telling you the truth?

What I thought: I loved this! Justine Larbalestier has written an exceptional novel that really messes with your mind. Do you believe Micah at the beginning of the book when she says this time she will tell you the truth? How can you believe her? And in what follows, what is truth and what isn't? I started reading it wanting to believe Micah, trust she was telling the truth. After all, part one was called Telling the Truth. But then you hit part two and it's called Telling the True Truth. So what wasn't true in the first bit?? And then you get to part three, The Actual Real Truth and you really start to question things! The thing is,I like Micah, and I believe she was trying her hardest to be truthful. The further you go into the book, the more secrets are revealed, the easier it is to understand why Micah is such an accomplised liar. But then again, isn't that what a good liar does - makes you believe they are genuine? In the end you have to make a choice - is she still lying or has she really come clean? I chose to believe her - I think...

A NOTE ON THE COVER: The cover I have shown here is the Australian cover. The US cover apparently caused a bit of controversy. The original US cover showed Micah as white. In the book, she is described as  black with nappy hair which she wears natural and short. The discussion about it on Larbalestier's blog (click either of the links above) make for interesting and thought provoking reading. For the record - I like Larbalestier prefer the Australian cover.

Recommended for: those who like a book that messes with their heads right to the end!

Challenges:  100+ Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Aussie YA Challenge, For the Love of YA Challenge