YA titles to escape into

All The Lost Souls

Written by Amie Jordan

Published  by Chicken House.

This is the second book in the All the hidden Monsters series, and last summer I reviewed book one for the blog.

So it was great to catch up with these characters and see what they had got up to.

A feud between witches and werewolves. Old magic and new romance. Brising tensions in the Jura Mountains lead Sage and Oren to investigate. But neither is prepared for what awaits them.

Heart-warming friendships, growing embers of romance, and a growing fog that kills everything it touches.

Sage and Oren are sent to investigate rising tensions between witches and werewolves in the Jura Mountains. After dealing with murder, this case feels tame – punishment for their undeniable connection. But there is a darkness that awaits them–traces of old magic, tortured lost souls–ready to put everything they’ve worked for to the test.

This book carries on from where book 1 ended and our main characters Oren and Sage have a new case.

Again this book has a perfect mix of fantasy and mystery. A lot of the focus is on friendships and family.

I really liked that this book was told from the characters POV

 I also appreciated how this book gave a nod towards mental health, dealing with trauma and the queer community, keeping it relatable and realistic (even for a fantasy!)

Now I desperately need book 3!!

Wish You Dead

Written by Rebecca Westcott

Published by Scholastic

Sixteen-year-old Morgana Merrick is all about control. She’s the

most feared, powerful and popular girl at Avalon Academy, while

her half-brother, Art, and his chilled-out group of surfer friends

reign peacefully in the year above, known for their legendary

beach parties.

At one such party, an ugly encounter with one of Art’s friends

leaves Morgana shaken. She retrieves the box under her bed filled

with crystals, charm bags and her Book of Shadows, and asks the

universe for justice to be served…

As frenemy after frenemy wrongs or irritates her, Morgana manifests

revenge upon them – and, to her surprise, it works. She feels

invincible. Until someone ends up dead.

Is the universe bending to Morgana’s will? Or is someone else

behind the attacks? And can she find out who it is, before anyone

else meets a deadly end…?

This is  a hard book to review mainly because I found the characters to be horrible, they were the sort of characters that keeps you reading to the end with the hope that something truly awful will happen to them.

I found it interesting that the author explored female rage and how it affects people- this isn’t something that is usually covered in a YA book and  It was also interesting to witness the growth of the main character.

I was not  a fan of the twist at the end but then we are all different.

Overall this was a good read.

Let’s Split Up

Written by Bill Wood

Published by Scholastic.

When hot “it-couple” Brad and Shelley are brutally murdered in a manor on the edge of town, a group of teen friends investigate.

Set in Sanera, a small community in California where rumour spreads as fast as the fire on the day of the killings, the theory is the old ghoul who haunts the house after his own murder has finally taken revenge. As Cam, Jonesy, Amber and new-girl Buffy investigate, the rumour feels closer to the truth than they ever dared think possible, and as they enter the mansion themselves, the idea of splitting up to find evidence will prove to be either the best … or worst decision of all...

It wasn’t until I was writing this review that I discovered this was book 1 and a debut book.

This is an excellent mystery, as an adult reader I guessed pretty quickly who the murderer was, but I’m not the intended audience, I think there are going to be a lot of teenagers who will be completely surprised who it is.   There was a teenage character that I couldn’t quite work out but towards the end it all started to make sense.

For me Jonesy was the best character and I love all his dialogue.

The horror scenes were so vivid that as a reader you can clearly see blood, the gore, you actually feel scared as a reader. Everything was well written and thought out 

I was unable to put this down. Can’t wait for book 2.