Gabe just wants prom night to be good, fun and filled with love. But, there’s a hitch in his plans and he might just be able to save her.
I was so hoping that this novella would begin to redeem Meyerto me. But it really didn’t. partially this is probably because I went into it with a negative expectation. But also the fact that it is, in general just not that well written. Her writing still feels clunky to me. Clunky, not well edited and just not enough to be interesting.
The idea of this novella was kind of brilliant. And I think that most other authors, I would have happily read the novella and actually enjoyed it. But, that is just not destined to be the case for this story.
I won’t write much about this as I don’t have much to say that is positive.
Title: Last Night at the Mount Solemn Observatory Author: Danielle Binks In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Contemporary, Young adult Dates read: 22nd November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: Tonight is no different; Em’s legs are in Adelaide’s lap and she’s sitting up to talk to her, their faces so close together that Ravi has to lean round the back to hear, one hand on Em’s shoulder for balance.
It’s her big brothers last night in town, and she doesn’t know when he’ll be back. Sometimes it’s important to say goodbye.
As an older sister, I’ve never considered what it was like for my younger sister when I left home. And I didn’t move that far away. This was a great story that actually made me stop and think about what that moment was like for her. I can’t imagine that it would have been easy, and I almost wish we had’ve done something special together in that last night that we lived together.
Last Night at the Mount Solemn Observatory sparked all kinds of nostalgia for me. It was a great ode to sibling relationships and the love you can feel for people. It was also a fantastic way to highlight the feeling of loss, but empowerment when you finally leave the place that you know is pulling you down. It’s most definitely a difficult feeling. But it’s also one that we must all go through.
Lastly, the thing that I probably loved most about this story was that it featured someone who has a disability. In the case of this tale, the older brother is deaf. I would personally love to learn Australian Sign Language and this was really a reminder why. It’s always great when a story, any kind of story, features somebody from a diverse background.
Miranda just wants to be like everyone else and go to the prom with the boy that she likes. But an awkward encounter and an irritating client are about to make her prom a very interesting and action-packed night.
Being a teenager is super awkward. It doesn’t really matter how you look at it, that’s just a fact. But being a teenager with superpowers? Yeah, that would be particularly difficult. Which is why I loved this story – it’s all about a girl who is just trying to navigate the horrible teenage years. But then has all these extra, added difficulties.
All in all, I didn’t think that this was the worst prom night ever. In fact, it seemed like it would actually be a little bit fun. If it wasn’t for the fact that there were multiple gunmen hunting different people. And, there is a happily ever after moment at the end of this which was seriously sweet.
Sibby is a bit of a pain in this story. But Miranda is a great lead and completely drew me in. They balanced each other well, and I had this image of the two finding a way to be friends long after the ending of this story. I mean, an irritating Kiss Bandit and the Roller Derby Princess? That’s a friendship that I can get behind.
Title: The Feeling From Over Here Author: Gabrielle Tozer In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Contemporary, Young adult Dates read: 18th November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: That night he’d drafted a text, scribbled a letter, started Facebook message, but he didn’t follow through with any of them.
Lucy Faris is stuck on a bus to Melbourne. Which would be bad enough, if it wasn’t for the fact that the boy she thought she liked, and then decided she hated didn’t just get on and sit down next to her…
This short story has an amazing pace to it. It’s not necessarily quick, and it’s most certainly not all that typical. But it worked. I love that each little segment was split into the time at which it happened. Sometimes large gaps of time, sometimes smaller. It was an absolute pleasure to proceed through this journey, one step at a time.
I love that Lucy is a completely kick ass year twelve. She has definitely got a bit of attitude, and plenty of gumption to herself. She’s fun and a little bit quirky. The messages that she is constantly sending to her friends just help to top off her great characterization. Then, flipping her point of view with Cam’s to show why he has acted in certain ways… well, it helped me to bond with both characters in a very short amount of time.
I imagine that a year from the ending of this story, Lucy and Cam totally got together. And had some kind of happily ever after. Because I’m a sap who totally believes in love stories.
A girl who is desperate for her forever boy to ask her to prom finds a corsage that will grant three wishes. But what follows creates a prom night from hell.
This was a seriously creepy and tragic prom story. Like goosebumps and looking over your shoulder (which in my case meant looking at a blank wall) type creepy. And yet, it was somehow kind of sweet and most definitely heartbreaking. More the kind of prom that I want to read about than the happy, sappy happily ever after crap. Which we won’t go too much into what that actually says about me…
The Corsage is a prom story about first loves and first heartbreaks. With a pretty major twist – it’s not the kind of heartbreak that you would expect. Or at least, it wasn’t what I would have expected in this collection. I had honestly anticipated a lot more happiness and cheerful endings. I’m so happy that Myracle proved me wrong.
Like a lot of stories that feature wish fulfillment in some way, this story acted as a great reminder that what you wish for may not be what you actually want and need. And sometimes making a wish can be the worst possible thing to do. It leaves this story sitting in my pile of not-so-happily-ever-after stories. And definitely one of my favourite novellas…
Title: Missing Persons Author: Ellie Marney In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Contemporary, Young adult Dates read: 9th November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: ‘I don’t think you should – ‘
Rachel is about to start high school in Melbourne, the Big Smoke, for the first time. It’s very different from the rolling plains and open spaces of her family’s farm. It’ll take a little bit of getting used to…
I can completely, totally, and utterly understand the feeling of not quite fitting into a city. That hatred of living in an area where you struggle to see the wide, open skies. I know it’s why I chose to live in the country as soon as I was able to realistically do so. Although, to be fair, my version of country is nowhere near as open as Rachel’s.
This is a typical fish-out-of-water story. But it’s also a great coming of age tale. After all, Rachel is not only trying to figure out how to fit in with a whole new, terrifying world, but she’s also a teenager who has a whole slew of other issues to contend with. And I love that the Mad Scientist, Mycroft, seems to be the main person who is likely to help her do so. He’s completely off kilter and odd. The perfect person to help you try to figure out your way in a new world.
Although Rachel feels like a “missing person” in this story and still hasn’t quite come to terms with her new life, there is still a ray of hope at the end. This feeling that things will all turn out for the best, and eventually Rachel will find her own place in this new world she’s been thrust into.
Title: The Cruel Prince Author: Holly Black Series: The Folk of the Air #1 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Fae, Fantasy, Paranormal fantasy, Young adult Dates read: 3rd – 9th November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Hot Key Books Year: 2018 5th sentence, 74th page: My blood is on fire, boiling in my veins.
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered. The fearsome assassin abducts all three girls to the Faerie court, where Jude soon realises that to survive she needs to be as cunning and deceitful as the Fey themselves. But the stairway to power is fraught with shadows and betrayal. And looming over all is the arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan.
I seriously can’t stop thinking about this novel. Even though I’m writing this review days after I finished reading it, the words, the occurrences, the entire story is still in my mind’s eye. It was just amazing. Which really isn’t surprising since it was written by Holly Black and everything that I’ve had the pleasure of reading by her is a book that quickly finds its way to the top of my list.
The twist at the end of the story was only obvious about a paragraph before it happened. So, really not obvious or something that I guessed at all. And it was the best twist ever. Luckily, I couldn’t find The Wicked King in my TBR immediately after I finished The Cruel Prince… considering I have a massive stack of books that I’ve already started reading…
Jude is an awesome, completely kick ass lead character. I’m not necessarily in love with her as a person… she’s a little too confrontational and kind of nuts in my opinion. But as a product of being raised by the fae? Yeah, I absolutely loved her. It kind of makes me fear what Taryn will be like in the later books… I mean, they’re twins and whilst they’ve taken a different route to power… it’ll be interesting to see what happens next is the least that I can say.
I’ve only read the one series by Holly Black, and the thing that I loved the most about it was that she depicts the fae beautifully. She continues that vein in this story – the fae aren’t fun, happy, or light. This already feels so much darker than her Modern Faerie Tales series. But it’s still a great indication of the horrors that are in the traditional faerie tales….
Title: Sundays Author: Melissa Keil In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Young adult Dates read: 5th November 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: Lou holds out a bottle of Limonata, the top popped.
Sundays are a day of leisure. But, on this fateful night and morning, they are also a day of change. One that heralds the beginning of new things, and the end of the old.
I absolutely adore Melissa Keil, in fact, she’s the reason that I bought the Begin, End, Begin collection – I knew that she had a story in there somewhere and I knew that it was one that I thoroughly enjoy. This short story just drove home how important that was and just why I love this author so damn much. Now I just have to wait for her to publish some more stories…
This story completely matches the idea of Begin, End, Begin. It’s about beginnings and endings, and how just one night can mean the change in everything. I remember finishing high school myself, and how terrifying that precipice of change and adulthood is. I don’t think that I had just one night that did this for me, but I had a whole heap of moments that I can still remember with terrifying clarity that were about the ending of the old, and the beginning of the new. Most of them from this point in my life…
Gabe is a great narrator for this story. She’s not the mainstream teenager that you would expect, and so I probably related to her way more than I otherwise would have. That, and Lou, the rock for her throughout this realisation of change… I absolutely adored both of these characters. I want more of them! Just like I want more of all of Keil’scharacters… I’m not slightly obsessed at all…
Mary knows one thing… that her friend’s prom date is evil. And it’s her job to take him down. But things don’t always go quite to plan… they can be better.
I most definitely want more of Adam and Mary in my bookshelves. I’m not sure that I’ll get more. But it’s most certainly something that I desire! They work so well as a cute teensy couple. Yet, Mary is also completely kick butt and more than a little damaged. Just how I like my heroines.
I’m still a big believer in the fact that prom is completely, totally and utterly boring. But, this one feels a little bit more fun. Mostly because it involves a cute boy and vampire hunting. Alright, I might be a strong, independent woman, and my own prom I did have a cute date… but not a cute date that would use a water blaster to kill a vampire. Or shoot ketchup at him…
This novella involved not only Dracula’s son, but the exterminator’s daughter. And she also happens to be the daughter of a mad scientist… which, honestly, what’s not to love about that? There is so much fuel in this story for more amazing tales, and it’s a seriously fun little journey. Particularly when the ending is so… full of future possibilities.
I’ve read a few books in the Princess Diaries series. So I’m used to Cabot’s fun, cute and easy to read teenage stories. This fit all of the usual bills and was definitely a story that I would read again and again. A bit like Cabot’sother stories…
Title: First Casualty Author: Michael Pryor In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Space, Young adult Dates read: 1st November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: We didn’t get a chance to answer.
It’s a Space Gap Year. One that has some unexpected consequences and occurrences. But this will be amazing.
For starters, this short story is a great reminder to stop the “us versus them” crap. After all, it does nothing but damage everyone and everything involved. Something that we constantly need to be reminded of in my humble opinion. After all, we all have feelings, and that’s the important thing.
The space setting and Gap Year feeling throughout this story is fun. I never took a Gap Year, so the idea of one in space and the adventure that the lead characters go on… it was a lot of fun. There is so much future potential to this story! After all, their Gap Year is just beginning when this story ends.
Not only is this a fun little science fiction, coming-of-age story, but it’s also a wonderful story full of hints of romance. I love how Pryor is able to place out hints of the relationship that is developing, without bashing you over the head with it.
Earth and Skye 