RaveThe Nerd DailyRoth delves deeper into issues previously touched upon in her young adult fiction looking at how these affect characters in their 30’s, inviting an older audience to enjoy her work ... Roth also manages to convey relatable and universal issues all young adults face post-school/university etc. such as confusion, directionless, and loneliness ... As well as Roth’s sensitive character building and development, Chosen Ones also contains in-depth and innovative world building, with particular focus on magic ... A clever device used within Chosen Ones is the use of reports and newspaper cuttings throughout. This breaks up the narrative and offers perspectives other than our protagonists ... Overall, Roth offers the reader transportation to a rich, well thought out, magical world that also deals with more adult themes around mental health, death, and loss. Roth provides a completely new and alternative look at the dark vs. light theme with complex and fantastically developed characters. The storyline weaves throughout many shocking twists and turns right up until the last page, all of which I will omit discussing here so you will be as shocked and enthralled as I was when you read Chosen Ones.
Megan Angelo
RaveThe Nerd DailyAngelo cleverly weaves together two seeming unrelated timelines which meet one another in the thrilling conclusion of this contemporary, sci-fi masterpiece giving readers the ‘everything coming together’ moment leading to a satisfying, emotional conclusion ... a believable and terrifying pathway showing how our current obsession with social media, sharing, and celebrities may continue to grow and evolve over time leading to a dark and damming end. Angelo invites us to question many contemporary issues around social media, privacy, and fame as well as forcing the us to take a good hard look at our own internet usage, friendships, careers, values and choices ... Angelo writes with sensitivity and humour as well as relatable characters and dilemmas, particularly for the young female reader just starting out life as an adult and finding it more than a little daunting. The writing is so creative and seamless, I actually had a hard time believing that Followers is Megan Angelo’s debut novel! It feels like she has been storytelling for years ... Thought provoking, challenging, emotional, and funny, Angelo has written a spectacular debut novel you will not be able to put down.
Ruth Ware
RaveThe Nerd DailyWare writes a modern retelling of the Henry James classic haunted house, ghost story with her own modern twist. If you thought you knew all about the haunted house genre, think again. Ware gives the form a terrifying contemporary overhaul ... the terror comes not from the traditionally creepy gothic half but emanates from the Orwellian, Big Brother-esque vibes we get from Heatherbrae House’s futuristic smart-home surveillance system ... Ware writes with perfect pacing, opening with a complete mystery, feeding us nuggets of clues throughout to keep us reading and guessing until the very last page ... A colossal plot twist in the last couple of pages will shock even the best of us detective readers and is cleverly revealed through Rowan’s correspondence from prison ... this is one you will devour in one sitting, unable to tear yourself away.
