Book Review Blog — Teens & YA Readership

Meat Market by Juno Dawson Pub Date: 23 May 2019 Publisher: Quercus Teens & YA PGBB Reviewed on NetGalley 02 June 2019 ⭐5/5  Juno Dawson just gets better and better with every book!  Meat Market is an extraordinarily accurate exposé of the fashion industry in the real world told through the experience of an utterly believable and lovable fictitious character: Jana Novak.  In fact, I'm sure I know her!  I spent over 10 years in the modelling world, and it hasn't changed in 35 years. I remember it well and traced many of the same cities that Jana does and shared many of her experiences, good and bad. It...

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave Pub Date: 19 Sep 2019 Publisher: Bellatrix Sci Fi & Fantasy , Teens & YA PGBB Reviewed on NetGalley 16 May 2019 ⭐5/5 An original gothic vampire origin story told from the POV of one of Dracula’s brides, giving it a feminist voice that is so refreshing for gothic fantasy!  Kiran’s beautifully written poetic prose conjures the reader into a vividly imagined world of Travellers and slavers that feels  utterly believable and palpable, then it ever so gradually moves from realism into more sinister suggestions of unnatural evils, then before you realise the...

Becoming Dinah By Kit de WaalPub Date: 11 July 2019Publisher: BellatrixTeens & YAPGBB Reviewed on NetGalley 27 May 2019 ⭐5/5 A book that's practically perfect in every way.  And a perfect first book to launch new imprint Bellatrix (see about below). 'Becoming Dinah' has a hundred-and-one themes to explore to their depths; two timelines gradually merging for a satisfying resolution; and one girl, with two names, pulled apart by so many dichotomies: race / bi-race; sexuality / bi-sexuality; religion / secularism; community / self... Call her Dinah. Or call her Ishmael.   Kit de Waal delivers her story seamlessly. It's...