How to make friends with the dark is the story of Tiger’s journey. Her journey is incredibly hard, adventurous, and full of hope. Tiger’s life has always been difficult. Her family consists of just Tiger and her mother, they always run tight with money, and find it difficult to communicate with each other at times.
 
One day Tiger leaves the house in anger and returns to find that her mother has passed away. For Tiger the world has changed, her now safe and routine life was finished. She now has to start the process of settling into foster care, and starting a new life.
 
At first Tiger is very hesitant, but soon she starts to realise that the past is a part of us, and that moving on and starting afresh with happy memories of her mother is what is right and what her mother would have wanted.
 
Can you relate to Tiger?
 
Goodreads rating 4.29

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Missy just met Death and according to him; Missy is War one of the 4 apocalypse riders. Death tells Missy that it is now her responsibility to help maintain the balance of the world with the other three riders; Death, Famine, and Pestilence. However Missy is not sure if she wants to accept her fate as War. She had just wanted to get revenge on the betrayal that Adam had put her through. Missy wanted revenge for all the hate that had been directed towards her. She wanted to get revenge and that was it.
 
At first glance this novel seems to be a bit strange, a troubled teen put in position to wield a war sword and ride the red horse. Eventually it comes together and Missy realises she must make a decision. She must choose between her real life and her fate as War.
 
Will she sacrifice everything to fulfill her fate to secure the balance in the world?
 
Goodreads rating 3.86

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​Ever since Snow tried to walk through a mirror when she was five, her mother decided that her place was at Whittaker Psychiatric Hospital. It was just until she got better, but weeks turned into years.  Snow became angry, resentful and lost. Until Bale arrived with his fiery hair waving and fearless attitude.  Snow had finally found a friend. 13 years later Snow and Bale are closer than ever. 

However, after a strange incident, everything changes and they both are separated. One night a strange boy appears at the hospital and it all goes downhill from there. Snow discovers Bale is missing, dragged into some strange world called Algid, she knows something is very wrong. With no one believing her story Snow takes it up on herself to find Bale in this quite literally frozen land, Algid. 

Together with her new found friends, Snow discovers that she is not just a girl from a psychiatric hospital, but much more. Will she use her true identity to change the course of two worlds and find her dearest friend Bale?

Goodreads rating 3.91 

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Catlin and her sister Sarah have been best friends since childhood, always together. They always share every secret. However on the morning of Catlin’s birthday, Sarah runs away, leaving behind a dream journal as a present. Catlin begins to fill the void in her life and her parents by becoming the perfect ideal daughter that her older sister was.
 
One day Catlin runs into Rogerson, an individual the sensible Catlin would have avoided. Over time Rogerson becomes Catlin’s lifeline. He is always there, ready with an illegal adventure.  However this dream very soon becomes a nightmare. Rogerson in reality is not the loving prince she thought, but rather a manipulative and abusive individual.
 
Catlin begins a downward spiral of self-destruction, withdrawing from friends, family and life. It is up to Catlin to take the steps to put herself first, and begin a journey of self-healing. Will she do it?
 
This novel is another one of Dessen’s engaging novels.
 
Goodreads rating 3.91
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Ava’s best friend Kelly has died; she is an absolute mess. School is hard with people pretending to care at memorials. It is hard for her to understand how to deal with the loss of her best friend. The only thing that seems to be keeping Ava grounded is her job at Magic Kebab.
 
Gideon writes lists, lots of lists. He also likes to count when he is nervous. Gideon is trying to get out of his comfort zone, so he takes up his therapist's idea for a job and doing something out of character occasionally. Gideon applies for a job as a dish boy at Magic Kebab and meets the most interesting Ava.
 
Both exchange addresses- yes addresses! And so in the age of texting begins the exchange of hand written letters to each other’s letter boxes. Over time both Ava and Gideon become great friends, and learn that life is too precious and short. They learn to overcome their fears and guilt and move on as better versions of themselves.
 
This book is a stealer! You won’t be able to put it down.
 
Goodreads rating 4.07
 
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​The Clockmaker’s Daughter is another great novel by Kate Morton. This story is about a century old mystery surrounding the famous artist Edward Radcliff. It begins with him and his colleagues traveling to the countryside to spend the summer, to find some fresh inspiration for their art. Their holiday begins with peaceful morning at the manor by the river, however as the summer passes events take a turn for the worse, a young girl is dead and a priceless heirloom goes missing.
 
Almost a century and a half later a young archivist by the name of Elodie comes across an odd satchel containing the strangest assortment of items; a picture of a strikingly beautiful Victorian Woman, and an old sketch book containing drawings of a very familiar looking manor.
 
Against her workplace rules Elodie removes the satchel from the collection and begins a journey to discover the secrets behind this odd collection of items. On her journey she comes to find that the story behind this strange satchel is very close to home.
 
This novel is narrated by the key characters. It is a story packed with mystery, crime, betrayal, and romance.
 
Goodreads rating: 3.93
 
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My Story series
​
The year is 1909 and Dollie Baxter has flung herself into the midst of the campaign for women’s right to vote. It is a campaign that is creating a change amongst all classes of women, and women all around want to play their part in a movement, which would ultimately change the way the patriarchal society would see a woman’s political opinion. 

Dollie lives with her Grandmother until her guardianship is given to a very wealthy lady; lady Violet. New to her surroundings and the life of luxury, Dollie tries to fit in, all the while trying to juggle her part in the movement.  

Although Dollie's diary accounts are fictional, the author uses factual individuals and events from history to illustrate the suffragette movement that happened in London. This book captures the essence of how the movement may have affected people and families at that time. 

Goodreads Rating: 4.05 

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.petta is back to solve another crime. This time it is the murder of a young girl who was found dead in the woods. The Black Mountain community of North Carolina are shocked at the barbaric nature of the murder, and wonder who would want to hurt and abuse a little girl in such a way. It is up to Dr Scarpetta and the FBI team to track down the killer and bring justice. 

No sooner do they begin to analyse the strange clues of the case they stumble across another death that at first investigation points towards both murder and suicide? These two cases are connected, but how? Who is behind the chain of blood and gore? 

The investigation takes a dangerous turn when there is an attempt to take the doctor's life? Who does one trust when the killer has access to the classified information? 

The body farm is 5th in the Kay Scarpetta series. It can be read independently but if you want to know where Dr Kay’s story started begin by reading Patricia Cornwell’s novel, Postmortem.   

Goodreads Rating: 4.05 

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​Abdullah and Pari are siblings who were separated by the circumstance of poverty. They both belonged to a very poor farming family and lived in a village just outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. Their father was a beet farmer and struggled to make a living. Once a month their step uncle, Nabi, came to visit them from the big capital Kabul. With stories of endless marketplaces, homes of luxury and most of all, proof that there is a way to make life better. 

Their life is hard but peaceful, however in a twisted turn of events and desperation the family is split apart. Both siblings are lost in their new worlds, with no hope of ever reuniting. Time passes and memories fade, the world begins to change, the siblings are left to the tides of fate. 
Khaled Hosseini has made the language of this tale almost poetic. It is a humbling novel, with its character’s stories intertwining seamlessly to lead on to the next chapters.   

Khaled Hosseini has done it again, with another spellbinding novel. 

Goodreads Rating: 4.04 

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Apple is in the 8th grade. She has a best friend named Pilar, and a very strict Nana. Apple’s Mother left her when she was just a toddler. Every year at Christmas she cannot help but ask Nana if her mother had called, or emailed. She just couldn’t understand why her mother would choose to leave her, alone, by herself, and never ask about her.
 
Apple dreams to have a life away from her almost non-existent father and his wife Trish. She hates how her grandmother refuses to let her walk home from school or even hang out with friends or do anything fun that her friends are doing. On Christmas night, Trish announces that Apple will become an older sister. Apple feels abandoned and left out by her family. To make things more confusing, her mother arrives to pick her up from school!
 
Finally, presented with the chance to escape her life, Apple moves in with her mother. But Apple soon comes to realise that her Mother is not who she imagined, and Apple has never missed her Nana more. Apple faces the biggest decision - does she stay with her Mother or move back to Nana’s place?
 
Goodreads Rating: 4.0
 
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