5 Parts Dead

Title: 5 Parts Dead
Author: Tim Pegler
First Published: 2010 by Penguin

Dan is 15 and had just dodged death for the 5Th time. his friends weren't so lucky. just weeks after the accident, he goes on holiday to an island on South Australia, staying in the lighthouse keeper's old cottage with his parents, twin sister, and sister's friend. angry and grieving he discovers the old lighthouse log book and a mystery that's gone unsolved for over a century. add in ghosts, romance and the 'twin thing' and you get a powerful story about friendship, death and family.

Quick Review
I LOVED it. the two time lines flow together seamlessly, making for easy reading, except for a few of the boring captain's reports about weather in the log book. this story will get inside your mind so easily it's almost scary and leave you full of questions, wondering about horrible things. the description of the car crash was literally breath-taking, i stopped reading and clutched my throat, read and you'll understand why. the description of how people reacted was perfect, though horrible and the characters were realistic and lovable. you'll fell so sorry for Dan, yet you understood what rested on his shoulders. the ghost story was a great parallel, and the romance sweet, yet sturdy. A MUST READ ESPECIALLY FOR TEENAGERS.

Babble
i feel that my quick review sums it up pretty well.
i want to talk more about the brutal honesty of this book, at least that's the best way i can think to put it.
death in books is pretty much always sad, yet it's so much more than that in 5 Parts Dead. you almost feel Dan's pain and confusion. the feeling that he is, in the smallest way possible, responsible. you know he's going to fight that for the rest of his life. the talk about death, responsibility, and just how people react was so powerful I'm still thinking about it.
it's a sign on an amazing book when you're still thinking about it 6 hours later.

i also just want to say how much I love Pip, she's so strong. she reads Markus Zusak, you guys know how much i love him. her relationship with Dan is so tender, they just need each other. she's individual, but for once that didn't mean really weird.

i also love how the book showed the effect on Dan's family as well.

all in all an amazing book, very powerful and informative. it was sad, yet the ending left me hopeful. i really want to know what happened to Dan once he went back to school, which shows just how much i love him.

please read this book-give it to all the teenagers you know.
you'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll leave with something.

Anna and the French Kiss Giveaway

The lovely Isme from the Book Slooth is having another great competition.

up for grabs is a copy of Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

this competition is open internationally. to enter go to her blog here and fill out this form.

good luck!

Straight Line to my Heart

title: straight line to my heart
author: Bill Condon
Published: to be published August 2011

Tiff and Kayla have finished school, they know things are about to change. the summer is coming to an end, and decisions are being made about the future and in one week everything is going to change. Tiff has a cadetship at the local news paper, but her boss is a crazy old man who insists everyone calls him 'the shark'. her grandad Reggie seems to be fading away, her uncle/brother Bull's girlfriend is around, her and Kayla can't stay in this small town forever, what will happen once they leave, and most importantly there's a boy who seems to be interested in Tiff. in one week Tiff's world crashes down and she builds it up again stronger than before.

Quick Review Straight Line to my Heart is a great novel. Bill Condon really hits what it's like to be a teenager on the head. without any melo-drama or soppy romance he's created a light-hearted novel all about the massive changes that occur once school finishes forever and first love. add in the great humour, and interesting characters and you've got a clear winner. i was up all night giggling while i finished it.

favourite quotes
"she could help me in my never-ending campaign. some people want to save the river or save the whales, or even save the whole planet-i just want to keep the toilet seat down" the whole book is full of funny lines like this.

Babbling Review
Bill Condon has an incredible style which doesn't fit a genre, it just seems like a real story. the characters are flawed, every character has a different personality. the blokes, Reggie and Bull, are typical Aussie blokes. the love footy, beer, action films and burping, yet they're sweet and kind.

the setting of Gungee creek is also full of character, and well characters! it's a typical town. the thing that got me was the description of footy on the weekends, it just seemed so familiar. everyone cheering, even though they play terribly. it turned out to be rugby as opposed to AFL, which is footy in Perth, but the atmosphere was the same. for us who live in Australia it'll be so familiar that you'll be laughing going 'that;s so true' and to others it'll be just as enjoyable.

i loved Kayla and Tiff's friendship. best friends since they were very young. there was very little talk, just silliness and closeness. they weren't always lovely to each other, but it was so honest.

the romance element in this novel is quite small, but important. he's an idiot, tiff admits he an idiot, but they like each other anyway. it's all awkward, yet sweet moments. it ends just leaving you wondering where it would go.

the humour is also genius. it's a simple, lovely funny novel. a perfect light read dealing some important teenage issues.