The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon

The Doldrums is a widly immaginative tale greatly packed with adventourous quests, polar bears, stuffed animals (and glass eyes). Archer Helmsleys life was somewhat of a straight line wich rarely vibrated. Everything went as planned at least according  to his Archers mother who rarely let him out of the the Helmsleys enourmous mansion full of peculiar objects retrieved from his grandparents travels around the world. Archers grandparents are world renowned explorers who travel around world 24\7, Archer never laid his eyes on them in his whole life, due to his mother's unnecessary overprotectiveness. But his straight-line life was completely turned around when his grandparents float away in an iceberg in the north pole. Two years pass from the incident and his grandparents still haven't returned from the iceberg and now are presumed surely dead. But Archer still has hope and with the necessary help of his intrepid and courageous friends, Oliver and Adelaide Archer is determined to finally prove all the rumors of his grandparents death wrong, and  once and for all rescue his beloved grandparents. So with that Archer, Oliver and Adelaide set off on an intrepid, courageous and deadly quest to rescue Archers grandparents…

My favourite character in this gripping novel is and will always be Archer Helmsley, I can compare many attributes and skills to him, for example love for reading, animals and most of all family. My opinion on this novel is that it is a very gripping novel, full of highly imagined content, greatly caring characters, and most of all a wonderfully thought out storyline. I recommend this book to fans of adventure, fiction and kid power novels. Mostly to fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society trilogy by Trenton Lee Stewart. The adventure continues with The Doldrums And The Helmsley Curse, the second book in The Doldrums trilogy, so stay tuned for The Doldrums And The Helmsley Curse book review, COMING SOON!  

Reviewed by Lahiri Paolella (Aged 11)

Happy reading! 

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City Of Saints & Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson

City Of Saints & Thieves is a fast paced roller coaster ride where young adult twists and turns into a thriller. This harrowing murder mystery will keep you breathless on the edge of your seat, tearing through the pages and wolfing down every word, a ravenous appetite of curiosity and suspense grumbling and aching deep within your stomach.

I was hooked and intrigued right from the very first sentence, “If you're going to be a thief, the first thing you need to know is that you don't exist.” These are the words of teenage refugee Tina, who together with her mother escaped Congo and fled to Kenya. Her mother is fortunate enough to become a maid, serving one of the wealthiest families in the city; the Greyhills. A family built of power and money and blood. A family fortune glistening with corruption and fraud and who knows what else? So when Tina discovers her mother shot dead in Mr Greyhill’s private study, she knows without a doubt that he did it.

In this gripping tale of revenge and justice, Tina will stop at nothing to execute her three part plan: Dirt.Money.Blood. Spiralling down a dangerous path of secrets and tracking down her congolese past, uncovering more than she ever wanted to. Everything she thought she knew about her mother, everything she thought she knew about herself, everything built on lies.

City Of Saints & Thieves is the type of book that will force you to put it down for just a moment, so that you can collect your thoughts and catch your breath.

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My Purple Scented Novel by Ian McEwan

Published in celebration of the author’s 70th Birthday in June, My Purple Scented Novel is a tightly woven little story, a classic Ian McEwan. The story of two university friends turned writers whose lives follow very different trajectories with varying success only to cross paths in an unexpected and diabolic way. The pocket size 34 page book pulls you in from the very beginning with its smooth surface and uneasy undercurrent.

Recognizably McEwan and reminiscent of the Roald Dahl’s sinister Tales of the Unexpected which some readers may remember from the 1980’s television productions.

“I heard that two friends entertained themselves by dreaming up all the ways one writer might ruin the life of another. But this was different. It may sound improbable, given what followed, but on that morning I had no thoughts of causing Jocelyn any harm. I was thinking only of myself. I had ambitions.”

A mind bender of a little book to put in your pocket, read on the bus, the train or on a sun soaked beach.

Happy Reading!

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Inferior by Angela Saini

Inferior is the type of book you didn't know you needed. A book that tears back and bites through the stitches of “science” that are woven together to form our basic understanding of men and women. It diligently combs through the countless studies and experiments in the name of biology, psychology and anthropology, uncovering the tangles and knots of sexism and bias embedded within science.

Inferior defies everything you thought you knew about gender differences, rewriting the story about women's evolutionary history and debunking the popular myths regarding women's minds and bodies. Charles Darwin once said, “I certainly think that women though generally superior to men in moral qualities are inferior intellectually.” These are the statements and theories that Angela Saini challenges and interrogates throughout her book, just for a moment taking the “man” out of mankind,  and instead offering a “kind” and unbiased perspective on the truth about the female sex.

A deeply empowering, thought provoking and informative fresh breath of air. I cannot stress enough how necessary and important of a read this book is. It will leave you with a new sense of knowledge and a questioning and curious taste, gifting you with your own personal microscope that you didn't know you needed.

Reviewed by Vindhya Kathuria

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