Recent Reads: The 14th and 15th of 2018.

I am so happy not to be keeping to a Reading Schedule any more. It's opened me up to any and all forms of lit - as you'll see in the next few of these posts!

Now, here's what I read recently...

The Powerpuff Girls: Brain Freeze: Book 1, by The Powerpuff Girls.

Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles find out Towsnville Ice Cream Parlour is holding a contest to create a new flavour, and they each enter with their own option. Blossom makes vanilla with rainbow sprinkles, Bubbles makes about a dozen different flavours in one cone, and Buttercup makes pizza flavour.

As the girls use their superpowers to deliver their ice cream around Townsville, Mojo Jojo sets to a dastardly plan to bring a gang of monsters on a day trip to Townsville – to destroy the Powerpuff Girls once and for all!

(amazon.co.uk) 

The Powerpuff Girls: Brain Freeze: Book 1 by The Powerpuff Girls
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is something a bit different for me...and it made my stressed-out brain stupidly happy.

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Yes, this is a little bit different...I'm trying this new thing of breaking up the big reads with smaller, hopefully less taxing, reads. It's working so far - no slumps here! *taps coffee table*

This story was wonderful, and delightfully silly. My favourite part was the PP girls firing their ice creams at people!? And the very manipulative monkey Mojo deliberately angering a gang of monsters just so they'd destroy the girls...? Geezzz, mate. Cool it. 

We Are Young, by Cat Clarke.

The same night Evan's mother marries local radio DJ 'Breakfast Tim', Evan's new step-brother Lewis is found unconscious and horribly injured.

He’s the only survivor of a horrific car crash. A media furore erupts, with the finger of blame pointed firmly at stoner, loner Lewis. Everyone else seems to think the crash was drugs-related, but Evan isn't buying it. With the help of her journalist father, Harry, she decides to find out what really happened that night. 

But as Evan delves deeper into the lives of the three teenagers who died in the crash, she uncovers some disturbing truths and a terrible secret…

(goodreads.com)

We Are Young by Cat Clarke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm quite confident that I'm one of Cat Clarke's biggest fans. And this book is her best yet. I was so IN it for the best part of 3 days; trying not to gobble it all up at once, but finding myself thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. Important themes covered, wonderful diversity, and a genuinely brilliant story. 

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Oh, holy sh*t. Y'all know I'm Cat's #1 fangirl, right? I've mentioned her many times on this blog, and had the opportunity to interview her about her back list (which I got so into when I was in hospital last year - her stories saved me from immense boredom on the ward, and generally the tragic reality of my life...).

Right, so, you know I love her novels. But let me tell you now, this is her best one yet. I connected with every character (even the newly married mum, a little?!) and was gripped by the plot, like you wouldn't believe. I found myself thinking about the story now and again when I wasn't reading it, and I really came to care for Evan, who was a wonderful narrative voice. Also - and really, this should not be a major thing in this day and age - she was bisexual and that wasn't a major plot point!!? 

Another key point tackled in this novel was the reality of mental health issues in young people's lives. It's a huge thing these days, and is glossed over far too often. 

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