Poppy in the Field by Mary Hooper
Pages: 288
Publish date: May 7th 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s
ISBN: 1408827638
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU
When Poppy learns that the love of her life, Freddie de Vere, is to marry someone else, she knows her heart will break. Devastated, she volunteers her nursing skills overseas to take her away from the painful reminders at home. But things are about to get much worse for Poppy. The journey to the hospital in Flanders is full of horrors, and when she arrives it is to find a spiteful ward Sister and unfriendly nurses. Despite her loneliness and homesickness, the dangers of frontline warfare soon make her forget her own troubles and Poppy finds that comfort for a broken heart can be found in the most unexpected places.
Brilliantly researched and inspired by real-life events, big and small, Poppy in the Field is a story about the forgotten bravery of women on the front line, told through the eyes of a young woman determined to play her part.
Poppy in the Field:
I received an e-copy of Poppy in the Field by Mary Hooper through Bloomsbury from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my review.
Since ANZAC Day just passed I actually wanted to read a young adult novel set in around a time of war. So when I saw Poppy in the Field on Netgalley I requested it straight away and it was only when I finished it that I realised it was a sequel. But in saying all this I wasn’t confused one bit.
I quite enjoyed Poppy in the Field, I haven’t read many war time books before so it fresh and different to what I have read before. It was also quite different because, standard war books are about the men on the front line however this is more about the nurses, the women and men who made a vast difference. These people saved so many lives.
Poppy is a certainly interesting character, she was intriguing nonetheless at times quite annoying. Especially when she keeps on going about Freddie de Vere, oh I wanted to just smack her out of it. It was really annoying, even after she hadn’t thought about him in a while, then something happens and she starts talking about him again – maybe because I didn’t read the first book, I don’t know how their relationship worked or anything. Then again it was annoying, that all she was thinking about for a great deal of the book was Freddie.
When Poppy transferred to ‘hospital’ further in the front line, it was quite interesting. It’s different hearing the experience of war from a nurse rather than a veteran of war. However it wasn’t resembling what Poppy imagined. It wasn’t the gore of war that startled her, but other nurses. Especially her head nurse who does not think she is capable of doing what ‘qualified’ nurses can. However Poppy struggles with loneliness and homesickness but the dangers of the frontline soon distract her.
Mary Hooper captures imagery throughout her writing in a way that enables the reader to put themselves into the story and ‘be there.’ At the start I didn’t believe that I wasn’t going to cry because Hooper’s writing didn’t seem fully emotional nevertheless as time went on, I could feel that my heart was going to break and at times it did.
Tough I did feel that the ending was quite rushed and it was more of a summary then a novel. It gave me a sour taste in my mouth.
Poppy in the Field remains an intriguing piece of work that not only captures the reader but gives an insight on war that readers don’t always see or acknowledge. Poppy in the Field isn’t as raw as I thought it would be or hoping that it was but it had just enough that reminded as that, Poppy was in the middle of war. I laughed, I cried and I swooned.
Neverland by Shari Arnold
Pages: 358
Publish date: April 7th 2015
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781508846482
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU
It’s been four months since seventeen-year-old Livy Cloud lost her younger sister, but she isn’t quite ready to move on with her life — not even close. She’d rather spend her time at the Seattle Children’s hospital, reading to the patients and holding onto memories of the sister who was everything to her and more.
But when she meets the mysterious and illusive Meyer she is drawn into a world of adventure, a world where questions abound.
Is she ready to live life without her sister? Or more importantly, is she brave enough to love again?
Neverland:
I received an e-copy of Neverland by Shari Arnold from Create Space through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my review.
I haven’t read many re-telling’s before and Neverland is the first ever Peter Pan re-telling that I have read, I was quite captivated by the premise of the book. It sounded like something that I was going to like and I was a little let down.
In saying that, I did like it. It just wasn’t what I was expecting. When I started it, I was turning pages after page and I was fully immersed, then after maybe 30% in, I was deflated however I kept on pushing myself as I truly wanted to like the book.
Livy the protagonist of Neverland was quite a decent character to get along with. She wasn’t annoying to me on the other hand I can see that some might find her annoying, however to me, she felt like an older sister. And though her family is in pieces, she still holds strong in my opinion. The thing that made me love Livy the most is her determination to save her sisters best friend, oh my heart.
At first Neverland was quite confusing. I didn’t get what was going on, names were getting pulled from here and there and things just happened far too quickly for my liking. It also felt at times that I skipped something then again in reality I didn’t.
It was at part two that I began to feel intrigued again, maybe it’s since it was when the re-telling truly started to take place. There were little hints here and there of the re-telling in the first part, however at part two it certainly kicked off.
Shari Arnold writing is beautiful and the emotions that she can pull from the reader are spot on. Maybe it is because I have younger siblings that I felt a real connection to Livy.
Meyer can have my heart any day. Man this boy is beautiful, though at times I hated him for being so mysterious but hey it all payed off at the end.
Neverland took me on journey through high and lows. It made me smile and definitely made me cry. The world of Neverland was simply gorgeous and put a massive smile on my face and the ending was pure brilliance. Arnold knows how to wrap up a story nice and tightly, but then again leaves enough room to create your own journey.
Have you read any of these books? Did you like it? Are you going to pick any of them up?
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