Thursday, November 25, 2010

Ruined by Paula Morris

A stunning ghost story complete with romantic sparks and a truly spooky curse to tie it all together...
The first book that I will be reveiwing is Ruined by, NZ/ English author, Paula Morris.

Synopsis:
Young teen Rebecca Brown lives in an ordinary flat with her father in New York. Suddenly she finds herself in New Orleans staying with her aunt and younger cousin while her dad works in China for a month or two. Lonely and bored she finds herself exploring and breaking rules that shouldn't have been broken... Rebecca meets a ghost, discovers a 150 year old curse and finds out secrets about her own past, present and future.
New Orleans doesn't end up to be so boring after all....

Reveiw:
The plot was excellent. Twists and turns keep your eyes glued to the page. The discriptive language was particularly interesting however her rich vocabulary sometimes slowed the pace of the story which is difficult for some readers to cope with but for an avid book-reader such as myself it was a great story to add to my over-flowing book case! The pace does quicken in the second half and ties up nicely at the end... Perhaps too nicely! Readers always want a happy little ending to finish off with and if they are anything like me... Get frustrated when it leaves you hanging... However when you DO get a happy ending it's almost more frustrating as it ends too quickly and you want more of the plot to unfold and more secrets to spill out and hopefull drag a sequel out of Paula. Overall it was  terrific read!

3.5

Paula Morris:
The Author obviously felt deeply for New Orleans as she described it so well. Once I had completed some research I discovered she had lived there for six years and on her blog (http://www.trendybutcasual.typepad.com/) there are pictures and her opinions on Hurricane Katrina which hit New Orleans. Ruined was her first Young Adult book and she hasn't written any more since. The book is relativly new as the first Scholastic paper-back printing was in August of this year. She has written a collection of Short stories and 3-4 adult novels.

Thanks book addicts (and of course Paula Morris!!) and here's to your secret obsession,
Read like a writer, write like a reader...
Zara King