Looking Glass Girl by Cathy Cassidy

Cathy Cassidy is one of my absolute favourite authors and has been for a really long time. I think that she writes really amazing books, especially for the young teenager. I may be slightly too old for them, but I don't care because I love 'em! That's why it seems only right that I read something by Cathy Cassidy for the next category in my book challenge: 'a book by an author you love'.

I chose to read Looking Glass Girl, because it is one of her newer releases that I haven't come across before, and I actually really enjoyed it. It is a spin-off from Alice In Wonderland (which admittedly I haven't actually read) and I would probably recommend for the pre-teen/young teenager.

It's about a girl called Alice who has a really bad accident at a sleepover with some people who previously bullied her and the whole book is almost like a murder mystery as you slowly find out what happened.

It's a little hard to explain, but it's like the book is split into two halves with alternating chapters. Half the chapters are from the point of view of Alice, where she hears people come to visit her in hospital while she's in a coma, and then she has an Alice In Wonderland vision (normally based on the person who has come to visit her). Each time, she is told to remember what happened, and than another little piece of the puzzle is revealed as to how the accident came about.

The other half of the chapters are all about everyone else after the accident, like her parents and the other girls at the sleepover and how they react and try to help Alice.

I've got to say, I don't usually read murder mysteries (although that isn't technically what this is), but I really enjoyed it and it has definitely encouraged me to give a few more a go. I have to say though, after all the build up to the ending I was a little bit disappointed. I don't know whether its because I have a very cynical view of the world and expected everyone to be way more horrible and have way worse motives than they did, or maybe I am just a little too old for it. Either way, I did expect something just a teensy bit more dramatic. Besides that, I really enjoyed the story.

It's gripping, believe me, you do want to know what happened and don't really want to put the book down until you find out (sadly this wasn't possible for me because my kindle ran out of battery on the beach!).

The next category in my book challenge is 'a book at the bottom of your "to read" pile', and so I am going to read one that I've had for a while and just haven't gotten around to: False Tongues by Kate Charles.

See you soon!