Book Review: Yes by Deborah Burnside

Title: Yes

Author: Deborah Burnside

Publication Date: November 4th 2011 

Publisher: Harper Collins New Zealand 

Source: Received from Booksellers NZ for purpose of an honest review

Flashcard: Determination. Make that, flashcard: Friendship - Foolishness - Fear. Because they can all look the same to Marty. M&M, as he's known to his friends, might have trouble reading people, organizing things or pleasing his father, but he knows that when his mate Luke - Legless - attempts to involve him in another crazy venture, it's futile to resist. This time it's the Young Enterprise Scheme. Luke believes it will make them rich and popular - and along the way will capture the heart of his elusive love. Marty wonders if it should be, flashcard: Madness. Reluctantly, Marty says YES. And what comes next is a whole lot bigger and weirder than he could ever have imagined.

My Thoughts

Yes is a finalist in the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards and I was lucky enough to be chosen by Booksellers NZ to review it.

Yes has been really well written.
It is exceptionally fluid, reads very smoothly and sucks you in almost immediately.

The characters are fresh and real, and Marty is the quirkiest character I think I have ever read.
In part due to his autism but the kid has a strange and interesting way of looking at the world, making him a very funny guy indeed.

With his almost constant internal rambling and over active imagination Marty's brain wanders off on a near constant tangent and at times I felt like I was trying to tune a station in on my car stereo, he is so all over the place!.
But in a good way, because I knew where I was at all times, his mind set didn't distract from the story at all, it totally enhanced it.

The author, Deborah Burnside has expertly managed to pull what can only be described as a tough and compelling story into a coherent and heart warming tale of adversity, struggle, self discovery and success.

Yes did all the things that a great book should.
Yes made me giggle, and laugh.
Yes made me feel.
I cared greatly for all of the characters, and at times Yes brought a tear to my eye. (Definitely the sign of a great read:))

Set against the backdrop of the early 2000's in small town New Zealand, Yes is a book you will love falling in love with. I know I have!

Yes is a surprisingly honest to goodness read.
4 Stars ;]

Yes on Goodreads
Deborah Burnside on Facebook
Booksellers NZ on Facebook
The Book Depository 
Amazon

My First 'In My Mailbox'

I am not one of those reviewers/bloggers that gets copious amounts of print books and swag sent to them for reviews and giveaways, so today I’m excited to say "I received some print books in the mail this week"

Most of my review material is in e-book form and I now tend to buy most of my books electronically also, so I do tend to get a little gleeful when 'real' books arrive.

In My Mailbox This Week

I received a copy of Yes by Deborah Burnside to review from Booksellers NZ. It’s a finalist in the 2012 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. This is another book that has been on my radar for quite some time so I was really pleased to be asked to review it.

I received from TBD, Forgiven by Jana Oliver that I have had on pre-order for what seems like forever.
The Demon Trappers series is one that I have to have in print on my keeper shelf. I really love these characters and their ever evolving story.

I purchased Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan as a second hand book; it has been on my need to get list for a while so when the opportunity came along to buy it at a really great price, I just couldn’t say no.

I've received some children's picture e-books to review with some help from my eager 5 year old, which should help ease some of the school holiday blues (here's hoping).

I have also received a few random e-books, (yes they just showed up) which due to my seemingly never ending to review list; may take quite a while to get to.

I do hate getting behind with my reviews and feel terribly guilty for doing so, but after talking with some other reviewers it would seem to be an extremely common occurrence.
It doesn't help that I am also cursed with YES disease and find it almost impossible to turn anyone down when they request a review from me!
So much so that my read for my own pleasure pile, barely gets touched these days.
Time management is not my forte!!