Meet our young Basingstoke book reviewer, CAROLINE DAVIS

Caroline attends Aldworth School and is in Year 10.

At school, she is a peer mentor, attends debating club and has written for the school paper. At home in Kempshott, she enjoys writing short stories.

Caroline reviews: Trust Games by Simon Packham

“When Mr Moore, a hot young drama teacher, arrives at school and decides to put on a production of Romeo and Juliet, Beth’s life goes from rubbish, tormented by the popular kids, to amazing, getting to spend time with her school girl crush, Mr Moore and super popular Hannah who stuck up for her when she was confronted by a gang of cool kids.

Things get better when Hannah is cast as Juliet and Beth is her Nurse. For once in Beth’s life, everything is going great, until she finds herself trapped in the middle of a major scandal, bound by loyalty, unable to do anything. Beth has to make a decision that will change her life.

I think Trust Games is a really good book. It was quite a quick, short read but until about three quarters of the way through things moved at a steady pace.

However I felt the ending was very all of a sudden. It isn’t left on a cliff hanger but nothing is resolved - I suppose it’s more like real life rather than a children’s story where they all live happily ever after, I did find that a bit refreshing but then again, I am a stickler for a happy ending.

I got to know the main character, Beth, very well and personally I found her semi-relatable. Her relationship with her only friend George, or Grunt, was quite tragic in my eyes but it was her relationship with Hannah that interested me the most as we are told something said out of spite at the end of the book which made me look at their relationship in a whole new light.

Overall, Trust Games has everything you could possibly need for a teenage read: scandal, betrayal and a hint of romance. Perfect for a teenage girl looking for a bit of light reading.”

Caroline reviews: The Illusionists by Laure Eve

“YOU can leave your past behind in an instant, but your past and your future can catch up just as quickly.

Having fled a seemingly perfect life running to another world with a boy she had only just met, Rue’s life is far from the ordinary.

Though she is having trouble in her new unfamiliar life, she finds herself in a strange world where technology is so advanced she can hardly believe it. Rue has a special talent but this is proving difficult to come to terms with in a place where those talented citizens are seen as criminals.

And with a whole new network of associates including hackers and fellow talented, even if trouble does strike, surely she can’t be in that much danger. Think again.

Personally, I find sci-fi hard to follow so this science fiction romance novel wouldn’t have been my choice.

However, on finishing this book my mind was firmly changed; I find myself converted. The depth of this book and the different characters just amazed me, and the imagination that has gone into creating not one fictional world but two is incredible.

The story was told in the eyes of many characters, from the main three characters to ones with smaller involvement.

I thought this was good because it gave a whole other perception and made me think about the plot from the eyes of other people, although the sudden change between characters in different worlds threw me a little bit and I did occasionally have to flick back a few pages to work out where I was.

The book went at a steady pace; major events happened throughout the book which was good but it did get a little bit boring between these key events. I think if I had been more of a sci-fi person I would have enjoyed this book a bit more but never the less it was a genuinely good book.

The Illusionist; perfect for a teenage girl interested in science-fiction or for anyone looking for a change in genres.”