Book Review: The Girl Below by Bianca Zander

After ten years in New Zealand, Suki returns to London, to a city that won't let her in. However, a chance visit with Peggy, an old family friend who still lives in the building where she grew up, convinces Suki that there is a way to reconnect with the life she left behind a decade earlier.
But the more she becomes involved with Peggy's dysfunctional family , including Peggy's wayward sixteen-year-old grandson, the more Suki finds herself mysteriously slipping back in time- to the night of a party her parents threw in their garden more than twenty years ago, when something happened in an old, long-unused air raid shelter...

If I had to sum up this book in one word then I would choose dysfunctional. Everything about it is dysfunctional, the characters, events, settings and emotions. Suki has returned to London after living in New Zealand for ten years. She has no family in the UK but she soon becomes embroiled in Peggy's family. Peggy used to live in the apartment above her when she was growing up. Suki has very vivid memories of her childhood and one night in particular. Her parents threw a party and then something happened in the old air raid shelter in their garden. Something that is still haunting Suki in the present.
I don't want to give the plot away but Suki spends a lot of time with Peggy's family and she comes to realise that she must exorcise the past as her memories are preventing her from having a future.
Bianca Znder writes quite a haunting tale. As a reader, I wasn't sure at times what was real and what was imagined by Suki. The book just oozes mystery, I was intrigued by Suki's past and seriously concerned for her future.
I would recommend this book, it gave me a lot to think about and the story really draws you in.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Many thanks to Alma Books for sending me a copy to review, The Girl Below is published on February 24th.

Book Review: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsui

One of Tsutsui's best known and most popular works in his native Japan, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is the story of a fifteen year old school girl Kazuko, who accidentally discovers that she can leap back and forth in time. In her quest to uncover the identity of the mysterious figure that she believes to be responsible  for her paranormal abilities, she'll have to push the boundaries of space and time, and challenge the notions of dream and reality. 

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is one of the author's best known stories in Japan and has even been made into an anime film. It is definitely a story or novella rather than a full blown book as it is only 105 pages long in total.
I am a little undecided about this one, I think that sometimes you lose the essence of a book when it is translated. It felt a little disjointed at times and stilted; I may not have felt this way if reading in the original Japanese.
As I have said, it is very short so although I liked Kazuke, I didn't really feel as though I got to know her in any way. It doesn't feel like the book is long enough to allow you to invest emotionally in the characters.
However, I must remember that this is a YA book intended for quite a young audience. I do think that the book would make a great talking point and could be used to explore the idea of time-travel and all of the imaginative possibilities that holds.
I suppose in some ways, I could have done with the book being a little longer but if the book was being used in a YA setting then it would be the perfect length to promote group discussion.
Don't let my review put you off, at 105 pages, it is short enough for you to find out for yourselves.

Many thanks to Alma Books for sending me a copy to review.