Tales from a Young Vet

Tales from a Young Vet - Jo Hardy

To begin with, this book is a work of non-fiction, this means that for any aspiring vets- or any animal lovers for that matter- this makes for a really engaging and interesting read. The book recounts stories from Hardy's career so far, much like many other veterniary books, take Herriot for example. However, one key difference is that Hardy is still a veterniary student at the Royal Veterniary College in London during the course of the book. Taking place during Hardy's final year in the RVC, the students go up and down the country on work placements, gaining valuable experience in the world of veterniary before they go on as qualified vets in the world.

As an aspiring veterniary surgeon myself, this book was amazing to read and I honestly couldn't put it down. The book may be non-fiction, but still transports you to another world- almost magically. The RVC in a funny sort of way ended up feeling a little like Hogwarts to me in my mind while I read this book and has done nothing but inspire me further to want to become a vet myself.

Some of you living in the UK, may remember Jo from the BBC 2 show: 'Young Vets', which followed a group of vet students in their final year from the RVC going on clincal rotations around the country. Hardy was a member of that group and she wrote the book as a result of the TV series. After the success of this first book Hardy has gone on to produce a second book, which follows her travelling internationally to help world verterniary charities in third world countries. These events of course occur after she qualifies!

Overall, I think that this is a truly wonderful book. As it is not fiction, I cannot tell you how good it is for plot twists, or for that matter how in depth the worlds written about are- however I can tell you how the book is very well written and how it draws you in like a good book should. Therefore I give it a 9/10.

If Jo Hardy plays her cards right and continues writing, she could one day rival even Alf Wight!

Fever Crumb - Philip Reeve

Philip Reeve is highly acclaimed for his book, Mortal Engines which is a futuristic steam-punk book with moving cities and flying airships. This book is much the same however it takes place on the ground which is obviously less exciting, it also takes place in London, unlike Mortal Engines. The book is set before Reeve's first steam-punk novel and is supposed to link to events in Mortal Engines however I can't see too many of these links and the only real one is at the end. (and it's not that great to be honest) The book seems to be quite historical because it seems as though we are in the past, but we are actually in the future which is a bit surreal and strange. Reading about carts being pulled around London and archaeologists trying to use 'old tech', things like vacuum cleaners for example is just plain weird. The story often seems to have no real destination and somethings in the book are made out to be a bigger deal than they actually are, for example…

Sophie Someone - Hayley Long

This book is very unique and is written in an unusual but fun way. It follows the story of a girl called Sophie who really wants to know what her true identity is and what her story began like. The book is written from Sophie's perspective, however, the book is written in code which makes the story extra interesting and very engaging for the reader. Working out some of the more difficult words is actually quite fun and it does make the entire reading experience more interactive and also better as a whole.
I think that the book is very good although it can be fairly confusing to being with and at first you often ask questions that only get answered later on in the novel because unlike some books where you see the story from the outside, and therefore are privy to information before it is passed on to the main characters, you follow Sophie and get to know the facts when she does.

8 / 10 A good mysterious, unique, fun and very Belgian book. Add your thoughts in the comments if yo…

Skulduggery Pleasant: The Dying of the Light - Derek Landy

This was a little of a disappointment in some ways, the ending chapters were a bit confusing but that didn't stop the read from being utterly compelling in every way!
I would say that a different ending would have worked well but the starting potential of the book maybe created a sense that the read would be ore than it was...

9/10 Good things for comments. Good things also for tweets to @TheOllyBookBlog

The Olly Book Blog

Search This Blog