Marshmallow Skye by Cathy Cassidy

Series: The Chocolate Box Girls, Book Two

Publisher: Puffin

Format: Hardcover

Published: 1^st September 2011

Number of Pages: 256

Book: For Review From Penguin*

Genre: Realistic-Fiction, Chick-Lit, Humour, Coming-of-Age, Ghosty, Children’s-YA-Crossover, YA

Recommended Age: 9+

Contains: Nothing Unsuitable

No Alcohol, Drug References

Author's Website: Cathy Cassidy

The Chocolate Box Girls

Each sister has a different story to tell, which one will be your favourite?

Skye

Wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, smiley, individual, eccentric, kind…

Skye and Summer Tanberry are identical twins, and Skye loves her sister Summer more than anyone else in the world.  They do everything together, but lately Skye’s been feeling like second-best – it’s the story of her life.  And when her friend Alfie confesses he’s fallen for Summer, not her, it hurts.

Skye wants to be her own person, but with an effortlessly cool twin, how can she?  Will Skye ever step out of Summer’s shadow and find her own chance to shine?

                                                                   Review:

Skye Tanberry feels like she’s constantly living in her identical twin’s shadow.  Skye loves Summer more than anything… But she’s tired of feeling second best, like a mirror girl.  So when Skye finds a trunk full of beautiful old clothes, belonging to a long-dead relative, she sees an opportunity to be different.  Only, when she tries the dresses on, she has dreams.  Dreams that feel real.  Dreams in which she doesn’t feel herself…  Dreams in which she is Clara Travers, her dead relative, dead by suicide….  And then she finds herself falling in love with an equally long-dead gypsy boy – a boy who probably is just a figment of her imagination…  But is he?  After all, Clara did love a young gypsy boy…

Marshmallow Skye was a beautiful, heart-warming, chocolate-filled story about finding yourself – with a scrummy side of an impossible romance, a tragic death, finding freedom – whether from a cage or your family – and a wonderful supernatural twist.  And I was lift feeling all warm and squidgy inside – much like the namesake sweeties, marshmallows.  I loved this book.  I’m now desperate for Cherry Crush and Book Three.  Whoever’s story it may be, I know – I know – it will be fantastic.  (Fingers crossed for Honey, by-the-way.)  Plus… Too Cute!

Skye Tanberry was wonderful, rather mature and really sweet.  I just instantly fell in love with her voice, her kindness, how devoted she was to her twin.  She was addicted to history, something I loved – plus her fashion sense was awesome: history inspired!  She was kind of a realist, but she was so supportive and caring.  But poor Skye felt like she was living in Summer’s shadow, like she was second best and always would be.  How wonderful she thought her twin was just ate away her confidence.  She was sometimes jealous of Summer – I mean, she felt like the “shadow twin”, useless and dull compared to Summer.  I felt so sorry for her.  Because she wasn’t.  She was wonderful.  I loved Skye! 

Her twin Summer was quiet, confident and addicted to ballet.  She was also a real feminist – woman power means that boys and romance equals trouble.  But she wasn’t nearly as supportive of Skye as Skye was for her.  She just didn’t understand that some things were as important to Skye as ballet was to her.  I think she thought that identical twins were identical in all ways, and she struggled when she realises that wasn’t true.  At one point, I wanted to just yell at Summer and shake her, like: “can’t you see how much you are hurting Skye?!”  But then, she just changed in my eyes.  I love characters that do that – that become so strong you just can never tell where they’re going. 

Skye and Summer were identical twins.  The first thing they did when they were born was hold hands (how cute?).  They finished one another’s sentences, felt what the other felt.  But recently, everything had changed.  It had always been “we”; now there was “you” and “me”.  It was so interesting seeing how the twin whole twin-thing works and how their relationship developed,

The rest of the sisters were vastly different from one another – each felt like they had their own distinct personality.  Fourteen-year-old Honey, who used to be the “coolest sister” ever, but since the whole Cherry-Shay and Dad-moving-to-Australia, had been “off the rails”.  Even though she wasn’t always ‘likeable’, I really liked how she said what she thought.  Cherry Costello, the new sister, was really sweet and really worried about fitting it.  Cherry was super smart and wise and cool.  I loved her!  Eleven-year-old Coco was cute: all hyper and rather funny.  She was really excitable, bouncy, cheerful, and full of life.  Plus: animal mad – I like this kid!

Finally, Alfie Anderso: the class clown – cheerful, a joker, who played – bad – practical jokes.  Gotta give it to the boy: he was darn determined.  Stubborn bordering on stupidity.  And he was so, so cute – and hilarious!  Love him! 

The whole story was just wonderfully writing.  It really felt like a teen – I could feel Skye, if that makes any sense.  Sometimes it did feel a little formal.  But, in my opinion, that was Skye.  She wasn’t your average teen.  She’s special and unique and the writing was her.  It was so beautiful.  And I just loved the supernatural aspects to the story.  The dreams of Skye’s: ghostly memories or the imaginings of an overactive imagination?  Either way, so cool and really interesting.  Personally?  Leanin’ towards the paranormal.  Call me a Mulder but… some of the things?  Real spooky and way too coincidental…

I have no clue what it was, but I was addicted to Marshmallow Skye.  I didn’t want to put it down.  It was heart-warming, sad, hauntingly beautiful, perfect and super moreish.  It didn’t have me on the edge of my seat; I wasn’t scared out of my mind.  It was a sweet, 100% addictive story, with some pretty great psychological suspense woven in there, that had just left me wanting more Cathy, more Skye, Summer, Cherry…  I can see why Cassidy is a “Queen of Teen”.

P.S. I loved the little pictures at the start of each chapter.  So cute, and really pretty!

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Cherry Crush by Cassie Cassidy (Or Anything By Cassidy, Really)

Drawing With Light by Julia Green

My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson

Afterlife by Tamsyn Murray

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)
British Book Challenge (Hosted by The Bookette)

Happy Reading

Megan

* This book was received from Penguin in exchange for an honest review