DNF @ 25%

I just can't do it to myself. I stayed for the mystery for as long as I could but cut out early because of the judgmental main character. It just reminded me too much of myself when I was a teenager (yes, teenage me was an asshole). The mystery just wasn't interesting enough to make me stay. I did want to like this book. I don't find many books written by Aussie authors that I enjoy. Unfortunately, again, this did nothing for me.

You know a book is pretty good when you pull an all nighter to finish it!

Let's get the cons out of the way first:
-I wish we could have seen (spoiler) more of Grace before "the incident" happens. We're told by the book blurb and various characters that Grace is supposed to be "mad", a daredevil, a maverick, and yet we don't see much of that except for her eagerness to go to the pipe challenge in the first chapter. Since we mostly follow her after the incident, when she's OOC, we haven't really established how Grace is supposed to be, so her being OOC doesn't have the impact it could have. I think that Vikki Wakefield should have used the "show, don't tell" golden rule of writing in this case.

-I also didn't get the part when (spoiler) Grace says that William Dean's ghost "used" her. I wil talk more about this later, but it's not completely clear whether there was even a ghost or not, but if we assume there was, I still don't know what he wanted from Grace and why he expected her to "listen". Maybe that was just me.

-Some of the characters were underdeveloped, like Amber or Mitchell, or that Noah kid that seemed like a hot shot at the beginning, but never even got a speaking line. (Coincidentally, Amber and Noah ended up together)

-In general, the book felt a bit short. I think it could have used some more pages to flesh it out better.

Now the pros!
-I loved that there was some abiguity in the book. By the end of the book, I wasn't 100% certain whether anything paranormal happened or not, since most, if not all, of the events of the book may have had a practical explanation (something that's pointed out by Grace's therapist). I love how the ambiguity was handled.

-I also liked the topic of friendships slowly coming undone and people's priorities changing. That's a very interesting, and dare I say, relatable subject.

-The writing was fantastic. To be honest, the plot isn't anything special, but the writing makes it work and makes the idea seem very fresh. I particularly loved the straight-up horror scenes (admittedly, there's only two of these, but still) Vikki Wakefield did a great job with her dialogue and descriptions, she made the book a proper page-turner and it definitely achieved that effect on me.

So, all in all, I enjoyed the book! I am looking forward to seeing what the author does next.

I found this book extremely hard to get in to. The writing was disjointed, it was hard to follow along. I did not like any of the characters. I just don't care. DNF @ 43.

This book falls solidly in the middle of 'really enjoyed it' and 'it was alright'. The story follows Grace, a 17-year-old who is one of the towns biggest pranksters. When she something happens to her out in the gully, she begins to have paranormal experiences.

Grace just wasn't a character I connected with. It felt like I was dropped into the middle of a identity crisis for her and all her friends. Yet, I was somehow supposed to feel connected to her and understand how they've all drifted apart. That part of the story needed more depth. If it did, it would have been a story with a great friendship element.

As for the story, I was intrigued by this concept, but as someone who watches maybe a few too many horror films, the first 3/4 of this book was rather predictable. Yet, it kept me going. Reading this at night with the lights off actually gave me a bit of rush because some of what Grace was experiencing. The last 1/4 of the book felt rather rushed, but I enjoyed the twist at the end. 

Overall, it was an easy and entertaining read. Even though I didn't connect with the characters, it's always fun to read a bit of paranormal mystery with a good twist that makes you want to go back through to connect the dots yourself.

This is a YA supernatural mystery which is easy to read so the story flows quickly. Set in an Australian town Swanston but referred to by the younger generation as Swamp Town and call themselves Swampies! Grace is a seventeen old who is ‘fearless’ and with a lot of attitude; however she is believable and the dialogue is down to earth and realistic. The story however is anything but ‘down to earth’ with twists and turns that keeps you in suspense but also keeps you reading. An unusual story told from the perspective of Grace....or more strictly speaking from inside her head!
Good YA novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Text Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book at first. I wasn't a huge fan of Grace at the beginning of the book because she was a bit obnoxious and self-centered. However, she gradually changed due to what she was forced to deal with over the course of the book. She came to appreciate the things that she took for granted in her life and became a stronger, more focused person.
I thought that the book had a good pacing to it with everything happening at the appropriate time. The haunting happened gradually which was shown through the changes that were taking place with Grace. I enjoyed the creepy tone to the story. It wasn't overdone and the author had an interesting take on villains and heroes in the story. Things are not always what they seem in the book and the twists that are included in the book make sense due to the clues that the author weaves into the story.
I may have missed it but I don't think that the author ever explained the how or why of how Grace ended up being haunted. Everything else in the book is explained really well and I appreciated the author's attention to detail.

When I started “Ballad for a Mad Girl”, I wasn’t quite sure what I was in for. I found it while shuffling through NetGalley and decided why not! It’s not like I had many other unread books lingering on my kindle–what’s one more?

“Ballad for a Mad Girl” tells many stories at once, but all are focused through the lens of Grace Foley, the prankster and risk-taker of her group. Throughout the story, Grace struggles to come to terms with the death of her mother, her newly-changing group of high school friends, and a cold case from twenty three years prior. What’s a high school girl to do except solve two murders and a disappearance, all while failing year twelve?

Overall, I found this book to be a solidly entertaining read, as evidenced by the fact that I read it while I really should not have been reading anything at all. I enjoyed our narrator and the multi-layered time frames, but found that sometimes, the intermingling story lines were just a little too pat for my taste. I’m all for consequences echoing down the decades and generations, but sometimes, everything seems just a little to closely woven together to be truly believable. However, this is a book that prominently features ghosts as a major plot point, so there.

Ballad for a Mad Girl, written by Vikki Wakefield, will be published on 30 November 2017 by Text Publishing. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy!

Ballad for a Mad Girl was an odd book.  Good odd.  Not Twin Peaks odd, but odd enough for me to stop several times and think, 'um, what?'  Grace is almost 18, and at that awkward age where things are changing.  School has almost finished, the friendship group that has been solid for as long as she can remember seems to be falling apart, and, her relationships with her father and her brother are strained.  Different.  Broken.  Grace isn't sure when it all really started, but she knows a lot of it began when her Mum died.  After this, everything changed a little and then a lot.

Grace was always a prankster, a risk taker.  She pushed people's buttons with her nonchalant attitude, while in reality, her anxiety was teetering on the surface, always threatening to leap out of the shadows.  Eventually, she realised she wasn't just pushing people's buttons; she was pushing them away.  Grace and her family were dealing with grief while not really dealing with it at all.  It's hard to deal with grief when you have more questions than answers ... when blame is thrown around like an unwanted, slowly deflating ball.  

Grace is partaking in a dare, trying to beat the snobs at the rival school.  These schools are rivals in everything, and Grace is used to the challenge; she thrives on it.  But this time, something goes wrong.  Grace is seemingly unscathed after the event, but she begins to see things, hear things.  Things that aren't there.  She realises she has to solve the mystery of Hannah Holt, the girl who has been missing for decades, to make it all go away.  

Ballad for a Mad Girl deals with a lot of themes that, I think, are extremely important for the Young Adult reader, with one of the biggest themes being grief.  Throughout this book, Grace changes.  Grief does that to a person.  It's like, before and after.  Grace tries to cling on to things from her past, not wanting to lose other important things, but as she goes through the grieving process, she slowly learns to accept that things are constantly changing.  Most of the time we don't see the changes, because they're subtle, like shadows out of the corners of our eyes.  

There is a big supernatural element to this book, and it's hard to keep track of what is real and what isn't.  To me, this didn't interrupt the main storyline.  At times it contributed to the story, filling in missing pieces, but there were also a few, 'wtf moments,' where I was left wondering whether the event actually happened or if it was simply imagined.  Knowing the ending, I'm almost tempted to re-read Ballad for a Mad Girl to see if I can make more sense of some of the more supernatural moments of this book.

An easy read that keeps you going because you HAVE to find out whats happening. A touch of history with no romance - which is hard to find in books these days.

3/5 stars. This is the first book I have ever read by Vikki Wakefield. It started well and I was looking forward to seeing where the story took me. There were however multiple points where I felt confused and a little bit lost. I am still not sure whether this was done intentionally to add to the feel of the book or not. 

The main character Grace believable and relatable. She has had a difficult past and appears to be damaged as a result of this. She has concerning attitudes and struggles with maintaining relationships because of this. I liked this aspect as it gave Grace a more realistic personality. 

I enjoyed that the relationships within the book, especially the one with her brother was so realistic. I have a brother myself and saw some aspects that I recognised. 

In a typical mystery/thriller/slightly paranormal book, you never got the full picture until the end, and while I’ve read plenty of other books in this genre, I still didn’t see it coming.  

Overall I enjoyed the book. I also found the ending to be satisfying if a little rushed, as though she had a word count to stick to. Honestly, I struggled with the pace throughout. Sometimes it felt as though the book was dragging on and then I couldn’t keep up. As with the confusion I felt reading this book, I am not sure whether the pace was intentional.  

I read this book in one sitting, on a blustery night in the middle of autumn. I suggest doing the same. Wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket with a hot drink and giving this book a try. While it didn’t blow me away, it’s definitely worth giving a chance

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I found this quite a difficult read.  Horror and suspense isn't my favourite genre but even so I found the authors writing style a little confusing.  I  found it hard to  figure out how it was all going to come together.  Was it mental illness? or was there real paranormal stuff? I am still not sure??  The story started well but dragged a bit.  The characters had enough depth to believe in them

Ballad for a Mad Girl was a unique take on a ghost story.  There were some things that I really liked about this story.  I liked the twist about who the ghost really was.  I also liked how the author was able to introduce some doubt about what was really going on with Grace after I learned more about her family history.  I had a difficult time connecting with the story overall because of some of the lack of formatting in the ARC.  I was also confused about where the story took place which affected my connection to the story.  It wasn't because it wasn't set in the US , but that I didn't realize it was set in Australia until late in the book (I thought it was set in England).  I also thought there could have been more closure regarding Grace's story and what was going to happen with her.

Rating: 3.5/5
*I received a copy of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book, the first book I have ever read by Vikki Wakefield but I will be keeping an eye out for future books by her. 
There were multiple points throughout this novel that I felt confused, sort of unsure of what was happening, I believe this was the authors intent as it added to the overall feel of the book. The main character Grace felt authentic, and aside from paranormal aspects, I would imagine many people will be able to relate to her.  
Vikki Wakefield has a powerful way of writing, the description was intense, there were aspects of this reminiscent of horror stories. 
Overall, I enjoyed reading this it kept me guessing right until the end. This is the first book I’ve read with a what I would describe as strong gothic style, a style I really grew to like as I progressed through the novel. If you’re a fan of YA Mystery Thrillers then you just might love this one.

I loved this book. It captured my imagination in more ways than one, and I was really impressed with the overall effect it had. It's part ghost story, part thriller, part drama. Although parts of it are frightening, it's also a really touching exploration of the devastating effects of grief and how different people experience it. It's woven together so well - there are seemingly minor events early on that take on new significance later, and you realise that every detail is there for a reason. 

I read it very quickly because I was so gripped by it, but I'd definitely like to go back and re-read it more slowly to fully appreciate the cleverness of the plot.

The book started well and I was excited to continue reading. Grace is the main character. She’s reckless and is losing her friends as they think she is self destructive. They don't believe there is anything wrong with her and believes she just wants attention. I was a little confused sometimes while reading and was  unsure where the story was going. At times it was hard to engage with the book but overall it is worth 3 stars and worth reading once but I wouldn't re-read this book. Thanks to netgalley for the review copy.

oh boy.oh boy.
for of all let me say the two stars i GAVE. 
1. because it was recommended by Tilly and her books, and correct me if im wrong but I think Books and Lala has recommended it too? I'm not entirely sure...
2. is for the mad/ supernatural elements of it. 
other than that: it was the typical YA suffocatingly stressful contemporary first world problem read. the element I disliked the most was the slutshaming and the dripping heavy envy and jealousy this book was surrounded in. Girls dont need to be exampled to be shitty to other girls. I hate instantly any character in any book who is jealous of some other girls beauty because persons are all unique and they should not want to look like the copy-paste version of someone else. or cool as Kenzie or pretty as Amber.

Thanks to a very blustery and wet Saturday, I read <i>Ballad for a Mad Girl</i> in almost one sitting. It was an entertaining and gripping read, with a couple of unexpected twists in the narrative. Would recommend for fans of supernatural thrillers, 14+

I didn't finish this book. I didn't dislike it, it just didn't catch my attention. I might try it again at a later date.

3.5 stars.

I was given a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book took longer than it should have done for me to read, but that wasn’t out of lack of enjoyment or a reflection on the writing. I was in a kind of reading slump. I feel like if I’d managed to sit down and read this book at the pace I usually read, I imagine I would have enjoyed it more, but it was still a good book.

Grace as a character is very unique and refreshing to read about. She’s a very damaged person as a result of her past and has a very dangerous attitude to the world around her. She’s reckless and, to an extent, self-destructive, but I think it was necessary to the story. However, there has been some controversy surrounding the ableist language in the title and scattered throughout the story so bear that in mind if you decide to pick this book up.

The plot was definitely creepy and immersive throughout, and there wasn’t a moment when there wasn’t anything happening. The narrative was ambiguous at times, which I know from other reviews was a little confusing, but I personally loved it because it was so unpredictable. One moment, the story would be calm and following Grace through very everyday events, and the next your heart would be racing and you’d be thrust straight back into the action. In short, this book gave me the creepy thriller vibes I’ve wanted from the books I read last month but didn’t get.

I also really liked the family aspect, especially the relationship Grace has with her brother. They still have their issues and aren’t poster children for positive sibling relationships but I feel like it was realistic and I really liked how it progressed over the course of the book. I love me some healthy sibling relationships.

The mystery itself was the kind that I like. It was twisty and complex without being overly so, and though you never got the full picture until the end, you could still follow the deductions Grace was making as she got new information. I also found the ending to be satisfying – halleluja!

This is the perfect book to pick up over Halloween if you’re in need of a spook. You could definitely read it in one night.

This book was enjoyable, but I honestly feel like the story would be better done as a movie.  I think the paranormal aspects lose some luster in the author's descriptions and it would be more atmospheric if the audience could draw some connections visually.  I was also genuinely surprised that the book contained more elements of horror than I would have expected.  (To be fair, I rarely read anything with horror so I may just be ultra sensitive to that type of story.)  I found the main character likable and think many teens would relate to her relationships with friends.