From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma

Recently, after finishing Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz, I started reading this book, From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma. It's not the longest of books, but it's certaintly more quality than quantity!
  The story is really intricate and detailed, and starts when the central character, Raven, is taken to his new foster home, though you don't quite know why.  The story centres around Raven, as he tries to take revenge on the murderer of his mum.  Throughout the whole story, you are really taken into it, and it is, (though I hate using the term) a pageturner. It was also, extremely well structured, starting at the right place, as starting at any other point in the story would either ruin it, or the reader wouldn't know what's going on, and stop reading. The ending, I have to say, was very good, and well thought out. It leaves the reader surprised, and wanting to re-read it, and I'll stop talking about the ending, as I wouldn't want to spoil it. Overall, the story was a good one, and you can tell the author has spent a long time thinking about it.
  The language worked well, using language that everyone would know, and that the characters would actually say if they were in the situation. Unlike the last book I reviewed, it actually swore, but the author could get away with this one, as it's aimed at young people who can cope with the swear words, and have probably said them before.
  The characters were also well developed, and had a history behind them. Also, you needed to really empathise with the central character, Raven, because otherwise the story wouldn't be a good story. You can also empathise with all the other characters, and the situations they're in. At the end of the story, however, your left with a sense of almost betrayal, or injustice, as you realise what happened (again, I'm not trying to give too much away). They were very realistic, and you could almost imagine what they looked like, and, strangely, I spent quite a while realising that this could make a perfect film, minus one or two bits of the story. I liked most of the characters, apart from certain aspects of the character Lotte, because you wouldn't do what she did in such a rush like that, in my opinion, but then again, I haven't been in the same situation, so wouldn't know.
  The themes throughout the story include things like depression, self-harming, the feeling of loss, anger and denial. These ideas are explained perfectly from the point of view of the characters, and the author of this story has experianced a few of these, as she suffered from manic depression, and problems to do with self-harming. You really realise why the characters would do what they do. The author's trying to say that you can cope with these things, although she doesn't say it directly, and how the peoples' minds work.

  The setting was somewhere in London, set in present day.It's a good place to set it, because it means that people can empathise with certain situations, and people have a sense of knowing where the people were. (people can imagine the London underground alot more than the interior of a medieval banqueting hall, in 1540) Also, it's good as the author can use modern themes and explore them better, in a modern day setting.

  Overall, I would give this book 8.5 out of 10. It's an exciting and interesting thriller, and does well as a story. I'd say, read it if your into that genre, or if you've ever seen and liked things like The Shining or Inception.

Note: I would however, give the ending a 9.5 out of 10, it's an awesome ending, and really gives the reader a sense of surprise, as said earlier.

Note: The authors website is here: http://www.tabithasuzuma.com/

The author has however, written 4 books, with characters in similiar situations, in different places in the world. If you loved From Where I Stand, read some of the other work by Tabitha Suzuma.