It's a real shame that this book isn't available to be sent to Kindle, as I read approximately 100 pages of it on the NetGalley app on my phone and thought it was brilliant. However, it was too much of a strain to continue reading on such a small screen.

I primarily downloaded this YA book to test out its suitability for buying for my school library, I absolutely loved the premise, and the first 100 pages were wonderful. I can't review the remaining 3/4s but I will definitely be checking it out when it comes out for real!

I was looking forward to this but I could not send to my kindle as the option wasn't available. This is a filler review sorry.

This is a paranormal YA book set in a school. I knew nothing about this before I read it and I ended up enjoying it way more than I expected. I read this book really quickly and the writing style was so easy to read while also being descriptive enough to pull me in and keep me captivated by the story.

I really liked the overall story with the tarot cards and then the missing girl. I like a good mystery but I didn’t enjoy the paranormal aspect as much as I thought I would. I also adored seeing the diversity in this book! The diversity really stood out and I would recommend this book just because of that. The pacing was a little inconsistent and there were times when I wished it had moved a little quicker.

I didn’t like the main character, I couldn’t connect to her and she annoyed me in places. I just disliked her. The other characters were all okay, again I didn’t really connect to them but I find it hard to connect to YA characters these days.

Overall this is a quick read with a paranormal things and a school setting. If you like paranormal mysteries then this is for you.

All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O’Donoghue. 4/5

When Maeve discovers a dusty old pack of tarot cards at school she finds she has a gift for something she didn’t even know she understood. After she starts giving readings to her fellow students she finds herself haunted by a mysterious card that doesn’t quite fit the deck and after giving a dark reading to her former best friend Lily two days before Lily vanishes, Maeve finds herself entangled in something much darker.

I’ve powered through this little corker in 3 hours. I said this about both of O’Donoghues adult novels and i’m pleased shes brought this gift to her first YA fiction as-well, Caroline fleshes out characters so well. You know each and every one of her leads and understand their motivations because she writes them so brilliantly.

Clever YA fiction is hard to write, you have to tap into a very specific market and not pander, All Our Hidden Gifts is a dark little gem within this genre. Not at all what I expected, a mixture of mystery is woven in between layers of stunning magical realism and yet, at the heart O’Donoghue is still writing about basic issues that teenagers (and beyond) face every day.

A little dash of the Craft, a little dash of Skins against an Irish backdrop and all brought together with O’Donoghues remarkable skill.

Maeve feels, as the youngest of five siblings that she is also the least talented. Not even at school can she thrive as she struggles to keep in with the cool gang. She pushed away her former best friend - Lily, but needs that peer assurance that she has something to contribute. As a punishment at school she was asked to clean out ‘The Chokey’ - a cupboard used by teachers. There she find a pack of Tarot cards which she pockets as she’s drawn to them without previously knowing much about this art. She soon learns. Offering to do readings for her peers’ she soon attracts a following and finds power in what she can do. However, after reading Lily’s cards and shocking them both, Lily disappears and Maeve feels responsible.
Although Maeve had realised she was starting to fall for Lily’s brother Roe before Lily disappears, their relationship becomes more complicated afterwards. So too is Maeve’s relationship with the Tarot cards as she becomes more and more involved in the mysteries of the cards, convinced they can shed light on where Lily has gone.
Pairing up with a new friend who sticks by her when everyone else blames her for Lily’s disappearance, Maeve, Fiona and Roe become entangled with a growing group of young people, seemingly working for charity, but mixed up with hate for others different from themselves.
This is not a book I would normally read, but it is very powerful and I was compelled to finish it. The big picture is more than schoolgirls dabbling with the occult, it’s about differences and hate around us, but unnoticed by those who follow the ‘norm’.

All Our Hidden Gifts is a novel aimed at young adults about a schoolgirl called Maeve who acquires a set of tarot cards that have magical properties. She gives a tarot reading to her ex-best friend Lily that descends into a harsh argument where Maeve wishes she would disappear and Lily goes missing after it. The story follows Maeve as she tries to come to terms with her relationship with the tarot cards, Lily’s brother and a new found friend in Fiona - all whilst she tries to find out what happened to Lily and get her back. As a woman in her late 30’s, I am not the target market for this book but I found it immensely readable. As in Scenes of a Graphic Nature, O’Donoghue combines a great narrative with an examination of how Ireland is changing but also how it wrestles with its past and those who do not accept the changes. The major villian in the piece is Aaron who is a poster boy for the far right movement and takes advantage of young people seeking a movement to be part of and weaponises them against the LGBTQ+ community. The pace of the story is excellent - I think young adults will really enjoy this story and will identify with many of the issues the characters face albeit in the realm of fantasy. A great read and one which I can see will easily turn into a successful series.