Saturday 30 September 2017

Mini Review | Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Image and video hosting by TinyPicEverything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Published On: September 1, 2015
Published By: Corgi Children's
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 310
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★

Amazon | Goodreads

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

So much hype!
This book had a crazy amount of hype surrounding it when it was first published and that hype never really died down. Unfortunately, due to the hype, I went into this book with super high expectations and ended up a little disappointed. For me, this was just an average read.

Loved the way this was written.
I absolutely loved the format in style in which this was written. I loved the sketches and diagrams but even just the layout of the text on the page was done in such a creative way. It was so creative and beautiful that it really added to the feel of the book.

I didn't love the characters.
I'm not even sure exactly what my problem was but I just didn't like any of the characters. I wasn't a huge fan of Maddie or Olly and I hated Maddie's mum from the first page. Probably the only character I didn't dislike was Carla. The other characters just annoyed me mostly.

The plot didn't blow me away.
A lot of the hype surrounding this book was relating to the great plot and fun twists. I ended up not particularly loving the plot. I thought a lot of things that happened were pretty stupid and not particularly realistic, and the rest I found a bit boring.

That ending!
I hated the ending of this book almost as much as I hated the ending of Gone Girl. I was so angry at the way the ending was dealt with and the fact that there were not appropriate repercussions. I found the very end to be anti-climactic considering the dramatic plot twist previously, I was just generally disappointed.

Overall, I absolutely love Nicola Yoon's writing style but, like I mentioned in my review of The Sun Is Also A Star, I never love her stories as much. I want to love everything she writes because I love how it is written but there's just something that I don't enjoy about her stories themselves. I will continue to pick up her books, hopefully one day I'll find something I love.

Monday 25 September 2017

Mini Review | Onyx by Jennifer L Armentrout

Image and video hosting by TinyPicOnyx by Jennifer L Armentrout
Series: Lux #2
Published On: June 3, 2012
Published By: Entangled Teen
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Pages: 366
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★

Amazon | Goodreads

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks… Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town… The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes… I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me? No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

Not as good as book one.
I quite enjoyed the first book in the series, but for me this second book just wasn't as good. It felt very similar to the first book and I didn't feel that the story developed as much as I would have liked.

To be honest, I was a little bored.
I didn't feel that this book was as exciting as the first. There wasn't as much happening, in my opinion, and the major plot points that were meant to be the big exciting parts of the story just weren't that exciting. I found it pretty boring, hence why it took me a good month and a half to finish.

Pretty predictable.
With all of the big plot twists and mystery reveals throughout this book, I don't think anything particularly surprised me. I seen almost everything coming. I think that may be another reason I was a bit bored when reading this.

Katy and Daemon couldn't get more annoying.
I was all for this romance and the 'will they get together or not?' aspect of the first book, however by this one I was just fed up of it. They spent yet another whole book debating whether or not they like each other and should get together. I just didn't care anymore, it was annoying.

Oh wait, let's add in a love triangle!
Yes, the one way to make Katy and Daemon more annoying, add in another love interest. As if this series isn't compared to Twilight enough, Jennifer L Armentrout felt the need to add in an unnecessary love triangle. It just wasn't needed, there were other ways to introduce new characters and involve them in Katy's life without making him the next Jacob Black.

I think my relationship with this series is over.
As much as I enjoyed the first book, I didn't enjoy this book enough to want to read more of this story. I don't think I will be picking up the rest of the books in this series, mainly as I don't really care enough anymore.

Overall, while I enjoyed the first book in this series, the second was just an average read for me. There were more things that annoyed me about this book than things I particularly enjoyed and, to be honest, I'm already starting to forget things that happened. I don't think I will be picking up the next book in this series, at least not for a good while.

Friday 15 September 2017

Review | Summer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins

Image and video hosting by TinyPicSummer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins
Published On: June 2, 2016
Published By: Pan Macmillan
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Anthology
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★

Amazon | Goodreads

Maybe it's the long, lazy days, or maybe it's the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

Summer Days and Summer Nights is the second anthology edited by Stephanie Perkins featuring twelve summer romances, following on from My True Love Gave To Me featuring twelve holiday romances. I have chosen to rate and review each story individually, with the overall rating above the average rating of all twelve stories.

Head, Scales, Tongue, Tale by Leigh Bardugo - This was a huge surprise for me. This story is about two teens who develop a relationship over a series of summers while searching for a lake monster reported to live in the local lake. I usually dislike the stories that include elements of fantasy and magical realism but I actually really enjoyed this one. It was very out of my comfort zone but it has made me want to pick up more from Leigh Bardugo, whose books I was never interested in before. 3.5/5

The End Of Love by Nina Lacour - Sadly, this one was a disappointment. I had heard such great things about Nina Lacour's writing so I really wanted to love this story. Unfortunately, I found it boring. It's about a girl who decides to retake a class during summer in order to get out of the house as her parents are getting a divorce. Also taking the class is a girl our main character has perviously had a crush on. This story features one of my biggest dislikes in books; children being incredibly selfish and thinking the world revolves around them when their parents divorce. That, although not the main point of the story, ruined it for me. 2/5

Last Night At The Cinegore by Libba Bray - This was a very weird story. Kevin works at a movie theatre and on the final night before it closes, his last shift working with his crush Dani, a lot of crazy stuff starts happening. Horror isn't really my thing and this was definitely horror. Some really weird, creepy stuff went on in this story and is definitely not the kind of thing I would usually read. It was written incredibly well, and I did enjoy it somewhat, but it really wasn't my thing. 2.5/5

Sick Pleasures: For A and U by Francesca Lia Block - This was the most confusing story of them all for me, about a boy and girl who meet one night and romance ensues. It was very average and not particularly interesting but the use of first initials instead of names just confused matters. It was enjoyable enough but nothing special. 3/5

In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins - It's really no surprise for me that this was my favourite of the anthology. This story follows the same characters we were introduced to in Stephanie Perkins' story in My True Love Gave To Me. I loved revisiting those characters and seeing how their relationship progressed. It was just as cute and adorable as I expected and having been introduced to the characters previously really helped me connect to them throughout this story. 5/5

Souvenirs by Tim Federle - This was another average story about two boys who were both working at an amusement park over the summer and started a relationship, however set a day to break up. This was an interesting idea, following a couple on the day they have set as the day they break up, but I think it could have been executed better. I found it a little bit boring. 3/5

Inertia by Veronica Roth - Another story I enjoyed much more than I was expecting to. Veronica Roth's story was very different but cleverly done. This story follows a girl whose childhood friend is in critical condition in hospital and has chosen her to share memories with him before he dies. I really enjoyed the way the romance genre was twisted to become more of a sci-fi story with romance elements. It was such an interesting concept and the romance was incorporated really well. I was also impressed with how well some more serious topics were covered in such a short story. 4/5

Love Is The Last Resort by Jon Skovron - Again, I found this story to be pretty average. This follows a cast of characters at a resort and featured multiple relationships rather than just the one. It was fun to have a larger cast of characters but in such a short time it was difficult to connect with all of them. I really enjoyed the resort setting and having multiple romances, however I feel like it needed to be a bit longer to reach it's full potential. 3/5

Good Luck And Farewell by Brandy Colbert - Since reading this book, this is the one story that I keep forgetting what it was about. I enjoyed it enough while reading but it appears to be quite forgettable. It's about a girl whose cousin, who has almost raised her since her parents died, is moving away and she has to deal with that change in her life. It was a nice, cute story but, once again, pretty average. It was a good take on family relationships and emphasised the different types of family but the romance was nothing special in this story and was a definite case of insta-love. 3/5

Brand New Attraction by Cassandra Clare - I wasn't sure what to expect from Cassandra Clare but I ended up pleasantly surprised by her story, I really enjoyed it. It was very unique as it is set in a carnival and follows the daughter of the carnival owner. There is a lot going on in this story but rather than being confusing or overwhelming, I found that it reflected the busy carnival setting and added to the feel of the story. It was very different to all of the other stories in the collection as there was a lot more to it than just the romance. I loved the interesting setting and unique plot. I was very impressed with how much Cassandra Clare managed to do in such a short story. 4/5

A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong by Jennifer E Smith - Having loved many of Jennifer E Smith's books before, I expected to enjoy this story just as much as I did. This is the story of Annie who is working at a camp over the summer and has a crush on the shy boy from school. There is so much more to this story than it first seems and I really loved the way autism and Aspergers were discussed. Some of the things mentioned were a bit stereotypical and I think including such stereotypical behaviours could have been avoided but overall I think it was written well. I really enjoyed the story, particularly the relationship with the little boy, and also found the romance adorable. 4/5

The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman - This was a good end to the anthology. Another very interesting premise, this story follows our main characters as they live the same day over and over again. It was an interesting take on the topic and I was initially quite doubtful as I often find that kind of story to be boring and repetitive. However, I ended up enjoying it much more than I expected to. It is a bit more complex than some of the other stories, and ambitious to attempt in such a short space of time, but I still thought it was a fun, cute story. Unfortunately, while the story was interesting, I didn't connect with the romance at all. 3.5/5

There was an interesting mix of good and not so good throughout this anthology and many of the stories surprised me as it was often the ones I least expected that I enjoyed the most. I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed My True Love Gave To Me, but there are definitely some authors whose work I am more interested to check out having read their short story.

Thursday 14 September 2017

Wrap Up & Haul | August 2017

It has been way too long since I last posted! I don't know how I let it get this long but things got a little crazy in the past few weeks. I had a really busy month in August with finishing up placement and enjoying my last couple of weeks of freedom before starting back at uni at the beginning of September. I am now getting ready to go back out on placement so I know things are not going to get any less busy but hopefully I can keep on top of the blog a little more.

With things being so busy I only managed to read two books in the month of August and both were audiobooks. Audiobooks have been a lifesaver while on placement when I haven't had time to pick up a physical book, and they make long commutes much less of a pain.


There You'll Find Me by Jenny B Jones -
I read Jenny B Jones' Katie Parker series a couple of years ago and loved it. Since then I have been wanting to pick up more of her works, especially as she writes Christian Fiction and that is something I have been wanting to read more of. This book follows Finley who travels to Ireland to study, as her recently killed brother had done the same. This book tried to do too many things in one story. There was so much happening in the story that nothing could be executed well. I also found the main character to be incredibly irritating and just plain rude. As much as I have loved Jenny B Jones' writing in the past, this is not one of her books that I would recommend.
Rating: 2/5 | Review

Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby -
While I went into the previous book knowing the author and expecting to enjoy it, this book was the opposite. I had never read anything from Jessi Kirby before and was a bit wary of the plot. This is the story of Quinn whose boyfriend dies and his organs are donated. In an attempt to help her grieve, Quinn attempts to contact the recipient of Trent's heart but things don't quite work out as she planned. I was a bit unsure about this storyline as I was worried I would find the romance aspect uncomfortable. However, the romance was handled in a very sensitive way that made it heartwarming to read about. I ended up really enjoying this book, in particular the way organ donation was discussed and highlighted.
Rating: 4/5 | Review

While being busy meant not reading a whole lot, it also meant not buying too many books, which my bank account was particularly happy about. I only bought two books in the month of August, which I think is pretty reasonable.

Dare To Fall by Estelle Maskame - I picked this up before a signing that I was planning to go to but ended up being unable to go. This is her newest release and first outwith the DIMILY trilogy.

13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough - I hadn't heard of this but it was on the buy one get one half price table with Dare To Fall and it sounded interesting so I picked it up. All I know is it's about a girl who was in an accident and ended up dead for 13 minutes.

August wasn't the best reading month for me but it definitely could have been worse. I'm glad I managed to read something while things were so crazy but hopefully I can do better in September. Did you have a good reading month? What was the best book you read in August?

Sophie :)