I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
Before Reading: Sophie Kinsella and I don't have a great history. I've read two of her books before and not enjoyed them, so I don't have great expectations. I know so many people seem to love her books, but I just don't understand the hype. I had every intention to never pick this book up, despite owning the audiobook from Audible, but it's a lot of people's favourite book from her so maybe it won't be too bad.
After Reading: Well wasn't that a pleasant surprise! I was fully expecting to dislike this book, but I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would. It is definitely the best of her books I have read. This follows a woman who loses her engagement ring in a hotel and then has her phone stolen, so when she finds a phone thrown in a bin she decides to keep it in order to give the hotel a contact number. However, it turns out to be the phone of a businessman who would quite like it back. This was such a fun, easy read that had me laughing throughout, rather than rolling my eyes as I had done in the previous books from her. I really enjoyed our main character, who was so relatable and ditzy in a funny but endearing way. I think my problems with her books in the past were mainly due to the fact I found the characters to be irritating and couldn't get on board with the decisions they were making. I didn't have those problems with these characters, which I think helped me enjoy it more, and I found myself enjoying reading about their antics instead of being annoyed by them. The plot went in directions I wasn't expecting, which kept me wanting to keep reading to find out what was coming next. I really enjoyed not being sure where the plot was going. I think books like this can end up being predictable, at times making them boring, but I found that, while it was clear the general direction the story was heading, the plot wasn't super predictable and has its twists and turns to keep me on my toes. It was fun, much more enjoyable than I was expecting, but not a new favourite. I am glad I ended up picking it up.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
Before Reading: I don't remember a single thing about this book. I obviously liked the sound of it enough that it survived a round of Down The TBR Hole. I expect this could be a quick, fun read as I believe it's a bit of a mix between rom-com and mystery. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into here.
After Reading: This is the book of this TBR that I should have just taken off my Goodreads when I had the chance. It was fine but I've already forgotten the majority of the plot. It's a lot of things, which I think is part of the problem. Our main character, Heather Wells, was a teen pop sensation who's career ended, she put on a bit of weight and now she works in a college dorm. Residents of the dorm she works in start dying, which the police believe to be accidental and obviously she thinks otherwise. Luckily, she lives with a private detective, who also happens to be the brother of her ex-boyfriend, who is also famous and turns up at random points in the story to add some drama. It's essentially a murder mystery with a main character who has a whole lot of other stuff going on. The mystery part was relatively interesting but the rest of the plot was too much. I really didn't like the writing and I think it is a big part of why I didn't really enjoy this book. It was so repetitive! Size 12 is the size of the average American woman and the dorm is actually called a 'residence hall' - I know these things because I was reminded of them on what felt like every page of this book. Despite the annoying writing, the irritating characters, and everything going on in the plot, the mystery did somewhat redeem this book. I didn't work it out straight away, there were a lot of red herrings thrown in and some twists I wasn't expecting and the reveal made sense. The aftermath of the reveal was incredibly over-dramatic, as was this whole book really. It was fine but I won't be continuing on with this series.
Rating: 2/5 stars.
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Before Reading: It's been a while since I've started a new 'old school' YA series so I'm very interested to see how I feel about this one. I'm pretty sure if I had read this back in the day I would have absolutely love it. However, I'm not sure if adult me will feel the same. I have read a couple of Lauren Oliver books before, both of which were pretty average reads. I think this is one that could really go either way.
After Reading: So I didn't make it through this one. I was quite enjoying the story and was intrigued to see how things would play out. Unfortunately, Lauren Oliver felt the need to kill some dogs in this book. One thing I cannot read about is dogs being killed. I just can't do it. So when it's added into a book in a way that isn't completely 100% necessary to the plot, I will not continue reading. The first time it was touched on in this book it was brushed over so quickly that I let it slip. However, when it came up a second I was done. I'm disappointed as the premise of this story - a dystopian society in which love is a disease you get 'cured' from at 18 - was really interesting. I'm not too sad about taking this off of my TBR though.
Rating: DNF @ around 40%
The Book Of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern
Before Reading: Cecelia Ahern is one of my favourite authors so I have high hopes for this one. I know absolutely nothing about it, other than there is a hint of fantasy/magical realism involved, as there often is in Cecelia Ahern's books. This is probably the one I am most excited to get to.
After Reading: This was everything I come to expect in a Cecelia Ahern book - beautifully written, slightly magical and totally unexpected. This is the story of a girl who has to move to the middle of nowhere with her mother to live with her aunt and uncle after her father committed suicide. She discovers a mysterious book in a travelling library, which begins to uncover some mysteries in her life. Every Cecelia Ahern book is so incredibly well written, and this was no exception. The setting was so vivid and the writing made the story seem so whimsical while being set in reality. The characters were all so different but interesting, each with their own little bit of mystery surrounding them. I wasn't expecting the story to go the way it did, which meant that I was so hooked I read the whole thing in one day. While some small aspects of the story were things I predicted, I found the majority of the secrets and mysteries to be answered in ways I never expected. I ended up really enjoying this book and it further confirms Cecelia Ahern as one of my all time favourite authors.
Rating: 4/5 stars.
I'm glad to be finally getting those books off my TBR after 7 years! As I expected, there were some hits and some misses among these books. I actually really enjoyed doing this themed TBR, especially as it encouraged me to pick up some books I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I think I'll do more of these in future.
What book has been on your Goodreads 'Want To Read' shelf this longest?
Sophie :)
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