Saturday 17 November 2018

Mini Review | What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Image and video hosting by TinyPicWhat If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Published On: October 18, 2018
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 433
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★½

Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a show-stopping romance when you least expect it. 
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its own business. If it had his back, he wouldn’t be posting a box of his ex-boyfriend’s belongings. 
But after a chance meeting at the post office, the boys leave wondering what exactly the universe does have in store.


I really wanted to love this after really enjoying books I have read from these authors previously. I expected an adorable relationship I wanted to root for, which I got. I expected some great friendship groups, which I got. I expected a fun, engaging plot, which I almost got. I'll be honest, I got bored.

I enjoyed the first section of this and then things went downhill for me. I thought the meeting and the search to find each other was a lot of fun to read about and really kept me engaged. However, I just wish that section had lasted longer. Once that part was over I got bored and stopped losing interest in where the story was going. I also started to really dislike one character.

Arthur made me so mad. I didn't have a problem with him to start with, but eventually the way he was acting towards certain situations and the way he was treating Ben sometimes just started to really get on my nerves. I wanted to like him, as I was really rooting for their relationship, but by the end I just didn't.

I liked it, but I didn't fall in love with it. It was an enjoyable read, despite dragging in some parts and making me lose interest. It's clear that Becky and Adam work well together and I definitely think they could write my new favourite book if they were to continue writing together. However, this one just wasn't there for me.

Overall, I can see why others would love it and perhaps this was more a case of 'it's not you, it's me'. If you love previous books by these authors and you're looking for an adorable relationship, great friendships and a more slow paced plot, I would definitely recommend checking it out. I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

Tuesday 13 November 2018

Wrap Up | October 2018

The second half of this year is crazy and I can't keep up! Blogging has taken a major back seat while I attempt to stay on top of everything else going on in my life but I am determined to try and do better. Despite posting basically nothing on the blog, I have managed a bit of reading in the past month. I haven't read as much as I would have liked having only read three books, which is the least I have read in a month this year. However, October is historically my worst reading month, I have only managed one book in October for the past few years.



Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han -
I started this series in August and instantly knew I just had to finish it straight away. I have really enjoyed this series as a whole and loved this final book. I thought it was a really great ending to a really loveable series. I have loved all the characters throughout and, while they do things and make decisions that annoy me, I loved seeing how their stories wrap up. The relationship between Lara Jean and her sisters is easily my favourite aspect of this series and it played just as important a role in the final book, I could read about their relationship forever. I'm sad to have finished this series but I'm so glad I read it and can't wait to no doubt reread it in the near future.
Rating: 4/5

What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera -
I read books by both of these authors for the first time this year and knew I wanted to read more, so when I found out they were bringing out a collaborative work I had to pick it up. This book follows two teenage boys living in New York who happen to meet in a post office while one is sending a box of things back to his ex-boyfriend, but fail to get each others details. I absolutely loved the whole searching for each other plot, I thought it was fun and exciting and I just wish it had lasted a little longer. Unfortunately, I didn't love the rest of the book quite as much. I liked the relationship to begin with but found myself getting irritated by Arthur 90% of the time. I did enjoy the story but I didn't love the characters and it seemed to go on a little too long. I wanted to love this but I think I liked the idea more than the book itself.
Rating: 3.5/5 | Review To Come

Easy Prey by Catherine Lo -
Oh I have such mixed feelings about this book! This is about three students who had access to naked pictures of a teacher prior to them being leaked on the internet, yet all three deny doing so. I really enjoyed the majority of this book. I liked the story and found the characters interesting, it was generally a good book. However, I worked out who had done it very early on and while I understand why things happened the way they did, I really did not agree with it. Part of me wants to rate this book really low on the basis of my feelings on how things evolved but, at the same time, I do think it was cleverly written and an overall enjoyable read.
Rating: 3/5 | Review To Come


A poor reading month in terms of numbers and a pretty average reading month in terms of quality. I'm hoping for one final big push now that were heading for the end of the year, hopefully I can read some new favourites in the next couple of months.

How was your reading month in October? Did you find any new favourites?

Sophie :)