Monday 24 December 2018

Top 5 | Books On My Christmas Wishlist

Merry Christmas Eve! As crazy as it is to think it's this time of year already, it's time to talk about those lovely books I am hoping to find under my tree on Christmas morning. While I've been cutting down on the amount of books coming into my possession recently, a few shiny new books for Christmas can't hurt, right?

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1. Girl Made Of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake - I've heard nothing but amazing things about this books, I'm desperate to see what the hype is about.

2. Love, Life and the List by Kasie West - Kasie West is one of my favourite authors and this is one of the few of her books I don't yet own.

3. Meet Cute by various authors - I quite enjoy an anthology and this one features many authors I love. 

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4. Four Three Two One by Courtney Stevens - I've heard great things about Courtney Stevens and the synopsis of this really sounds like my cup of tea.

5. Pivot Point by Kasie West - Like I said, Kasie West is one of my favourite authors but I have yet to read her paranormal/fantasy duology.

We'll see what Santa brings, if I've been good enough of course.

What books are at the top of your wishlist?

Sophie :)

Tuesday 11 December 2018

Mini Reviews | Easy Prey & Dear Evan Hansen

I don't have an awful lot to say on these books, both were just middle of the road 3 stars for me, so I thought I would just share my few thoughts in a more casual review. I thought I would share a few things I liked and a few things I didn't like about each book and you can decide from that whether you think these would be books you would enjoy. Both of these books were received fro publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Image and video hosting by TinyPicEasy Prey by Catherine Lo
Published On: October 12, 2018
Published By: Amulet Books
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mystery
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating: ★★★
Amazon | BD | Goodreads

Only three students had access to a teacher’s racy photos before they went viral. There’s Mouse, a brainy overachiever so desperate to escape his father and go to MIT that he would do almost anything, legal or not. Then there’s Drew, the star athlete who can get any girl’s number—and private photos—with his charm but has a history of passing those photos around. And finally there’s Jenna, a good girl turned rebel after her own shocking photos made the rounds at school last year, who is still waiting for justice. All three deny leaking the photos, but someone has to take the fall. This edgy whodunit tackles hot-button issues of sexting and gossip and will have readers tearing through the pages to reach the final reveal.

I Liked...
- The plot. It was fast-paced and the story was very interesting. It was definitely engaging and you were kept wondering how situation were connected and how things would come together in the end. The premise was interesting and a lot of relevant topics were addressed and debated from various points of view,
- The characters. All three main characters were so different but each had their own issues and storylines aside from the main plot. I really enjoyed reading from each characters perspectives, all of which had their own distinct voice. They were not the most likeable group of characters but they didn't need to be for me to enjoy them.
- The majority of the book. This was a really fun, enjoyable book for the first three quarters of it. I was really enjoying the story and the characters, like I said, and was generally having a good time. I thought it was cleverly written, it kept me wanting to read on and find out what happened next and I was flying through it. Sadly, it didn't last.

I Didn't Like...
- The end. I understand why this book ended the way it did, I understand what the author was trying to do. I just didn't agree with it. I don't like how things worked out and was quite disappointed by the ending. I wanted something better.
- That it was predictable. I had guessed who 'done it' pretty early on was just waiting to find out how and why. I know some people like to be able to guess the culprit but it always annoys me when I'm not surprised by the reveal.
- I can't think of a third thing, it was really just the ending that I didn't like.

Image and video hosting by TinyPicDear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
Published On: October 9, 2018
Published By: Penguin Random House
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★
Amazon | BD | Goodreads

When a letter that was never meant to be seen draws high school senior Evan Hansen into the Murphy family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell. That the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore. And Connor's wealthy parents have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his 'closest friend'. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their family, he knows that what he's doing may not be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. But when everything is in danger of unravelling, he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself.

I Liked...
- It's Dear Evan Hansen. I love this musical so of course I'm going to enjoy that this book is based on the show.
- The story. Like I said, I love the show and as this is the story of the show, it's safe to assume I would enjoy the story.
- The characters. Again, they are the same as the show. However, they really came to life in the book. They were all very well written and I really enjoyed reading about all of them.

I Didn't Like...
- It just didn't translate well. The story alone without the music and stage production just didn't live up to the standard of the show. It fell a bit flat.
- I was bored. As much as I love the story, I found it boring in this format. It took me too long to get through it and I lost interest.
- I was disappointed. I set my expectations too high as this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Sadly, it didn't meet my expectations, which is probably more my own fault than the book itself.

Both of these books have their positives but neither blew me away. However, I can see why so many people have enjoyed them, they just weren't for me.

Sophie :)

Sunday 9 December 2018

Top 5 | Books I Want To Read Before The End Of The Year

I can't believe it's that time of year already when I'm thinking about those last books I want to get to before the year is over. This year has completely flown by! I'm happy that this year I am not rushing to get in those last books for my Goodreads challenge, since I completed that a few months ago. However, there are still some books I would like to squeeze in before the end of the year.



Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle - I like to read at least one Christmassy book and this is one I have been meaning to get to for the past couple of years. I always love holiday themed books so I can't wait to give this one a go.

The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - I wasn't really sure if I wanted to read this after only giving Dash & Lily's Book Of Dares 3 stars last year. However, I set myself a challenge of finishing 5 series and this is the only one I have time for. I guess I'm almost cheating to complete my goal but I might love this one, who knows!

The Start Of Me And You by Emery Lord - I don't know how many TBR lists this book has been on but I was determined to read it this year. Except I haven't. I would say it's probably more of a summer read but I guess I'll just have to pretend it's July.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge - I have read hardly any fantasy (or anything other than contemporary really) this year and I want to change that. So maybe I don't have time to read as many as I would like, but this is one that I have been wanting to read for a while. It was also a Christmas present a couple of years ago so this seems like a good time to finally get around to it.

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L Armentrout - Again, I haven't read as many mystery/thriller books as I would have liked this year. This is a YA mystery/thriller that I have had on my shelf for a while but never picked up. BooksandLala recently reread this for Lalathon, which gave me the push to finally want to give it a go.

Those are the five books I really want to get to before the end of the year. There is a very good chance I won't get around to all of these, my track record with TBR lists is not that great. However, I will try my hardest. 

Which of these should I pick up first?

Sophie :)

Friday 7 December 2018

Wrap Up | November 2018

I keep having the best intentions of getting back to blogging more regularly but life just keeps getting in the way. I am definitely struggling to manage the stress of my final year of university combined with the craziness that comes with the Christmas season. However, I am hoping that things will start to calm down at least a little bit in the next couple of weeks and I can feel a bit less like I'm drowning in to-do lists. Despite how crazy busy things have been, I still managed to read 5 books in November. I'm quite happy with that number, given the circumstances, but sadly most of the books I read were pretty average.


Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich -
This was one of my most anticipated books of this year as I really love the musical the book tells the story of. I expected great things, but was ultimately disappointed. This book follows a boy with severe anxiety who ends up tangled in a lot of lies following the suicide of one of his classmates. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like this story translated very well to this format. As much as I love the show, the story itself without the music and the other entertainment factors added from the performance, the story fell flat. I found it quite boring and it ended up taking me a while to get through. I did have my expectations set too high but this turned out to be a pretty average read for me.
Rating: 3/5 | Review To Come

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han -
This was a reread as I wanted to refresh my memory of this story before continuing on with the series. This series follows a girl who spends every summer at a beach house with family friends including two brothers, one of whom she has has a crush on for as long as she can remember. I didn't love this book the first time around and my feelings were the same the second time around. I found the relationship drama was just to much and other aspects of the story, which should have had more focus, were pushed to the side.
Rating: 3/5 | Review

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han -
This is the second book in the Summer I Turned Pretty series and I felt pretty much the same about this book as the first. There was far too much unnecessary relationship drama that took away from some of the more important story lines. The characters really annoyed me throughout this book, Belly especially. To be honest, I don't really remember a whole lot about the plot so it clearly wasn't a very memorable story. It was another average read, I got through it quickly but I doubt I will ever pick it up again.
Rating: 3/5

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -
This was another reread and one that I didn't have any intentions of rereading until suddenly I was. This is the only book in the series I had only read once and when I saw the audiobook available through my library I decided now was the time to pick it up again. I wouldn't be reading the way I am now if it hadn't been for this series so it will always have a special place in my heart. I had a really great time rereading this and I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time around.
Rating: 4/5

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han -
The third and final book in the Summer I Turned Pretty series. If I hadn't been determined to finish this series I would most likely have given up on this one. These characters infuriated me so much with all of their incredibly stupid decisions and I wanted to throw my book out the window at times. I knew exactly how it was all going to play out, it was predictable and just not really an enjoyable read. Conrad was about the only thing I liked in this book to be honest.
Rating: 2/5

While I am happy with the number of books I managed to read during a very busy month, I am a bit disappointed that I didn't really love most of them. Here's hoping December is a better month in terms of quality.

Did you read any new favourite books in November?

Sophie :)