Tuesday 31 March 2015

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish 
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List



A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston


Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis


The Memory Hit by Carla Spradbery 


The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett


The Secret Fire by C.J. Daugherty,  Carina Rozenfeld


One by Sarah Crossan


Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid


The Lies About Truth by Courtney C. Stevens


Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa



The Shattered Court by M.J. Scott


Monday 30 March 2015

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon Review

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon  


“Wanting just leads to more wanting. There’s no end to desire.”

Madeline has SCID or Severe Combined Immunodeficiency leaving her trapped inside her house, which has been remodelled just to suit her needs. Her life is a cycle of reading, medical tests and playing games with her mother that is until a family moves in next door.

The first half of the story was the good half. I enjoyed the writing style and how it made you relate to Madeline and the extra bits like the reviews and medical examinations. The pace of the story was good with the introduction to the main characters, the build up to the romance and the story of the family next door. The relationship between Madeline and her mum, nurse and Olly were shown in a way that showed the reader how close they were to each other and each relationship was important to her in a different way. Madeline was a really pleasant main character because she had an understanding on things that she knew she couldn’t control and acted within reason to certain things.

The middle part continued like the tragic love story I assumed this book would be but it didn’t go with the first half. It was very fast paced and all of a sudden the love story had taken centre stage and Madeline had gone from the voice of reason to a reckless girl. I understand why the author did it to show how she was taking control over her life but the story seemed farfetched and took away the realistic feel away from the book. Also the relationship between Madeline and Ollie went from a four to a ten in the span of a day.

The last half of the book was bad. For someone who spends a lot of time on the internet she sure doesn’t do what anybody with a very rare condition would do – search it. It would have saved her a lot of trouble and changed her life. Also certain actions aren’t explained and the story is just of a daughter ignoring her mother. It was fascinating to read. And then there’s the relationship between how Madeline and Olly ends – well that wasn’t unexpected or anything.


★★☆☆☆

Tuesday 24 March 2015

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish 
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is Top 10 Books From My Childhood That I Would Love To Revisit



The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan




The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman




 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling




Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan 




Inkheart by Cornelia Funke




The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot




The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket




The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis




 Ruby The Red Fairy by Daisy Meadows




The BFG by Roald Dahl







Monday 23 March 2015

The Storm by Virginia Bergin Review

The Storm by Virginia Bergin


“We are the orphaned children of the apocalypse, and we will come home.”

The Storm starts with Ruby living at home, waiting for her dad and slowly driving herself crazy.  Stuck in the same house for weeks/months, Ruby’s isolation leads her to lose all sense of time until a car crash has her spiralling back into reality and also the surprising visit from Saskia.

My favourite thing about this duology is that the plot for the book is unpredictable. There’s just so much packed into the book and it somehow works. The book follows Ruby as she visits familiar places from the first book and realises something about her sets her apart from others. This book is the kind of adventure book you really want to see turned into a movie.

I really like the writing style of the book as its different in the sense Ruby’s voice would be better suited for a humour/realistic fiction book but Ruby‘s such a great character that you just can’t help but enjoy the book.

Ruby goes through a lot of character development in book one but I think in this book Ruby goes through more personal and mental changes. From depression to anxiety and from choosing herself over others.

There are a lot of clichés in this book like the government/army doing things like mutating children. But they aren’t fully delved into which showed they aren’t a major story in the book.

Most of the characters are from the previous book are in this one aside from some extra characters but most of them were likable but not really important to the story. Also with this story there are the main characters that you follow throughout the story whilst the other minor characters are seen only in parts of the story. It’s sort of a road trip story.

Ruby and Darius – they make such a good couple but we don’t see enough of them! Every time they meet something or someone has to keep them apart. But they’re really cute together.

I really liked the pacing of the story but near the ending everything seemed quite rushed. Everything was being solved way too quickly and then there’s Ruby’s ‘what she would have wanted to happen’ scene which was slightly pointless. However I really enjoyed how the ending – an epilogue of sorts stayed true to the writing style and showed how everything might be slowly improving but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t leave mental scars.


★★★★

Friday 20 March 2015

Movie Trailers

Movies I Want To Watch 


Paper Towns 


Pixels 



   Barely Lethal 



Tomorrow Land 



Dark Places 



Insurgent 



Hot Pursuit 



Pitch Perfect 2 



Inside Out 



The Duff 



Spy 



Cinderella












Thursday 19 March 2015

Recent Book Covers Reveals

Recent Book Covers Reveals 


Winter by Marissa Meyer 

Here is the stunning conclusion to the national bestselling Lunar Chronicles, inspired by Snow White.

When Princess Winter was thirteen, the rumor around the Lunar court was that her glamour would soon be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. In a fit of jealousy, Levana disfigured Winter. Four years later, Winter has sworn off the use of her glamour altogether. Despite her scars, Winter’s natural beauty, her grace, and her gentleness are winning admiration from the Lunar people that no amount of mind-control could achieve.

Winter despises her stepmother, but has never dreamed of standing up to her. That is, until she realizes that she may be the only one with the power to confront the queen.
 

Can Cinder, Prince Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, Princess Winter, and the palace guard Jacin find their happily ever afters? Fans will LOVE this amazing conclusion to the series.


Broken Crowns by Lauren DeStefano


Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas 


Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series reaches new heights in this sweeping fourth volume.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.


21 Stolen Kisses by Daisy Whitney, Lauren Blakely 


When I first met him I resisted. 
Like any forbidden love, I told myself he was a crush, and it would pass.
That was a lie. It never faded.

And I never expected he would fall for me just as hard.
 

There were so many reasons that should have kept us apart, least of all, the decade that separated us. Growing up in New York City, I learned early on that love is a double-edged sword. Love broke up my parents, love took away my friends, and love — the big, intense, never-been-like-this-before love — landed me in therapy. Now I’m heading to college, and it’s time to give love a clean slate again. But, can I really start over when he’s still in my life Because the one man I’ve always wanted, is also the only guy I absolutely can’t have…And he wants me just as fiercely.

Can I settle for anything less than the love of my life?


First & Then by Emma Mills

First impressions can be deceiving . . .

Devon has life pretty much figured out: she’s got her best friend Cas, her secret crush (also Cas), and her comfortable routine (mostly spent with Cas). New experiences: not welcome here. But as she enters her senior year, her parents take in her cousin Foster, an undersized weirdo who shows an unexpected talent for football, and star running back Ezra takes Foster under his wing. Devon can't figure out how she feels about Ezra. He's obviously stuck-up, but Foster adores him. Ezra has nothing to say to her, but he keeps seeking her out. And... Devon might actually like him. If only she can admit it to herself.
Funny, fresh, and layered, First and Then proves that change doesn't always tear things apart—sometimes, it brings them together.


The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?


One by Sarah Crossan 

Tippi and Grace share everything—clothes, friends . . . even their body. Writing in free verse, Sarah Crossan tells the sensitive and moving story of conjoined twin sisters, which will find fans in readers of Gayle Forman, Jodi Picoult, and Jandy Nelson.

Tippi and Grace. Grace and Tippi. For them, it’s normal to step into the same skirt. To hook their arms around each other for balance. To fall asleep listening to the other breathing. To share. And to keep some things private. The two sixteen-year-old girls have two heads, two hearts, and each has two arms, but at the belly, they join. And they are happy, never wanting to risk the dangerous separation surgery.

But the girls’ body is beginning to fight against them. And soon they will have to face the impossible choice they have avoided for their entire lives.



Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid 

Dave and Julia are best friends. On the brink of high school, they made a list of cliches they would never do. Now in their senior year, Dave and Julia decide to try every Never on the list. As they break out of their comfort zone and have many adventures- both together and apart- they learn a lot more about who they are and what their true feelings are for one another.







The Lies About Truth by Courtney C. Stevens 

Sadie Kingston, is a girl living in the aftermath. A year after surviving a car accident that killed her friend Trent and left her body and face scarred, she can’t move forward. The only person who seems to understand her is Trent’s brother, Max.

As Sadie begins to fall for Max, she's unsure if she is truly healed enough to be with him — even if Max is able to look at her scars and not shy away. But when the truth about the accident and subsequent events comes to light, Sadie has to decide if she can embrace the future or if she'll always be trapped in the past.
 

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday

 A weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that people are eagerly anticipating.

My choice for Waiting on Wednesday this week is:


Winter by Marissa Meyer 

Publication: November 10th 2015 by Feiwel and Friends, 800 pages 
   
Here is the stunning conclusion to the national bestselling Lunar Chronicles, inspired by Snow White.

When Princess Winter was thirteen, the rumor around the Lunar court was that her glamour would soon be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. In a fit of jealousy, Levana disfigured Winter. Four years later, Winter has sworn off the use of her glamour altogether. Despite her scars, Winter’s natural beauty, her grace, and her gentleness are winning admiration from the Lunar people that no amount of mind-control could achieve.



Winter despises her stepmother, but has never dreamed of standing up to her. That is, until she realizes that she may be the only one with the power to confront the queen.
 

Can Cinder, Prince Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, Princess Winter, and the palace guard Jacin find their happily ever afters? Fans will LOVE this amazing conclusion to the series.
 


The Next Together by Lauren James 

Publication: September 3rd 2015 by Walker, 320 pages

How many times can you lose the person you love? 

A powerful and epic debut novel for teenagers about reincarnation and the timelessness of first love from a talented young writer.
 

Teenagers Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again. Each time their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.
 

But why do they keep coming back? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace?
 
Maybe the next together will be different...

In 1745, during the siege of Carlisle, in 1854 on the way to the Crimea, in 2019 and 2039 as first scientists and then students uncovering and rediscovering a dangerous plot, and in multiple timescales between, they are thrown together, with no memory of having met one another before, only an irresistible instinct that they must be with one another against all odds – even while the epic events unfolding all around seem sure to tear them apart.


I'm undecided on if I like the Winter cover or not but 800 pages! Ahhh! Also look at how beautiful the cover for The Next Together is. 

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish 
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List



End of Days by Susan Ee
May 12th 2015 by Skyscape



An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
April 28th 2015 by Razorbill


Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry
May 26th 2015 by Harlequin Teen


The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
May 12th 2015 by Putnam Juvenile


All the Rage by Courtney Summers
April 14th 2015 by St. Martin's Griffin


Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham
May 19th 2015 by Little Brown


Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby
April 21st 2015 by Harper Teen



A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin
May 19th 2015 by Tor Teen



Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger
April 28th 2015 by Scholastic


Kissing Ted Callahan (And Other Guys) by Amy Spalding
April 14th 2015 by Poppy


Monday 16 March 2015

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Review

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart


“Silence is a protective coating over pain”

We Were Liars is a story about a dysfunctional family. A grandfather who uses his wealth to manipulate his daughters, the three daughters so deep in their lifestyle they are completely dependable on him. And then their children - raised in a world of love, destruction and perfection.

Then there are the liars. The firstborns of each of the three daughters and the outsider. Each gifted with different personalities. Grown up in a world where mothers force you to suck up to your granddad to secure their income. Where there is anger, bitterness and hatred. They want a better life. This is the aftermath of their story.

We Were Liars is a hyped up book so naturally going into the book I have high expectations. The book has a slow pace but it suits the story as it has themes of grieve and healing.  Though there isn’t a main plotline the story does follow Cadence and the aftermath of an accident she was part of.

The writing style was good but it gave the main character such a dull atmosphere and some parts of the book seemed over exaggerated as if the author was trying too hard to make it seem beautiful.

I really like the short snippets of the fairytale retellings and how they related to each section of the book. The twist in the book – I was surprised but knowing there was going to be a twist I wasn’t too shocked. It didn’t shock me like I thought it would. 

However the ending section was really emotional and sad and the best part of the book.


★★★☆☆