Author: paperbackpete

Anomalous teenager with a love for books and art

We Are The Ants. Book Review #9

On By paperbackpeteIn Book Review, Pete1 Comment

Hi everyone!

I hope you’ve all had an amazing day. So you might have (but probably didn’t) realise that there was no blog post from me last week. I’ve been very busy with work for school at the moment and so I didn’t have time to blog- but I’m back now!

This week I want to talk about I book I read quite a while ago but is still one of my favourite recommendations.

We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson is a YA sci-fi contemporary novel that poses the question- If you could end the world, would you? Henry has been through a lot in his life and things don’t seem to ever be getting better for him. Then he meets Diego who gives him a reason to save the world he wants to destroy. This book follows alien abductions, high school house parties and a grandma so cute you actually wish you knew her in real life.

On the surface many people might deem this book as a semi-unorginal story about another teen who has depression. In reality it is so much more. Our main character is gay but him being gay isn’t the entire plot. Whilst reading this I was genuinely so happy that Hutchinson was able to tell a story that involved so many different elements and not just focus on his hero being a member of the LGBTQ community. I feel like Hutchinson is helping to normalise being gay for teens in a really simple and effective way through this book because we get to learn about Henry not through a closeted-boy lens but through a regular teenager lens.

Aside from the amazing LGBTQ forward message Hutchinson also weaves together a fast paced plot with lovable characters that is, in my opinion, incredibly unique. The love in this book is addictive and real like it should be and all of the cast are just imperfect enough to feel like actual human beings.

I have not read anything like We Are The Ants in years and I wholeheartedly recommend it to every single one of you regardless of sexuality, age and gender.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth

The School For Good and Evil. Book Review #8

On By paperbackpeteIn Book Review, PeteLeave a comment

Hey everyone!

I hope you’ve all had an amazing weekend and none of you are feeling too gloomy at the prospect of going back to school/work tomorrow.

This week I want to do a quick review of a book which I recently read.

The School For Good and Evil by Soman Chainani is a middle grade fantasy and adventure story that asks the question: Are any of us truly Good or truly Evil? Most children from the small village of Gavaldon would be terrified at the prospect of being taken away in the night by a mysterious School Master. Not Sophie. She dreams of being whisked off to the School for Good and finding her prince in Ever After and her wish comes true, almost. Her best friend Agatha has been cast off as Evil but things change when the two girls arrive at the school.

Through a series of hilarious and nail biting antics we get to follow the girls journey through a school almost as addictive as Hogwarts. With this books magic and whimsy I think everybody can find something in it that they love. Sophie is perhaps one of the funniest literary characters I have ever come across and I was genuinely laughing out loud for so much of this book. It was easy to read and never became slow or annoying. The school setting was absolutely addictive and some of ideas, although at first appear parallel to Harry Potter, were 100% unique in an incredibly refreshing way. The romance was tasteful and it didn’t take centre stage despite its purpose in the book. I could not recommend it enough to all of you, I think its the perfect light and whimsical story that everyones looking for.

I rate this book a five out of five stars!

Keep on reading

And thanks again Beth

 

The Future For Curious People. Book Review #7

On By paperbackpeteIn Book Review, PeteLeave a comment

Hi everyone,

I think that its really interesting how much we all change over such a short period of time. Looking back at who you were is always a shocking and embarrassingly hilarious thing to do but I think that its healthy as well. I encourage you, right now to log into Facebook and just scroll through your past profile pictures. You might cringe at yourself but you also might be even more proud of who you are in the present.

Forget about the present for a moment though, I want to talk to you all about a book that follows the future.

The Future For Curious People is a new adult contemporary that explores the challenges of being in love in your  twenties and poses the question- If you could know your future with someone, would you want to?

This book was hilarious and that truly is saying something, coming from someone who rarely laughs (I know its awfully sad). I knew nothing about the story going into it- I got it at a discount book store in Liverpool for £1 but Gregory Sherl must’ve been sent to me from The Literature Gods. He manages to keep up a plot that could very easily become bland and directionless with a steady pace that hooks you right from the beginning. The characters were those rare kind that you can only find at discount bookstores in Liverpool- they gave a perspective that felt realistic and honest while maintaining this savoury witty tone. The story takes place in Baltimore which was quite honestly, very refreshing since for some reason every YA or New adult book I seem to read either takes place in New York or some distant, nameless state where our main character just can’t wait to break free from their life and then guess what- travel to New York (it’s a vicious circle). It was a swift three hundred pages that I would do again in a heartbeat. I could not recommend this book enough.

I give it a five out of five stars.

Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth

Reading Recs #6

On By paperbackpeteIn Pete1 Comment

Hey girls and guys,

I don’t like to get too political because I think that politics are a very personal thing despite their nature. There is, however, a lot recently that has been going on over in America and I would just like to encourage people to speak up. You know when you’re in history class thinking “If I was there I would’ve done something”, well now is that time to do something. Whether you live in New York or London, just doing a little bit to educate the ignorant or expose the truth to those with the wool pulled over their eyes can go a long way. I firmly believe that words do have power and if you can use yours to help make change – then you should.

So on the topic of words- books!

More specifically, books that you should read!

Book No.1, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

This has won multiple awards, and for good reason- Station Eleven is a sensational novel that looks at what the apocalypse would really be like for the everyday people, those who aren’t fighting the aliens or trying to save the entire planet. Through a series of intertwining and personal accounts we learn of a travelling company of actors carrying on shakespeare, post collapse, a psychopath who is also a cult leader and a lonely astronaut who is doomed to spend their life on the distant Station Eleven. I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars and I think you would too.

Book No.2, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Harry August never dies. Actually he does die he just remembers everything from his previous life when he’s reborn. This book explores the afterlife and the concept of time and existence for humans in the vastness of forever. Not only was this novel an example of some of the finest quality literature I have ever come across (Claire North’s skill is unbeaten by any other author I have ever read) It also taught me about 50+ years of world history and gave me a magnified close up of how culture and society changed over that period. This book is a masterpiece.

Book No.3, The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Perhaps one of the most epic fantasy books I have ever read, The Final Empire explores in oceans of depth what a revolution would really look like if magic and mystery were involved. The story itself spans years and when you read it you can definitely see why. Every detail and piece of information is collateral to its previous action. This book was an ambitious and well thought out work that had me hooked for all the 600+ pages.

Thank you for reading my recs list, I hope you read some of the recs!

Keep on reading

And thanks again Beth

Quotes I Love #5

On By paperbackpeteIn Pete1 Comment

Hello everyone!

You might’ve seen in the news recently and on Twitter the Women’s March peaceful protest that has taken place in cities across the globe. As a feminist this felt like such a great step for us in coming together and I had to mention it in this weeks post. Sadly, I couldn’t get into London to take part in the protest myself but there is always next year!

So this week I want to talk about some of my all time favourite quotes, the kind of quotes that make you silently squeal at the pages and wish you could just live inside the book and never go back to reality.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky

Obviously, being my favourite book of all time this one had to be on the list.

And in that moment, I swear we were infinite

I really do feel that 90s american teen runaway kind of love when I read that line.

Frozen Tides- Morgan Rhodes

Next to ACOTAR the Falling Kingdoms is my all time favourite high fantasy series.

She was his princess. No. She was his goddess. With her golden skin and golden hair. She was his light. His life. His everything.

We all dream of that fairytale kind of love that only exists inside of YA.

Ten Thousand Skies Above You- Claudia Gray

No matter what other people say about this book it will always be one of my all time favourites. I can genuinely say I have never been more addicted to a book series.

Ten thousand skies, and a million worlds, and it still wouldn’t be enough for me to share with you. Nothing less than forever will do.

*Squeals loudly*

Fans Of The Impossible Life

I’ve mentioned this before on the blog and even created some fan art based upon one of the main characters but no matter what I do I will never be able to express how much I love this book.

“May we live impossibly,” Sebby said when he opened his eyes. “Against all odds. May people look at us and wonder how such jewels can sparkle in the sad desert of the world. May we live the impossible life.”

Please buy this book, I beg you

Did any of you protest in the Women’s March?

Keep on reading

And thanks again Beth

 

Gemina. Book Review #5

On By paperbackpeteIn Book Review, PeteLeave a comment

Hey readers,

How have you been feeling with all this ‘January doom and gloom’ that everyone claims exists?
I always have actually loved the winter and the lack of daylight, it just feels more- cozy.

So for this weeks blog post I want to talk about a book I mentioned I was reading in last weeks Book Haul- Gemina.

Following Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman’s Iluminae, Gemina is the second book in the trilogy. The story follows Hannah, the captain’s ‘pampered’ daughter who loves to draw and punch things and Nik, a tattooed ex-con who has a really good heart. We follow them on an edge-of-your-seat journey as they race against an alien infestation, a ship wide invasion and the pulling and pushing of time and space.

Ok people, I feel a moral obligation to let it be known to the public that this book is AWESOME! It was very good, like very very good.

The Characters

Kaufman and Kristoff must be secret part time superheroes on the side when they are not writing books because only humans possessing extraordinary powers could create a cast of characters that felt so real and likeable. After hearing the premise of the book I didn’t think I would like Hannah Donnelly very much at all: ‘pampered’ just made me think of an annoying brat who would be a general inconvenience to the plot. But she was not. Hannah was kickass and she never apologised for who she was. I don’t think I have ever liked a fictional character as much as this one. Nik, her costar, I could write a thesis on. He was just SO fascinating and perfect. But I think I’ll let you see that for yourself when you read the book.

The Format

I said this in my review for Iluminae and I’ll say it again- I thought I was going to have a horrible time reading this book. You see, Gemina isn’t like normal stories, aside from it’s amazing-ness its also individual in the way its told: Through file reports and talk channels, doodles and radio comms, we learn of Hannah and Nik’s story through an interwoven dossier of memories. It makes it feel authentic. It makes it feel interesting. It makes me love this book even more.

The Plot

I will not say a lot because, well spoilers. But I will say if you are looking for a finely-crafted, intelligent and honest piece of sci-fi literature then this book is for you.

My Rating

I give this story a 10 out of 5 stars because I haven’t, in such a long long time, been so genuinely excited to sit down and read a book. I’ll recommend this to everyone, for all of time.

Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth.

Book Haul No.1 #4

On By paperbackpeteIn Book Haul, Pete1 Comment

Hi guys and girls!

Is anyone else genuinely feeling just very tired?

You know, that kind of soul crushing tiredness you get when you’ve just had two weeks off school for winter break and now there is a LOT of work to do and a LOT of things that need to be done NOW.

Yeah me too.

Over the festive season I did, like every other season/month/week/sometimes day(worryingly) buy some books!

And because this is a book blog and we talk about books here I going to share the books I bought.

Broken Sky by L.A. Weatherly

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The blurb of this book is beautifully ambiguous-

Welcome to a ‘perfect’ world.

Where war is illegal, where harmony rules.

And where your date of birth marks your destiny.

But nothing is perfect.

And in a world this broken, who can Amity trust?

It sounds like my perfect book honestly and although there are mixed reviews I cannot wait to get round to this one. It was only £3 too in the Waterstones sale?!?

We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

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From the sound of the blurb it feels like this book was actually written for me. Sci-fi, coming of age, LGBTQ? Sign me up!

There are a few things Henry Denton knows, and a few things he doesn’t.

Henry knows that his mom is struggling to keep the family together, and coping by chain-smoking cigarettes. He knows that his older brother is a college dropout with a pregnant girlfriend. He knows that he is slowly losing his grandmother to Alzheimer’s. And he knows that his boyfriend committed suicide last year.

What Henry doesn’t know is why the aliens chose to abduct him when he was thirteen, and he doesn’t know why they continue to steal him from his bed and take him aboard their ship. He doesn’t know why the world is going to end or why the aliens have offered him the opportunity to avert the impending disaster by pressing a big red button.

But they have. And they’ve only given him 144 days to make up his mind.

The question is whether Henry thinks the world is worth saving. That is, until he meets Diego Vega, an artist with a secret past who forces Henry to question his beliefs, his place in the universe, and whether any of it really matters. But before Henry can save the world, he’s got to figure out how to save himself, and the aliens haven’t given him a button for that.

The Future For Curious People by Gregory Sherl

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This was a very random and out of the blue choice. This book is actually apart of the new adult genre which I don’t read so much of so i’m excited to try it out. Plus, it was also only £1?!?!

Meet Evelyn and Godfrey. Evelyn is breaking up with her boyfriend, who’s passing out advertisements for his band on a snowy street corner in Baltimore. She’s seen their dismal future together at Dr. Chin’s office: she and her boyfriend, both many years older, singing Happy Birthday to a Chihuahua and arguing about cheese. She hopes for more. Meanwhile, Godfrey is proposing to his girlfriend, Madge, who’s not quite willing to take that leap; she wants to see their future together first–just to be sure they re meant for each other. The Future for Curious People follows Evelyn and Godfrey’s soon-to-be-entwined lives, set in motion by the fabulist premise of a world with envisionists like Dr. Chin. As the characters struggle with their pasts and possible futures, they wrestle with sorrow, love, death, and fate. This novel will capture you with its brightness, its hopefulness, its anxious twists and turns; it is a love story that is ultimately a statement about happiness and how to accept our fleeting existence.

The School For Good And Evil by Soman Chainani

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I’ve heard bundles about this on BookTube and its mostly all been good. The premise sounds, quite frankly, incredibly interesting. Yay for reading middle grade?!

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?

The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

Thanks for checking this Book Haul out let me know in the comments if any of you have read any of these books.

I’m currently reading Gemina, the 2nd book in the Iluminae series and OMG yes! Book review to come soon.

Here is a random drawing I did yesterday. Enjoy!

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Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth.

 

The Diviners. Book Review #3

On By paperbackpeteIn Book Review, Pete1 Comment

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and a generously satisfactory New Years.

Mine was great, thanks for asking.

So today I wanted to talk about a book I read very recently.

The Diviners is a young adult-historical fiction-romance-thriller-supernatural-horror set in America in the 1920s. New York is a bustling hive of excess. The newly rich and the young and beautiful are paving the way to a better, brighter future. Skyscrapers are climbing higher and Wall Street is booming louder than ever before. The morals are looser, the liquor is cheaper. Every girl dreams of moving to the Big Apple and becoming a famous flapper like one of the Ziegfeld girls.

Evie O’Neill is no exception. After accidental social suicide in her small Ohio town she is more than happy to pack her bags and move to New York to stay with her uncle as ‘punishment’.

Sadly for Evie she has unknowingly entered a dark world of diviners and death. With the clock ticking will she be able to use her own gifts to save New York from Naughty John?

This book was excellent. Like really good. Like so good that I would book-push it onto my friends (which I have already begun doing). There are actually so many great things about this book that I think the only way i’ll be able to express its greatness is through talking about individual great bits.

The Characters

Libba Bray is some sort of character arc goddess (yes, that is a thing). All of the characters in The Diviners were individual, genuinely interesting and realistic (bar some superpowers here and there). There were so many good ones that it would take me forever to talk about them all so i’ll just focus on our protagonist, Evie. She had all of the usual characteristics that YA female leads offer but she was given them in a tasteful and addictive way that never felt annoying or ridiculous. I actually enjoyed her selfish side because it made her seem more human and her sass and personality were hilarious. I think her attitude towards her role in the investigations was very head-on and sensible. She never listened when she was told no and she proved herself as a valuable member of the team in a group of men at a time of suffocating sexism. Yay to feminism!

The Language

This has to be one of the most technically accurate historical fiction books I’ve ever read, why you ask? Because of the language. Every sentence, every joke or proclamation was sprinkled with a dash of 20s slang. From ‘Jake’ to ‘Swell’ the dialogue in this book completely transported me to society in the 20s. It is truly a testament to Bray’s research and skill at the craft.

The Scare Factor

Ok, one thing I will say about this book is that it is not for the easily frightened. Never, in all the books I have read have I been genuinely terrified of words on a page. Through Naughty John’s atrocities and the murders that ensued Bray scared me to almost death. And I loved it! I believe it is one of the most impressive things when an author can get an emotion as deep as fear out of their reader simply with the words they choose. Bravo Bray!

My Rating

The Diviners truly was a phenomenal story that taught me about history, black culture, sexuality and women’s roles in society in the past. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars. Please read it!

Here is how I pictured Naughty John in my head who btw has actually given me nightmares?!? (I’m so terrified of going to bed)

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Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth

The Crown’s Game. Book Review #2

On By paperbackpeteIn Pete2 Comments

Hey everyone!

I hope your all having a dazzling December whether you celebrate Christmas or not.

So I want to talk about a book that I finished a few days ago. The Crown’s Game is a low fantasy/historical fiction set in Tsar ruled Russia in the 19th century.

At the beginning of the story we meet Vika and Nikolai, a sixteen year old girl who lives on a small island with her father and Nikolai an eighteen year old who lives in the bustling city of St Petersburg.

Vika and Nikolai are enchanters. Two of the few gifted people who can conjure and manipulate the little magic that is left in the world. Vika can commune with the elements, create flames at her fingertips and call storms from the sky. Nikolai can see through walls and levitate objects with his mind. Both are players in The Crown’s Game. Both will have to risk their lives to become the imperial enchanter aiding the Tsar and defending the entire empire of Russia. One of them must die.

We’ll start with the worst bit. So the characters were kind of flat. They felt like paper cut outs of popular YA troupes: Vika was centre stage, the wild and passionate teen queen, just her, her dad and her dream to get out of her small town life. I’d heard her narrative twenty times before I even read the book which was kind of sad. There was no depth to Vika’s character which on its own would’ve led me to deem this book as nothing more than a measly one star read but because of all the other bustle that was going on it wasn’t too bad. Vika was ok. But that was all she was really, ok.

I liked Nikolai more who was actually mildly interesting. His orphan beginning and his intellectual mind were fun to read about at times. I also appreciated his estranged relationship with his mentor Galina. Ultimately Nikolai did fall short with me in his depth in character. His past was dreadfully interesting but his present? Well… he was not funny, he wasn’t charming and he didn’t even provide much in terms of character building. Nikolai was nice to read about but he felt very static, there was no growth and he was the same guy at the start as he was at the end.

We’ll move on to next kind of bad bit which was actually less bad than the characters. Romance is my favourite part of any story but in The Crown’s Game it was disappointing which disappointed me. I was excited going into this story for the classic love triangle that the blurb described. The reality was not exciting. Insta-love is the perfect term to describe the growing relationships between Vika, Nikolai and Pasha who go from strangers to daydreaming fools. Their love was addictive to read in the way that all YA love stories are but from a reviewer’s point of view it was simply false and cheap.

Let’s finish by talking about the best bits because it’s always fun to be positive. The world Skye creates is gushing with vivid detail. From the streets of St Petersburg to little Ovichin Island everything she writes feels real. Her books are portals to other worlds. The magic system in The Crown’s Game was simple and sleek. It was explainable enough for anyone to understand and some of the gorgeous scenes that involved magic felt so real I could touch it. The plot was actually incredible and in itself beautifully original but I won’t talk about that because then I’d been spoiling!

I give this book 3.7 stars out of 5 and should you read it? Probably, if you like the sound of it. It was informative and addictive but it’s arc was dull and the love was nothing original.

I hope you enjoyed my review!

Here’s some fanart I did of Vika when I was picturing her hair at Pasha’s birthday ball.


Side note: I drew Vika as a person of colour for a reason. Black people are so under-represented in YA so I thought it was important to create a Vika that was from a different ethnic background even though it’s completely culturally and historically inaccurate.

Keep on reading!

And thanks again Beth!

Hi! I’m new here

On By paperbackpeteIn Pete5 Comments

Hello, I’m new here.

You might be wondering where Beth has gone and why this random guy called Pete has started posting on her blog. Well…

It’s because she was kind enough to let me, paperbackpete, be a guest blogger here on The Books Are Everywhere once a week!

Thank you so much Beth, this is really exciting for me and I hope I can bring something new to this already wonderful, fabulous and quite frankly dazzling blog.

I am, despite apparently looking like I’m 22, 16 years old. Pete Miller is my name and I honestly wish it was something cooler. I read two books a week, Lana Del Rey is my adoptive mother and I really wish I could get a dog. Even though I’m probably pants at it I really like to draw and I actually don’t mind being alone- I quite like it sometimes. Please never ask me about my future because it really is a source of great freakout for me but any other comments are welcome, of course. Because we’re all massive book nerds I know the question that will be brewing in many of your minds at the moment- The Perks of Being a Wallflower is my favourite book and no sadly I have not read Harry Potter. I am a feminist, I love Chinese food and I always say thank you.

Maybe you’ll now be able to form some sort of idea of the kind of person I am. If not, book obsessed, anime watching artist is somewhere along the right lines.

I will, like today, be posting on the blog every Sunday. It could be anything from a Book Review to some fan art that I don’t feel is too terrible to show the general public.

Let me know what you think of my first ever blog post and be brutal! I think (hope) I can handle it.

Here is some fan art I did of Mira, one of the main characters in the book Fans of The Impossible Life which you should definitely read (it’s beautiful).

 

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I haven’t thought of a funny or cute goodbye yet so I’ll leave you with a simple:

See you later!

And thanks again Beth!

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