Tag: reading

Review: The Last Summer of Us by Maggie Harcourt

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review4 Comments

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Limpet, Steffan and Jared. Three best friends crammed into a clapped-out rust bucket of a car on a whirlwind road trip to forget their troubles and see out the end of the summer. But no matter how far they drive, they can’t escape the hidden secrets and slow-burning romance that could upset the balance of their friendship – perhaps forever.

There are two things I love a lot in YA – the first is road-trips, the other is romance. Another favourite is Unconventional by Maggie Harcourt, and I ordered this book as soon as I finished that one.

He smells of beginnings.

I love the romance in this book. It’s so slow-burning that I didn’t know what was going to happen, and that was great. I love the anticipation of not knowing, and finding out what was going to happen at the very end.

Beginnings set in motion a long time ago and overlooked.

I found this book a lot different to Unconventional. The whole voice of this book is completely different, but I actually liked that! I love the way Harcourt could write about such meaningful and serious subjects while keeping the story and experiences lighthearted.

Beginnings which no number of endings could bury.

This book is a good all-round contemporary. It has all the ingredients for a great YA – good characters, strong writing, some great experiences and coming-of-age topics. It tackles deep subjects like grief yet shows romance, friendship and family.

I only had one issue with this book – the plot development. Maybe it’s just me, but it felt like a weird mixture of being both slow and fast-paced. I felt like the book went quickly but for a long time we weren’t really heading anywhere. But I have to say, I think that might be what Harcourt was aiming for. And getting to the end, everything became clear. I kind of understood.

★★★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review7 Comments

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Mara Carlyle’s senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until—wa-bam!—fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period pre-calc.
Katelyn is the first, but she won’t be the last teenager to blow up without warning or explanation. As the seniors continue to pop like balloons and the national eye turns to Mara’s suburban New Jersey hometown, the FBI rolls in and the search for a reason is on.
Whip-smart and blunt, Mara narrates the end of their world as she knows it while trying to make it to graduation in one piece. It’s an explosive year punctuated by romance, quarantine, lifelong friendship, hallucinogenic mushrooms, bloggers, ice cream trucks, “Snooze Button™,” Bon Jovi, and the filthiest language you’ve ever heard from the President of the United States.

Can I mention something that annoyed me before I even started this book? My edition of this book has a quote from John Green printed on the cover – “Truly the smartest and funniest book about spontaneous combustion you will ever read”. Well that’s not a big statement, because it’s probably also the only book about spontaneous combustion I will ever read.

Otherwise, this book sounded awesome. Such a cool concept, fun and humorous. I expected (and wanted) it to be so good – which is maybe why I was so devastatingly disappointed.

While reading this book, the first word I thought of to describe it was ‘honest’. Because that’s what it is. The story is about a senior class full of students that blow up. And by blow up, I mean combust in a bloody mess that ends up over the walls, floors and fellow students. The first time this happens, the reader may be a little shocked. And then it happens again, and again, and you get used to it.

Mara is possibly the most honest and sarcastic narrator I have ever known. Is that a good thing? Not necessarily, and not always. Unfortunately it made me feel a little disconnected with her and therefore her story, where there could have been the possibility to really feel emotional with her situation.

Mara unfortunately wasn’t the only issue I had with this book. Another was the plot, which felt so slowwww.

Like, this book really dragged. It’s a long book anyway (well, anything over 300 pages is long to me), but I just didn’t feel motivated to read it. It just felt boring. Maybe if I’d been worrying about Mara and her destiny (or even another character), I’d have felt differently. But honestly, I didn’t care what happened. I didn’t care if her boyfriend or best friend or even her herself blew up.

I also disliked the ending. It seemed confusing and pointless. I felt like I was completely back where we started. Like what? I want clarification. I want to know what happened, and if anyone found out anything. Not some kind of poetic bullsh*t from someone otherwise portrayed as sassy and cold-hearted.

Oh, and one more thing. All the feels? Really? For non-readers of this book, Mara talks about this novel she wrote including a main character called Xaiver or something. Not only is All the Feels the name of a published book by Danika Stone, it also includes a character called Xander.

So what did I like? Well, I guess I kept on reading, so Aaron must have done something right. I also liked the concept and the original idea. I just feel like Aaron took too much of a risk, and in the end it didn’t pay off for me.

★★

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: True Confessions of Adrian Mole etc. by Sue Townsend

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Book: True Confessions of Adrian Mole etc.

By: Sue Townsend

Edition published: 1989

By: Methuen

Goodreads description: “Between the difficult ages of 16¾ and 21 and four months, Adrian Mole, diarist and intellectual, continues to confide his deepest thoughts and most moving experiences to the page. Against the background of a continuing but uneasy marriage between Mr and Mrs Mole, the young Adrian gets a job as a librarian, while LUSTING after Sharon Bott and pining for Pandora, who is studying Russian, Chinese and Serbo-Croat at Oxford. Later we find him installed at the Department of the Environment, helping to preserve the ozone layer.

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Purchase on Amazon US: Link

My rating: ☽☽☽/5

A diary of Adrian Mole’s experiences from the age of 16 3/4 – 21 1/3. Adrian is an undiscovered intellectual trying to make his mark on the world. This book follows his writing, love life, poetry, work and education, and his attempts to preserve the ozone layer.

Something dead strange has happened to Christmas. It’s just not the same as it used to be when I was a kid. In fact I’ve never really got over the trauma of finding out that my parents had been lying to me annually about the existence of Santa Claus.
To be, then, at the age of eleven, Santa Claus was a bit like God, all-seeing, all-knowing, but without the lousy things that God allows to happen: earthquakes, famines, motorway crashes. I would lie in bed under the blankets (how crude the word blankets sounds today when we are all conversant with the Tog rating of continental quilts), my heart pounding and palms sweating in anticipation of the virgin Beano album.

I’m not going to say I didn’t like this book, that would be a lie. There are parts of it that I in fact loved – Sue Townsend’s sense of humor is truly spectacular – but there was the fact that this book is slightly…medicore. I mean, not a lot really happens. It’s just a diary of a teenage boy from the 1980’s.

Aside from that, I did like the writing, and the diary entries. I just wish more had happened, as I have already forgotten some of the characters and events from this book.

I have to say, although at first I found Sue Townsend’s and Margaret Thatcher’s diaries a little pointless at first, I did also enjoy these. They both have some very interesting writing and points of views. I loved Sue’s page about England, and how what we Brit’s are like. Although it’s not necessarily praising our humble little country, it was insightful and, in fact, true.

Overall, this book was pretty good. Not a favorite of mine, nor a breakthrough in writing (for me, anyway), but certainly one I enjoyed.

-Beth

Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments

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Book: The Sky is Everywhere

By: Jandy Nelson

Edition published: 2015

By: Walker Books

Goodreads description: Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to centre stage of her own life – and suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two boys. One boy takes Lennie out of her sorrow; the other comforts her in it. But the two can’t collide without Lennie’s world exploding…

Purchase on Amazon UK: Link

Purhcase on Amazon US: Link

My rating: ☽☽☽☽☽/5

There’s not much to say about Lennie Walker.

She’s 17.

Wuthering Heights obsessed.

Clarinet player.

Band geek.

Quel dork.

Hopeless romantic.

Poem writer.

And, as of four weeks ago,

Sisterless.

There were once two sisters,
Who were not afraid of the dark.
Because the dark was full of the others voice across the room,
Because even when the night was thick and starless,
They walked home together from the river,
Seeing who could last the longest without turning on her flashlight,
Not afraid.
Because sometimes in the pitch of the night,
They’d lie on their backs,
In the middle of the psth,
And look up until the stars came back.
And when they did,
They’d reach their arms up to touch them,
And did.

This book is beauty. There is no other way to describe it. It is pure beauty, written in words. Crammed between pages.

I am slightly like Lennie Walker, but mostly in the way that I am a hopeless romantic. So this book was absolute perfection for me. But even though I’m such a romantic that I even enjoy predictable boy meets girl novels, I’d much prefer an exciying, not always joyful rollercoaster of a journey. And that is exactly what this book gave me. A journey.

I got to follow Lennie in the perfect way, I could so easily see inside her mind, and she didn’t hold back with her thoughts. In this book it is is so easy to make a friend with Lennie, and simply because her experiences are so hard to convert into words without knowing Lennie as a person, it makes you feel so close to her.

Now I’ve shared my thoughts on this book, I think there is no better way to describe how special the writing is than sharing some quotes:

I’ve forgotten quite how luminous he is, like another species of human doesn’t have blood but light running through their veins.

I’m full on gawking, wondering what it would be like to be so cool and casual and fearless and passionate and so freaking alive.

That’s exactly it – I am crazy sad and, somewhere deep inside, all I want is to fly.

“That’s a misconception, Lennie, the sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.”

When he plays all the flowers swap colors and years and decades and centuries of rain pour back into the sky.

You can tell your story any way you dann please. It’s your solo.

As you can see, Jandy Nelson writes like no other human being on this earth. If we lost her, we really would lose a freaking library. Possibly one of the most beautiful libraries on earth.

-Beth

Review: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

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Book/Play: A Streetcar Named Desire

Author/Playwright: Tennessee Williams

Edition Published: 1974

By: Signet Books

Goodreads Description: The story of Blanche DuBois and her last grasp at happiness, and of Stanley Kowalski, the one who destroyed her chance.

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My Rating: ☽☽☽/5

When Blanche goes to stay with her pregnant sister and brother-in-law, it is her last chance at being happy. With no money or relations, Blanche is lonely and relies on drink. But will living with her family save her, or destroy her?

I am sad to say I didn’t enjoy Streetcar very much. I did find the description and depth of setting and character outstanding, it has to be very well written in order to be performed on stage.

Stella: He’s on the road a good deal.
Blanche: Oh. Travels?
Stella: Yes.
Blanche: Good. I mean – isn’t it?
Stella [half to herself]: I can hardly stand it when he is away for a night…
Blanche: Why, Stella!Stella: When he’s away for a week I nearly go wild!
Blanche: Gracious!

To my understanding, Stanley is supposedly the bad guy in Streetcar. But I just felt that honestly, the characters are all just as bad as each other. Yes, Blanche had some bad stuff coming to her, but she did bring them on herself, to a point. I mean, what could she expect after very nearly undressing in front of Stanley, asking him to fasten up her dress, playfully squirting him with perfume and softly touching his thigh?

I honestly didn’t sympathize much with the characters. Although, yes, I would love to know what happened to them after the play, I don’t really care that much for them.

The plot was simple, nothing much really happened. I found the way the characters interacted with each other and how their personalities clashed very interesting, and I did find the book easy to read. But that’s due to the plot just not being very complex.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed with this book. It was like a song that I expected to get better, but never actually did.

-Beth

Review: Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

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Book: Night Owls

By: Jenn Bennett

Edition published: 2015

By: Simon & Schuster

Goodreads description: Feeling alive is always worth the risk.
Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco’s night bus—turns Beatrix’s world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive…and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists.
But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is.

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My rating: ☽☽☽☽☽/5

When Bex meets Jack on a rare nighttime ride on the Owl, San Fransisco’s night bus, her world turns upside down.

Jack is amazing, beautiful and lights fires in Bex’s heart, but there’s something behind his gorgeous eyes.

As Bex and Jack get to know each other, they learn more about each other – and themselves – than either of them ever expected.

He laughed, stretching out his long legs beneath the squat table. When he did, his thigh bumped against my knee and then stayed there, sending a chain of warm chills through my nervous system that short-circuited my frontal lobe.
“Zen would tell me to embrace the middle pencil,” he said.
“Ah, the HB pencil,” I agreed, nodding.
“So boring, that HB.”
“You’re no HB. You’re like ten Prismacolors all at once.”

This one was a slow starter for me. It was mostly due to the fact that I was still in the world of Simon and Baz, but it definitely improved after the 1/4 mark.

I must have read about 3/4 of this book just today, once I got involved with the characters I couldn’t stop reading. But before I tell you what I loved about this book, I want to tell you about my only annoyance.

There was one, tiny, tiny part of this book when Jenn mentioned the possibility of the couple being in a long distance relationship – and slightly mocking the fact that it could ever work out. Maybe it’s just be (probably) but I just felt like she meant it as a joke – that it would be impossible. I’m no longer in an LDR, but not because of the distance. But to this day, I have this tiny niggle.

Aside from that, and on an entirely different note, this book is so touching and lovely, and actually quickly became one of my favorite books. Yep, it’s up there guys! It’s seriously one of the best books I’ve ever read, the plot is original, and even though it is heavily set around romance, it isn’t…bland, flat and predictable like some books are. Well, saying that, some of this book was predictable, but the little details are so beautiful. The originality is shockingly outstanding, and as you know, I love originality.

And no matter what annoyances I have about one line in this book, it is beautiful. Inside and out.

-Beth

Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

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Book: Carry On

By: Rainbow Rowell

Published: 2015

By: Macmillan Children’s books

Goodreads description: Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

Purchase on Amazon US: Link

Purchase on Amazon UK: Link

Rating: ☽☽☽☽☽/5

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One that has ever been chosen. So how did he end up here, at Watford? The Mage’s Heir? Why was he chosen?

Simon is a magician, apparently the greatest one that has ever lived, but he can’t even cast a spell. He is hopeless, and it doesn’t help that his girlfriend has just left him, there’s a magic eating monster walking around with his face, and his enemy – roomate – hasn’t even bothered showing up this year.

“I can’t just turn it on,” I said.
“Try.
“I can’t, damn it.” I was waving my sword around – I was pretty good with a sword already at 15 – but the chimera wasn’t corporal. (Which is my rough luck, pretty much always. As soon as you start carrying a sword, all your enemies turn out mist and gossamer.)
“Close your eyes and light a match,” Baz told me. We were trying to hide behind a rock. Baz was casting spells one after another; he was practically singing them.
“What?”
“That’s what my mother used to say,” he said. “Light a match inside your heart, then blow on the tinder.”
It’s always fire with Baz. I can’t believe he hasn’t incinerated me yet. Or burned me at the stake.

Carry On is one of those books that gets under your skin and will never leave. It is amazing. It is freaking magical.

And yes, that was a cheesy joke, I know, but if you have read this book, you will understand why I made it.

Simon and Baz…they’re…indescribable. Incredible. All the big words in the world put together.

This book was the first I’ve ever read about magic. And probably not the last, but maybe the one that’ll mean the most to me.

There are so many things I could say about this book, the author and the way it’s written. But I honestly don’t think the words would come out the right way, in the right order. And even if they did, they would never, ever do it justice.

This book is beyond anything I can write, ironically. Rainbow Rowell managed to use our measly 26 letters, to write this book. But using them to describe what she wrote…is impossible. This book IS the sun. The center of my universe right now, and it feels like all of the light is coming from those pages, instead of a ball of fire.

This book, it makes everything feel okay again. It reminds you that there is good – and love – in the world, wherever you go.

It is pure beauty, in ever sense of the word.

And what, exactly, could be better than that?

-Beth

Review: Unborn by Daniel Gage

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unborn

Book: Unborn

Author: Daniel Gage

Edition Published: 2015

By: Daniel Gage and Vanquish Books

Goodreads: “It’s nothing personal. You’re just part of the transaction.”

Cameron Briggs always wondered what the strange birthmark on his shoulder meant. For his entire life, it seemed he was never meant to be anything special, that is, until the day it happened. Something dormant inside of him awoke.

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Rating: ☽☽☽☽/5

The first book in The Birthright Theft series by Daniel Gage, Unborn is an action filled science fiction novel following Cameron Briggs. Cam has always wondered what the scar on his back meant, now he’s about to find out.

One day, Cameron feels stronger and faster than he ever has before – something inside in him has stirred.

What Cam doesn’t know is that he’s a victim of birthright theft, something that is continuously on the rise. People with undesirable lives are being given a second chance, to be reborn into wealthy and even royal families.

But what happens to the people who have to give up their life for another?

“Are you sure, Cameron?” Dealer X asked. “Sure you want to do this, to get involved in this world?”

Cam flinched as Dealer X used his name, but it was the only sign of vulnerability he gave. But it was slowly replaced by realization as Cam’s determination solidified in his jaw.

“I’m already involved,” Cam said. “And I said, get off my partner.”

Unborn has to be one of the best, if not the best science fiction/action book I’ve ever read. The writing is impeccable, the story filled with suspense, the chapters quickly passing by as you’re caught up in the characters lives.

I loved the way the book starts with many characters that later become involved with one another’s lives. Yes, it is confusing, but I knew everything would be explained soon enough. And it was.

The best thing about this novel has to be how unique and original it is. I have never read a book quite like it, that adopts the same or similar concepts. And I think that has to be one of the most challenging things in modern novel-writing: finding something that no one else has attempted before. For that reason alone, I fell in love with this book. On top of this, I absolutely loved the plot, characters (especially Emma), and writing.

I’m so glad this is part of a series, and I will definitely be purchasing and reviewing the next book if it is released. I also loved the way this book left a lot unsaid, although it could be viewed as a single book.

The only warning I have is if you want to read this, prepare for gruesome parts. I wasn’t expecting some bits to be so detailed, so if you don’t like intimate, gruesome fights, you might have to skip a few pages.

NOTE: We have been kindly asked by Rachel from Vanquish Books to review this book. This is an honest and independent review and it has been my privilege to partake in this.

-Beth

Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review2 Comments

mockingjay

Book: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Edition Published: 2011

By: Scholastic UK

Goodreads summary: Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

Purchase on Amazon US: Link

Purchase on Amazon UK: Link

Rating: ☽☽☽☽/5

Katniss has now survived The Hunger Games twice, only the escape the arena on the second. But she’s still not safe. Panem is fighting back, and a revolution is unfolding. And it seems everyone has a hand in the carefully laid plans, and Katniss has to put them all together.

She has to be the Mockingjay. The symbol of the fight, the battle, the revolution. No matter what the personal cost.

It is impossible to be the Mockingjay. Impossible to complete even this one sentence. Because now I know everything I say will directly be taken out on Peeta. Result in his torture. But not his death, no, nothing so merciful as that. Snow will ensure that his life is much worse than death.

Before I talk about the good, let’s start with the things I didn’t like about this book. There isn’t many things, just one big one. One very big one in fact.

The ending. Not the very last pages, where everything is happy between Peeta and Katniss – that is possibly one of my favorite parts about the book. But the last 50 pages or so, I just…didn’t like. And I know Emma will back me up on this one.

It just felt somewhat rushed. Like Suzanne had decided each book had to be under a certain number of pages and just crammed everything in. I feel like some things that need to be explained, weren’t explained. And although The Hunger Games were abolished, Katniss is back in District 12 as she was before. She loses Prim. Annie loses Finnick. Yes, Annie loses Finnick, which means she should be mad, right? Crazy without her lover to calm her. But no, she’s barely mentioned after he dies. And when she is, she is completely sane.

It seemed like more could have happened. Like Suzanne Collins went halfway to happiness – with The Hunger Games finishing and Peeta being back to normal – but not all the way there. It’s a bit like, if you’re going to decide to go the happy way, go the happy way. Don’t start going that way and then take the second left turn off the road. This just really annoyed me, and actually made me pretty sad. I think this could be one movie that I like more than the book. I can’t wait to find out.

Now, for the good.

I have to say, this book absolutely consumed my thoughts for hours. I actually walked around, ate, thought in a daze. About this book. About Katniss. About her situation, her mind. About the Capitol. The suspense just took over, and whenever I could in the past 24 hours, I have held that book and read. And read. And read.

I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.

And I have to give The Hunger Games so much praise for this, because it evoked something in me I have never experienced before. To be so consumed in a fantasy world that the real world no longer seems normal. And just, simply for this, I believe this book and this series deserves 5 stars. I feel, currently, like this book deserves all the fricking stars in the sky. And beyond. I am truly part of the fandom. And The Hunger Games is honestly the best series I’ve ever read.

Is The Hunger Games a dystopian series?

This is something I would really like to discuss. Apparently, The Hunger Games falls under the adventure fiction, science fiction, drama and action genres, but not dystopian (according to Wikipedia, anyway). But obviously, this series is dystopian. Unless, of course, it is not set in the future. Because anyone in their right mind would classify the actual Games (and Panem) as undesirable. So, it comes down to the question, is The Hunger Games set in the future? And, is it a dystopian series?

-Beth

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review2 Comments

catching fire

Book: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

Edition Published: 2011

By: Scholastic UK

Goodreads summary: Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol – a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Purchase on Amazon US: Link

Purchase on Amazon UK: Link

Rating: ☽☽☽☽☽/5

Katniss and Peeta survived the 74th Annual Hunger Games, and now the Capitol wants revenge.

The tributes from District 12 are now part of another battle. Ever since Katniss tricked the Capitol into letting two people win The Hunger Games, there have been whispers of an uprising, a rebellion against all they’ve ever known.

Now, all eyes in Panem are on the “star-crossed lovers.” Can they live up to their expectations, and put out the flames that are just starting to spread?

There. He’s done it again. Dropped a bomb that wipes out the efforts of every tribute who came before him. Well, maybe not. Maybe this year he has only lit a fuse on a bomb that the victors themselves have been building. Hoping someone would be able to detonate it. Perhaps thinking it would be me in my bridal gown. Not knowing how much I rely on Cinna’s talents, whereas Peeta needs nothing more than his wits.

As the bomb explodes, it sends accusations of injustice and barbarism and cruelty flying out in every direction. Even the most Capitol-loving, Games-hungry, bloodthirsty person out there can’t ignore, at least for a moment, how horrific the whole thing is.

I am pregnant.

I absolutely am in love with Suzanne’s writing. She has become near the top in my favorite author list. She is not just a writer, an author, but a person who works magic, casts spells. Magic that makes minutes spent reading seem like seconds as you flick between pages, intensely reading.

I love the plot of Catching Fire, it is very different from the first book. It makes the series unified, yet separate. Obviously, there is elements of the first book that filter in to the second, but there is also alarming differences too. Katniss’s attitude and maturity, her thoughts and emotions, and the fact that she is willing to work with allies, for example.

It makes the books interesting, instead of boring, which they could very easily be. No one would want to read a series that just repeats events from the books before. The Hunger Games does the complete opposite of that. It keeps you alert and ready to read. No matter where you are or what you are doing.

-Beth