Whisper To Me

By Nick Lake

3.5/5

This book was absolutely nothing like I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a fluffy, cheesy chick-flick but instead I got a rare story about mental illness, in particular Schizophrenia. Most YA books that cover the topic of mental health deal with anxiety and depression so it was really interesting to read about a different illness.

When I first started reading this book and Cassie was hearing a voice, I thought it was a supernatural/paranormal book due to Cassie believing the voice was real, meaning myself as a reader thought the voice was real. This is what made the book so gripping; for some time I thought the voice was real and that all threats it made were going to come true. However, when Cassie realised that the voice was all in her head, this did not make the story any less thrilling. It opened my eyes to what someone suffering with Schizophrenia really goes through and it is utterly heartbreaking.

I love the format of this book as Cassie is writing an email to her ex-boyfriend apologising for all the things she put him through when she was struggling with her mental illness, so we get a first-hand experience with the ‘voice.’ Unfortunately, we never find out of the boyfriend reads this email and agrees to meet Cassie but from hearing about his character through Cassie’s narrative, I think (and hope) that he does agree to meet. I love the whole ‘murder mystery’ element of this book also; there is a ‘Houdini Killer’ who is killing girls who are, what Cassie’s voice describes as, ‘whores’ (I really hate this word and I don’t condone the use of it). What is most interesting is how the men and women react differently to this killer, with some men believing it is the girls’ fault for dressing so provocatively (a major topic in the media today).

I liked most of the characters in this book but one I really did not like is Cassie’s father. I understand that he has some issues of his own but he was a really nasty, vile man and it would have been nice to see him also get some help at the end.

Overall I did really enjoy this book but I feel it is one of those that if you read it again, it wouldn’t hold the same suspense or excitement as it did the first time which is why I only gave it a 3.5/5 as I can’t see myself reaching for it again.

My Life Next Door

By Huntley Fitzpatrick

3/5

This is a really fun, summer read that follows Samantha and her “life next door” with Jase Garrett and the rest of the Garrett family. Samantha’s mother is very strict and has very conservative views and so forbids her daughters from befriending the Garrett family. But one night, the third eldest of the siblings, 17 year old Jase, hops onto Samantha’s balcony and they form a very quick friendship.

I really enjoyed seeing Samantha interact with the Garrett siblings, especially the younger ones as she has never had to communicate with and look after children before but she steps right into the role of another big sister for them to look after. I adored Jase Garrett and I would love if every boy could be like him; thoughtful, caring and a perfect gentlemen. He really pushes Sam to question what her mother has always told her. A character I really didn’t like was Nan, Sam’s best friend, who decides towards the end of the novel that she no longer wants to be friends with Sam after years of friendship. I think Nan is utterly selfish and unnecessarily cruel. However, I did like Nan’s brother, Tim, towards the end of the novel as he becomes a good friend to both Sam and Jase. I despised Sam’s mother; she lacks any maternal instincts and only thinks about herself. I didn’t mind her until a certain occurrence in the book which really made me hate her, and as a result I lost faith in Sam.

I only gave this book a 3/5 because although it was a fun, easy summer read, I expected to enjoy it a lot more than I did because of such positive comments I had seen on Bookstagram. To be honest, the book really didn’t live up to my expectations and I expected a lot more to happen when nothing really did. However, I will probably read this book again next summer and I do recommend it to anyone who loves cheesy contemporary YA.

The Unexpected Everything

By Morgan Matson

4/5

I surprisingly really enjoyed this book. I’ve read two of Morgan Matson’s books before (Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour and Since You’ve Been Gone) and I really didn’t rate them. I found them really boring and I finished them with no intention of picking them up again. As a result, I was very sceptical about buying this book so I bought it in the supermarket (which I don’t usually like to do because I get points when I buy from Waterstones) where it was considerably cheaper. This book was very hyped up on Bookstagram and I was expecting to be disappointed. I wasn’t. While I didn’t love this book, I did really enjoy it.

It was a really fun summer read with cute boys, sunny days, the beach and whole lot of dogs (I’m a cat person but I became a dog person for the duration of this book). I feel as though the characters lacked a little depth; we didn’t really learn that much about them, except for Clark because we were learning about him through Andie due to the first person narrative. I thought Clark was utterly adorable and the perfect boyfriend and I loved the little snippets of his story that popped up every so often. I wasn’t a huge fan of Andie but not so much that she ruined the book for me. I loved the friendship dynamic; I love books with close groups of friends who do really fun and spontaneous things together. I also really liked Andie’s dad as I could see how hard he was trying and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop through the course of the book.

I will definitely be picking this book up again next summer and I recommend it to any fans of Contemporary YA. I also have a question; for those of you who have read The Unexpected Everything, what is your opinion on what Bri did? I would love it if you could leave your opinion in the comments (but please try not to spoil the book for those who haven’t read it) and if you have stumbled across this post from following me on Bookstagram, leave your opinion in my last picture of The Unexpected Everything.

How Hard Can Love Be?

By Holly Bourne

4.5/5

How Hard Can Love Be? Is the second book in the Normal trilogy and it follows Amber as she goes to work at an American Summer Camp to spend time with her mum.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Am I Normal Yet? and to be honest, I’m not really sure why because it was brilliantly written, hilarious yet also thought-provoking and a little heart-breaking. It has taken me a couple of days to read which is very unlike me as I can usually read a book this size in a day. I feel I wasn’t as engrained in the story so I found it easier to stop reading and put down for a few hours and then pick back up again. My other issue with this book is that I feel it ended a bit abruptly, I was expecting to follow Kyle and Amber on their road trip but this didn’t happen. However, I did like how the book ended, especially Kyle’s love letter.

I adore Amber’s character; she is incredibly funny and her passion for feminism is really uplifting. Despite all her crying in the book, which is understandable considering her relationship with her mum and her situation with her parents, she is incredibly brave and she has a positive outlook of the world. I also really love Whinnie, Russ and Kyle, even though we don’t see as much of Russ as I would like. Whinnie is so endearing and the kind of friend anyone would want to have. Kyle is utterly perfect and I would really like it if he could just step out of the pages of the book and become my boyfriend. He’s the perfect gentlemen; kind, understanding and chivalrous but he also deals with some self-esteem issues which I think is really nice to see because boys are often stereotyped as never having these feelings.

The setting of the American Summer Camp has really made me want to hop on a plane and fly to America to participate in camp activities despite having the biggest fear of flying. This is a perfect summer contemporary that I will definitely be picking up again next year.

When We Collided

By Emery Lord

4/5

Firstly, this book is incredibly poetic so if you don’t like flowery image and long description this isn’t the book for you. I didn’t know what to expect going into this book but I had seen a lot of positive comments on Bookstagram (the Instagram book community).  I didn’t actually realise that it was a book about mental health. I haven’t read very many books about mental health, I could probably count them all on one hand in fact. I wasn’t engrossed in this book from the first few chapters which is usually something I like to be; I actually thought I was going to end up putting it down and reading something else because I really disliked the character of Vivi. However, as I learnt more about what she was going through, I realised how easy it is to judge someone when you don’t know the full story and by the end of the novel, I sympathised with Vivi and felt as though we ended as firm friends. The character of Jonah, on the other hand, I loved from the beginning to the end. I thought he was incredibly strong and brave and I especially liked seeing him in the family dynamic with his five other siblings. I also haven’t read many books where there has been a strong family environment and so this was another thing that made me really enjoy this book. I thought all characters went through a lot of development which is good to see in a YA novel.

I did give this book a 4/5 purely because of how long it took me to get into it.

I am not usually one to read the Author’s Note at the end of a novel but I found myself continuing to read it when I reached the end of the book and the words of Emery Lord really stuck with me. She says; “I worry that we’re not talking about mental health enough. And if we’re not talking about it enough, how can we possibly shine enough light into places that can feel very dark and very lonely?” Following these words, I am going to make it my mission to read more books on issues surrounding mental health as I do believe it is really important to beat the stigma and to give people, who suffer bravely everyday with all kinds of mental health issues, a voice.