Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

By Benjamin Alire Saenz

4.5/5

I’ve seen this book getting a lot of praise on Bookstagram so when I was placing an Amazon order of some textbooks for university, I decided to add it to my basket. This was a good decision. I devoured this book in a day and I completely understand why everyone is so in love with the story.

Ari and Dante have stolen my heart. Their character development and relationship with each other is utterly perfect and is what makes this story so special. I love how by being friends with each other, it enabled them to experience friendship with other people. The unconditional love that the two share is all anyone could want from a best friend and really is what makes this book so beautiful. I am not a huge fan of the writing style (which is why I gave this book a 4/5) but the plot and characters more than make up for this. I love the family dynamic and how Ari and Dante grow with their families and become who they are because of them. I love Sam’s character; I think he’s the sort of father that every teenage boy (and girl) would love to have, and I really liked how much of an impact he had, not just on Dante, but on Ari and his family too.

I laughed and I cried whilst reading this book which is always a good sign; as I have said before, if a book can make me cry then I know it’s good. I will most definitely be rereading this book and I highly recommend it to anyone. Without spoiling anything, the last few pages of the book are so beautiful making me smile and cry with happiness, so this book is worth a read just for these final few pages.

The Loose Ends List

By Carrie Firestone

3.5/5

This book is beautiful. Definitely not the best book I’ve read but still utterly beautiful. The story follows Maddie and her family as they set off on a cruise where people with life-threatening illnesses go to die (kind of like Dignitas but on a boat). I have a lot of opinions on Euthanasia which I won’t share as I don’t want to offend or upset anyone but I think that no matter your opinion, you should definitely read this book.

The family dynamic is central to this book and I thought Maddie’s family were fantastic; her Grandma is hilarious, her cousin is someone I would love to be friends with and her Uncle Wes is fabulous. Maddie’s family meets other families who are experiencing the same thing they are on the boat and it is lovely to get to know so many other characters and watch as they all lean on each other in times of need. Paige and her daughter are two of my favourite characters as well as Mark and his brother.

However, this book is not just about death; it is about adventure and travel, grief and acceptance, friendship and romance, all wrapped up in one heart-warming, yet equally heart-breaking book. I’m really enjoying books about travel right now as I have a huge fear of flying so I travel vicariously through the characters in books (even though I get extreme wanderlust), and the places explored in this book are places that have been on my bucket list for a long time thus I really enjoyed reading about them.

The writing style isn’t my favourite but the plot and the characters make this book really special. I would wholeheartedly recommend!

The Glittering Court

By Richelle Mead

2.5/5

This book really disappointed me. I expected forbidden romance, danger, temptation, betrayal and I got none of this. There was no excitement to this book; the characters lacked depth, the plot was boring and overall, this book just fell really flat. This is really upsetting to me as I am a big fan of Richelle Mead; her Vampire Academy series was the first YA series I had ever read and I still adore it to this day because of its fast-paced plotline, relatable characters and gorgeous romance. This is what I expected The Glittering Court to be like but sadly, this is not the case.

I like the idea of The Glittering Court, a finishing school for working-class ladies, and I like the Elizabethan era in which the book is set. Although religion appeared to play a huge part in the book, it didn’t actually have any real impact. As a reader, we didn’t even get to learn too much about the characters but I understand that The Glittering Court is set to be a trilogy with each book from a different girls perspective (so book two and three will be from Mira and Tamsin’s perspective) so Richelle couldn’t go into too much detail about the minor characters history and reasoning.

Unfortunately, I don’t see myself going out to buy the remainder of the trilogy when it is released but I am not giving up on Richelle Mead as an author. Although I wouldn’t recommend this book, I highly recommend Vampire Academy and its sequel series.

Angel, Angel Fire, Angel Fever

By LA Weatherly

2.5/5

When I first read this series a couple of years ago, I absolutely loved it. The romance was epic, the plotline was intense and the characters were moving. However, after a recent reread (in which I only managed to get through the first book, Angel, before I gave up) my opinion has completely changed. Maybe it’s because I’m older now but ‘angels’ just seem really immature now.

As I have mentioned before, if I am reading a fantasy novel, I like for a new world to be created in which the fantasy creatures can exist. For example, Prythian in A Court of Thorns and Roses or the Shadow World in The Mortal Instruments series (I know it is set in New York but there is a fantasy world within the mortal world). When fantasy creatures exist just in the real world, I don’t connect to the story as well because it just seems so far-fetched. This is a reason why I no longer like this trilogy.

The writing style and the characters aren’t terrible. Willow irritates me a little but I can cope with her; Alex is totally gorgeous as are most boys in YA novels, but I really couldn’t connect with them. I don’t remember much about the second and third book but I know that Willow kisses someone who isn’t Alex and Alex kisses someone who isn’t Willow and this really doesn’t sit well with me as they spend the last part of the first book telling each other how much they love each other on every other line so why would you cheat?

This review is turning into a bit of a rant so I’m just going to end by saying if you like books about angels, the series is probably for you but if you don’t like books about angels, don’t read it. (Also, these covers are truly awful).

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour

By Morgan Matson

3.5/5

I recently reread this book as I was in a bit of a reading slump and needed a short book to get me out of it and this was the shortest book on my shelf. I didn’t have high hopes for my reread as this book fell flat for me the first time I read it; I didn’t understand the hype as I found it rather boring and a bit dull. However, my opinion has completely changed with my second read and I am really glad that I picked this book back up.

What I really love about this book is that on every 10 or so pages, there is a playlist that Amy or Roger’s characters created and this helps the reader to really get involved with their journey. There is also pictures and notes made my Amy that she documents in her scrapbook so as a reader, it almost feels like we are there with them. There were also flashbacks to a time when Amy’s dad was alive and it was nice to get to know his character even though he was no longer there.

For the most part the story is quite light-hearted but Amy is struggling with the death of her father so we follow her journey to accepting his death, as well as her journey across the country. I really like Amy’s character and I feel as though she grows and develops a lot throughout the book. I also liked Roger’s character and it was interesting to see him accept his own issues, whilst unknowingly helping Amy with hers. There are some many characters that pop up along the way such as Bron and Drew, friends of Roger’s, who are characters that I also really liked as they too helped Amy along her journey. I don’t think there was a character in this book that I didn’t like (except Hadley).

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is a super fun, light-hearted read that has given me major wanderlust! I will definitely be picking it up again.

The Scorpio Races

By Maggie Stiefvater

4/5

As many of you may know, Maggie Stiefvater is my favourite author and The Scorpio Races was the one book of hers that I hadn’t read due to it being quite difficult to get a hold of in the UK. After a few failed attempts at trying to get it from Waterstones, I made an Amazon order and I finally had it in my hands.

This book is so incredibly magical and I honestly wonder sometimes where Maggie comes up with her ideas for books because they are so unique. The story is written from the dual narrative of Puck and Sean, who have both entered ‘The Scorpio Races’ for different reasons but find themselves drawn together so of course, there is a little bit of romance. The ‘water horses’ fascinated  me greatly and even by the end of the book I still do not truly know what they are but that is the beauty of this book. I adored most of the characters; Finn, Puck’s little brother, was utterly adorable but it was also heart-breaking at times to read about him; George Holly was an interesting character and I liked seeing how someone so wealthy and so business orientated could find a little peace and pleasure on a small island run by wild horses. I of course loved Puck and Sean and their dynamic, I think they complimented each other really well. The end of the book was semi-predictable but not enough so that you knew what would happen; there was also going to be a disaster just waiting to happen.

The only reason I gave this book a 4/5 is because I didn’t like it as much as The Raven Cycle or my absolute favourite book, Shiver. However, I feel that if I had read this book a few years ago when I was a horse rider myself and a little obsessed, it definitely would have gained a 5/5.

The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting

By Holly Bourne

3.5/5

Anyone who has read my reviews before, follows me on Bookstagram or is a personal friend of mine knows how much I love Holly Bourne’s books. Her characters are really relatable, incredibly witty and, to some extent, experience the things that all teenagers go through.

Unfortunately, The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting really did not live up to my expectations. As I much mentioned before, I dislike third person narratives and this had one throughout so I couldn’t really relate to the characters. I thought the plot was very far-fetched in places also; Bree infiltrated the popular group so quickly and easily which would never happen, and I really didn’t like the student-teacher relationship but I understand why it was put in there. Honestly, I just really didn’t like any of these characters.

I liked the acknowledgment to mental health and how Bree wasn’t judged when her ‘friend’ found out. I also liked watching how Bree’s relationship with her parents grew and developed, especially with her mum who was a character that I did quite like. This book was rather sad, as it shows the lengths that people will go to to prove they’re worth something, or to gain popularity/be liked, and I did really like this.

I did enjoy this book yet I don’t think I will be in a rush to reread it. However, it has definitely not put me off Holly Bourne’s work and I will be the first in line to pick up a new book of hers when one is next released.