and a Happy New Year?

By Holly Bourne

3.5/5

I have been highly anticipating this little novella since I finished reading What’s A Girl Gotta Do? I love Holly Bourne’s writing and I was very exciting to see Evie, Amber and Lottie again.

The story is written in hourly sections as the countdown to midnight begins and in each section there are three chapters, one for each of the girls, which I enjoyed because the story is about how they’ve all drifted apart from another so it was interesting to see each girls reasons for this and how they individually felt about things. I especially liked Amber’s chapters as I feel she really matured as a character in the time between the books. However, I found that I really did not get along with Lottie’s character anymore, which is a shame because I really liked how outspoken and confident she was but in this book she just seemed too confident and a little cocky. I loved the chapters from Evie’s perspective, they tugged on the heartstrings as we watched her internal struggle with how she feels about Oli’s relapse.

This is a really fun, but emotional, book about friendship and relationships set at one of the most magical times of the year. I highly recommend if you are a fan of Holly Bourne and The Spinster Club, or if you just want something quick and easy to read.

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Various authors

3/5

This is a collection of short stories about Christmas written by various YA authors to support the charity Crisis. The stories are all completely separate so it is a really good book to read if you have a spare 20 minutes or so every day as you can read one story and not have to worry about forgetting the plot as they are all individual. To be truthful, I hadn’t heard of most of the authors who have stories in this book and I only purchased it because there is a story by Holly Bourne and she is one of my favourite authors. However, I will definitely be looking into some of the authors as I really enjoyed most of the other stories.

This is quite a difficult book to review because it would take me a long time to review every single story so I’m just going to list a few of my favourites. Of course, The Afterschool Club by Holly Bourne was one of my favourites, but I also really enjoyed Ghosts of Christmas Past by Non Pratt, Family You Choose by Cat Clarke and Homo for Christmas by Juno Dawson.

I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something to get you into the festive spirit and if you just want a quick and easy read. This book also supports a really great cause so you know your money is being used well.

How to Find Love in a Bookshop

By Veronica Henry

4/5

This book is utterly gorgeous. It made me laugh and cry in equal measures and it has definitely enhanced by dream to open up my own bookshop. The story follows a number of characters who are all linked by Nightingale Books, a lovely bookshop owned by Julius Nightingale before he died (if you have seen the films Valentine’s Day or New Year’s Eve, this book is kind of like those films in that all the characters know each other in some way).

I adored all of the characters in this book, especially Dillon and Jackson. However, due to this following different characters perspectives, the author only scratches the surface with her characters; we do not really find out too much about them. Despite this, the book is still romantic and endearing and I will most definitely be reading it again.

What I liked most about this book is how much it understood me as a reader. I could pick out many quotes that stand out for me in this book but this is one of my favourites; “So that was why people read. Because books explained things: how you thought, and how you behaved, and made you realise you were not alone in doing what you did or feeling what you felt.” I think this quite perfectly captures what it is to be a fan of literature, whether that be children or YA fiction, adult fiction or even non-fiction to an extent, and how understanding this book is of us as readers is what really made it so special. A definite must-read!

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.

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.