tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46420919976311500092024-02-07T00:28:47.539-08:00Reading The Riot ActBook Blogger/ReviewerLouise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-91866985964126522672018-02-24T11:27:00.002-08:002018-02-24T11:27:59.992-08:00The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i> <i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is - a woman with the courage to bare her soul to stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh.</span></i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Image Courtesy of <a class="" href="https://booksandstrips.wordpress.com/tag/the-girl-with-the-lowerback-tattoo-review/" target="_blank">bookandstrips</a></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Published August 17th 2016 by Harper Collins</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">336 Pages</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everyone has heard of Amy Schumer, and whether you are a fan of her or not, there is no denying she is a talented woman. Personally, I love Amy Schumer. I find it refreshing to see someone who is beautiful and smart and funny without feeling as though I would need an entire team of stylists to achieve her look. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If we take away her celebrity when looking at this book, you still feel the humour in the pages. I never used to be one to enjoy celebrity life-stories, but Amy Schumer has done something slightly different. It is not so much discussing her fame, as discussing who she is, and what she thinks about the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The pages are chock full of hilarious stories as expected, but she writes them with a real flair for words and insight that is often missing from traditional actress memoirs. Schumer is honest, raw and unashamed. She speaks of her family and friends with a deep love that translates to the reader.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I knew very little about Schumer before reading this book, and although she doesn't exactly lay out every moment of her childhood, she really gives a sense of the people around her, and so to an extent reflects herself in the depiction of her loved ones. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I adored this book, especially the audible edition. I would hate to spoil all the stories within it's pages because part of the charm is that you have no ideas what she could possibly say next. But there is only one way to find out...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial";">You can find me on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Goodreads </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">. Until then...Happy Reading.</span></span><br />
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-18269016540253690912018-02-20T02:56:00.000-08:002018-02-20T02:56:24.776-08:00Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>La</i></span><i style="color: #181818;">ura and Tyler are two young women who have been tearing up the city streets for ten years, leaving a trail of angry drug dealers and spent men in their wake. Now Laura is engaged to be married and her teetotal classical pianist fiancé, Jim, is away overseas. Tyler wants to keep the party going but Laura is torn between the constant temptations provided by her best friend and a calmer life with Jim on the horizon. As the wedding draws closer, the duo’s limits are tested, along with their friendship.</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Courtesy of <a href="http://www.vivatramp.co.uk/2017/07/book-reviews-feat-meghan-hunter-tbr.html" target="_blank">VivaTramp</a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published May 20th 2014 by Harper Collins</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">256 Pages</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Laura is trapped between two worlds. She's engaged to classcal musician Jim, planning a wedding and trying to act like a grown-up. On the other hand, Best Friend Tyler is a trainwreck. Together they tiptoe the line of alcohol dependency and generally cause hilarious mayhem. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Laura is struggling with how an adult should act, and wanting to escape the seriousness with Tyler. Admittedly, Tyler is a shitbrick. She steals from a drug dealer, has little empathy for Laura's problems and shows no respect for her relationship with Jim. That being said, I have to admit, as a young woman I have found myself in similar situations - although far less extreme. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The North of England is a far different place than the south, adn Unsworthr epresentes it perfectly. The drinking culture is more aggressive, and sloppier - far sloppier. Laura's reluncatance to take on an adult life but also her desire for a "normal" life completely resonates with me, and I imagine, a huge amount of other young women. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Laura and Tyler play with what is expected of women and what the reality is. They are vulgar, gross, dark, comical and sexual. I adore every moment of their relationship...eventhe inevitable downfall. Life desires movement, and when Tyler refuses to grow up and take responsability for her actions - Laura must let her go or risk being dragged into drug abuse and acoholism with her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim, portrays himself as the perfect man. He's talented and handsome as far as we are concerned. He is an upstanding member of the community who takes care of Laura even when she comes in drunk. I mean, what a hero right? He lays the guilt on thick, and is critical and shitty to Laura. All the way through I keep asking: 'What the fuck is this guy's problem?' Well, he tried to fuck one of his work colleagues. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prick. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The beautiful climax of the story is when Laura finds out, and Jim reports that he could not infact cheat on her, because he was too drunk to get hard. Nothing is romanticised, everything is down and dirty and I love it. Nothing is off limits, Unsworth doesn't seem to care about your delicate sensibilites and to be honest, neither to do many writer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ending, is quiet. It's the only way I can describe it. Laura finds some kind of resolve, a decision about moving into the future without both Jim and Tyler and it feels triumphant. She does not need them, she never did. It may be quiet, but it is hella powerful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">You can find me on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Goodreads </a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">. Until then...Happy Reading.</span></div>
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-43115918666185385212018-02-19T03:04:00.002-08:002018-02-24T11:32:44.870-08:00Moonrise by Sarah Crossan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'They think I hurt someone. </span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I didn't. You hear?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Coz people are gonna be telling you</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>all kinds of lies.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I need you to know the truth.'</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>From one-time winner and two-time Carnegie Medal shortlisted author Sarah Crossan, this poignant, stirring, huge-hearted novel asks big questions. What value do you place on life? What can you forgive? And just how do you say goodbye?</i></span><i>. </i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Image Courtesy of <a href="http://www.readaraptor.co.uk/moonrise-sarah-crossan/" target="_blank">Readaraptor</a></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moonrise by Sarah Crossan</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>September 7th 2017 by Bloomsbury Childrens</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">400 Pages</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sarah Crossan is a professional on the quick read. The lyrical poetry of her fiction is unlike any other author I have read, and these books are perfect for getting out a book hangover. Unlike her usual novels, which are centrally focused in her home country of England, Crossan takes us over to the colonies this time - to take on the American Justice System.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As an English-woman, I have very little knowledge of the American Justice System other than what I've read on Buzzfeed or Sky News stories on Donald Trump. Crossan takes me into the world of the American small town - an idea romanticised in film and television. In Moonrise, it's a much more depressing place, in fact, everywhere is because Joseph Moon is preparing to watch his brother die.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Edward Moon was coerced into signing a confession of homicide of a police officer at the age of seventeen. Our story follows years after, when the legally bound Edward is to be executed in Kirkland, Texas. Joseph Moon, his younger brother has taken the long journey across the Atlantic to be at his brother's side, and to make one final push for his brother's life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Joseph is a talented young man, with a future ahead of him, yet he finds himself lingering in Kirkland - unable to face visiting his brother and fixing cars for food. Despite the distance that grew between the brother's after his conviction, they share (with their sister Angela) a shared traumatic childhood. Their mother was an abusive alcoholic, and once she disappeared when Edward was convicted, and abusive aunt took her place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The death penalty has been a hot topic for years. In Britain, we do not have it. As far as we are concerned as a society - the death penalty appears like an eye for an eye sort of deal. I struggle to understand what it must be like on death row, deserved or not. Edward's hope that something will save him is tragic, whether he is guilty or not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Joseph is so young too. He's barely out of school and having to take on such a huge responsibility. He fills out the narrative with memories and flashback that give such a sense of all the characters it is hard to imagine that they aren't all living, breathing people. The entire book is exquisite, poignant and it reads like breathing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crossan has hit it out of the park again, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial";">You can find me on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Goodreads </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">. Until then...Happy Reading.</span></span></div>
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-84306824235182511602018-02-18T09:26:00.001-08:002018-02-24T11:33:48.323-08:00There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Makani Young thought she'd left her dark past behind her in Hawaii, settling in with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska. She's found new friends and has even started to fall for mysterious outsider Ollie Larsson. But her past isn't far behind.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Then, one by one, the students of Osborne Hugh begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasingly grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and her feelings for Ollie intensify, Makani is forced to confront her own dark secrets</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">.</span></i>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's someone inside your house by Stephanie Perkins</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">289 Pages</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all remember Stephanie Perkins of Anna and the French Kiss. It feels as though it has been a million years since we last heard from her but finally, just in time for Halloween, she released a new horror novel for us to enjoy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, I am not a horror fan. I have an overactive imagination and deep, deep paranoia that really just does not suit well to fans of the horror genre. Thankfully, this book serves as almost a precursor to the horror genre. I mean there are murders, and gore like any self=respecting horror book. But this is entry level horror for the wimps out there like me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We follow Makani, who in horror tradition has just moved to town. There is all this secrecy in regards to her past. Why did she move suddenly? Why won't she talk about what happened there? Then, enter the murders. Students are slaughtered left right and centre. Perkins has set up a hell mystery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The murderer seems to be coming only for Makani, they are after her for some reason. At this point, I thought I had the book figured. I was expecting a Johnny Depp, The Secret Garden sort of plot line. TWIST MAKANI IS THE MURDERER! But that didn't happen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We get side-tracked by this love story. And I'm into it, the guy is hot and I'm rooting for my Hawaiian babe to get a bit of action. Then, out of nowhere, they figure out who the murderer is, and I can't even tell you - because he's such a small character. Here is where everything begins to fall apart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not so much a shock, as a....who? Who the hell is that guy? Oh, that's right he was in the peripheral at the beginning and seems to have no actual motive. The murders and Makani's shady past have no connection whatsoever. The plot begins to reek of broken promises.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me make this clear...there is nothing wrong with subverting expectation. But this book didn't seem to be doing it for any reason. It read more like Perkins realised the murderer was easy to guess - so bullsh**ted. I can see her now, furiously typing on a keyboard yelling 'FUCK IT!' at the top of her lungs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Girl. I feel you - but there is such a thing as reader expectations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Follow the genre tropes or subvert it, but don't do both.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial";">You can find me on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Goodreads </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">. Until then...Happy Reading.</span></span></div>
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-12916670465114033642018-02-17T15:47:00.001-08:002018-02-17T16:25:41.209-08:00The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher<b>Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</b><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The Princess Diarist</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Star Wars</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">movie. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Star Wars</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Courtesy of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/the_fiction_feline/" target="_blank">The Fiction Feline</a><br />
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<b>The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher</b><br />
<b>257 Pages</b></div>
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Guess who discovered Audible?<br />
Guess who very much enjoys Audible?<br />
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I swear I'm not trying to sell you Amazon. I am just sort of in shock that listening to a book can be even more evocative than reading at times. Not with fantasy, not for a moment can I enjoy a fictitious story voiced by anyone other than my own consciousness. Non-fiction, however, that I love to have read to me.<br />
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In the times of Jane Austen people would read aloud to each other all the time. I think audiobooks are trying to do the same thing and having the author reading their work - emphasis where intended and stories known like the scars on the back of your hand. It's pretty amazing really, I found myself totally absorbed by Fisher - and only now have I discovered what an amazing person we lost last year.<br />
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I will make this very plain. I have never felt as though I am "like everyone else." I'm too vulgar and harsh for the girly girls and too girly for the tomboys. So where the hell we're my people? The people who had to say what was on their mind because if not, that thought will rot and burn inside me until I falter like a lunatic. I've really never felt so understood than I did listening to Fisher's words.<br />
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She had brilliant comic timing, an exciting life that I can only dream of and was truly, truly honest about things I don't think many people are. She remembers what she thought as a teenager, the way her young mind logically led her places. It is so detailed I almost begin to wonder if anything she says is real, but that's half the fun.<br />
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I think I might be mourning. I was never a huge Star Wars fan and even now I cannot fully enjoy the films without scoffing and laughing at its expense...but something happened with this book. I think became a Carrie Fisher fan. A woman who was sexual and vulgar and eloquent and educated (even though she refused to accept that.) A woman who was funny, and knew that was her weapon.<br />
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It is a brutally revealing story - brutal to herself and to people around her. (Sorry Harrison!) But it's also beautiful and it feels fitting that this, the ultimate telling of her life. A book so concerned with its author I can almost feel her breath on the pages. It's fitting that this was her last book and terribly tragic at the same time.<br />
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If only I had got on the Leia Bandwagon all those years ago when my father tried to drag me onto it.<br />
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-80556260069017799572017-08-16T07:24:00.001-07:002018-02-17T16:26:00.061-08:00We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</b></span><br />
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</b></span> <i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText4314375610555537883" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Nicu has emigrated from Romania and is struggling to find his place in his new home. Meanwhile, Jess's home life is overshadowed by violence. When Nicu and Jess meet, what starts out as friendship grows into romance as the two bond over their painful pasts and hopeful futures. But will they be able to save each other, let alone themselves?<br />For fans of Una LaMarche’s Like No Other, this illuminating story told in dual points of view through vibrant verse will stay with readers long after they've turned the last page.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="https://ardentlyalice.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/we-come-apart-by-sarah-crossan-brian-conaghan/" target="_blank">Most Ardently Alice</a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Published February 9th 2017 by Bloomsbury</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hardback</b><span style="background-color: white;"><b> 320 Pages</b></span></span><br />
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</b></span></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">There are those books, the ones that leave you hungover - and you have no idea what story will ever get you out of it. You pray for a cure...well, pray no more. <b>We Come Apart</b> is the perfect hangover book. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First off, it's written in verse, so you fly through this thing. When you are hung up on another book it can feel like the pages won't pass. You are trying so hard to push through but are achieving nothing. That's why this is so perfect, every page has like thirty words and it just soars. It likely also helps that this story...is beautiful. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nicu is a Romanian teen living in England. It's safe to say he hates it, with his basic knowledge of English and an uncertain future in which his family will buy him a wife - he is not in a good place. Neither is Jess, she's got done for shoplifting, again and her family are not supportive. Jess's step-dad is beating her mother and her brother is gone, run away and she is left defenseless. Inevitably, both mixed up kids end up in a young offenders group. They meet once a week to pick up rubbish and pay their debt to society. Whilst most are roughens and mock Nicu - Jess finds he's the only person she can speak to. He is the only person who knows about her family and she is the only one who knows about him. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At school, Nicu and Jess don't talk. Jess just can't deal, it's like Nicu is a target for trouble and all her friends attack him. Literally, everything he does they take as a sign of aggression. It angers them, his existence. And Jess keeps quiet - until she can't. Things go too far and her "best friend" accuses him of touching her. She leaps to his defense and then they are inseparable. I was waiting for this moment, craving it, when Jess would finally discover that being a good person is better than being popular. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Afterwards, it feels like everything is going to be okay - but of course, hate runs deep and after showing them up at school - Jess's EX friends want revenge. Jess's step-dad is coming fro her, she needs to run and Nicu wants to run too. He refuses to marry the wife bought for him, and he's going back to Romania. He flees, with Jess. Then, it all goes to shit. There's a fight, we get caught in it. And someone is stabbed. Jess and Nicu are going to prison. They run. Nicu is covered in blood, someone else's blood. He won't get away, not with this, not when he isn't British. He tells her to meet him on the train...and like a ding-bat, she believes him. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The police arrive...and Jess watches Nicu disappear into the distance. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They come apart. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is lovely and tragic and even though I slowly started to think something like this might happen, it still broke my heart.. Nicu and Jess are too cute together, both of them just trying to make their way in a world where the odds are stacked against them. Honestly, they we're not doing that bad. They were lost. Yes. They were angry. Yes. But, they were kind to each other. They managed to be empathetic and kind when the world around them cannot offer the same. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>We Come Apart </b>was wonderful, and I would expect nothing from Sarah Crossan, her books are always consistently well-written and enjoyable. I gave this book 4 stars! I wish there was more, but also really enjoyed the fleeting tale of Nicu and Jess. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial";">You can find me on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">, </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Goodreads </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">and </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial";">. Until then...Happy Reading.</span></span><br />
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<br /><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-64210964787148548572017-08-14T11:49:00.000-07:002017-08-16T07:27:22.340-07:00Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<span id="freeText17789729177423494639"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em>Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:<br />
<br />
Break into the notorious Ice Court<br />
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)<br />
<br />
Retrieve a hostage<br />
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)<br />
<br />
Survive long enough to collect his reward<br />
(and spend it)<br />
<br />
Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done - and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.</em></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reading the Riot Act Blog</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Published June 2nd 2016 by Orion's Children's Books</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paperback 491 Pages</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Behold! A book I read months ago and then proceeded to forget to review. I know, that might suggest I didn't like this book - well, you are hella wrong. Is this thing a beast? YES! Did it take me almost a month to read? SUPER YES! Will I read the next one? Eventually...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Seriously, this thing was good but it was a slow read - I wouldn't dare try and smash through this bad boy for a read-a-thon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>Six of Crows</strong> follow a rag-tag group of brutal criminals, trying to make it large in Ravka. (You know, the Russian-esque country from Bardugo's Grisha series?) There really is nothing like old friends, but unfortunately they are all dead. <span style="font-family: "arial";">Set many years after Ruin and Rising, Alina and Mal and the Darkling are history<em>. Sorry Ladies.</em> Instead, we get a whole new crew to obsess over- and personally. I like them better. (Tell no one.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Being Grisha is now taboo, far more than some of the segregation we'd come to recognise in Ravka. Some of them have been captured, and a drug produced that gives them unholy powerful gifts but then drains the life out of them. The man who invented it, is locked away inside an ice fortress. Guess who is hired to break him out? and/or assassinate him? Why! It's our rag-tag group of brutal criminals! Can they do it? PROBABLY NOT! Will I have fun watching it all go tits up? HELL YEAH!</span><br />
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The cast of this book is phenomenal. Each of them is vivid with rich backgrounds and startlingly diverse personalities. It can be hard to write a group dynamic, but damn has Bardugo got it down. The only issue is, with so many interweaving stories -the thing can drag a little. Every detail is painstakingly recalled, each different from another characters eyes and they feel so important and tense and crucial, that you find yourself spending 10 minutes on one page. Yeah, I'm not exaggerating. The writing is so beautiful and enthralling that is almost impossible to get sucked in because you'd hate to miss a second of the syntax. That, honestly, is my only complaint. It was so well-written, I couldn't ignore the words and just imagine. #firstworldproblems<br />
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Kaz is the leader of The Dregs, and in his criminal gang is Inej -his right hand ninja lady. Jesper, the gun slinger, Wylan - a politician's son who's out for a little rebellion and Nina, a Grisha who kind of fucked over her ex-lover. And...of course they are gonna need to bust him out of prison for the job. Enter Matthias, the Grisha hater - and then our group is complete. All of them have these intensely complicated relationships with each other. They are all burdened by their singular baggage and the baggage of the group. Yet, somehow, they all come together and what at first glance seems like a business arrangement, is engraved with golden lines of love and affection and loyalty. The Dregs make this book, it would be entirely different without them and it would be far, far worse. <br />
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I'll say it now and forever hold my peace. Inej is my favourite. It's like having a boy band full of hunks and everyone in your friend group gets to choose one. Inej is mine. She is this perfect mix of totally badass. I mean, she's so effing cool! But also has this beautiful vulnerability that she fights with. She worries about the way the world sees her and simultaneously wants to be feared. I love it - I don't know why I just do. <br />
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Six of Crows totally lived up to it's hype. I will eventually get around to <strong>Crooked Kingdom</strong> when I have a spare month burning a whole in my life - but until then, I'm pretty satisfied. There were twist's at every turn, obstacles, complications and mess ups. This, in essence, is a heist book - and we sure as hell heisted! This book get's a solid 5 STARS!<br />
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-92001153602104268612017-08-08T02:34:00.000-07:002018-02-24T11:26:50.505-08:00The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"><i><br />
</i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. Her mind resets itself several times a day, and has since the age of ten, when the tumor that was removed from Flora's brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this one memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake is responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world, Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step toward reclaiming her life. </span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />
</span></i></span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With little more than the words "be brave" inked into her skin, and written reminders of who she is and why her memory is so limited, Flora sets off on an impossible journey to Svalbard, Norway, the land of the midnight sun, determined to find Drake. But from the moment she arrives in the arctic, nothing is quite as it seems, and Flora must "be brave" if she is ever to learn the truth about herself, and to make it safely home.</span></span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reading the Riot Act</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Published January 12th 2017 by Penguin</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paperback 303 Pages</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flora Banks has no life. She has a best friend and a school and parents that love her - but her memory lasts barely a day, hours maybe. Still, she goes on, writing notes to herself on her arms, writing her memories down to tell herself later. Then, at his leaving party - Flora kisses her best friends boyfriend, Drake,...and the next morning, she remembers him. Then the next day, and the next day. The kiss on the beach and the boy. She remembers something, finally but the guy is gone, across the ocean and her friend hates her for kissing him. When her estranged brother becomes sick, Flora is left alone and after several R-rated emails between her and Drake, Flora is on a plane. She feels the memory slipping away and she knows Drake is the only person who can help her. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She heads to the Arctic, with no idea where he is or what he's doing - but she goes anyway. I was really excited once she'd decided to go. This book has a lot of repetition. I mean A LOT! Which is understandable, but still annoying as hell. The majority of it is re-reading the same stuff we read a few pages ago. Flora Banks has Amnesia - but I definitely do not! We get to the Arctic and here I am hoping things are about to happen. No. It's gonna take another 100 or more pages of wandering around in shops and having the same conversations over and over before she even gets an idea of where Drake is. This entire section made me wonder how insensitive I am - maybe that's the point. I didn't care that Flora was struggling, that she was in a new place and could not remember getting there. That she had no idea what was happening to her and still managed to make the slightest progress. Still, I hated her for getting in my way - for taking too long. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When Flora begins to make friends, begins to recall more and more of what is happening, I become very proud of her. It's the point we know there is something more than Amnesia going on because without her medication, she is starting to remember more. She goes on excursions, sees polar bears and I forget about Drake - just like Flora does. I'm in the moment with her but it seems even sweeter, because I know I'm the only one who will remember it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just as I give up on Drake - there he is. Flora, like a mad woman sails to his girlfriend's house with no memories. It's bonkers and I'm not annoyed at her anymore. FLORA IS A DAMN BADASS! Of course, we get there. Drake's girlfriend answers the door and he pretends not to be there. He slams the door in her face and the girlfriend brings her inside. It is horrible. He says that the kiss never happened, that all the emails were from Flora to herself, she imagined them all. She is crazy. And maybe she is. Suddenly the whole journey I've taken with Flora is bathed in suspicion, I don't know what to believe her on or if even she knows what's true and false.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Flora's parents bring her home, her father instantly seeming like the most comforting person we've seen in this book. Flora's brother is dying and he came to get her anyway. She doesn't know why none of them have spoke in years, there's still more to figure out but is any of it true? Is she just mad? Well, no. It's turns out the estrangement came when Flora's mother decided to buy illegal medication off the internet. In truth, the arguments between the mother and everyone else is because her Amnesia is getting better. The dad knows it, her brother knew it and now her best friend knows it. Flora is being doped up to keep her docile and it's affecting her memory. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, her best friend to the rescue. She pops by for a visit, Flora lost in the fog of drugs. She tells Flora she knows she wasn't lying about Drake - because a girl from the party took a photo of them kissing. She does remember, and they are going to see a doctor who can help - besides she's only a week away from being 18. Soon, her mother won't be able to control her. And it ends. Just like that. I am furious. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have issues with the ending. First off, the whole point of writing about someone dealing with an illness is redundant if that person is magically healed. I get it was about the journey, but if I was suffering from something like Amnesia or a memory disorder - I'd feel ripped off. Everyone in these stories ends up "normal" in the end. What a load of crap, why can't someone with a problem be allowed a story without them having to be magically cured of the problem? Why can't it be about representation? I didn't want Flora to get better, it felt...dishonest. Next, I had a problem with the parental plot twist (that everyone saw coming), I don't care how protective you are - I don't see any mother, especially the one we've watched worrying for Flora and wanting her to be happy- drugging her daughter to be sure she remains memory-less. It's too far-fetched and honestly, if the doctors knew that was happening, where the hell are the police? Why isn't the father doing anything? I didn't get it and I don't believe it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So yeah, <b>The One Memory of Flora Banks</b> was a mixed bag. Often, that can be a good thing - it keeps it all interesting. Overall, I gave this book a solid 3 stars! A totally respectable rating. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" target="_blank">Goodreads </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. Until then...Happy Reading.</span><br />
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<script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-970954744179647052017-08-07T03:13:00.000-07:002018-02-21T00:42:33.686-08:00A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span id="freeText18217999448706691336" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit—and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well. As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords—and hunt for allies in unexpected places.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></i></span><br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reading the Riot Act</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Published May 2nd 2017 by Bloomsbury</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Paperback 699 Pages</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Despite my best efforts, this series has slowly wormed it's way into my heart. When <b>A Court of Thorns and Roses</b> was released, I was ride or die with <b>Throne of Glass</b>. Then, Celaena died and Feyre was born. Aelin, was second to Feyre - and in the place of my beloved Chaol, was Rhysand. I know, I know, how disloyal of me. But <b>A Court of Mist and Fury</b> was one of the best books I have ever read. So, as you can imagine, I waited for this conclusion with bated breath. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This book, was a wild ride. We start slow, building like a roller-coaster and Feyre - honey, I gotta say - is acting like a bit of an idiot. She's undercover in the Spring Court and every two minutes she's like...'Guys, how good a spy am I?' Not a great one Feyre. She's having mysterious headaches and her powers weakening but she notices none of it, she's too busy patting herself on the back for a job she hasn't even finished yet. There are 100 Rhysand-less pages and when everything finally kicks off, it is worth the wait. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hyberns men attack, Feyre EFFS up Ianthe (totally justified) and Lucien is along for the ride. Turns out Feyre was being poisoned the whole time and she had no clue. (Nice one, babe.) They flee into Autumn Court, on foot, and low and behold. More shit goes down. BAM. FIGHT. ICE. MOUNTAINS. AHHHH! It's so dramatic. I'm on the edge of my seat. We're only 150 pages in and could this be the end? Of course not! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sexy Illyrians fall from the sky, smashing into ice with bat-wings and chiseled</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> jaws. The Court of Dreams. Whoosh, swept up, back to Velaris and our beloved friends. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've never been so happy to return to a setting before. Now with Lucien and Feyre's sisters and our darling, darling Rhysand. It's like I was coming home, and I didn't expect to miss Mor and Amren as much as I did. Suddenly the pace is different. It feels fast but so much is happening. Raunchy love scenes, sister drama, training. It's all so detailed but my mind is gone. I'm not reading the words, I'm there, trying to grow Illyrian wings and readying myself for battle. </span><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Though it's good to be back, there's still Hybern to deal with. The gang organise a meeting, getting the leaders together and try to unite Prythian against Captain Crunch. Sorry, The King of Hybern. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I loved how political this book was, it was like Game of Thrones, where wars aren't just won on battlefields. There is diplomacy, working together and it is so interesting to watch it all come together or unravel. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hybern attacks Velaris and the meeting is pulled forwards. Nesta, who's been acting like a straight-up <i>biatch</i> is having a change of heart. I mean, we get what her problem is because Elain is acting nuts. Everything she says is sinister and random. Nesta, in her worry, basically becomes a meaner Amren. (I know, who thought that was possible!) The meeting with the High-Lords is pulled up, it has to be now and they are not happy about having a High-Lady in the midst. Neither are the High-Lords wives - Feyre seems to be giving them ideas. Everything is tense but working out and then boom! The moment we have all being waiting for...in walks Tamlin. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tamlin is ruthless. For some reason, I love it. He's catty, talking about Feyre's climaxing noise and just bating Rhysand, begging for a punch. Then, Rhysand takes away his ability tio speak. As someone who didn't even like Tamlin in book one, this is extremely satisfying. I preferred this scene of the numerous Rhys/Feyre sexy times. After this, although a lot of stuff happens, the war seems to come at you fast. Before I know it, Elain is a seer, we've been winnowing the humans to safety and the battle is on us. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was sure there was going to be death. Lots of death, and with Feyre rallying the Bone Carver, The Weaver and whatever the hell was in the bottom of the library, the odds seemed good. Until we saw Hyrberns army. The gang don't stand a chance. Lucien has gone to rally the human queens and as it turns out - Tamlin and Jurian are good guys. But, it's not enough. I know it, and the characters know it. They are saying goodbye and it all feels horrible. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I start to dread the ending, dread knowing the finale is coming for<b> Throne of Glass</b> too, knowing this will only be the beginning of my sorrow. Nesta feels it, having taken something from the Cauldron. She knows when it is about to attack, and it obliterates.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They have to nullify it, Amren says she knows how, the Suriel told her where to look. But Elain is mad and Nesta is down. Cassian at her side. More Goodbyes. They need to get Hybern away from the Cauldron, so Amren and Feyre have a chance of nullifying it. Ships appear and there is Feyre's father. Lucien didn't bring the human queen, their father did. With ships named after the daughters, he fights for. I won't pretend I didn't cry. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Damn. This review is long. </i></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We flip between Nesta and Feyre, the latter with her hand on the Cauldron and Amren apologising for lying. They aren't;t there to stop the Cauldron, they are there to release Amren. Feyre is pulled into the Cauldron, watching Hybern battle Nesta and Cassian. He's killing them, both of them. Feyre screams. She can't do anything to stop it. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, Elain, with a knife in Hybern's throat. Nesta is on it, twisting the dagger in his throat, pay back for killing their father. The armies don't know Hybern has fallen. They keep fighting and Amren is released, laying waste to the fighters below. The Cauldron is destroyed, the beast inside Amren released. The very fabric of their world is shattered, and it needs to be fixed. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Made and Unmade. Rhys appears. They all know the world will end if the Cauldron is not remade. Feyre does it, but everyone is depleted. Rhys offers his limited power, insists on it. She takes and takes, healing the cracks and saving them all, until she turns, and has killed Rhys. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know. I know, I crapped my pants. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had forgotten about Feyre. About how Rhys had held onto her and the High-Lords had brought her back. Spoiler Alert! It happens again. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, the war is over. Time passes quickly and everything is such a shock. Amren is back and no one is dead. There is a happy ending. And it feels...disappointing. The final 50 pages are like lightning. I can barely comprehend where we are until we are there, at the end. And it feels like there should be more. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I gave A Court of Wings and Ruin a solid 4 stars. </span><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMlaDwsx-GAC1XiHQ3JB9HAoPuvFqrLrPBobp9qKmLCQ4x5Q8uW4tyewbf7glvyw82popREEL9jZeeAA88wic7sc9bzhZ9mxSV7fBY-VKzWe9eZEAX4HDTJjr8mzttlqtNBBv3-2WiHM4/s1600/4+stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="91" data-original-width="353" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMlaDwsx-GAC1XiHQ3JB9HAoPuvFqrLrPBobp9qKmLCQ4x5Q8uW4tyewbf7glvyw82popREEL9jZeeAA88wic7sc9bzhZ9mxSV7fBY-VKzWe9eZEAX4HDTJjr8mzttlqtNBBv3-2WiHM4/s400/4+stars.jpg" width="400"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Despite the slow beginning and the too fast ending - the journey in between was stunning. It was crazy and wild and one hell of an adventure. Besides, it's the journey that counts, not the destination. You can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" target="_blank">Goodreads </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. Until then...Happy Reading.</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br></span></div>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-69223596616367729112017-07-26T13:34:00.000-07:002017-08-08T01:39:57.611-07:00The Way I Used To Be by Amber Smith<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh).</span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">In the tradition of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">Speak</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.</span></span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from<a href="http://www.lostinlit.com/" target="_blank"> Lost in Literature</a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Way I Used To Be by Amber Smith</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Published: March 22nd 2016 by Margaret K. McElderry Books</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kindle Edition 384 Pages</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would like to start off this review with a disclaimer. As I scurried through reviews on Goodreads I couldn't help but notice readers attack this book for something I disagreed with. No matter what anyone says, these stories are valid. Though rape can be triggering subject matter, it is not up to anyone to decide whether the tale is likely, done properly or realistic. This actually happens, people actually suffer this and attacking a dialogue on a subject like this because you don't believe a character would not tell anyone for a certain length of time or act a certain way, is the same as saying that real victims acted wrongly and were therefore faking. Every account is different...but all are crucial.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That being said, <b>The Way I Used To Be </b>portrays a totally different kind of rape. Often it's the stranger in a dark alley and the victim becomes a recluse, never being touched and becoming delicate. Eden begins the story delicate, quiet and downtrodden and partly that's the reason she never speaks out, that - and the fact her attacker is her brothers best friend. The event, sends her into a spiral. She redefines herself, changing her identity to try and get away from the event. She becomes popular...but it's not enough. She starts an unhealthy cycle of casual sex, each encounter taking her further and further away from the terrible night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This book does not just inform the reader of the events, of the story. Instead, we are pulled into Eden's psyche, into how brittle and closed off it has become. How the secret sours inside her and how we unravel why she doesn't speak up,why she finds comfort in the arms of sleazy older guys. She wants to be anyone else, anything else. It's all about distraction and denial. This is not only interesting, it's factually relevant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rape Trauma Syndrome is the psychological trauma experience by victims of rape that includes disruption of normal physical, emotional, cognitive and interpersonal behaviour. One of these disruptions is hypersexualisaton. This promiscuity is sometimes used as a way to reassert a measure of control over a victims sexual relationships. This is exactly the case with Eden, and it is the whole point of the novel, to present a different narrative. The one we aren't often told. She fancied her attacker, liked him and then he took something intangible from her. So she blames herself, she demands control over her body again but everything just seems to fall flat, and when she finally speaks up, finally tells her brother and the police - the book ends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is brave for a book of this nature not to take on the storyline of defeating the attacker. This kind of narrative only puts the emphasis on the attacker. It becomes his story, it's all about him. Whereas this, this book is all about Eden and her journey of recovery. It is hard to read, and stunning and sloppy and dirty and real...as real as a fictional tale can be. I loved this book and I cried several times, messy, sticky tears with a puffy, red nose. 4 STARS!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You may have noticed I enjoyed this book, and I would highly recommend to any fans of Speak, The Hate You Give and any other politically smart YA contemporary. You can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/LouNWilkes" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/louwilkes94/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6191326-louise-wilkes" target="_blank">Goodreads </a>and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/readingtheriotactblog/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. Until then...Happy Reading.</span>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-56131397768827148042017-06-20T05:48:00.001-07:002017-08-08T01:41:08.592-07:00Caraval by Stephanie Garber<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span id="freeText3531924708391330523" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.<br /><br />But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="http://thetravellingbibliophile.com/2017/01/caraval/" target="_blank">The Travelling Bibliophile</a></td></tr>
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<b>Caraval by Stephanie Garber</b></span><br />
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<span id="freeText3531924708391330523" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Traditionally, action adventures are for the guys or to an extent - the woman going it alone! She's a heartless, badass with swaggering wit and stellar hair and I'll be the first to admit I love that girl. Scarlett however, is new. She is both the woman we really are the woman we want to be. She does not possess some chosen one magic or convenient fighting abilities. She is much more like I have been my entire life than any female protagonist. That badass girl is always the one we wish we were, we feed off her energy, but Scarlett is the awkward, doubting teen we still see in our reflection and watching her grow into awesomeness without ninja training or special powers - it's mesmerizing.</span></div>
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<span id="freeText3531924708391330523" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Caraval</b> is far different from other YA Fantasy with the importance it puts on sisterhood. Tella is the wild one, and as I've said, Scarlett is the protector. There is drama but there is also so much love I had trouble not thinking of my own sister. The relationship is so realistic with the arguments but the underlying affection, with the protecting each other but also needing to get away and find your own identity without them and the guilt that can cause. Scarlett does not agree with Tella, but by damn does she support her. She relies on her to do so much but protects her at every turn. They are polar opposites but are drawn together and when Tella disappears at <b>Caraval</b>, it is all Scarlett can do to search for her sister and claim the prize of Caraval.</span><br />
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<span id="freeText3531924708391330523" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The setting is enchanting, you can feel all the influences blending together in a fine-tuned tapestry - and the best part of it, we barely see any of it...yet. Caraval is a series and so you are pulled into this different and originial world that keeps you guessing. We see the magic of the festival and are awed by it, but it's easy to forget how interesting their homeland is too. They seems to be an overpowering leader and an oppressed people and more going on. It is a testament to Garber's stella writing that we know more is going on, when it is barely touched on. It's a juicy morsol of things to come, 5 stars!</span><br />
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<span id="freeText3531924708391330523" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I adored <b>Caraval</b>. I attended an author event just after reading it at Manchester Deansgate, and Garber's story is the only thing that could make this book better. I would recommend this to any person who enjoys books and especially to anyone who wishes they were Celaena Sardothein- but just don't have it in them. </span><br />
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-84616028914794881492016-09-23T07:14:00.000-07:002017-08-15T09:22:26.158-07:00You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span id="freeText8294827125771433852" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?<br /><br />Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.<br /><br />That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.<br /><br />When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Published June 2nd by Macmillan Children's Books</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Paperback 247 Pages</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am not a huge David Levithan Fan...Levifan?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Never have been, there's no reason why, his writing has just never spoken to me. I'm also not a fan of books written by multiple authors. I find them lacking the connection, that sometimes authors are too different or there is one style I really don't like. However, Nina LaCour is the perfect author to write alongside Levithan. They complimented each other and it actually made me enjoy Levithan's writing which is pretty incredible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We follow two protagonists, Kate and Mark, both gay, both in love with people they can't have. During the last week of senior year they create a friendship that is so strong you forget it has only been a week. Mark is in love with his best friend, they fool around a lot, but when his friend gets a new boyfriend he relies on Kate to bring him back. Kate on the other hand is in love with a girl she's never met. She's fantasied about meeting her for years and finally, on the night she's waited for, she runs away and stands her up. Between love misconnections and fear for the future, the friendship that blossoms between these too is innocent and real and stunning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had an issue with some parts of the story, but only because I'm reading it from an older point of view. I find that a lot these days when teens have an existential crisis, I tutt and click my tongue like I never felt that way and sometimes, I just find it frustrating. These characters stand in the way of there own happiness, they overthink and worry and it drives me crazy, but it's also the beauty of this story. The conflict is internal and self-destructive and that is why this book stood out for me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, this book did not change my life, but I do think it did a fantastic job of representing the LGBT community without stereotype or shyness, that's why I have given it a totally respectable 3 Stars! </span><br />
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<i> </i>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-31462905182783996812016-09-22T10:28:00.000-07:002017-08-08T01:42:07.826-07:00Nerve by Jeanne Ryan<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A high-stakes online game of dares turns deadly<br />When Vee is picked to be a player in NERVE, an anonymous game of dares broadcast live online, she discovers that the game knows her. They tempt her with prizes taken from her ThisIsMe page and team her up with the perfect boy, sizzling-hot Ian. At first it's exhilarating--Vee and Ian's fans cheer them on to riskier dares with higher stakes. But the game takes a twisted turn when they're directed to a secret location with five other players for the Grand Prize round. Suddenly they're playing all or nothing, with their lives on the line. Just how far will Vee go before she loses NERVE?</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Nerve by Jeanne Ryan</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Published July 28th 2016 by Simon&Schuster</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Paperback 294 Pages</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am a huge fan of books turned into movies. I often think book trailers should be more like film trailers (books are a visual medium after all) because the film trailer can always entice me into reading it. I read nerve before seeing the movie and the book only heightened my excitement for what seemed like a blockbuster. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nerve follows Vee (as in Venus) who is quiet, smart and downtrodden. After a brutal betrayal by a friend and a few insults dressed as compliments, Vee finds herself a part of this colossal reality television game show. She meets a smoking hot guy and wins a ton of cool prizes, but that's not why Jeanne Ryan wrote this book. The plot takes a keen twist into a beautiful and resounding statement about reality tv. As someone who has been on reality television, I can relate and press the idea that there is nothing real about reality television - something myself, and Vee, learned the hard way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Poor Vee is in over her head and yet summons this astonishing strength to hold her own against so many aggressive competitors and tasks. Struggling with a hidden past, the game becomes all too real and she becomes the kick ass heroine we all knew was in her from the start. It is a fantastic tale about inner strength, a corrupt world and the danger of trusting the media too much. I highly recommend. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Now, onto the specifics. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hate that they changed the end in the movie. I found that so disappointing as this ending was tense. When all the local competitors are in that room and the tasks escalate and escalate. Damn I wish there was a sequel - it was left open for one but no news yet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vee is literally a superhero, she was doing these things and I got that feeling I got when I read divergent. That moment when Tris is about to jump off the building, not knowing if there is a net there. I felt real panic and real fear - just as I did with this book. I was there. I was with her. And I was pooping my pants. Ian is a dreamboat and I loved the fact that afterwards she was only allowed out to run and he came and met her. That was just a really cute image. (For some reason I began with the ending - good job self!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the movie I did miss the backstory of Vee. On film she has a protective mother because her brother died and a few really terrible friends. I hate friendzoned characters - I hate the term in general, but the movie really amped up Tommy's character and turned him into this gross stereotype. I felt that way about her best friend too (I can't for the life of me recall her name). She felt 2D in the movie, I knew her motivation and it was just to be a bitch. Then there was all that crap with the hackers - I'm not even going into that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the book, Vee tried to commit suicide - but was caught by her parents. Since she had been gaining there trust back and on the night she was finally allowed a longer curfew, she gets caught up in Nerve. In the novel she pretends to be a weird prostitute and all sorts which is so fun to read. Her friends though the tension between them is there with unspoken crushes and resentments, there is something distinctly lovable about them. They are real and good. They are just messed up kids in the book and so their behaviour is a little more excusable. When they come to Vee's rescue at the end, I believe it. I didn't believe it in the film. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was just a really engaging, easy read. 4 Stars!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you enjoyed the movie - that is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much beneath the surface and so many cracking scenes awaiting you in the book. Get it now, read it and come back! I must know you're favourite scene! Mine was definitely the celibacy group in the bowling alley! (CLASSIC!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Happy Reading!</span>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-27951121828576690542016-08-25T11:45:00.000-07:002017-08-08T01:44:59.957-07:00Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="freeText4631653533476057511"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Based on an original new story by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a new play by Jack Thorne, is the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. It will receive its world premiere in London's West End on 30th July 2016. </span></i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.</span> </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where to begin? Where tooooo begin?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not sure where to begin or end with this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I will begin by saying that I do not think a book, no matter what franchise it is a continuation is off, gets a free pass. A bad story is a bad story and the affiliation with J K Rowling and Harry Potter in no way validates the fact that this book should have been published. That is my opinion - they should have left well enough alone. There are moments I enjoyed but if you want a quick summary this play is a waste of time and money. It is a well written fanfiction that in no way belongs within this universe. You can disagree but that is how I feel. So if you don't want spoilers leave now, if not - lets crack on. I am going to review this book in two parts - Acts 1-3 and Act 4, mostly because I feel like I have different things to say about Act 4. </span><br />
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<b>Acts 1 - 3</b></span><br />
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I find the description of this play as "well written fan-fiction" to be rather apt. Acts 1 through 3 are a total mess, I just do not care about anything that is happening and I keep reading and reading but it's more of the same. First off I have trouble believing that Harry is a terrible father, he has always been very accepting and very seeing of people, he has never been blind to other people or their feelings and yet there is apparently been this huge character change over the past nineteen years with no explanation. Harry also appears to be terrible at his job, we see his office and it is a state, Hermione basically says he is terrible at his job and his lack of a relationship with Ginny is all too much. I know people change as they get older and life changes and things change but you do not become a completely different person. I also don't believe for a second Harry is someone who lives in his stories, I can't imagine him telling people his stories over and over like that creepy Daniel Radcliffe SNL sketch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Albus and Scorpius really make this play, they are the best characters and maybe that's because they are the only ones who I don't actually know. Was I the only one who got a vibe from the two of them, kind of a Magneto/Professor X secret love for one another vibe. Well, I did and I totally ship them. That was quite odd in the writing that there were these very intimate moments and then suddenly Scorpius is all over Rose, it was strange.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hermione and Ron were disastrous, Ron was squeezed in a the mockable comic relief, no longer even funny from his own wit and humour - just as a cheap laughing stock with his fat gut and balding head. That was a disappointment and so was the display of Ron and Hermione's relationship, it felt forced and wrong and then we had this plot of alternate worlds where they don't get together and I am not choked up about it at all. It felt forced, it felt as though this was written by someone who doesn't know them enough and it showed, it so showed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I will get to the plot. Once again fan-fiction destroys stories we love. A secret time-turner to go back and save Cedric. That was bad. Voldemort and Bellatrix having a secret baby that she popped out just before running to the battle of Hogwarts. First off, we saw Bellatrix just before the battle of Hogwarts and she weren't 9 months preggo fellas! Secondly, what would possess him to have sex or a child in the first place? He has never shown to be filed with sexual desire or affection so what the hell Rowling? You approved this story? Really! How could you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK. I'm calm. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, if this is getting to negative for you, proceed to Act 4. Things change up. I swear.</span><br />
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<b>ACT 4!!! Thank the universe for ACT 4!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Act 4 had a lot of the issues of the previous acts, yet there were these absolutely beautiful moments. We go back to Godric's Hollow and there things take a change. Notably the moment with Delphi when she is caught and Albus wants her dead, that moment where Harry realises she is this lost child, hidden away and unloved and that essentially she is a victim of her destiny. That moment was lovely, but the one that topped that, that literally made all of the terrible 300 pages worth it. Harry and the gang watch as Voldemort kills Lily and James, knowing they cannot save them without chaning the world. Harry is flinching against the green light and Albus reaches out and takes his hand. It was this wonderful moment of solidarity, of such emotional resonance and strength that is familiar within Harry Potter. The strength Harry showed there was exactly what I expected from him and his son and it was honestly one of the best moments in the entire series. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this terrible book there was the most wonderful scene in all the series. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we have another, a close second in which Harry opens up to a portrait of Dumbledore. He lets out everything he was feeling his entire life. Admits that he saw him as a father figure and he never let him know he loved him, instead he raised him as a lamb to slaughter and I thought that was a stunning moment too. Moments that were anchored in the story and the feel of the original books. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a very hard book for me to review because no, I did not like it. I will not be considering it a part of the Harry Potter Universe - but there are moments I can truly appreciate. Mostly I just feel disappointed and a little angry. The story (which was Rowling, apparently) was lacklustre and lazy and makes me very angry. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not sure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really don't know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It makes me feel very lost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can only give it 2 Stars, and because of that - my heart is breaking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe you made better sense of it, if you did, feel free to comment down below and help a girl out. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fingers crossed it's better for you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Reading.</span></div>
<br />Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-23115071749925441852016-08-15T01:59:00.000-07:002017-08-09T08:46:49.736-07:00The Girl of Ink & Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Waterstones Children's Book of the Month and The Times Children's Book of the Week.</strong><br /><br />Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella Riosse dreams of the faraway lands her father once mapped.<br /><br />When her closest friend disappears into the island’s Forgotten Territories, she volunteers to guide the search. As a cartographer’s daughter, she’s equipped with elaborate ink maps and knowledge of the stars, and is eager to navigate the island’s forgotten heart.<br /><br />But the world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland – and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a legendary fire demon is stirring from its sleep. Soon, following her map, her heart and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.</span></em></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image from <a href="http://www.mrripleysenchantedbooks.com-/">mrripleysenchantedbooks</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I am really not sure how to start this review, mostly because I don't know how I feel about this book. Isn't that always an odd one? You finish and you enjoyed it but not sure what to make of it afterwards. Very odd - but I'll give this my best shot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This book was not what I thought it was going to be. I'm not sure what I was expecting but a floating island, kids adventure death mystery was not one of them. This is not a bad thing by any means, in fact it was refreshingly original. I'm not sure this book is for my audience - I tend to tell through the protagonist who was very young, far younger than myself and it was odd to read from a child's point of view. First of all the length, it was only 200 pages and the narrative arc was not as complex as I would expect so it is difficult for me to love it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I can appreciate a well-written book with diverse and smart characters. The story is predictable but still cute and </span><span style="font-size: small;">it was perfectly enjoyable. I think if I had a child who was just getting into the world of YA this is the perfect transition book. It has all the pieces and expectations only in a smaller package. It's like a gateway drug to young adult fiction, only without the downward spiral afterwards.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I think my issue is that the book is lovely and the characters are lovely but I didn't feel emotionally connected to them. Maybe in only 200 pages that can be difficult for a wisen-old reader like myself - maybe my own expectations let me down, but mostly I was just a little bored. I enjoyed it but with a none active reading boredom. It was very linear, very we are here and I know where we're going - there wasn't space for that time in between, the time when they are just walking and you learn them. It was very fast paced and the ending was rushed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I also had an issue with the maturity of these characters, 11 year olds are lining up to sacrifice there lives nobly for the island but are also stupid enough to walk into dangerous territories because someone called them a bad name. In some cases they acted older, like teenagers, then like 5 year olds and then like adults - there is a lot of inconsistency there for me. It is understandable, I could never write the inner monologue of an 11 year old, I don't remember what it was like to be 11 - to me it always felt like now. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the grand scheme of the story these things are minor and mostly just annoyances. For me it stopped me really connecting with this book, but that doesn't mean other won't. There was excitement, drama, mythology, a strange setting. It would be a great read for someone less picky I imagine - after all if I don't think a book has merits I stop reading and I finished this one. So that really says all you need to know.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Let me know what you think.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Happy Reading!</span></div>
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-46355029598457790442016-08-07T04:04:00.000-07:002017-08-08T01:46:29.367-07:00One by Sarah Crossan<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</strong><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grace and Tippi. Tippi and Grace. Two sisters. Two hearts. Two dreams. Two lives. But one body.<br /><br />Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins, joined at the waist, defying the odds of survival for sixteen years. They share everything, and they are everything to each other. They would never imagine being apart. For them, that would be the real tragedy.<br /><br />But something is happening to them. Something they hoped would never happen. And Grace doesn’t want to admit it. Not even to Tippi.<br /><br />How long can they hide from the truth—how long before they must face the most impossible choice of their lives. </span></em><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image from <a href="http://girlreading.co.uk/">Girl Reading</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sarah Crossan outdoes herself with yet another book written in verse. Through the eclectic use of poetry we follow the inner working of Grace, one half of a conjoined twin. Grace and Tippi have been connected since birth and now, for the first time ever - have to go to a real school. This is shudder-inducing even without being a conjoined twin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tippi is louder, she is often the conversation starter and she is also the rock that Grace leans on. It becomes hard to imagine Grace without Tippi. There is this really striking moment when a classmate says that being a conjoined twin has to be <strong>the worst thing ever! </strong>and then we have this stunning poem about all the things that are worse, that having someone with you all the time, who knows you better than anyone else is not the worst thing ever and that really struck me. This book becomes more focused on the fact that these girls are people, just girls. They discuss other famous conjoined twins and note how after a lifetime of doing things, on their gravestone it still read conjoined twins - as if this is all they could ever be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This story is full of these beautiful observations, I think because the form allows it. Grace's words flow in a way that resonates solely with her emotions, that partly the action doesn't even matter because between the lines she is saying something far better. Some of these poems you could frame they are so beautiful, just as a freestanding work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon due to health complications with Grace's heart, being surgically separated is no longer just an option for an easier life. Now it is life or death. The lovely thing about this book, is that the separation is a small part of the story - the little 50 pages at the end, because it isn't what this book is about. The book is about Grace becoming more than just Tippi's sidekick. She becomes louder, braver even daring to fall in love when Tippi tells her outright this isn't something they can have. She stops worrying about the idea that when one of them dies they both die and starts enjoying her life, making friends, going away on trips and finding a way to provide for their crumbling family. She really is this thoughtful, quiet heroine who's battle against evil is fought within herself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grace and Tippi are surrounded by a broken supporting cast, each of them as tragically flawed as the next. Their sister has an eating disorder, their father is an alcoholic and there best friend has HIV. Everyone has there damage, every character has there issues but they are fortunate enough to not show it physically. There are points when you forget all the broken cast, when you forget Grace and Tippi are conjoined, when you forget Dragon is starving herself in the name of ballet beauty - you forget that these people are broken and then it hits you, hard - because not one of these characters gets away without any baggage, and that's kind of beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want something unputdownable, or want a book that will give you something thoughtful and lovely to think about and make you grateful that you live in a world where books like this exist - then this is the book for you. You'll forget it's written in verse and the words will just flow. It really is as good as that. I'm always giving Crossan 5 Stars, and today is no different!</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Reading.</span></span></div>
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-33741231250803448232016-08-05T03:46:00.000-07:002017-08-09T10:21:01.344-07:00Me Before You by Jojo Moyes<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText9346124591104878270"><i>Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.<br /><br />What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.<br /><br />Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.<br /><br />What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.</i></span><i> </i><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Image from <a href="http://booksweheart.com-/">booksweheart</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span itemprop="bookFormatType" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Me Before You by Jojo Moyes</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Published December 31st 2012 by Pamela Dorman Books/Viking</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"><span itemprop="bookFormatType">Hardcover</span>, <span itemprop="numberOfPages">481 pages</span></nobr></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="white-space: nowrap;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Me Before You</b> is set in the English countryside, Yorkshire I assume. I'm from Cumbria so this is like </span></nobr></div>
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<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">next door to me and that makes me really happy. Moyes got the setting built really well as I live and have</span></nobr></div>
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<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">been to these types of villages many times. That and the fact the protagonist is named Lou (I'm a Lou) </span></nobr></div>
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<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">pulled me in immediately. What a shame I didn't like Lou that much - but I'll get to that.</span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"><br /></nobr> <nobr class="greyText">Immediately Lou loses her job. She lives with her family who are a bit hard done for, so the loss of money is </nobr></span><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a definite blow. She tries working at a few jobs that are gruesome or terrible until finally, she falls into being</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a caregiver for Will. Will has Quadriplegia meaning he is mostly paralysed from the chest down, with a little</span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText">bit of movement in his arm. There relationship is pretty rocky to say the least until a mutual </nobr><nobr class="greyText">attraction forms.</nobr></span><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They fall in love it's gushy and romantic and cute - but then we have this underlying issue. Will wants to die.</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will promised his parents 6 months to change his mind and if not he would be going to Dignitas to end his life.</span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"></nobr><br /></span> <nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Naturally this is a huge aspect of the book and has caused a lot of controversy. People seem to be concerned that</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">what Moyes is saying is that Will's life is meaningless now, that he is disabled so he wants to die because he thinks</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">his life is never going to be good enough. I disagree, personally I never got that reading of it. What I understood</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from the book was that Will is a rich boy, he has probably never had to want for anything in his life and I imagine </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">when that's the case and to want for something so simple that you can never have -that has to be so hard. I don't think </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will as a person, from the way he was raised or whatever, is not equipped to look on the bright side. </span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"></nobr><br /></span> <nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I won't touch on euthanasia much but for me, the story was not saying all disabled people want to die. For me it </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was about Will as a person rather than a man with quadriplegia. I think Will does not accept second best, even if </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that second best is a happy life with Lou, and that is ultimately the tragedy of this book. When she lays it all out on the</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">beach, telling her she loves him and she can make him happy and he still says no. That was hard to read, it felt so final.</span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"></nobr><br /></span> <nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lou at first really bugged me. I found her very childish, rather annoying and it was a struggle to push through until we</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">met Will - who was hilarious, charming and complicated. It's just every two seconds I wanted to shake her around and </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">give her a kick up the arse. She was so hard to get through too, but once Will did she became this whole new person. </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Confident and actually honest with herself because I knew very early on that Patrick was awful, they were terrible together,</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">they barely got on and when she moved in with him it was just so awkward. She spent most of the book going through the </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">motions of what she thinks she should be doing and it was great to see Will knock some sense in to her. </span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"></nobr><br /></span> <nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The romance really was not as big of a part of this novel as it was advertised but that is fine by me. It was steady and real </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and slow and I liked that. Moyes did not create insta-love or have her checking him out as he wheeled into the room -she let </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the characters do it, almost to the point where you barely notice the change- it was some stunning writing.</span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"></nobr><br /></span> <nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That final scene in Dignitas, when they know it's about to happen and she rushes there to see him - BEAUTIFUL. I almost </span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">couldn't believe it was happening it was so awful but it was also just so great. I would have to say this book got better as it</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">went along. The more we learned about both these characters, the more they reached out of the page and slapped me with</span></nobr><br />
<nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">emotion. I think it is a damn fine book, but if I have to read Patrick running one more time - I will throw it at the wall.</span></nobr><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText"></nobr><br /></span> <nobr class="greyText"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope this helps, let me know what you thought of the book (or the movie).</span></nobr></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><nobr class="greyText">Happy Reading</nobr><nobr class="greyText">.</nobr></span><br />
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<nobr class="greyText"><a href="<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/18171827/?claim=y9wxaf9cz56%22%3EFollow">http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/18171827/?claim=y9wxaf9cz56">Follow</a> my blog with Bloglovin</a></nobr></div>
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-32734949194536945132016-06-18T15:14:00.000-07:002017-08-09T10:24:29.205-07:00The Liebster Award<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lovely Zoë at <a href="http://meandmybookishwonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/ive-been-nominated-for-liebster-award.html">My Bookish Wonderland</a> has nominated me for <b>The Liebster Award</b>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The whole idea of the award is to discover new blogs and already I have discovered three. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The rules for this award are as follows:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Acknowledge the blog that nominated you and display the award.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Answer the 11 questions that the blog gives you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. Give 11 random facts about yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. Nominate 5-11 blogs that you think are deserving of the award that have less than 200 followers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. Let the blogs know you have nominated them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. Give them 11 questions to answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is really good news for me because I never know where to look for a new book blog. You can follow the chain, go see Zoe, see who she nominated, see who nominated her and so on and so forth until your email is simply brimming with fine blogs. So thank you Zoë!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeBTJb_ZXvjz0tfAW9hAMls_hmxNXjzgpD8UyU-xF2AQM6Es0RBxNhJoLAYe2J5-7SM-UNAuvKfS04MdRHmXeE7ffqFJlKcwV4zFP1Gm3EnguAYINnzqnpW1UiY3v5Bua3N3TmWqWjRmA/s1600/Liebster-Award.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeBTJb_ZXvjz0tfAW9hAMls_hmxNXjzgpD8UyU-xF2AQM6Es0RBxNhJoLAYe2J5-7SM-UNAuvKfS04MdRHmXeE7ffqFJlKcwV4zFP1Gm3EnguAYINnzqnpW1UiY3v5Bua3N3TmWqWjRmA/s640/Liebster-Award.gif" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These are the questions I was given.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. What's your favourite genre?</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a hard question because it changes. Right now I'm loving some YA and NA Fantasy, but I also love some Contemporary YA. I like variety, I've never been took picky about Genre as long as it's good but YA does seem to cover my shelves more than anything else. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Do you listen to music while reading?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I couldn't personally pay attention if I was listening to music. I do when I write and some authors create playlists on Spotify that I listen to as a reread passages. Sarah J Maas is great for those, even in her newsletter she tells you which section goes with which music and I love seeing how the beats fall, but only in a reread. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. Are you good at predicting plot twists?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I like to think I am, but I am also one of those terrible people who reads the last few pages before I start. Something about not knowing exactly where I'm headed freaks me out a little bit and I don't think I get too spoiled from the last couple pages. I like a good surprise as well so I don't often make predictions.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. Do you want to write a book yourself one day?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, yes I do. This year I have got a degree in Creative Writing and made way through two books I wish to eventually publish. One is a collection of feminist short stories and the other is the first in a fantasy series. I plan to have the first draft down by the end of this year and then leave it as a write the first draft of a contemporary that just screaming at me to be written. I'll get there eventually. I'm working on it. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. Do you like going to libraries and borrow books there?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think libraries are a great resource, my mother is a librarian and I borrowed Asking For It by Louise O'niell from the library today. I used it more when I was younger because I couldn't afford all the books I wanted to read. I think libraries are great, especially if you just want to try a book on for size. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. What do you do when someone loans a book of yours and brings it back in bad condition?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't lend out my books and if I do, it's to someone who I know will take care of it. They ruin it, they buy me a knew one. The signed ones stay with me. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. Who is your favourite character (doesn't have to be from a book)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have to say Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass, Manon is a close second but I just relate to Celaena in such a crazy way. She is one of the only characters I know who loves herself but also hates her very being. She is so complex and I just love reading her. Seeing her strength gives me strength in return. She is as much in my heart as Harry Potter or Katniss. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8. How many books are on your TBR list?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I lost count about five years ago, now I consider my thoughts on buying books to be that of Alaska from Looking for Alaska. I always have something to read, way too much in fact - like a bookcase worth. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. How many books would you like to read this year?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every year I aim for 100 books. The past two years have been difficult with my degree and work so I have fall dismally short. I will still aim fro 100 but likely I'll get maybe 50 if my reading picks up now I'm finished with University. Next year 100 for sure!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>10. When in the day do you read the most?</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I read the most at night before bed. I think most adults who struggle to find time can always put an hour away before bed, but a sunny afternoon in a garden can be pretty productive too. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11. If you could meet any author who would it be and what would you ask him/her?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have met a few authors before, Sarah J Maas, Maggie Stiefvater, Patrick Ness, but I always tend to be a little bit nervous and awkward. Sadly I have never met J K Rowling. I always wanted too and almost did but she didn't want anyone talking about Harry Potter or wearing merchandise or brining to books so it seemed a little pointless. I hope I do get to meet her one day and I'd ask about the museum in Edinburgh. If you've been there you'll know what I mean. Coincidence? I think not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Now for 11 facts about me, I guess:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. I have a deep seeded hatred for slugs and onions and dolphins. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. I am allergic to wasps. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. I always read the acknowledgments when I start a book, (Sometimes they are super romantic).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. My favourite holiday is Halloween, because DUH! COSTUMES!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. I am incredibly well travelled for someone my age.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. I'm twenty two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. I own some impressive and beautiful notebooks I haven't written in...yet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8. I hate the smell of lilies. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. If I could live off doughnuts, I would. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10. I can remember quotes terrifyingly fast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11. I judge a book by it's cover. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I nominate:</span><br />
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<a href="http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Review Diaries</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://boatsagainstthecurrent.net/">Boats Against The Current</a> (Love your Sarah J Maas posts! Book blogger Cliche's all the way!)</span><br />
<a href="http://yabookaholic123.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">YA Bookaholic</span></a><br />
<a href="https://thebooknerdinme.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Book Nerd In Me</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://caterfeereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/the-problem-with-forever-by-jennifer-l.html">Caterfee Reviews</a>! Sup Girl!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These are all top notch blogs I personally love and I think you will too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My 11 Questions to you guys are:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. What sparked your passion for reading?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. What is your favourite reading spot?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. What is your favourite cover art ever?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. How do you deal with your TBR shelf?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. Best book you read in the past year? (No rereads)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. Who is your favourite booktuber?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. First book you ever read?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8. What is your go to reading snack?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. Why is reading important to you?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10. Where would you be without reading?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11. What is your favourite thing about yourself? (Not book related but still important to know).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So answer the questions, tag me in the post and think of your 11 facts because you guys are next. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hope you keep this chain moving and I look forward to reading your posts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Happy Reading!</span><br />
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<br />Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-45152309518689867372016-06-18T13:27:00.000-07:002017-08-09T10:26:24.519-07:00A Court of Mist and Fury By Sarah J Maas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="freeText5626159783279103182"><i>Feyre is immortal.<br /><br />After rescuing her lover Tamlin from a wicked Faerie Queen, she returns to the Spring Court possessing the powers of the High Fae. But Feyre cannot forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people - nor the bargain she made with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court.<br /><br />As Feyre is drawn ever deeper into Rhysand's dark web of politics and passion, war is looming and an evil far greater than any queen threatens to destroy everything Feyre has fought for. She must confront her past, embrace her gifts and decide her fate.<br /><br />She must surrender her heart to heal a world torn in two</i><strike>.</strike></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Image from <a href="http://www.staybookish.com-/">staybookish</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas</b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published May 3rd 2016 by Bloomsbury Childrens Books</b></div>
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<span itemprop="bookFormatType" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Paperback</b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span itemprop="numberOfPages" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>624 pages</b></span></div>
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We join our heroine Feyre (Fay-RUH) once again in Prythian, where we left off in the first book <a href="http://halleloujah.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/a-court-of-thorns-and-roses-by-sarah-j.html">A Court of Thorns and Roses</a>. I gave the first book in the series a pitiful 3.5 stars. This doesn't seem too pitiful but I hold Maas to a much higher standard. When I read the first book I couldn't connect with the characters or the plot.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, <b>A Court of Mist and Fury</b> is a gamechanger!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have always loved Throne of Glass, it has been my ultimate pick whenever people ask me for book reccomendations. Maas has just beat herself to my favourite book series, she now holds the top two spots, which is pretty impressive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feyre defeated Amarantha in the last book, died and was brought back to life as a Fae. <b>A Court of Mist and Fury </b>shows the fallout from this beautifully. Feyre is not only emotionally changed, she is more fearful at first, suffering nightmares and just a downright wreck. She loses a lot of weight and under the pressure of Tamlin's overprotective gaze she is in a very, very bad place. She has these growing powers, accidentally passed on through the high Fae who brought her back to life and within the first 100 pages, all of this comes to a fantastic climax. The bond with Rhysand is immediately a key factor, she calls to him on her wedding day and flees, leaving Tamlin in the lurch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fans of the first book will be upset if they started with a Tamlin/Feyre ship, though I don't know many who did. Honestly Tamlin turning into a controlling and arguably abusive boyfriend was the best thing that could have happened to Feyre. I didn't find him particularly endearing in the first book and I'm glad to be rid of him. Rhysand shows up and frees our heroine from Tamlin's clutches, for a time. As the deal permits, he begins taking her for a week every month and honestly, I see the appeal of Rhysand. He reminds me of Tom Hiddleston's Loki, only fitter, way fitter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually life with Tamlin gets too much and Feyre ends up at Rhysand's side. We've been waiting for it and we love. Here we begin a labyrinth of beautifully entwined stories, a love story that feels worthy of a Sarah J Maas novel and a supporting cast that is mind blowing. We see the world from the night court, learn about the intricities of actually running a court and of Rhysand himself. This is not some measly romantic story. This a grand love story with a background in supernatural political warzone. It's stunning just stunning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are these moments, when Feyre is alone and the way it is written is stunning. She looks at the stars and they start falling to the earth and I fall in love with Feyre, I fall in love with all of them in the way she does and I fall in with Rhysand. This love story is so beautiful because you fall in love with these characters, it takes the story to a new level. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have this looming threat of war in the background. Hybern is readying for war and the night court are the doing the same in secret, they need to destroy the cauldron and defeat Hybern before they break the barrier to the human world and massacre everyone. This is the largest part of the plot and it takes most of the time. Our love story moves with it, almost until they inseperable and it comes to a fantastic climax when Tamlin is working with Hybern to kidnap Feyre or reclaim him property as he sees it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know rught, what a fucking ARSEHOLE! I HATE TAMLIN, I HATE HIM. I hope he dies next book I am so ready for it. It causes so much pain. I knew when he showed up there wasn't enough pages left for good things to happen. Feyre pretends not to love Rhysand, demands the King severe the mating bond between them (yeah that happened) and her sisters become Fae and one of them mates with Lucien! AHHHH! It ends with Feyre in the midst of spring court again, pretending to love Tamlin, pretending she was a prisoner with Rhysand. Even though they already got married and YOU CAN'T BREAK A MATING BOND BRO! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">FEYRE + RHYSAND 4 LYF!XO</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was all very exciting and I can't believe I have to wait a year for the concluding novel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is worth mentionging that though ACOTAR is a YA book, ACOMAF is not. A Court of Mist and Fury is a new adult because there are a lot of sex scenes. Normally I have a lot of distaste for scenes like this, they can be crude and not sexy at all. Just see Fifty Shades of Grey is you don't believe me. They were hot, that's all I'm going to say. Hot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was great, it really was great and I would highly recommend it. I haven't been excited about a series properly in a while and this book cured my reading block. Love it. LOVE IT! Get it read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you do please do let me know what you thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comment below.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tag me in a blogpost. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Send me it in Morse code.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever's convenient. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you for your time and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Reading!</span><br />
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-86794216240376670512016-05-08T03:20:00.001-07:002017-08-16T02:26:21.471-07:00Rebel of The Sands by Alwyn Hamilton<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText16482933285464906400"><i>She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.<br /><br />Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from. <br /><br />Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.</i></span><i> </i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>Image from <a href="http://booknerd.ca-/">booknerd</a></u></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i></i><sub></sub><sup></sup>Rebel of The Sands by Alwyn Hamilton</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Published February 4th 2016 by Faber & Faber</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Paperback 358 Pages</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How can I describe this book. Some books are given this hype that they don't deserve (in my opinion, I am only one person) - this is not one of them books. I bought this simply because the cover was beautiful, you can't blame me because DAMN! How pretty is that!? The girl behind the counter told me 'This is great, it's like a spaghetti western mixed with Arabian nights.' I shrugged her off and plopped this beauty on my TBR shelf. Well, aren't I the idiot?!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm maybe a few weeks late to the party, but was this book good? YES! It literally was Aladdin mixed with Clint Eastwood mixed with awesome powers and the journey was amazing. Hamilton, Girl you can write!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm going to start with the ending, because I'm weird like that. Hamilton knows she can write because she ended this badboy at the perfect moment. Big battle won, look off into distance thinking about the uncertain future aaaand curtain fall. She knows the reader has enough closure not to throw the book across the room, she knows your buying the next one, her mama didn't raise no fool. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is only really one relationship that follows us through the entire book, Amani (our protagonist) and Jin. Of course there is this underlying romance just bubbly beneath the surface, but it takes a step back. It is important so it isn't fully developed, yet. Amani and Jin meet in the first chapter and they end up rather inseparable, first by circumstance and then just by want. I adore when a first book isn't rushing itself to get into the main plot, this book develops that relationship so we don't suffer from an instant connection - meets him one night, bares her soul to him the next, married by the weekend - No thanks! Instead we follow Amani, I learn her voice, the way she thinks, every ounce of her character until anyone could write about her because she is well written. It is so important for writers to know their characters inside and out and Hamilton has hers locked in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is also a vibrant supporting cast of characters who flitter in and out and some will stay for sequels but some maybe won't. She manages to create a large cast of supporting characters, of people who interact with Amani and Jin and share parts of their journey and making them connectable, whilst also being able to ditch them on the next page. That is hard, usually books just make these carbon copies for supporting cast and add distinctions to the ones they are going to keep around, but all the supporting characters are distinct and different and we are not pandered to think we can't keep up because we can. We just can't tell who's important enough to keep around. That is why Hamilton can write the dramatic parts of this book, because I don't know who or what is next. This is the first book in a long time that has not followed some pre-set YA formula and that is really refreshing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are also these feminist undertones. Amani lives in a world where all the feminist issues of our world are heightened. She is dressed like a boy for the majority of the novel (which is just delicious and hilarious for Amani and Jin's relationship). It is always important, especially in YA fantasy for me, that a book is saying something, like it has a foundation of what it is wanting to say, otherwise, why tell the story? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This book was everything I wished <b>The Assassin's Curse</b> had been. It had drama and these beautiful quiet moments that made me feel like I too was sat in the desert and looking up at the stars. It was stunning, just stunning. Best book I have read in a really long time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Happy Reading.</span>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-90591464704698023932016-04-25T13:28:00.001-07:002017-08-09T10:32:12.380-07:00The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson <b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText14282779211265198161"><i>Two boys. Two secrets.<br /><br />David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl. <br /><br />On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan. <br /><br />When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long…</i></span> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="https://kittypann.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/book-review-the-art-of-being-normal-by-lisa-williamson/" target="_blank">KittyPann</a><span id="goog_1151736788"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1151736789"></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Publishined January 7th 2016 by David Fickling Books</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Paperback 357 Pages</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This 2016 YA Book Prize Nominee has been given countless critical acclaim. I cannot say I agree, something that has sat really unwell with me. In the story, the main protagonist is David who ultimately wants to be a woman. The issue with this book is not the idea, in fact that was what attracted me to the book in the first place. The issue for me is that both David and Leo, the misunderstood boy from a bad home, are supposed to be sixteen. For you Americans out there, year 11 is the last year of school, yet these characters talk as if they ten years old. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That being said, I had another issue with this book. David is transgender, he is defined by that. That is his whole personality and that important to me that my character was a person. That can sound weird because obviously characters are ultimately made him two dimensional and flat. Leo too was a stereotype. Every character fit into these perfectly formed categories of how "kids" apparently act. I was sixteen not that long ago, I still remember what it was like and it doesn't feel from the writing that Williamson does remember. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Williamson is not a bad writer, the book has many redeeming qualities but none as important as attempting to tell a very difficult story, but the most important moments were ignored whether from fear of messing them up or creating emphasis by ignoring them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Suffice to say I was unable to finish the book because the character development just wasn't there. I wasn't rooting for anyone because I didn't care and with such an emotionally raw and complex idea, it should have been. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#sorrynotsorry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Happy Reading</span></div>
Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-72134535002108081932016-02-18T05:37:00.003-08:002017-08-09T10:33:25.138-07:00Winter by Marissa Meyer<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span id="freeText7719060204027343375" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breath taking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.<br /><br />Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9YchuYWIa8-5gPqhKHeHVxIyZ9sdCXp6n_5nvjKT8zelj72fWipaQJT3cTuZ0vHMBC6yYokmLCT1rWqxI43G7sdwYaLUQHoQCdhEx-2zJu4zoAc-zOeev3PWdfs-QyzsRUeBAr0DJJM4/s1600/untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9YchuYWIa8-5gPqhKHeHVxIyZ9sdCXp6n_5nvjKT8zelj72fWipaQJT3cTuZ0vHMBC6yYokmLCT1rWqxI43G7sdwYaLUQHoQCdhEx-2zJu4zoAc-zOeev3PWdfs-QyzsRUeBAr0DJJM4/s640/untitled.png" width="640" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Winter by Marissa Meyer</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Published November 12th 2015 by </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Puffin</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Paperback 823 pages</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter is the final book in bestselling The Lunar Chronicles series. This 800 page beast took me two weeks to read just from it's sheer mass but it is so worth it. Winter is the book you always wish would </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be the final in a series. It is so long and has so much content every question you had was answered and none of it felt rushed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have a lot of near misses in Winter. Our friends get to Lunar within the first 100 pages but it takes so long for us to finally defeat Levana. The length isn't an issue, in fact the pacing is bang on. Every time I start a final book in a series I always panic. It inevitably feels rushed and always feel like there needed to be another book. This was not the case with Winter. It was actually wonderful the amount of detail and the build up to the final fantastic battle for Lunar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We join the team on the Rampion after they kidnapped Kai. They return him soon but not after making a master plan to get onto Lunar. Only 100 pages in I start to panic, oh god what is the rest of the book if she becomes queen so quickly. Luckily that didn't happen. A whopping 700 pages later she becomes queen and quickly decides to abolish the monarchy, but we will get to that. The journey there is this up and down roller coaster of fighting and rallying and sickness and poison apples. We have fake murders, real murders, several propaganda videos and finally get to see what is behind that veil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the team gets to Lunar they are immediately found. Obviously because Meyer has no interest in making this science fiction space opera more realistic. They flee the capital, this part steam punk, part sci-fi world of Lunar has been a long time coming and it didn't disappoint. Cinder gets caught and breaks free and gets caught and breaks free so many times. She is in so many sticky situations that my fists were clenched and my breath was short with each paragraph. My favourite escape has to be the balcony leap. Cinder is finally caught by Levana, who starts sending cyborg pieces of her to Kai, then at the wedding reception. Guess who's the entertainment? Levana begins this trial of Cinder and then BOOM! Cinder is manipulating guards, wolves are fighting and she rips herself from Levana's grip and leaps from a balcony. It was heart thumping goodness and there are so many other moments like this that I really don't want to spoil. Then with the final battle, it was tense, I felt like I knew that Cinder was going to win but with each passing moment and page I was less and less sure and then as the final fight between her and Levana begins and Thorne is stabbing her and slicing and apologising it was just AHHHHHH!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is also this really lovely romantic underlying feel. Even with Cress/Thorne, Scarlet/Wolf and Cinder/Kai we have a new ship that I can so get behind . WINTER + JACE! They are so perfect together and I just adored them even with only one book to really see them, the relationship dynamics were immediately clear and Winter herself was this wonderful, a little nuts princess who was kind of rocking. Towards the end after everything with her manipulating Scarlet I was worried.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really don't want to spoil any books here. I really don't, I put the spoiler warning just in case but I really want you to know this book is amazing. The perfect ending to a consistently wonderful series. There is no weak link in this series all the books are amazing. Anyway pick it up, the series or just the book. You won't regret it. There is a reason these books are bestsellers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Reading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S - Winter doesn't have to be the end.</span><br />
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<header class="book-detail-header" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1c1c1c; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e4322f; font-size: 45px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">STARS ABOVE</span></i></h1>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A LUNAR CHRONICLES COLLECTION</span></i></h2>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The enchantment continues. . . .</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With nine stories—<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">five</strong> of which have never before been published—and an exclusive never-before-seen excerpt from Marissa Meyer’s upcoming novel, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Heartless</span>, about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stars Above</span> is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.</span></i></div>
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<br />Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-32849302323714067372016-01-02T12:04:00.001-08:002017-08-09T10:35:31.829-07:00A Year Without Reading: A TBR!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's nothing worse for a book lover than to get to the end of the year and realise you barely read anything. My Goodreads challenge is pitifully low and I wasn't even close to winning. NaNoWriMo was a bust and overall 2015 had been a suck-ish year in terms of reading for me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This isn't from not wanting to but simply in the immortal words that writers love to condemn,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 'I DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm a third year at University living and tidying my first house. I have to work to pay for said house and at the end of the day, when I drag my knackered bottom to bed, I don't stay up to read. Having a year in which I only read about 20 books (I know that still okay for some people, but one year I got 200 down! Damn I was on point) and I'm sort of freaked out by it and hope this won't be the beginning of a sad bookless life. I'm being dramatic, I've just been busy. Adulting is all about finding routine, once I get that down, I'll be good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However in 2015, I did purchase a lot of books, and in order to urge myself to get them done, here is a TBR for 2016 of sorts. These are the books I will definitely get read this year, hopefully this month.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson (Started in 2015)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throne of Glass 5 by Sarah J Maas</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stolen by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let It Snow by John Green and More (I'll get it done one year, I swear)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are just a few I'm hoping to read this year. To make up for my lackluster 2015, I'm also trying to read the books I've been neglecting, that I bought years ago and never read or finished. It's sad really, my TBR shelf is in need of a little TLC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So how is your book year looking?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you rock in 2015? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me know!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Reading.</span><br />
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Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-61709695533742420492015-10-06T09:24:00.001-07:002017-08-09T10:35:07.709-07:00My Book Kryptonite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are some books, you think you're above. You snort at "tweens" reading twilight or roll your eyes dramatically at the thought of Shakespeare, but then there are those other books. Those books that you have a weakness for. If your reading ability was Superman, these books are your Kryptonite. You are defenseless against them and as soon as a book presents itself in that way, it is immediately in your basket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me, it Fairy tale re-tellings. I want to pretend I'm above it, silly little genre with barely any originality - but I don't. Fairy tale re-tellings are some of the most outstanding literature I have read. They are so original and it is so interesting to have people take the same story and twist and manipulate it into something completely new. So to honour my book kryptonite, here is a list of my favourites, and if that's not enough, you can find more of the genre<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/genres/fairy-tale-retellings"> here</a>.</span><br />
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<b>1. Angela Carter</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCd4tIkjAIACVh_WE8CYf5y6c_NptANhmzWPQIgAeJ2jeVYIIMnpJ9r2GrUhy3MErm-PmOcFelgElXFgFzu5mPPtBwe8DWJGsC9bn6OTJZmWkseWhUDD4Tjn8G1n7wws6Z8OZtbYFAiZGe/s1600/df905ddf33c92667c71c3ade4b0fdc75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCd4tIkjAIACVh_WE8CYf5y6c_NptANhmzWPQIgAeJ2jeVYIIMnpJ9r2GrUhy3MErm-PmOcFelgElXFgFzu5mPPtBwe8DWJGsC9bn6OTJZmWkseWhUDD4Tjn8G1n7wws6Z8OZtbYFAiZGe/s320/df905ddf33c92667c71c3ade4b0fdc75.jpg" width="226" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Angela Carter was an English Novelist. She wrote <b>Angela Carter's Book of Fairy tale</b> and <b>The Bloody Chamber and other stories</b>. These are by far her most popular books and they aren't like regular re-tellings. Often seen as feminist literature, Carter's writing is violent and terrifying and really takes a good look at the female position within fairy tales and society. She looks at the impact of fairy tales on our society and flips them on their head. I would highly recommend any of her literature to any human person ever.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Leigh Bardugo</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you have not read Leigh Bardugo - do it now. Don't even bother with finishing this article. Just go. For a little context Bardugo's fairy tale stories are all companion novellas to the Grisha Series:</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Witch of Duva</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Little Knife</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Too Clever Fox</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Little Knife is my favourite and all of them are so mystical and amazing. The world she builds in these tiny little stories are just stunning.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Marissa Meyer</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cyborg Cinderella? Moon-person Rapunzel? NUFF SAID! <b>Lunar Chronicles </b>are amazing.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Sarah J Maas</span></b><br />
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<b>Throne of Glass</b> and <b>A Court of Thorns and Roses,</b> do seem far away from a fairy tale, but in fact TOG was originally based on Cinderella and ACOTAR is based on Beauty and the Beast. These series are both amazing representations of the ways authors interpret different stories. It is one of my favourite aspects of this genre. One of my all time favourites.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. ONCE UPON A TIME</span></b><br />
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I'm afraid I am about to be a cheater. This series is not a book, but it is still a masterpiece of fairy-tale makeovers. ABC'S Once Upon a Time is one of the most enjoyable shows I have watched. I adore the series and Emma and the way it uses contemporary life and society in order to highlight the characters past lives. Evil Peter Pan? Whhaaaatt? I love it. I love it so much, it has snuck it's way into my book blog. DAMN YOU EMMA SWAN!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that's it, a few of my favourite book kryptonite. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this quick little bit and I urge you to let me know in the comments, what your kryptonite is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Reading</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><br /></span></span></span>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4642091997631150009.post-19682749147422217692015-10-04T01:03:00.000-07:002017-08-09T10:36:11.739-07:00The Unreadables<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, we've all been there. You start a book, sometimes by an author you know and love...then it sucks. As a determined reader I try, honestly I try but sometimes whatever is wrong with the book gets in the way. Therefore in order to relieve myself of guilt for denying these books a review, here are a few of the books I was unable to finish and a few reasons why.</span><br />
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<b>The Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This book gives me a lot of sadness. I have loved every book Lauren Oliver has written but this book was just not up to scratch. Even the blurb seemed right up my street - a little mystery, sisterly relationships and a terrible trauma. Oooh the tension. It could have been something amazing, but if it was, I never got to it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had to give up at a hundred pages. The tension that was promised was not delivered and the pacing was so slow I knew it was ending toward a big finish, but as they say it isn't the ending that matters, its the journey -though an ending does help. So if you like a slow build to a shocking end, I'm sure you'll love this book but for me, <b>Panic</b> was such an outstanding novel that Vanishing Girls was a lot slower and less touching and therefore disappointing.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbourgh</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That title, it's beautiful, no wonder I bought this right? Even the synopsis Love and Death placing bets on two humans. Will they die or will they choose love. Oh it's exciting! Or I thought it would be. Love and Death essentially choose two humans of whom, if they fall in love it could cause disaster. They make them, soulmates shall we say. Flora and Henry are on either side of racial segregation. This gave me chills, oooh period drama, oohh forbidden love. But then Martha Brockenbourgh obviously felt very uncomfortable with her subject matter. Racist's were very polite and none of them even got near to using the dreaded N word. For a world that is so disgusted by dark skin at this time, a fact the author feels the need to emphasize. There is also the fact, the author refuses to tell the audience that Flora is coloured - we'll just have her play jazz music and have people look at her a bit funny, that should do it.<b><br /></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a writer, I honestly believe that if you are trying to comment on society, a time that was wrong, political statement etc. You have to go for it. Don't be afraid to offend people because you will. The readers knows that anything you write isn't necessarily how you feel. You are not your characters and that was the reason, I could not continue with this book.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take back the Skies by Lucy Saxon</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FQ4aB5cP99wMrZ6FmDF2I-3Cx69VPKNZ5SKEZmssgk7NQkVqH0KWPdDExcv8bQ6jgng6xPUs4KQwk7ARQRhv3GuBHoKGxLXAAIrlkMbQc7IIPbE9xC_bDa1f0qwR4Hj834nKKr7sTFK9/s1600/12064258_10206448652848923_1953931456_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FQ4aB5cP99wMrZ6FmDF2I-3Cx69VPKNZ5SKEZmssgk7NQkVqH0KWPdDExcv8bQ6jgng6xPUs4KQwk7ARQRhv3GuBHoKGxLXAAIrlkMbQc7IIPbE9xC_bDa1f0qwR4Hj834nKKr7sTFK9/s640/12064258_10206448652848923_1953931456_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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Lucy Saxon, cool cosplayer, a friend with someone I know. How I wish I'd loved this, but I didn't. I was thinking this would be Arya goes off alone in Game of Thrones but this book was very young. It seemed like it was for a much younger audience than it was advertised for. The main character is about fourteen which is immediately a dead giveaway. There are many reasons to stop a book, but at one point when you realise a series isn't for you. I think it's brave to put it down and move onto different things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This book is also one of those series in which each book follows a different character and I really didn't want to invest in a character and then lose them. I just can't set myself up for that kind of hurt (wipes eyes away dramatically).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there are a few of the books I have been unable to finish. I have a whole bookshelf on Goodreads dedicated to them, so if that sounds interesting you can find that <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6191326?shelf=unfinishable">here. </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If not I would love to hear about books you've read and forced to put down. It would surely help with my own book guilt. And don't be afraid to put down your books, there's always more round the corner and it won't be going anywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Reading.</span>Louise Wilkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05597908014629342345noreply@blogger.com0