Rating: 3.89/5

Read: Jan 11th, 2016

I have some mixed feelings with this book, although I did quite enjoy it!

For about the first 100 pages I found the writing to be really confusing because it kept switching from past and present tense, but I slowly got used to that when the switches in tense got sparser. However the writing also felt a little choppy to me which was quite annoying at times. Although I do still love Perkins’ writing!

Our protagonist Lola was a very different character, I found her to be a little annoying and irritating throughout most of the first half. However I did grow to like her more towards the end.

Max… should we even go there? Max was an absolute moron, not even sorry for saying that. It was so irritating how through the majority of the book Lola wouldn’t realise her feelings for Cricket as-well as still thinking Max was a good guy, even through every rude thing he did, and how he treated her family/friends. Although I can understand why she’d cling to the relationship.

Cricket, oh Cricket, I didn’t feel as big of a connection to him as perhaps other people did when reading this book, but I still loved him and truthfully, he’s probably the type of guy I’d go for in real life.

The things I did like a-lot about this book were the complexity of the character Calliope (even though I have no idea how to pronounce that…), the sort of-ish redemption of Norah/the semi-relationship her and Lola got to build. I also loved the inclusion of Anna and St. Clair, I thought that was so clever and fun to get an insight into what their lives are like now.

So overall, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Anna, but I feel like Lola could’ve been even better if the book/relationship wasn’t based on events of the past, which made it quite hard to view the relationship as it must’ve felt between the characters who had all this history together, and to readers it just felt a little rushed to me, but that’s just my opinion. I hope all that made sense…

Rating: 5/5

Read: Jan 2, 2016

Let’s just start off by saying…wow, what an incredible novel. I absolutely loved everything about this, from characters to plot to pacing to writing to setting, etc. you get the point. 
Do you ever get that feeling when you know a book is special? How it just feels like such an important part of your life after you’ve read it? That’s how I feel about this one.

Late 2014 I read a book called “My True Love Gave to Me” which was edited by Perkins, and had a short story in it written by her, I instantly fell in-love with that, so I hoped the same thing would happen here. It’s safe to say I was not disappointed.

Perhaps the most incredible of all of the things in this book, the setting, THE SETTING people. I have never, and I mean ever read a book in-which I was so thoroughly attentive and enthralled with a setting, I just completely fell in-love with Anna’s Paris. By far, my favourite setting I have ever read about. 
Honestly, Perkins has truly made me want to both A) visit France, and B) learn how to speak French. I was encapsulated with the beauty of the language throughout the novel, as quite a-lot was included, maybe I could teach myself.. whattya say google translate?

Moving onto the characters, even though I’m still not over the setting, but anyway…
Shall we start with Anna? I loved our protagonist so much! She was so relatable, real and fun, her view was just so great to read from and I felt as if I was living through her at times. Anna’s definitely a character I’ll want to revisit in the future.
Now onto Étienne St. Clair, aka. one of the dreamiest fictional boys out there. I also loved him and the different dynamic he brought to the story, he was so complex and just…argh, loveable?! Yes.

I also enjoyed every single other character Perkins wrote into this novel, some more than others due to their actions, but hey, we won’t go there.
Perkins has now made it to my very short list of ‘favourite authors’, and even though I’ve read very little by her, I have no doubt she has already earned her rightful spot on said list. The writing, whether it be the descriptions of the city, characters, witty dialogue or simply just internal monologue was fantastic.

This book is one that I could and probably will get lost in over and over again, and is definitely one that’ll hit right in the nostalgic feels over time. Thank you Stephanie Perkins for this magical story, and everything that it holds. It’s a new favourite, and one that I will cherish forever.

So, if you can’t tell by my gushing, you should go and read this book right now (if you haven’t already).

Rating: 2/5

Read: Dec 29th, 2015

** I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

This is a fantastic and unique debut. I predict a bright future in the writing world for Gill, this is only the beginning.

The most impressive aspect of this novel, especially for being a debut, is the uniqueness of it. These days it’s hard to write a book that is completely unique and is unlike another book of its genre, and seeing as this is a dystopian that’s impressive.

I was initially intrigued about the whole ‘world underwater’ thing, and that aspect made the book what it was. The ideas of the United Underworld, The Shell, Old World, etc. were so, again, unique, and interesting to read about.

The writing style in this novel was quite different, we often changed views between characters in the middle of a page (never first person though), and I quite liked that because it kept the books pace up and kept it intriguing. The descriptions like ‘young woman’, ‘the women’, etc. got annoying at times, because they were so repetitive, but that’s probably just my personal preference.

In terms of characters, I didn’t really care much for them, but I did care enough to appreciate their places within the novel. Red, our main girl, was ruthless and I admired that about her, she took pity where it was needed but also knew where enough was enough.

The only thing that may have been a bit of a downfall for this book is that I found myself getting bored throughout various parts of the novel, it just didn’t completely grip me. This could also be due to major christmas festivities and room renovations which left me with basically zero time to read throughout the past 2 weeks…uh

All in all, I’d recommend this book to those who enjoy a good dystopian, and also those willing to try a new kind-of novel that is both riveting and unique. 
I wish all the best of luck to Chris Gill in the future!

Rating: 3/5

Read: Dec 19th, 2015

The concept of this book is so unique, and to me, that and the beautiful writing were the best parts of the novel. 

The idea that the main character, Maddy, is allergic to everything and literally cannot do anything without caution or really go anywhere at all was so intriguing. Also Yoon definitely has such a stunning way with words, and the concepts/metaphors throughout the book were just so insightful and lovely.

However, I did feel like this book was kind-of rushed and everything was just happening too quickly, that aspect made it feel as if it wasn’t flowing as well as it possibly could have, I think the book being a little longer would’ve been beneficial.

The characters had some kind of depth to them, especially Olly, but I feel like they weren’t really explored enough to really solidify that depth and make me fall in-love with them, or even be able to relate.

To me, the plot felt a little lacking, like nothing much really happened even though they did go places, but the progression wasn’t vastly there. The ‘plot twist’ towards the end didn’t really surprise me because I had a feeling that what happened would in-fact be the case. 

Overall though, I did enjoy the book and couldn’t put it down because it was such a quick and easy read. I loved the short chapters and little inserts/pictures, that was such a great idea and just added to the unique quality of the story! It was a great debut novel, and Yoon definitely deserves credit for this book being her first, and already having such great qualities! I predict a bright future in the author world for her! 

This book gave me a bit of a ‘We Were Liars’ by E. Lockhart vibe, as-well as a sprinkle of John Green in there. So if you like either of those, you’d probably enjoy this one!

Rating: 2.75/5

Read: Dec 15th, 2015

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Bloomsbury, in exchange for an honest review**

So this book started off feeling promising but, for me, it just fell flat, although I did still enjoy it to some extent.

Let’s talk about the characters shall we. Our main character, Jessica was both likeable and extremely annoying at the same time. Throughout parts of this book I found myself really liking her and then in others I was rolling my eyes. The boyfriend, Brennan, I never took a liking to throughout the whole novella, and I found their relationship to be quite boring and it just honestly didn’t even feel real which I think was resolved at the end. Grady was the most likeable character for me, he provided the humour in the book, but even still I didn’t become all that attached to him either.

The plot was very bland and didn’t really move anywhere at all, but I suppose it is difficult being a novella. I feel like we were just stuck in the same place throughout the entire thing, and nothing really happened in terms of story development, like at all.

The writing however, I quite enjoyed, and I think Payne has the potential to write a really great novel in the future. The description of the setting was written wonderfully, it even made me feel cold/ like drinking all the warm things, even though I’m actually dying of heat here in Australia.

Overall, it was enjoyable in the way that it brought feelings of christmas and cosiness, but fell quite flat in terms of actual story development and characters.

Rating: 5/5

Read: Dec 13th, 2015

This book absolutely blew me away, I can’t even tell you how much of a genius Colleen Hoover is. The way this story was told and interwoven is truly incredible. Hoover is a gift to the world of literature.

I recommend going into this story completely blind, because I knew nothing about it whatsoever and it was so cool to be able to figure out what was going on with the characters.

Lets start with the thoughts shall we… so this book literally had plot twist after plot twist, and I’m not one who gets fooled by books very easily but this one had some serious shocks! and I may have thrown the book a couple times.

The emotions and feels in this book are so high, and you honestly find yourself experiencing everything the characters are experiencing, my heart was both broken and fulfilled along with the characters.

Ben is such a complex and interesting character, with scars of his own, which unlike Fallon, are not visible. I found the back-story to Ben which we see in the end, to be so intense and interesting to read about. Whilst Fallon is this fiery sometimes stubborn person, whom I also found quite interesting to read about, however at times, she was sort-of irrational.

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the Ugly Love reference/tie in!! Especially what we found out due to Miles and Tate’s appearance, it was so fun and such an awesome idea to add into the already abundant plot.

The concept of this story is so unique, and the way it is written goes along with that perfectly. As always, Hoover has some genius dialogue in her novels, and this one is no exception. The only thing I feel may have slightly been lacking in is the characters, however maybe that’s because the story was so focused on the love aspect, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.

I love how the whole story was woven together and tied up. This book sure was an emotional rollercoaster, one that had many dips and turns, but I’d go through it all again just to read this incredibly put together story of Fallon O’Neill and Benton James Kessler.

I can say with 100% certainty that November 9th will never be the same again.

Rating: 3/5

Read: November 24th, 2015

I feel like I don’t really have much to say that hasn’t been said before because we all know how popular this book is for so many various reasons, and with attitudes ranging from pure obsessive love, to pure hatred.

But, nevertheless, every opinion is different, so here’s mine…

When I first started Twilight I thought wow, Bella is so different to ‘Movie Bella’, but as the book progressed I found Kristen Stewart to be more like the Bella that became throughout the novel (if that made any sense). I also really enjoyed Jacob’s character, I found him to be a-lot more relatable/realistic than Bella and Edward, I’m excited to read more of him in the future.

I definitely enjoyed this book, but I found it lagged a bit throughout some parts, but maybe that’s just because I had exams and was only able to read a very minimal amount of pages a day and sometimes none at all. life.

The one thing that did annoy me greatly about this book that I had a hard time looking past was how ridiculously fast Bella and Edward fell ‘so’ in-love… there was no build up whatsoever it was literally like “oh okay, I love you, you’re the most important thing in my life now.”

Another kind of irritating, but hilarious, thing was Bella’s reaction to Edward being a vampire. I literally had to go back and read some of it again because I actually missed her recognition of him being a freaking supernatural creature. Hello Bella, that’s not normal incase you weren’t aware??

All-in-all though Twilight was an entertaining read, and I did enjoy it. The question is, am I team Edward or team Jacob? I never fully solidified my answer to that even with the movies, so I’m hoping with the books, I’ll finally decide once and for all.

Rating: 4/5

Read: Oct 29th, 2015

First of all, let me say how well-developed and interesting these characters were. Much like the setting and atmosphere of this book, in which I found so easy to keep up with and visualise. It’s always great when visualising a book is both simple and intricate at the same time.

The story was so unique and fun to absorb, I often found myself getting lost in the novel and being able to block out everything around me. Which is what I want the absolute most when reading a book.

I personally didn’t read the Simon Snow parts in the book don’t kill me, but I kind-of got the gist of what was going on there. I just didn’t really want to waste time reading them when I already feel like this book took me forever to read.

Although I didn’t read her fan-fiction, I loved that aspect of Cath, and being a fangirl myself, I really enjoyed the fact that even though she was slightly socially awkward, she never felt as if she had to hide her fangirl side. I loved that.

I loved the relationship between Levi and Cath, and I don’t think I’ve ever read a relationship that was written so realistically and naturally. Think the complete and utter opposite of insta-love, and that’s what this was. I commend Rowell on her ability to write such a relationship.

Overall, this book was fun and quirky, but I feel lacked a little in plot development, thus the 4 stars. I also feel a little like things weren’t entirely wrapped up, and there were so many directions and opportunities that weren’t taken, but that’s just me.

Rating: 4/5

Read: Sep 27th, 2015

This book was amazing, I can’t believe how quickly I devoured it! If you thought you liked ‘On the fence’ by Kasie West, then you are going to absolutely love this one!

The characters in this novel are what sells you before anything else. Caymen Meyers is our protagonist, the sarcastic, humorous, and freakishly relatable 17 year old that I just loved! I completely fell into the world/mind of Caymen from the very first sentence.

Our love interest, Xander Spence is the perfect mix of everything I could want in a male character! The relationship between the two characters was just so alluring and had some of the best dialogue I’ve ever read, mainly due to the hilarity, sarcastic comments, and little ‘inside jokes’ that we kept coming back to throughout the novel.

Kasie West simply blew me away with her incredible skills in writing and the way she weaves words and sentences to make one big beautiful story. The writing was one of the best parts of this book, West created such vivid and interesting characters each with a story of their own that had me enthralled.

I was sucked in the entire time just needing to know what would happen next, which can be rare for a contemporary. This book gives you a serious case of the ‘just one more chapter’ problem, but I have no regrets whatsoever! 

I’d recommend this book to everyone, it was beautiful, hilarious, gave you all the feels and was simply just a feel good, laugh out loud book with some deep meaning. Do yourselves a favour and read this book!

Rating: 3/5

Read: Sep 27th, 2015

For a conclusion to a paranormal trilogy, this was a bit of a disappointment to me, sadly.

This book is paranormal, yet it felt more contemporary, which for some may be appealing, but for those who are expecting a riveting action packed ending to a angels/demons trilogy, it is kind-of disappointing.

Most of the book focused on the love aspect extremely heavily, and left very little room for the whole ‘world’ aspect of the novel to be dealt with. Although I did enjoy many of the love type parts, I found myself thinking ‘when is this going to stop and actually get into the book’, it just got old after a while when nothing was really happening.

The ending was super quick and felt like the whole three book issue was solved in literally 2 pages, making it rather anticlimactic. Honestly, I was looking forward to this huge battle and all I got was 10 pages tops, of talking and BOOM everything was solved…

The epilogue was super super sweet though, and I really did enjoy that! Oh Kaidan.

All in all, I did enjoy this series however I feel it got progressively worse with each book, and was a let down in the end. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the series though, because I definitely did! Just less dragging was needed in my opinion, too many pages, too little action.