Mini Reviews #4

Law of Moses – Amy Harmon

5++ Stars 

In the blurb we are promised a book that is “a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all…a love story”  and oh man did it deliver! This isn’t just your usual love story of bad boy meets good girl and here starts a tormented love story, Its something more and there isn’t much I could say without giving away any parts of this exquisite story. Just know that you’re opening a book that has been exquisitely crafted by an author who manages to keep me hooked from the first page until the last page.

Enclave – Ann Aguirre 

5 stars

This is a post apocalyptic/zombie/badass novel which is action packed and fast paced. we have our main character Deuce who  is a strong huntress who has trained most of her life to keep the underground  village safe from the ‘freaks’. This was a completely different premise for me and i thoroughly enjoyed it. It has begun to hint at some romance and i cant WAIT to read the next one!

 Confess – Colleen Hoover 

5++ stars

Colleen, I think you can do no wrong, please send me your shopping lists I will read them!

Confess follows the unlikely duo of Auburn and Owen. It is beautiful, heartbreaking and then once its broken it gets stitched back together artfully by Colleen. My favourite thing about Colleen besides her addictive talents for writing, is that she always brings something more to the book. Transporting the experience from just a book to an all involving experience. There are beautifully painting interspersed throughout. Moreover, she has included real life, anonymous confessions that contribute to the meaningfulness of the book.

Honestly read any book by Colleen Hoover.. thats my recommendation.

*REVIEW* Night Sky By Suzanne & Melanie Brockmann

Night Sky Suzanne and Melanie Brockmann

5 Stars! 

Blurb

SHE’S THE ULTIMATE WEAPON IN FIGHTING DESTINY.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann and her daughter Melanie Brockmann have written a pulse-pounding novel of paranormal suspense set in a near future both fantastic and frightening. 

Skylar Reid is shaken when Sasha, the little girl she babysits, is kidnapped. Scared that the weird dreams she’s been having about Sasha are real—and even more afraid that Sasha is already dead. When a mysterious girl with extreme butt-kicking abilities roars into town on a motorcycle and, well, stalks Skylar things get even weirder. Supergirl Dana tells Sky that she also has abilities – that a hormone in their blood makes them stronger, faster, smarter. A hormone that the makers of a new drug called Destiny will murder to get their hands on. 

Dana and Milo, her dangerously hot yet oh-so-forbidden partner in crime, want Sky to join them in their mission – to mold Sky into the ultimate weapon. She can sense there’s something about her abilities they’re not telling her. But the only way to save Sasha and stop other girls from being taken is to embrace the weird…and fight Destiny.

Review

Okay so nearly a year ago I went on a Suzanne Brockmann rampage and devoured all of her Trouble Shooters series (in fact i think i have mentioned this series in a previous post.)I was super duper excited when I first heard of this young adult collaboration with her daughter. The premise for me was so exciting, Suzanne Brockmann always makes super sexy male characters and relatable relationships. So upon reading this it was definitely a slow start but i was hooked by the end! Maybe because I’m a sucker for superheroesque things. There were badass Xmen vibes for sure. Also brownie points for diverse characters in the YA genre! I loved this and i can’t wait for the next instalment! If you have read and enjoyed the Talented saga by Sophie Davis you will absolutely enjoy this.
ALSO I LOVE CALVIN

April And Britney Challenge 2015

So my best friend April (aprilsbookworld.blogspot.com) and I created a challenge for each other Last year. We each chose 15 books that we have been wanting the other to read, mostly our favourites, but some recommendations, we have until the end of the year to finish them all.

we will be updating the challenge on our goodreads pages which i will link down below.

Here is the video we made outlining the books we chose and why!

Aprils Goodreads list list with all of the books on it:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list…
My Goodreads List:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list…

My LINKS:
CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/user/missbrit…
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5…
Blog: https://brittyell.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Britles_skitles

Aprils Links:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/apriliusmaximus
Book Blog: http://aprilsbookworld.blogspot.com.au/
Personal Blog: http://livingthelifeofapril.blogspot….
Tumblr: http://aprilandmoonboots.tumblr.com/
Instagram: @apriliusbrooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ApriliusBrooks

*Review* I was Here – Gayle Forman

Title: I Was Here

Author: Gayle Forman

Rating: 5 stars

Publisher: Simon & Shuster (Australia)
Format: ARC

Publication Date: February 1st 2015

I was sent an ARC copy of this book from Simon and Schuster teen in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

Review

This is a beautiful story of friendship, grief, love and loss. It is an emotionally raw journey as we follow Cody and how she deals with the grief of losing her best friend. Gayle Forman has a way of depicting perfectly flawed characters which are relatable and authentic and this story was no exception. I loved the setting and that the protagonist was college age student, this is border line between Young Adult, and New adult. I also loved the mystery element to this book, and i found myself falling in love with a lot of the minor characters, who played a big part in unraveling the truth behind Meg’s suicide.

The romance that develops throughout the story is at times not the main focus, and i did find the relationship slightly strange, however the way that Forman eloquently describes the blossoming romance makes you fall in love right along with the couple. Cody is tormented by what i figure to be survivors guilt and the way in which Forman has addressed this topic and the emotion of the matter was truly what stood out to me as beautiful. I believe this one to be for a slightly older demographic than If I stay, Which i enjoyed thoroughly #steamy.

I recommend this book to older Young adult readers who love reality based contemporary fiction.

5 Stars

P.S

How can I not

Girl Online- Zoe Sugg, Review and MORE

Girl Online – Zoe Sugg 

Penny has a secret. Under the alias Girl Online, Penny blogs her hidden feelings about friendship, boys, high school drama, her crazy family, and the panic attacks that have begun to take over her life. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets Noah, a gorgeous, guitar-strumming American. Suddenly Penny is falling in love–and capturing every moment of it on her blog. But Noah has a secret, too, one that threatens to ruin Penny’s cover–and her closest friendship–forever.

Disclaimer.

I think from the moment I heard about this book i was going to love it. I have been a fan of Zoella for years and I was super excited she was writing a YA book.

Review

This book was super duper cute, It is predictable, granted, but it is the kind of predictable, cutesy young teen book that you can’t help but love! I think the most important aspects of this book is found in the characterisation. Penny, the main character has an anxiety disorder and  suffers from crippling panic attacks. She takes to the internet to talk anonymously about her experience and many of her followers reach out and respond to her positively. This positivity is juxtaposed with the online cyber bullying Penny receives from her closest friends and school mates, and really shows the impact the internet can have both positive and negative. Girl Online also deals with teen homosexuality and I believe it was touched on with grace and eloquence in a loveable best friend character.

I gave this book 5 stars and the more i thought about it the more i believe it deserved it. This book isn’t literary gold, It won’t win any prestigious prizes, but its addressing real life issues whilst remaining a cute and easy read.

Ghost Writing controversy 

So apparently this book was written with help/Ghost written by Siobhan Curham. To be honest Im not surprised, I never really thought that Zoe could write a book so quickly, and having never written a book before, it was unlikely she wouldn’t be receiving some degree of help. However, I believe the elements of this book that i really love, the characters, the plot, the issues that are dealt with, are all genuinely Zoe. Zoe has forever been open and honest about her anxiety on the internet and I believe this element of penny’s character is semi autobiographical. I guess we will never know the truth until they open up about it, however, I’m happy, Zoella has a massive following of young girls and boys, who all went out and bought and read a book! Thats exciting! It was a book that dealt with real issues and I hope garnered a love of reading in some younger teens! thats nothing to sneeze at no matter who wrote the book!

*REVIEW* A little Something Different – Sandy Hall

A little something different is everything it promised. A love story told from the perspective of EVERYONE BUT the lovers.

It was a breath of fresh air to read a story of love from the perspective of all the onlookers, watching as the two stumble into a beautiful romance and deal with the complications that arise.

This was a quick read with loveable characters and elements that made me laugh out loud.

This is a great holiday read and i recommend it for lovers of Stephanie Perkins!

5 Stars! 

Mini Reviews #3

A thousand Pieces of you Claudia Gray

5 Stars 

Marguerite Caine is on a mission to avenge her fathers death. She is supported by her dads colleague and family friend Theo as they jump through dimensions, trying to find her dads killer.

I was hesitant about this book, I didn’t love what i read of the Evernight series, but the cover was to pretty and the summary sold me!

I was not disappointed! This book is amazing, Inter-dimensional travel in which a love triangle turns into some 3D object, love pyramid or I don’t even know, it was just amazing. Each dimensions jump leads to another beautiful instance of world building! The premise is exciting and new, I for one , haven’t read anything like this before it was a breath of fresh air and i can’t wait to read the next one!

Illusive Emily Lloyd-Jones

5 stars 

Set in the US after a virus has plagued the country and the vaccine that cured it caused more trouble then expected. That trouble is known as an immunity, or a superhero like powers that a small populous developed when they were vaccinated. We follow the story in two points of view, firstly Ciere Giba who is an illusionist. she is able to transform her self and some of what is around her at her will. She also is part of a band of merry thieves. The second point of view is Daniel, who was once a member of the same thieving group as Ciere but has recently gone missing.

Everyone has been saying it, but if you like X-Men you will LOVE this. Which worked well for me, as I love a bit of superhuman activity. I actually really enjoyed the story line of this book, and although its part of a series the ending didn’t leave me feeling lacking. I think one of the most enjoyable aspects were the secondary characters, they all bought a lot to the story and really drew me in.

I thoroughly enjoyed illusive and I will be waiting patiently for the next instalment!

Kiss of deception Mary E Pearson

5 Stars 

The story of a run away bride with a royal twist. Princess Lia was promised to marry a Prince who she has never set eyes on, so she escapes from the wedding with her maid and hides herself away in a small village days from the castle.This story is told from three perspectives, We have Lia the princess, The prince who she was supposed to marry, and An Assassin who has been sent to assassinate the princes.

The way in which this story was written keeps you guessing until the final moments. I was enraptured in the writing and could not put this book down. The ending however holds a massive cliff hanger which has shredded my insides as i wait for the next book. I suggest this book to even people who don’t like fantasy books, it is enthralling and exciting from beginning to end and leaves your wanting more and more!

Making faces- Amy Harmon

5 +++++ Stars 

This is the most, perfect, heartbreakingly beautiful story i have ever read. I honestly couldn’t fault this book at all. I considered the hype on goodreads before i started, but it 100% lived up to the expectations. Amy Harmon has created stunningly, emotive characters who you can’t help but grow real attachment for. I  challenge you to make it through this book without leaving with a whole lot of feels.

EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT