Book haul *cries*

As though my bank account wasn’t empty enough already, I just had to go on another book haul, yay… get ready for me to list some books that will inevitably be added to the enormous pile of unread books and stay there for at least a year 😀

The most amazing accomplishment of this book haul has to be that I got three books for £5!!!! And if you don’t live in the UK, lets just say that it’s cheap. Woo!

1. The Hate you give by Angie Thomas                                                                                            

      I’ve heard so may great things about this book and so when I saw it on a three for £5 I basically jumped for joy! From what I know, this book is about racism in modern society. I’ll probably do a review for it when I finally get to it, is it worth reading straight away?

2.  The beguiled by Thomas Cullinan                                                                                              

      I hadn’t even heard of this book until the 2017 film version came out, the only reason I picked it up is because a friend recommended it and I honestly have no clue what it’s about so I can only really guess from the cover 😀

3. The midnight queen by Sylvia Hunter                                                                                               

This was the third and final book on the deal, and to be honest, that’s the only reason I bought it, I have no clue what it’s about, what happens, or even what genre it is, the only reason I got it was because of the cover… sooooo prettyyy

4. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare                                                                                                   

After being hassled by my friends for not reading this yet, I thought it was probably best I read this before I forget to and never read it, Cassandra Clare is one of favourite authors of all time so I already know I’m gonna love this

5. Quidditch through the ages by J.K Rowling                                                                              

  I borrowed this a while ago and read it but I decided I wanted my own copy as well! The proceedings of the book go to the charities Lumos and Comic relief 🙂

Gone book review

So I’m actually in a competition with all my friends to see who can finish this series first! I’ve just started the second book so hopefully I’ll win 😀

Book Description:

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young.

There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what’s happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day. It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your 15th birthday, you disappear just like everyone else…

Warning, this goes into my thoughts and contains spoilers!!! You’ve been warned 🙂

In a world where the adults and people over the age of fifteen have disappeared or ‘poofed’, Sam must find a way to navigate his way through a new world where an impenetrable barrier surrounds their town of Perdido beach, not to mention, he has to figure out his mysterious powers, and the powers of Caine, the charming fourteen year old who seizes power, and rejects all mutants.

My thoughts: the book opens in Perdido beach high school, where all over fifteen disappear at the same moment. The premise of the book was originally very interesting, and sparked my interest immediately, it’s different from most YA/sci-fi fantasy and the story is unique and gripping. It then went to the go to stereotypical YA trope, and immediately revealed who the main character was going to fall in love with by the end of the book and/or series. This is one of the things that irritates me whilst reading books.

All the children go to the plaza in the middle of the town, and I enjoyed the realism of the situation, Michael Grant really managed to capture what would actually would happen in a situation like this, kids would go crazy, hysteria, and would probably end up robbing stores just to get all the free candy 😀 The only thing I didn’t understand was Astrid’s complete calmness over her lost brother. She expresses her worry but only after everyone has managed to get to the plaza, and even when she can’t find him, her reaction seems subdued.

I liked how the ‘powers’ of the children were explained as mutations, and were linked with the FAYZ wall and the power plant. I also realised that each mutants powers related to the individuals fears. For example, Sam is afraid of the dark, so has powers of light, and I’m presuming because Astrid is so smart, she’s afraid about not being able to read peoples personality, so has the power to do this. And of course, Caine is afraid of losing control, and his power allows him to control everyone.

I found the ending a little anticlimactic and unrealistic, after the build up the book created towards this inevitable fight between Sam and Caine, their fight seemed a little short, and after the fight, everyone seemed to go back to normal, all the children acting the exact same way as before. No change to attitudes or feelings.

So there was one thing that annoyed me more than anything else, and I thought I would save this till last. Lana. Her entire personality was extremely annoying. And I know these reviews are supposed to be more fair, but something about her character I can’t really explain was agitating. Maybe it was that she seemed to have no resistance against whatever side she was working for, and seemed to have very little emotion towards anything.

My rating: 3/5 stars

If you liked this then you’ll like… The maze runner

Songs I listened to: These four walls and Sparks fly

What should I read next? What are you reading? Leave a comment below

Monday reading

So, as it’s Monday and the start of a looooong week, I thought I would do a short little post on what I’m reading at the moment to cheer myself up before the horror that are essays are due again 😅

My reading habits tend to vary, so sometimes I can be reading multiple books at once and then only be reading one book after another for a few months after that, right now I just so happen to be reading four books at once, and I’d like to share all of these with you guys 🙂

My first read is Gone by Michael Grant. This series was extremely popular a few years ago but I never managed to get around to it, now the final book has just recently come out I’ve finally decided to delve into this extremely long series. I’m enjoying it so far, but it lacks a little maturity, and as I’m so late to this book craze, I feel I would have enjoyed it more when I was reading books like The Hunger Games when I was twelve.

I’m also reading The mayor of Casterbridge by the infamous Thomas Hardy. I’m not sure if this counts as reading for pleasure so much as it’s part of my English Literature required reading, But I’m actually enjoying it so what the hell I’ll put it on the list 😀 I’ll try to do a detailed review on it once I’ve finished along with Gone. 

So this third one is also a bit of a cheat… It’s also part of compulsory reading, but if I didn’t I would only have three books on the list. I’m reading a streetcar named desire by Tennessee Williams. The cultural background and the writers history is really interesting, but I’m not enjoying it at the moment. I still think this is a brilliantly written play, I’ve just always found it harder to connect with plays, you can’t see the inner workings of characters or get so much description if you’re not actually watching it, if you like reading plays I highly recommend it though.

Finally! A book that isn’t for school! I am number four is a very popular novel and movie, which I have somehow seemed to have avoided completley, I’m only a few pages in so far, so I have absolutely no clue what is going on. I seem to be one of the only people I know to have avoided all spoilers and plot, so I’m going into it completley blind, yay!

What books are you guys reading? Comment below!

Children’s book recommendations!

Some children’s book recommendations, I’ll probably mention stuff everyone’s always read but I wanted to share some children’s books I still love even now!

1.Percy Jackson and heroes of Olympus series 

I first read Percy Jackson about five years ago, when I was 11, and I just reread the entire Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series recently, I can honestly say that this is one of those series that just does not get old. Even though it’s called as children’s, and I can never see myself tiring of it.

If you love stories about friendship, adventures, Greek and roman mythology, then the chances are that you will absolutely adore this!

 

 

2.Journey to the river sea

Journey to the river sea was the first book I took out of the school library, I read it so long ago now, but I can remember being completely transfixed with the world  Eva Ibbotson had created, it was set in Africa, when a girl from boarding school gets sent there to live with her distant relatives. As the title suggests it’s about this amazing journey of finding herself and the nature around her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.Harry Potter

 Okay, okay! So I know everyone has already read this but there was no way I was going to post this without Harry Potter on the list! Well, in case you’ve been living under a rock, Harry Potter is about a boy called Harry, who discovers he is a wizard, and hunted by the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, who he survived the most deadly of curses, defeating lord Voldemort when he was only a baby. Together, with his friends, he learns incredible magic and discovers secrets in seven mind blowing books.

4. Roald Dahl books

I tried to limit this to one of his books but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it! All of Roald Dahl books are classics! They’re filled with wonder, mystery, and laughs, and I am not ashamed to say that I still want to know how to make George’s marvelous medicine. Just incase you don’t recognize the name, he’s written many books that have been turned into movies, like Matilda, the witches, the BFG and Charlie and the chocolate factory.

5.Alice in wonderland

When I was younger I was reading Alice’s adventures in wonderland and I had no clue what was going on! But I went back to it about two years ago and actually found it so much more enjoyable! The wit, descriptions and characters in this book are clearly what makes it a must read, even today, and I could not bring myself to put it down.

6. His dark materials series 

This series is probably one of the best children’s series I have ever read, and although a little slow paced to start, it had one of the most interesting and thought provoking premises I have ever seen. Turned into the a movie called the Golden Compass (which dos not do the books justice), this series is about a girl called Lyra, in a world where your souls live outside your body in the form of an animal called daemons. I can remember reading this and basically just wanting a cheetah or a lion as my daemon , devastated that it wasn’t real, haha. I’m not telling you any more because if you haven’t read it, it’s best going into the series knowing as little as possible as to what’s going on.

7. Lion boy

I know the title sounds cheesy but you have to trust me on this one. It was the first book I read that got me into reading, before that I was just some kinda sad bookless child who I weep to think about. It’s probably not as great as I remember it to be as it’s been so long, but it  is great fun and it takes place in the future, what could be better? After  the disappearance of his parents, Charlie must follow his guts and try to find them. To do so he begins a long journey, by stowing away on a circus boat that just so happens to have lions, and he appears to be the only boy who also just so happens to speak cat. It seems a bit far fetched, nut believe me, this three book series will leave you somehow wanting a talking lion.

One day by David Nicholls

 

Hey there! So I’m actually super proud of myself because it took me so long to finish this book and I almost gave up but I didn’t!

One day follows two best friends, Emma and Dexter, over a twenty year period, struggling through life from leaving university and coming to terms with relationships, friendship, and jobs. They meet in 1988, on the night of their graduation, planning to go their separate ways the next day, but they just can’t keep apart, over the years their friendship gets stretched and frayed, but some people just can’t be kept apart.

My rating: 4/5

This is the kind of book you either love or hate, I really liked that it was set out over a long period of time, it allowed you to really develop with the characters as they grow, and the author was really creative jumping long periods of time without making the story feel unfinished or half written. It left me completely speechless and heartbroken when it finished,  and reminded me of a Greek tragedy.

I did have a few problems with it however, at some points it felt like the story was dragging, trying to fill time with unnecessary interactions, this was why I had a little trouble getting through it, but even though it is a little slow paced, I really enjoyed the writing style, even if it was a little pessimistic at times.

I could truly relate to the character Emma, and her struggles, she was such a realistic character and was one of the main reasons I loved this book, each of the characters had lots of flaws, which is what made this book so different from a lot of other contemporary novels, instead of everyone being beautiful and heroic, they made mistakes, were lazy, ignorant and sometimes annoying, but were also some of the best characters I’ve read in a while.

Songs I listened to: Rain by the Script and Too good at goodbyes by Sam Smith

Happy reading!

 

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Catherine, the daughter of a marquee, is desired by all in wonderland and a favourite to the king of hearts. But as a talented baker and determined girl, she strives to create her own destiny and follow her passion for baking in opening a shop for all her creations. Uninterested in the kings attempts to have her hand in marriage, Catherine must overcome her mothers disapproval and avoid her greatest fear in becoming queen of hearts.
On the night of an enchanting black and white ball, Catherine runs into the joker, a mysterious and handsome stranger she feels a strange connection to. To avoid her parents and the kings disapproval, they start to build a secret relationship in which discovery could ruin both of their reputations, not to mention there’s a monster on the loose…

My rating 4.5/5
I really loved this book and thought that Marissa Meyer has improved her writing so much since the Lunar chronicles series. Marissa used a perfect combination of the original story whilst also using her own writing to create a really enjoyable story filled with love, action, mystery and weirdness.
One of the problems I had with the lunar chronicles was how rushed characters seemed to ‘fall in love’ and although this is characteristically found in fairy tales her writing style didn’t merge well with that aspect. However, in heartless, I really loved how she captured the love interest, and it was one of the main reasons I completely fell in love with the characters.
The only reason I couldn’t give it a 5/5 was because, although I knew vaguely how the book was going to end, it still left me a little disappointed (crying in my bedroom) at the ending, as I had completely fallen in love with the characters so I’ve basically refused to recognize the ending exists.
Songs I listened to whilst reading: FOOLS by Troyes Sivan and Killer Queen by Queen
Have a great adventure!