Monday, 7 September 2015

To All the Boys I've Loved Before | Book Review

To All the Boys I've Loved Before is a YA contemporary romance novel by Jenny Han.
Despite me owning a fair few of Jenny Han's books, this is the first one I decided to read and it did not disappoint.

At first, I was pretty unsure of what this book would be about. The description set the general plot for this book, but unlike in lots of cases, it didn't really give me any information about how the book would play out.

"Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. One for every boy she's ever loved. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control..."

When I first read the description of To All the Boys, I have got to admit: I did think it sounded really quite cheesy and I doubted that it would end up as one of my favourites.
I turned out to be pleasantly surprised! Like most romance books, it did get a little cheesy and predicable on the odd occasion, but I did really enjoy it and it is now one of my favourite books!

For those of you who have not already read the book, and to give a little more information than is on the blurb, Lara Jean is a sixteen year old romantic who has written a love - or sometimes 'goodbye' - letter to each of the five boys she has loved. It's her way of releasing them from the confines of her heart and she never has to worry about the boys finding out, as she never intends for them to read them.
One day, however, everything changes and her letters go missing...
Soon, Lara Jean finds herself having to answer to a life time's amount of crushes. From her next door neighbour (who just so happens to be her sister's ex-boyfriend) to the hottest guy in the school, Lara Jean is forced to explain her long felt declarations of love.
Her story will take some unexpected twists and turns to cover up what she's really feeling inside...

I'm going to be completely honest here; Jenny Han's writing isn't a masterpiece. It wasn't impeccably beautiful or anything, but it didn't need to be. I have read many bad reviews of this book which focused in on the writing, but I found it really easy to read and it didn't make it any less of an enjoyable read.
Also, I have read many reviews of To All the Boys which complain about Lara Jean's narrative voice seeming 'childlike and moany'. I disagree with this. Okay, so maybe she didn't completely act her age throughout the whole of the book, but as a whole, I didn't find an issue with it.

As with all books (except maybe Harry Potter!), there will always be at least one little issue which might irritate you, but I personally felt like Lara Jean's voice wasn't a huge one. Please don't be put off reading this book just because of this!



If you haven't read To All the Boys and do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading now and go and read the book!!



So, the main subjects of this book revolved around boys, and let me tell you, our two main men were gorgeous!
Josh was Lara Jean's long-time crush, and also happened to be the boyfriend of her sister, Margot.
Peter was the slightly-over-self-confident guy loved by practically everyone in the school. Definitely not Lara Jean's type. But after her letters from the past are mysteriously posted and awkward questions are posed by the newly heartbroken Josh, Lara Jean finds herself taking part in a 'fake relationship' with Peter to hide her true feelings from Josh.
This was possibly the strangest relationships I have ever read about and I found the whole situation really awkward, yet hilarious at the same time!

At this point in the story, I didn't really like Peter and much preferred Josh, as I think the author intended from Lara Jean's preferences.

Possibly my favourite moment in the book was Halloween, when Lara Jean ended up dressing up as Cho Chang, from the Harry Potter series, and then Josh turned up dressed as Harry. I LOVE it when books make references to Harry Potter so this was a great moment for me! However, as I thought about it more, I realised that these costumes could be a metaphor for Lara Jean and Josh's characters, and almost foreshadow how the book would end, since (HARRY POTTER SPOILERS) Harry and Cho do not end up together.
I was quite disappointed about this at first. Peter just seemed kind of cocky and arrogant and was only with Lara Jean to get back at his ex-girlfriend, whereas it was clear that Josh might have had proper feelings for her. But as the story went on, a deeper side to Peter was revealed, particularly through his interactions
with Kitty, making those cupcakes with Lara Jean and taking her to the antique auction.
So as it went on, I found myself falling for Peter, just as Lara Jean did. I liked the depth of his character and even though he put a front up for everyone else, you could really tell that he was sensitive and caring deep down. So, when Josh told Lara Jean his feelings for her and proceeded to kiss her, it was kind of an awkward moment, because it was also the moment she realised how much she wanted to be with Peter.

Nearer to the end of the book, when they go on the ski trip and Lara Jean's true feelings for Peter are realised, is when things got messy to say the least. Lara Jean kissed him when they were alone in the hot tub and then Genevieve told everyone that 'a little more than that' had happened, their relationship kind of a turn for the worst. This was the point I got a little frustrated with Lara Jean because even though I'm sure it wouldn't be a pleasant experience to have these things said about you, but I didn't think she handled it well and could have done other things about it instead of just getting angry and upset with Peter for handling it better than her.

That part, however, was not the worst that happened. Margot arrived home for Christmas just before the ski trip and tension is made between the Song sisters. But when Kitty invites Peter to their Christmas Party along with Josh, everything really takes off. Everything between Lara Jean and Josh is revealed and Margot does not take it well. Peter and Lara Jean fall out big-time and we're left on as cliff hanger with the start of a letter to Josh, which was a really frustrating point to finish the story! 

Before the end, though, it was revealed that Kitty had sent out all of Lara Jean's letters after she got angry with Lara Jean, and I think this was supposed to be a surprise and a bit of a twist? Was anybody actually surprised when this happened?
I thought it was Kitty from the moment they were sent off and had just assumed that I had missed the bit where Lara Jean suspected her little sister, so I got really confused when she was accusing other people. Let's be honest- if something goes missing in your bedroom, who is the first person you're going to blame? It's going to be somebody who had to her room when she was out. The only two people in this category were her Dad and Kitty, and if her Dad didn't remember seeing the hat-box, isn't Kitty the obvious answer? Apparently not!
As I later discovered after reading The Summer I Turned Pretty, it seems that Jenny Han doesn't really write surprises very well. For me, anyway.

But this was the only real fault I found in the book, and I thoroughly enjoyed this cute rom-com style novel. It made me laugh numerous times and brought me to the brink of tears occasionally too.
It was a really fast read, so I would recommend this to fans of contemporary romance or fans of authors such as Rainbow Rowell, Cecelia Ahern, or even Gayle Forman!

To All the Boys I've Loved Before was one of my favourite novels I have read this year! I gave it four stars out of five and I can't wait to read it again!


That's all for this review but I hope to be back with more soon!
Bye for now!

Charlotte xxx



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Sunday, 6 September 2015

August Reading Wrap Up

Here ends another month and it has come the time for me to reflect on how well I have been reading, and I am happy to say that, for the first time in a fair few months, I can finally say that I am really quite pleased with the amount that I have read!
I have read a total of 10 books in August and have managed to complete my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge, which was to read 65 books. I have also managed to beat last year's number of books read, which stood at 71! I am now aiming for a total of at least 100 books to be read this year by the end of December! The last book I read in August was my 72nd, so I am well on track for achieving this!

Here are my August books...
In total, I got through 3474 pages this month, which is roughly 112 pages per day. This is a lot better than what my averages had been in the last few months, so I am fairly happy!

*****

The first couple of books I read in August were part of a sort-of-spin-off series to the Caster Chronicles Series, which I reread in July and really enjoyed. These two books focused on Lena's siren cousin, Ridley and her boyfriend Link, who, if you have read Beautiful Creatures, you will remember as Ethan's best friend.
In the first book, Link is supposed to be leaving for College; however, unbeknown to his Mother, he is actually heading off to New York with his girlfriend to pursue his dream of becoming a rock star.
All does not go according to plan for Ridley and Link though, as they soon open up secrets they had expected to be leaving behind in Gatlin...

I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy this series, because I did. But it definitely didn't live up to what I had hoped it would. The writing style in this book, for me, was not a great choice. Beautiful Creatures and its sequels were all written in first person from Ethan's POV, whereas these two books were in third person and changed the focus character every few pages. Personally, I felt that this style of writing didn't suit these books and made it a lot harder to read. For me, it didn't flow well.

Nevertheless, the storyline was good and there were certainly a few moments that I would never have expected. I had heard that Dangerous Creatures had a shock ending, but on the second-to-last page, I found myself confused as to why nothing of the sort had occurred. Then I turned the page...!
Without giving away any spoilers, that last page was nothing like any other last page I have ever read. Normally, writers try and give some kind of conclusion and resolution on the final page, even if it's in a series, but this one left my mouth hanging wide open!
I absolutely love it when authors can completely surprise me, and manage to keep the ending completely hidden away from guessing, so I very nearly awarded an extra star just for this, but due to the fact that I really didn't like the writing, and it took me so long to read, I only gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I don't want to say this was a terrible book; I did enjoy parts of it, but I don't think it was for me. However, if you loved Beautiful Creatures then you should definitely give this one a go, but if you didn't, this probably won't be for you. If you have not yet read any of these books and want to try them, I would definitely recommend you reading The Castor Chronicles first!


*****

Let's be completely honest here... Who hasn't heard of The Fault in Our Stars?
In the three years it has been out, it has gained so many awards and such an amazing response that nearly everybody has either read the book, seen the incredible film adaptation, or at least heard of it. And if you haven't, I have to ask... What on Earth are you doing on a book blog?!
Anyway, I first read TFiOS at the start of last year, and reread it quite a few times last year. It was actually my top book of 2014 (see the list here!), but I hadn't read it in 2015 and since the month was August (us!!!), what better time?
I'm not going to go and write a synopsis for this book because most of you will be aware of what it's about, and if you aren't, I don't even know what to say to you!
I am going to say this though:
I thought rereading this would make it easier to deal with, since I already knew what was going to happen and I could mentally prepare myself for it. I was wrong. If anything, it made it worse. I think I cried more during and after this read than any other time. 
I definitely do not regret reading it again, but I would advise that you take time to mentally prepare your emotions before doing this!

 *****

I didn't expect all that much from Jenny Han's romantic trilogy, The Summer I Turned Pretty, as, to be honest, the idea of it sounded really cheesy and I didn't think it would be my kind of book. But after loving Jenny Han's other romance books, To All the Boys I've Loved Before Duology, I thought I should give this a go, and I am so glad I did!
This book contains probably one of the most hard-core and complicated love-triangle I have ever read, possibly tied with The Infernal Devices' love triangle. Unlike in other books, such as Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments (kind of), Shatter Me and most other YA books, the love triangle isn't actually much of a love triangle, as you can usually tell which person is the main interest and which is going to be the 'friend-zoned', however this trilogy was nothing like that!

Isabel (Belly) has been to the house at the beach with her Mum and brother every summer, to meet with her Mum's best friend and her two boys. Coincidentally, these are the only two boys she has ever loved:
Conrad - aloof and unavailable, but Belly has been in love with him forever.
Jeremiah - friendly and relaxed, and the only one who has ever paid her attention.

Belly is used to, as the youngest, being pushed around by the older boys, but this year, everything will change, because this is the year the boys will notice her for the first time...

Yep! Sounds cheesy, I know. As I've said, I really didn't expect much from this book and certainly didn't expect to be giving it four stars! But I fell head over heels in love with this book!
Okay, so the writing wasn't perfect and maybe Belly was slightly annoying at times (and come on... What kind of a name is Belly?!) but I found myself completely engrossed in this story and loved it to bits! I loved the sequels just as much, if not more than I had the first -  particuarly the second book, It's Not Summer Without You, as it showed off a different side to both of the boys than we had seen before.
I devoured this whole trilogy in just a couple of days, but right up until the very end, I couldn't guess who Belly would end up with. But other than it just being a complicated love triangle, this was so much more! It was funny, heartwarming, and a little sad at times. It felt like there was a hole left in me when I finished the last book, We'll Always Have Summer.

From what I can tell from the reviews, this is either a love it or hate it kind of book, and I'm glad to say I was on the 'love-it' end of the spectrum. If you're a fan of Jenny Han's other books, or just love a good (slightly cheesy) romance, I suggest you give this one a try!


*****


That's going to be all for this month's wrap up, but I hope to be back with more reviews soon! 
See you then!


Charlotte xxx 




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Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Paper Towns: Film Review

The film adaptation for John Green's amazing novel, Paper Towns, hasn't actually been officially released in UK cinemas just yet, but I managed to see it early on 1st August (which is actually quite a long time ago, looking back, so sorry for the delay!) at an advance screening, and I can tell you, it was a pretty incredible film!

I posted a collection of thoughts on Paper Towns back in March, just after the first trailer was released, and you can read my initial views by clicking here!

Paper Towns is a 2008 YA novel by the incredibly talented John Green and has been one of my favourite books ever since I read it. Despite the film rights being sold years ago, it wasn't until after the huge success of The Fault in Our Star's film adaptation that a Paper Towns movie became a real thing.

Nat Wolff (who plays Isaac in TFiOS) was cast to play Quentin, the main character, and Cara Delevigne (a model turned actress whom I had not heard of before Paper Towns) was cast to play the 'love of his life', Margo Roth Spiegelman. After admiring her for years from his bedroom window, it isn't until Margo climbs through Q's window one night and takes him on a wild night of revenge that he discovers how much he really loves her.
But the next day, Margo doesn't turn up for school and before long, she is declared missing. Along with his closest companions, Quentin attempts to hunt down Margo and discover who she really is, and what happened to her...

I read Paper Towns a couple of times last year and started rereading it again before I went to see the film, but I wasn't actually able to complete it before hand, so I went into the cinema with the basic plot line, but couldn't remember some of the details. I can't actually remember doing this ever before, so it was quite a strange experience for me to not fully remember what went on.
Obviously with it being an adaptation, there were going to be some things changed from the book, but it wasn't until I finished the book after arriving back home that I realised how different the film actually was.

*Spoiler alert for both the book and the film!!*

To begin with, Margo's 'night of revenge' differed quite a bit from the book. For some of the aspects, I am glad there was a change, such as for the Sea World scenes, which were still included in a great way, just in a different location. There were a few changes in Margo's revenges too, such as bubble wrapping Lacey's car, not visiting Karin and not letting Quentin choose to 'assault' Chuck Parson. 

Prom was actually at the end of the film, instead of near to the middle, as it is in the book, and unlike in the book, Quentin actually attends. I'm not too sure how I feel about this change, since it did make quite a bit of a difference and gave the road trip a different sense of urgency - instead of rushing to make sure Margo hadn't left Agloe by the time they arrived, they were rushing to rush back home to make it in time for Prom. However, it did add quite a lot of humour to it which wasn't all in the book (don't get me wrong, though. It was still a very funny book!)

Angela (Radar's girlfriend) was quite a lot more involved within the film than she had been in the book. Only Q, Ben, Lacey and Radar go on the road trip to find Margo in the book, whereas Angela was there the whole time in the film. Again, while this ended up changing quite a few things, it did add more humour (and also a little more romance!) to the film. 
Ben and Lacey's relationship was also quite different in the film. In the book, they get together quite early on and attend Prom together near to the middle of the book, whereas in the film, despite Ben being shown as having feelings towards her, he does not get with Lacey until later on. 


Another big difference was the ending, or, rather, the last half-hour or so.
For those of you who don't know or can't remember, in the book, the group find Margo at an abandoned barn in Agloe and everyone but Quentin becomes angry and leaves her when she says she didn't expect them to come and explains that she didn't really want to be found. The book ends shortly after, when Margo explains that she cannot return home and Quentin declines her offer to go with her, wherever she goes. 
In the film, however, the gang pull up at the barn but discover that she is nowhere to be found. 
On a tight schedule, Ben, Lacey, Angela and Radar return home to go to Prom, without Q, who refuses to leave without finding Margo. Eventually, after wandering aimlessly for a while, Quentin spots Margo walking along the side of the road before he's about to catch a bus home. They then have a similar discussion to the book, and Quentin eventually leaves her, just in time to get home, where he shows up late to Prom. The film then ends just after graduation when Q, Ben and Radar are leaving for college.

Normally, I would be fairly upset over this quite big change of events, but even though they each show different tones to the story, I like both endings to Paper Towns. The film's version is less abrupt than the book was, yet I do feel like the book had a more realistic approach. Would you really leave your friend stranded in the middle of nowhere just to get back home for Prom?

There was one thing that really made me angry about the film ending of Paper Towns, though, and it almost made the whole road trip pointless. Towards the end, Margo reveals that she had been secretly talking to her little sister, Ruthie, every day. This definitely wasn't in the book! It actually makes me angry towards Ruthie, who I absolutely loved until this point! Could she not just have let people know that Margo was okay, even if she didn't reveal her sister's whereabouts, and couldn't she have let Margo know that Quentin was coming to find her? The little stirrer! 


I feel like this review has actually seemed quite negative so far. There were actually a lot of changes made in the adaptation process, however, I think this is one of the first films I have seen where I haven't been too concerned about what it has been turned into. 
When the film ended and the credits started rolling (with one of my favourite songs - To The Top, by Twin Shadow - playing in the background) I felt really fulfilled by the adaptation and really happy with what the book had turned into. Let me tell you, this is a rarity!! 
Throughout the whole of the film I was either laughing or welling up (surprisingly, I didn't actually cry!!) or just flapping and fangirling in my seat! 

I loved all of the characters so much but I think Ben has got to be my favourite. As many of the cast members have already said, Austin Abrams found a side of Ben that I didn't pick up on in the book, but made his character so much better. His jokes towards Q's mum cracked me up every time and I just loved his whole personality. 
In fact, all of the characters were really brought to life in such an amazing way, and were all so different to characters in nearly all films. Each one of them really made you question how you perceive things, or people. 

My favourite part of the film was definitely the road trip. The 'wall of cow' part was so funny and I really just enjoyed the characters bonding with each other. I really, really loved the petrol station (or gas station, as it is in America) scenes. It was hilarious seeing them just grabbing things from the shelves, seeing the t-shirts that Q had managed to pick up, and having Ben needing to pee for the goodness-knows-how-many-th time!


Oh, and then this happened...

 

Ansel FREAKING Elgort had a cameo!!!!

I'm not kidding... As soon as Ansel's beautiful face appeared on the screen, the WHOLE cinema let out a huge gasp and most of us (including me!!) sat flapping in our seats!!
I did have a suspicion that Ansel might end up playing the minor role of Gus (get it?), who lets Margo and Q into the Sun Trust building, but I never once expected him to be at the 'Gas station'.
I loved his tattoo, as well, and while his short but effective lines were hysterical, I couldn't help but miss him saying something along the lines of 'Do I know you?' or 'You look kind of familiar' to Q!!
By this point, the film was already amazing, but Ansel's cameo made the whole thing just incredible!

And on the subject of cameos... John Green (the author of the book) said in one of his videos that he would definitely have a cameo in Paper Towns that would be included in the film (unlike his cameo for TFiOS!!), however, he also mentioned that his own wife couldn't spot him in it, which made me a little dubious that we would be able to find him.
Unfortunately, I was right. I went through the whole film hardly daring to blink in case I missed him, but we couldn't see him anywhere. A few days after watching the film, I was hunting through the Internet to see if anyone else had noticed him, and finally discovered that his cameo was voice only, and he was, in fact, playing the father of Becca, who actually tries to shoot Margo and Quentin when they break into Becca's house! I can't wait to go and see Paper Towns again when it is released so that I can listen for him!


I guess that kind of wraps up this review, but I'm so, so glad that I managed to see Paper Towns early, and I cannot wait to see it again when it is properly released. I am actually fairly surprised to see that it hasn't done all that well in the box office for America since I would rate it a 9 out of 10.
Although I absolutely loved it, I can see why it hasn't quite reached the incredible high bar TFiOS set for it and why people haven't liked it as much, and to be honest, I don't feel that as many people will enjoy or understand Paper Towns as much.
The Fault in Our Stars did have something that Paper Towns doesn't, which is a proper love story. Yes, it had many things as well, but the people who wouldn't appreciate John Green's incredibly talented way of telling stories about people who could very easily be real, and didn't acknowledge the hidden messages and true meanings, still had the devastatingly heart-breaking love story between Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters.

Paper Towns, on the other hand, still had aspects of a love story, but it wasn't as prominent and had so many other meanings and important questions we should all be asking ourselves in it. So despite its story, in my opinion, being almost as good as TFiOS's, it will have lost some people. But, in a way, I feel this is for the best and that the story itself would benefit from this. After all, isn't that what a part of the story is about? People liking something because of what it really is and not what they perceive it to be without looking into it further?


With that note, I will say goodbye.

I hope to be back with more reviews soon!


Charlotte xxx




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Tuesday, 4 August 2015

July Reading Wrap Up

Before I begin, I would just like to apologise for how empty this blog has been for the past month. I have so many half-finished reviews waiting for me to complete them, but I haven't found the time as of yet to finish any of them! I promise I will get to them as soon as I can!

Not unlike the previous few months in 2015, the month of July hasn't been too shabby in terms of reading, for me, but neither has it been incredible. As a total, I have completed 9 books. They are as follow...
Despite this fairly large number of book, I only actually read 3137 pages in July, averaging at 101 pages per day, which is roughly the same as my average for last month, and isn't too impressive, but is still just over my target.
I have actually read all of these books before on a previous occasion, so even though I absolutely love rereading old favourites, it has been quite a rarity for me to go for a whole month without reading anything completely new.

On to the reviews!

It had been such a long time since I last read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and since I love the story so much, I wanted to give it another go. I saw the film for this before I actually read the book, which is something I very rarely do, and even though it was a fantastic film, it didn't quite live up to the huge standard set by the book, which I read and discovered soon after watching the film.
Charlie is a freshman. Shying away from social activities and dealing with trauma over the death of his aunt and the suicide of his only friend, he struggles to cope with high-school life. But when Charlie meets seniors Patrick and Sam, he starts to experience everything life can give you.
It's quite hard to talk about this book without spoiling it, but The Perks of Being a Wallflower is really not to be missed. It quickly became one of my favourite books of all time, and even though Charlie's story isn't the most pleasant, it is deeply affecting and brings a tear to my eyes each time I read it.
I would recommend this book to anybody, however the book itself does suggest you should be over the age of 15 (Charlie's age) to read it. If you have not yet read this book, you are really missing out.


Charlotte's Web is actually a book I regret reading again this year. As a young child, I really loved this story. Not only did one of the main characters share the same name as me (which, believe me, felt great at the age of six!) but I have held really fond memories of my Mum reading this to me when I was little. As a matter of fact, it was the very first book I remember crying over. I thought it would be a great idea to relive this experience once more.
As it turns out, some things should just be left as fond memories. It has never taken me so long to read such a short book, simply because of how tedious I found it. I have never viewed myself as a vicious person, but the anger I felt toward Wilbur in this book was unreal.
I continued reading to the end, just to see if I could find in it the amazing story I discovered all those years ago, but unfortunately Charlotte's Web did absolutely nothing for me this time around, which is a shame because I have always viewed it as one of my favourite children's books. I guess this just goes to show that you can reread books a little too much!



The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett is a book I have never been able to fully get into. I have tried on numerous occasions to finish this book, but up until now, I have been unsuccessful. Terry Pratchett is a highly successful and widely known fantasy author with about 100 books published. I have always wanted to become immersed in his worlds of fantasy, like many people I know have done, but it just couldn't be done.
Tiffany Aching is a young witch-to-be, and is forced to journey from her homeland of The Chalk to Fairyland, armed with only a frying pan, to rescue her kidnapped brother. However, Tiffany is not alone. The Wee Free Men, also known as the Nac Mac Feegle -a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men who are as fierce as they are funnyare with her every step of the way. Together, they must battle through the ever-shifting landscape, facing fairies, dromes and grimhounds, before Tiffany can face the Queen of the Elves and bring her brother back home.
Despite The Wee Free Men being the 30th book in the Discworld Series, this is the first book about Tiffany and can be read first.
I honestly don't know why I disliked this book as much as I did. The story was entertaining enough, but I don't think the writing was really in my style, which made it quite hard for me to get through, and for this reason, I don't plan on continuing with any other Discworld novels.
I do, however, know many people obsessed with this series and author, so I think I would recommend it to fans of Philip Pullman and J.R.R. Tolkien, as lots of people have enjoyed these books too, and the writing styles are fairly similar.


That's all for this post, but I hope to be back with more fairly soon!

Bye!

Charlotte xxx




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Thursday, 2 July 2015

June Reading Wrap Up

The month of June was slightly disappointing for me in terms of reading. I only managed to read a total of seven books, meaning that I may soon fall behind my target for reading 100 books this year! Uh oh! However, I still didn't do too badly...
These were the books I read:

These books add up to a total of 3040 pages, which I'm happy to say is still over my 100-page-a-day target, at just over 101 pages per day. This is the lowest number of pages per month I have achieved this year, but I still don't think it's too terrible.

I have been really behind on publishing reviews at the moment and I currently have many in draft form. I know I usually post some little reviews on my monthly wrap-ups, but this month, I have quite a lot to write about each of the books I have read. My thoughts on these books will hopefully be published in longer book reviews within the next few days.
That being said, here are some quick synopsises of the books I have read in June.

Vampire Academy is a six book series by Richelle Mead, revolving around the lives of teenage vampires in a boarding school.
Rose Hathaway is a dhampir, sworn to guard and protect her best friend, Lissa Dragomir, a Moroi with some strange and spooky powers...
After years of surviving on their own in the city, Rose and Lissa don't go quietly when caught and escorted back to St. Vladimir's Academy, but little do they know the real dangers they're about to face. Soon, they are to be the in the middle of some scary and mysterious events involving forbidden romances, terrifying attacks, and threats from the immortal vampires...
Strigoi are coming...

 *****

Before I Die is one of those stories that will stay with you forever and make you well up every time you think about them. I dare you not to cry.
Sixteen-year-old Tessa has leukaemia and knows that she hasn't got long left to live. In a constant battle with hospital visits, blood test and painful side-effects, Tessa decides to make a list. On her wall, she writes down all the things she wants to do and all the experiences she wants to have before she dies. This is the story of Tessa trying to complete that list.
However, Tessa soon discovers that getting what you want doesn't always give you what you need, and gradually, as her body begins to break down, Tessa is forced to consider what's really most important in this thing we call a life.

*****

Gayle Forman is one of my favourite ever authors, but I Was Here is quite different to her previous novels.
Cody and Meg were inseparable best friends. Until, that is, they were separated forever. Meg took her own life in a hotel room, leaving notes to be sent to Cody and her family, a message on the way to the police on where to find her, and a $50 tip for the maid.
Left alone with a series of unanswered questions, Cody finds herself retracing Meg's last steps to discover what, or more importantly, who, caused her to take her own life, questioning on the way whether she ever really knew her best friend.



Sorry about the lack of reviews in this wrap-up, but that's all I have for today!
I will be back hopefully very soon with some actual book reviews, so see you then...

Bye bye,

Charlotte xxx





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Sunday, 14 June 2015

Mockingjay- Part 2 Trailer Thoughts...

Last Tuesday, the brand new teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2 was released and, as can be expected, I am more than excited! I am a little late with posting this review as it has taken so long for me to calm down and compose my thoughts, but better late than never!!
After hearing on Monday that the trailer was set to be released on Tuesday, I had been sitting at my laptop refreshing the screen EVERY 30 SECONDS - I'm not crazy, I promise! - waiting for it to be released!!! After just a few hours of me frantically searching, I was rewarded with being one of the very first people to see the trailer following its release onto YouTube!

If you have not yet seen the trailer, I seriously suggest you follow the link below before you read any further because you're missing out on so much!!
Link to the trailer!!!


If you don't already know, I am completely and utterly crazy about The Hunger Games series. I have read each of the books at least 12 times now and have seen the films way more times than I would like to admit! I have been counting down for Mockingjay Part 2 for nearly 1000 days now (I know- I can't believe it either!) and with only 159 days to go, I can't believe how close it really is, especially when it feels like the trailer for Catching Fire was released only months ago!!
Each of the films was absolutely incredible and became my favourite films for each year they were released. While Catching Fire will probably always be my favourite of the films, Mockingjay Part 1 completely blew me away and I loved every bit of it - well, maybe except the super traumatic ending!! Since Part 1 was just so amazing (you can read my review for it by clicking here!), I have insanely high expectations for Part 2.

The teaser trailer did not let me down!

*Spoilers for Mockingjay Part 2 Trailer*

The trailer began with Finnick and Annie's wedding, which I must say, I was not expecting.  I had a suspicion that this part would be left out of the film, so I was over the moon when I saw this! While it wasn't exactly how I had pictured the event, it did seem really faithful to the book, and I especially loved the scene where Katniss dances with Prim later on in the trailer.

I loved seeing Effie in the trailer! At first, I had to do a double take because she looks so different to herself in Part 1, but she does look back to her normal self, which is great! I was so happy that they let Effie appear more in the Mockingjay films, since she's only in the end of the book. I think she adds an amazing touch of humour to what would otherwise be an insanely dark and depressing film, and I love her character so much!

Watching Peeta, even in the tiny scene he had in the trailer, nearly broke my heart into two. I found it so hard to read about him in this book, and I still have to cover my eyes during his scene in Part 1 (You know the one I mean!) because it upsets me too much! I'm almost dreading seeing him in this film because I know I won't be able to hold it together! That being said, it was so nice for him to make an appearance - even a small one - in this trailer so that we can see that he's on the road to recovery!

Is this the all-important shooting scene at the end?

The battle scenes in the Capitol looked so cool and really well done. I really hope that the film doesn't depend too much on CGI to bring the ratings up (ahem, Insurgent!), but from the looks of this trailer, the film will revolve more around the story than fight scenes and special effects.



Some scenes in the trailer really gave me the chills...
In particular was the scene with President Snow, which *SPOILERS* looks to be in his gardens when Katniss goes to find him after the battles. His line of 'Make no mistake, the game isn't over' really freaked me out! I thought Donald Sutherland was perfect for the role of President Snow and has played it so well so far! I really, really hope he is just as good in this last instalment and I can't wait to see how the end is played out with him. I hope it's just as good, if not better, than the book!
Finnick's last line of the trailer, which is actually Katniss' line in the book, was a really powerful ending line and I'm so glad it was included as it is one of my favourite quotes from the book in terms of what it stands for.

Also, on the subject of Finnick...

*MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MOCKINGJAY!!!*
In the book, we know that Finnick is said goodbye to thanks to a pack of mutts (sniff sniff!!), however, Suzanne Collins has said that she regrets writing this, and there have been many rumours going around that Finnick will actually survive. In the trailer, when Katniss is running through the streets of the Capitol away from the oil spillage, Finnick can be seen in the background. Most of the scenes in the Capitol take place after Finnick leaves us (sniff sniff!!), so the fact that he can be seen in this part has made a lot of people question his fate. I am in two minds about my feelings towards this. On one hand, I love Finnick - he's one of my absolute favourite characters ever and I was distraught after what happened to him! But on the other hand and at the end of the day, this is a book to film adaptation and I think they have really got to stick to the book's plot! Does anybody else agree?
After careful viewing, there's a chance that the scene with Finnick could just be the testing simulation scene where soldiers are trailed before they're assigned a Squad, which Finnick doesn't appear in in the book, but it might explain this scene. We'll just have to wait and see...

If there was one thing this trailer is missing, I think it's Johanna. I'm pretty sure she didn't appear at all in the trailer, and since she had such a big role in the book, I'm quite worried that they're going to cut some of her scenes out. I feel like Johanna is a really important character in this book, both for Katniss' recovery and to show exactly how much damage was done by President Snow. I really hope she does make more of an appearance in the full film, but I doubt she'll get a huge part.


I really cannot wait for this film. I am so excited and am really, really looking forward to seeing how the whole thing turns out. But at the same time, I am dreading the whole event.
For the last few years, all I seem to have been doing is counting down for the next instalment or avidly searching for new stills, trailers, or just information! But not only am I not looking forward to that part of my life disappearing, I don't feel ready for this series to come to a close.
I was so glad when it was decided that Mockingjay would be split into two parts, because that gave us more content and longer to wait until the whole series ended. But now, at only 159 days away until the end, I am almost dreading it being over!!
However, I feel certain that the film will be absolutely amazing, if not perfect. I am confident that everything is going to be handled really well and at the end of it all, a great film will be produced and Mockingjay Part 2 will live on as one of the greatest films of all time.

On that note, goodbye!

Charlotte xxx
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Monday, 8 June 2015

May Reading Wrap Up

In April, I discovered a huge pile of romance books sitting on my shelves that I had yet to read, which is why I named the month of May as my Month of Romance!
Not all of the books I read this month were actually hard-core romance, but they did all have an element of it somewhere. All in all, I managed to read 10 books in May.
These were...
In total, I read 3160 pages in May, which is quite a lot less that what I usually get through, but still means that I've averaged out at reading roughly 102 pages per day, which is still slightly above my aim.

I have already reviewed a few of these books! If you would like to read my reviews, please click on the links!
Just One Day Duology Review
Anna and the French Kiss Trilogy Review 

I was also lucky enough to meet one of my favourite authors, Sarah J. Maas in the month of May!!! If you want to read about that, click here!

Here are some other reviews for the books I read in May...

A Street Cat Named Bob is not really the kind of book I tend to read. Other than Marley & Me, by John Grogan, I haven't really read non-fiction books (unless they're companions to films!) and the ones I do read don't often make much of an impression. This book was an exception to that generalisation.
A Street Cat follows the life of James Bowen, a busker on the streets of London, who was managing a drug problem and struggling to survive with the harsh conditions until a scruffy ginger cat strolled into his life and refused to shift. This is the story of how the cat, whom he quickly named 'Bob', changed his life completely.

This was such a lovely story. It was really heart-warming and gave a great insight into somebody else's life. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read and really did change my views about certain topics. The only problem I had with it was the writing. From what I understand, James didn't completely write this book- it was ghost-written, which I don't have too much of a problem with in non-fiction books. However, the writing still wasn't incredibly captivating and I felt like it didn't completely do the story justice.
Nevertheless, it still was a really lovely story and I awarded it 4 stars. I would recommend A Street Cat Named Bob to most people, but particularly those who like an inspiring story... and cats!!



A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in a new series by the amazing Sarah J. Maas! I had recently read and loved the Throne of Glass series, so when I discovered that a new series would be released, I was so excited and read it almost as soon as it was released!
In this take on Beauty and the Beast, Feyre is a huntress who is only thinking of how well her family will be fed when she kills a wolf in the woods. But Feyre soon realises that what she killed wasn't really a wolf- he was a faerie, and she had murdered him. Suddenly, Feyre finds herself dragged to a magical kingdom for her punishment, unable to leave or see her family ever again. However, it's not all doom and gloom. Feyre's captor isn't all he seems, and soon she discovers feelings for him as the lands become a dangerous place for her. If Feyre doesn't fight to break an ancient curse, she risks losing him forever.

This book was spectacular! I loved every single part of it- The plot was really captivating and I could never really tell what was going to happen next. I loved Feyre as a protagonist. She kind of reminded me of Katniss Everdeen (which is a GREAT thing!) and was just so fierce and strong as a character, yet still sensitive in her own way. Tamlin was a fantastic character and I absolutely adored reading about him- he was so hot!!!
A Court of Thorns and Roses actually turned out to be more of a New Adult book as opposed to being Young Adult, and even though I haven't read all that many New Adult books, I loved it just as much as my precious YA genre! The whole thing was just great and I can't wait until the next book comes out so that I can continue this trilogy.
I would definitely recommend this book to fans of Throne of Glass, but also to fans of high fantasy books like The Mortal Instruments.



I really enjoyed The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, by Jennifer E. Smith. It was pretty much your average romance novel plot.
When Hadley missed her flight to England for her Dad's wedding to a woman she's never even met, she believes her luck has pretty much disappears. But a lot can happen in a matter of 24 hours, so Hadley discovers, especially when you have an 8 hour flight sitting next to an attractive boy...
Soon, Hadley discovers that her time in London may not be as dreadful as it had initially sounded and she might even begin to enjoy it...

While I didn't think this book was anything too incredible, I did think that it was a really nice, feel-good romance. It was quite short and maybe a little predictable at times, but was really fun to read and I really did enjoy it. I would recommend The Statistical Probability to fans of romances who want a happy book to read!


That's all for this month, but I should be back with more posts and reviews soon!

Bye bye!

Charlotte xxx





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