Book Review: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Title: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist 
Author: David Levithan & Rachel Cohn 
Publisher: Ember
Release Date: 28/08/2007
Pages: 183
Service: Gift
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository

'It all started when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who's just walked into his band's show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City - and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.

Book Review: Eleanor & Park

Title: Eleanor & Park 
Author: Rainbow Rowell 
Publisher: Orion 
Release Date: 12/04/2012
Pages: 325
Service: Library 
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository
Author Twitter: @rainbowrowell

'Eleanor is the new girl in tow, with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and her unruly red hair, she couldn't stick out more if she tried. 

Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black t-shirts, headphone, head in a book - he things he's made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor... never to Eleanor. 

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall for each other. They fall in love they way you do the first time, when you're young, and you feel as if you have nothing and everything to lose.'

This was the first Rainbow Rowell book that I picked up and I can quite happily say that I was not at all disappointed in what I read. I had started to read this book with high hopes and if anything, this book exceeded all expectation. Rainbow Rowell, you have yourself a new fan. 

'Eleanor & Park' was a memorising story of two people discovering love for the very first time and how they cope with that. It was such a beautifully written story and Rowell's writing style was something that I gelled with so well. I couldn't get through the book faster once I had started it. 

Her characters were perfectly written. I loved how they weren't your stereotypical character. Both Eleanor and Park had insecurities that they knew about and they didn't like and didn't really come to terms with feeling comfortable with. It was nice seeing that side of characters, seeing them not feel comfortable with the way they look or just who they are as a person. They had problems and they were realistic problems, ones that you would come across. Rowell has no problem with throwing diverse characters into this story with made it such a refreshing read. We see different cultures in there and the way that those cultures effect the characters. 

The plot itself was written so well. There were parts where my heart just ached for some characters and the plight that they were in. You couldn't help but empathise with them. Though you could see where the plot was going, it wasn't in an annoying predictable way that you didn't want to read the rest of the book. I wanted to keep reading to see if I was right, to see how things were going to end. 

Did I expect the ending? No, not at all. It's such a heart breaking book that when I read the ending, I wish that it didn't finish there. I am yearning for more of Eleanor and Park's story.

I can give nothing but praise for this book and I'll definitely be picking up more of Rowell's books. 

Favourite Quote: 

Rating:  ★★★★★

Book Review: Far From You

Title: Far From You
Author: Tess Sharpe
Publisher: Indigo
Release Date:  27/03/2014
Pages: 352
Service: Gift
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository
Author Twitter: @sharpegirl

'Nine months, two weeks, six days. 

That's how long recovering addict Sophie's been drug-free. Four months ago her best friend, Mina, dies in what everyone thinks was a drug deal gone wrong - a deal they think Sophie set up. Only Sophie knows the truth. She and Mina shared a secret, but there was no drug deal. Mina was deliberately murdered. 

Forced into rehab for an addiction she'd already beaten, Sophie's finally out and on the trail of the killer - but can she track them down before they come for her? 

This was a book that seemed to have a huge amount of hype surrounding it and I was really excited to read it. My sister got the book for me before exams and I told myself that I wasn't going to touch it until my exams were over so I could sit and enjoy it properly. And I'm glad I waited because I finished this book within three days. I absolutely loved it!

One of the things that I really, really like about this book was that even though it was in Sophie's point of view, it wasn't always what was going on with her at the time. There would be a chapter with what was going on and the next chapter would be linked to the previous one only it would be about something in the past. At the start of the chapter you were told how long ago it was and how old she was at the time so it wasn't confusing. It was a great way to get to know her character a lot better and you understood in a lot more depths why things had happened and why she did certain things. 

There were a lot of surprises in the book but I don't want to share any of them and spoil the book for you guys. There were some that I was expecting and there were some that I really wasn't expecting at all. It was nice to not guess everything though, it gave the book a little more punch to it. 

Sharpe really smartly wove this book together and the events that were going on which made it an extremely enjoyable read. When I say that she was going back to earlier times with the characters, I did think it would be confusing and that I wouldn't be able to understand what was going on but instead it made the book a lot more enjoyable. She made sure that you were constantly guessing. About four chapter into the book I was already trying to come up with theories so I could try and guess the murderer.

I did hope that the book would have ended a little bit differently but it did put things to rest and tie up some loose ends. I was hoping to hear more about some of the other character but it was from Sophie's point of view so we weren't able to have that. 

This was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed though and I would recommend it to just about anyone. 

Rating: ★★★★1/2 

Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss

Title: Anna and the French Kiss 
Author: Stephanie Perkins 
Publisher: Usborne Publishing 
Series: Anna and the French Kiss #1
Release Date: 01/01/2014
Pages: 416
Format: Ebook 
Download: iBooks 
Buy: Book Depository 
Author Twitter: @NaturallySteph

'Anna has everything figured out - she was about to start her senior year with her best friend, she had a great weekend job, and her huge work crush looked as if it finally might be going somewhere... Until her dad decides to send her 4383 miles away to Paris. On her own.

But despite not speaking a work of French, Anna finds herself making new friends, including Etienne, the smart, beautiful boy from the floor above. But he's taken - and Anna might be too. Will a year of romantic near-missed end with the French kiss she's been waiting for.'

I'm going to be completely honest, this was a book that I was in two minds about and I didn't really think about picking it up. My sister ended up getting it on iBooks because it was free for a while and she told me to get it and after a few times of her reminding me, I ended up getting it. And I am so glad that I did. This whole book surprised me so much, I didn't think I would fall in love with it half as much as I did. 

I fell in love with it from the very first chapter and it didn't take me all too long to love Anna. There were so many aspects of this girl which made her seem so much more real. She gets annoyed with her parents and brother but yet, you can see that she still loves them. She not quickly drawn into the whole amazing feeling of living in Paris, instead she's quite reluctant. She doesn't jump at the chance to learn French and Perkins didn't make her just quickly latch onto the language with no problem. You can see the struggle she has with the language and with some of her subjects in school. 


Your fictional crush can move out of the way for Ettiene St. Clair. Yet another beautifully crafted, realistic character that Perkins had created and you can't help but fall in love with him. He isn't the perfect, general player or jock type character that you seem to find in some books. He has clear flaws, he isn't that tall and he loves history to the point his friends tell him to shut up. Perkins doesn't just mention these problems once and leave them but but they are part of the book and we constantly see how he does feel slightly insecure about them as any person would. 

This book moved at a really good pace. The chapters weren't too long but nothing seemed rushed. Even though this was a romance story, it was nice to see the way Anna grew as a person and the friendships that she had within the group. The way how she saw that she was sometimes wrong in the things that she did and tried to make up for those things. 

'Anna and the French Kiss' was a book that made me just sigh and feel all happy and warm inside and I know that it's a book that I can turn to if I ever I'm ever feeling a little down. I would 100% recommend this to anyone who is just looking for a book that will make them want to melt and make them feel a lot better. 

Rating: ★★★★★

Movie Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars 
Based On: John Green's: 'The Fault In Our Stars'
Director: Josh Boone 
Writers: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff

'Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.'

What can I tell you about this movie, other than the fact that it made me cry so many times and it left me emotionally drained by the end of it? 

This was a book-to-movie adaptation that I had been dying to watch and you have no idea how happy I am that I went to watch it. There were so many people.who said that the movie stayed true to the book and I just wanted to find out for myself if that was the case. These people were right. The movie was absolutely amazing and stuck with the book so well. 

I really don't know where to start here, there were so many scenes that I really did just fall in love with. All the scenery was everything I pictured it to be and I loved the skeleton that the kids were playing on. All of the Amsterdam scenes were just beautiful to watch. It was really nice seeing the scene where Hazel and Augustus went up to Anne Frank's Annex and how they played out the whole Van Houten scene. I hated him just as much as I did in the book and possibly more. 

There was no doubt that I though Woodley and Elgort did a fantastic but I have to say and even though he wasn't on the screen as much as the two of them, Nat Wolff was the person who I really though did an absolutely terrific job as playing Isaac. I really do think he captured the character perfectly and did an amazing job of bringing some humour to a film that can be extremely upsetting. 

That was the thing about this film, it is heart-breaking and there are times that you will be balling your eyes out, because I lost count of the times where I had tears streaming down my face, there were so many times where everyone watching the movie just burst out into laughter because you just couldn't help it. The humorous parts of the movie really just helped the atmosphere of the screening. People wanted to laugh along when the characters were laughing and cry when they were as well. 

There were some scenes which I really did wish were in the move from the book but I understand that they couldn't fit everything in there as much as they probably wanted to. It didn't take away from what was already in the movie though. There were a few lines that they put into the movie as expected and usually I feel like they never seem to fit in as well but if anything, they just added to the characters. 

As much as Augustus and Hazel's story really got to me, the scenes in the movie that really made me not stop crying were the scenes between Hazel and her parents. They seemed so realistic and it was all done in a way where you couldn't help but think about the position they were in and what they had to deal with and the fact that this is the reality for a lot of people out there. 

It was a fantastic movie though and whether you've read the book or not, if you're looking for a movie that will make you laugh and cry all within the space of two hours then this really is the movie for you. 

Rating: ★★★★ 1/2

Book Review: Soulmates

Title: Soulmates
Author: Holly Bourne 
Publisher: Usborne Publishing
Release Date: 01/09/2013
Pages: 544
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository
Author Twitter: @Holly_BourneYA


‘Every so often, two people are born who are the perfect matches for each other. Soulmates. But while the odds of this happening are as likely as being struck by lightning, when these people do meet and fall in love… thunderstorms, lightning strikes and lashings of rain are only the beginning of their problems. 

Enter Poppy, the 17-year-old cynic with a serious addiction to banana milk, and Noah, the heart-throb guitarist; residents of mediocre Middletown, sometimes students and… soulmates.

 After a chance meeting at a local band night, Poppy and Noah find themselves swept up in a whirlwind romance unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before. But with a secret agency preparing to separate them, a trail of destruction rumbling in their wake, (and a looming psychology coursework deadline), they are left with an impossible between the ending of the world, or a life without love…’

This book has been sitting in my TBR pile and I couldn’t wait to pick it up after I saw a lot of hype about it on twitter. So, I finally decided that it was my next book to tackle and I didn’t regret it at all. 

There are so many reasons that I am in love with this book. All the way through the book you could sense that it was pure British; from the language Bourne had used to the way she spoke about college for Poppy and her friends. It’s not often that I come about a book that is based in Britain and catches my eye and this one was amazing. 

Lately in books, I have really been struggling to find one that finds a good balance between descriptive writing and speech and for me, Soulmates hit the hammer on the head with the balance. I was two chapters into the books and the description was beautiful, it was exactly the sort of thing that I have missed reading and that had to be one of the main things that made me hooked to the book. I loved the way everything was explained and how the writing just flowed. 

I was in love with Poppy’s dad from the moment that he was mentioned. The father-daughter relationship was really well wrote and you could see that he was the one that Poppy inherited a lot of her habits from and that they seemed to understand each other and the way they are. I love his attitude towards most things in life and how he looks out for Poppy but not in an over-bearing way. 

Even though Poppy and Noah were the main focus of the book, we got chapters where it was jumping to the people who knew what was going on between Poppy and Noah which I really enjoyed reading about because it gave you a little break from the main point of the story whilst still being about it. Anita and Rain were two people I really wanted to see more of and I really did get curious as to what was going to happen between those two. Anita’s story really made me want to read on and find out what happened to her. 
I love Poppy and Noah’s relationship and how they ended up opening up to each other and grow with each other. It was really enjoyable to read. 

I did find Poppy slightly annoying though as she did seem to be slightly stereotypical as she was quite cynical about love and what was going on in the world. That was the only fault that I have with the book, as a character I found it hard to deal with her sometimes and the way she hated everything mainstream. Her character development happened pretty quickly for me, though that may have been intended when Noah came into her life, for me it just didn’t seem to sit well and was something that did bug me throughout the book. 

This book was amazing though and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a romance with a twist. It was completely worth the read and I cannot wait to get my hands on Holly Bourne’s next book. 

Rating: ★★★★

Book Review: The Geography of You and Me

Title: The Geography of You and Me 
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Hachette
Release Date: 15/04/2014
Pages: 353
Service: BookBridgr
Format: Paperback 
Buy: Book Depository
Author Twitter: @JenESmith

'Owen lives in the basement. Lucy lives on the 24th floor. But when the power goes out in the midst of a New York heatwave, they find themselves together for the first time: stuck in a lift between the 10th and 11th floors. As they await help, they start talking...

The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland they can't shake the memory of the time they shared. Postcards cross the globe when they themselves can't, as Lucy and Owen experience the joy - and pain - of first love.

And as they makes their separate journeys in search of a home, they discover that it is sometimes a person rather than a place that anchors you most in the world.' 

I have so many feelings about this book that I am finding it really had to fathom proper sentences for this review. So, here goes nothing. 

I had heard so many good things about this book and I really wanted to read it so when I saw it on BookBridgr it was one of those books I immediately requested and was so excited when it  I came home to see the package waiting on the table.

I loved both Lucy's and Owen's history in terms of everything they had gone through before meeting each other. You could see how these things ended up having a knock on effect to what was going on in their lives and minds at the time and that was really nice to see. You could actually understand why they were thinking certain things and for me, that made me feel a lot more in touch with the characters. There was a lot more room for empathy and there were so many times that I just wanted to hug Owen and tell them that everything was going to be okay and things would eventually fall into place. 

Another thing that made me fall in love with this book was how heavily both of character's parents were woven into the plot. I love reading YA fiction that shows the part that the parents play. By the end you could really see the way Lucy had developed in her relationship with her mother and even the small steps she was taking with her father. With Owen, you could see how him and his father just sprang off each other. They helped each other out and both just guided each other with decisions that the both of them had made. It was nice to see that father-son relationship in a book and it was really well written. 

It was a journey about Owen and Lucy of not only finding each again but also figuring out how to fix certain aspects of their lives that they didn't think were possible to fix. They're searching for each other and they're searching for a place that they can call home and just feel settled. My heart broke for Owen so many times throughout that book and I did really feel for Lucy and the situation she was in.

The whole plot of this book was based around Owen and Lucy, the only real sub-plots there were throughout the books were just where the relationship with their parents developed. So, if you want more than just a romance story, this may not be the best book for you. It is one of those reads though that is quite relaxing and you can just wind down to and take you time reading. 

There were some chapters in the book that were really, really short but I see why it was written that way. At times though, it did slightly annoy me but it's only for a small portion of the book that is quite easily to push past. That's the only real problem that I had with the book.

I love Smith's writing style though and I definitely I'll be picking up more of her books. I loved the banter between her character's and the way she described the cities and feelings of the characters. The ending of the book was something that I was expecting but it didn't bother me. I felt content with the ending. It just felt right with what happened and the way the book was finished off.

It's a feel good book that just shows you that fate brings people together for a reason. It's a story about how you can fall in love without even realising it 

If you are looking for a YA-romance-contemporary book then I really suggest that you read this book. I was in love with it from first page to last and it's a perfect book to sit and unwind to. 

Rating: ★★★★★

Thank you to Hachette publishing and Bookbridgr who sent me this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Review: Severed Heads, Broken Hearts

Title: Severed Heads, Broken Hearts
Author: Robyn Schneider
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: 01/09/2013
Pages: 335
Format: Paperback
Buy: Book Depository
Author Twitter: @robynschneider

‘Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them – a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: In one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his career as a jock, and his social life.

No longer front-runner for homecoming king, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, when he encounters new girl Cassidy Thrope. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra has ever met – achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

Together, Ezra and Cassidy discover flash mobs, buried treasure, secret movie screenings, and a poodle that might just be the reincarnation of Jay Gatsby. But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: If one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortunes strike?’

I don’t even know how to start this review off! The book was absolutely amazing and it turned out to be so much better than I thought it would!

There are so many aspects of this book that I could sit on fawn over. Schneider’s writing style is brilliant and really brings in school politics the way that Ezra’s old friends treat him after the accident and the way that she’s set the whole lunch table organisation out. Although that might seem like a small detail it does help move the plot for quite a big portion on the book. The beginning of the book was quite shocking but instantly made me interested to see what else was going to happen.

Ezra has very quickly become one of my favourite male characters for quite a few reasons. He was quite a realistic character in my eyes, especially the way that he reacted to the aftermath of his accident. You saw him grow as a character and find things in his life that he may have not have realised were there before the tragedy had happened. He doesn’t end up becoming completely bitter to his old friends and learns to make new ones quickly and starts to care about them a lot.

I wasn’t exactly a huge fan of Cassidy, she seemed like the type of person who thought that being closed off and mysterious is cool. Towards the end of the book when her story was explained I finally understood why she was the way she was and it did help me like her a little bit more but she still didn’t end up being one of my favourite characters.

What I love about this book is something that I don’t see very often in other books. Ezra changed for himself. He did it to become a better person for none but him and to make his life better. It wasn’t for someone else and it wasn’t so that someone would like him. It was because he wanted to have a happier life and wanted to make do with what he had so he changed to make sure that he could get everything out of life that he could.

This is definitely a book that I would gladly read again and I cannot hesitate to give it this rating.


Rating: ★★★★★