Anna and the French Kiss | Series Review

Hey there internet!

 

Today i'm here with a review of the 

Anna and the French Kiss Series!

 

This review will may contain spoilers, so consider yourself warned!!

 

Anna and the French Kiss 

 

4.5/5 stars

 

I changed my mind so many times when reading this book. At first i didn't really care about the story, or the characters. In fact the only character i liked at all was Rashmi. But by the end i was so engrossed in every aspect that i didn't want it to end!

 

I really loved the development of the friendships, especially Anna and Rashmi, and that surprised me, because going into the book it didn't seem like a story that cared about friends, more that it just cared about the hot boy. But i loved how real the friendships felt. They weren't all easy and great from day one, all of them had problems, and that's what kept me so interested in the plot. It felt like i was reading about a real group of friends.

 

The opinions that changed the most however were the ones i had about Anna and St Clair as individual characters. Anna was an odd one for me. At the start i didn't really care for her, then she really grew on me, then she lost me completely, then i was her biggest supporter. I honestly couldn't stand her at the beginning, she just annoyed the hell out of me, but by the end it was like i had literally seen her grow up. It was very odd.

 

Then there's St Clair. Oh St Clair. What a turbulent relationship we had. I truly hated him at the beginning. I couldn't understand why everyone who had read this book was so in love with him - i just wanted to punch him! But then i wanted to hug him. Then i loved him. Then we went back to the "i hate him i want to punch him" feelings. Then he was my favourite person in the entire book. His story was really interesting to me. I loved seeing his relationships with his parents - even if they were just snapshots through Anna's eyes. He was just someone i wanted to hang out with all the time.

 

I hated Toph. Ugh i don't even want to waste time talking about him, but him and Bridge were a big part of me coming to love Anna, so here we go. What they did was awful and it sucked so much. But i could see where Bridge was coming from, Toph - not so much. He was such a douche i just hated him instantly. Ugh let's move on.

 

There was one scene in the book that i still don't understand why it's there. And that's the scene where Anna attacks Amanda. Now don't get me wrong the actual "attacking a girl who's saying mean things about friend" is something i can 100% get on board with. What i hated about it was the particular insult that Stephanie Perkins decided to use. This book was written in 2010...there are 1000000s of different insults she could have used and i'm just really not okay or comfortable with the one she decided to just throw in there.

 

Overall, i thought this was a super great, fun contemporary and as soon as i finished i had to read the next one!!

 

(also a big thing i learnt - american's say banana different to english people. who knew....well...except literally everyone else!)

 

Lola and the Boy Next Door

 

5/5 stars

 

LOLA! MY GIRL! 

 

Lola is my favourite of the series. I love the characters, the plot was my favourite, the setting was my favourite, and i just loved every aspect of it!

 

This book had me gripped from the very first page, which was so nice after taking so long to get into Anna, and even though i hated Max with a passion (more on this in a second) the whole story was just so perfect i read it in one sitting.

 

Now. Max. Ugh. I have one thing to say. 22 year olds should not date 16/17 year olds under any circumstance. It's so wrong and i just hated it so much. I don't care that Lola kept explaining that she "lied about her age when we met" because as soon as he found out she was 16 he should have ended it. He shouldn't have slept with her. He shouldn't have treated her the way he did. Max was the ultimate awful, terrible boyfriend character. And oh boy did i hate him.

 

Cricket however is a whole other story.

 

Cricket is the kind of boy that makes reading contemporaries fun. He was interesting and funny and exciting and so clearly cared for Lola that it made me care even more about her. He was so different to St Clair, and i loved him instantly. I even loved his twin sister Calliope. 

 

One of the things i really loved about this book were the family relationships. Both Lola and her two dad's relationship, and Cricket and his family's relationship. They just added so much to the story and to the individual characters. I also loved the fact that both Lola and Cricket had two, normal, caring, loving parents - which never happens in YA! 

 

I loved how Anna and St Clair were incorporated into this book as well. I thought having them both work with Lola while St Clair was also going to school with Cricket was fantastic, and i loved seeing all their little friendships grow and change and deepen. Plus i just loved getting to see Anna and St Clair all happy and in love!!

 

Overall this book was probably my favourite YA contemporary i have ever read, and i am so glad that i decided to pick up this series!!   

 

Isla and the Happily Ever After 

 

5/5 stars

 

 Oh Isla. Isla. Isla. Maybe i should have lowered my expectations.

 

It took me at least half of this book to actually get interested in it! But man as soon as i was interested i literally couldn't stop reading!

 

I loved Josh as much as i did in Anna, but it took me SO LONG to like Isla. She just seemed really annoying and whiny. I don't know exactly what it was about her, but there was something that just made me hate her.

 

One of the big issues with this book were the sex scenes. Now i'm all for adding sex scenes to books, because hey it happens in real life why shouldn't it happen in books? But the ones in Isla were so awkward, and cliche, and cringey that i just wanted it all to go away.

 

Another issue i had was the feeling that Stephanie Perkins literally just chose two characters that were left and that didn't really do anything to be together in this book, and until about 70% of the way through i just didn't understand how they would ever work as a couple.

 

I did love how at the end he gave her the finished version of his graphic novel and then waited out in the rain for her. It was ridiculously cute, and honestly that graphic novel was the only thing that sold me on their relationship. But i'm glad it did.

 

But let's be real. The best thing about this entire book was the Anna and St Clair proposal! I cried. Like actual tears came from my eyes when i realised what was happening. I just love them so much. That moment was so perfect and so THEM that it made this whole book seem so wonderful to me.

 

Overall i did love this book, and honestly i think my running order of favourites is Lola, Isla, Anna....it's because of that damn comment that i just can't get over i'm sorry!! 

 

But Isla was the perfect ending to this series that i was looking for, even with all of it's faults i did love it and i was rooting for everyone in the end.

 

Meghan xxx 

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review

Hey there internet!

Today i'm here with the first book review of 2016!!

The first book i read this year was Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

3/5 stars

Now this might just make me the most unpopular person in book world but...i'm...not the biggest fan of Rainbow Rowell books?

This is the third book that i have read by her and yet none of them have received more than a generous three stars...i don't get it?!

On paper her books are everything i love, especially Carry On! But yet again i found myself reading it only to make me finish it faster so i could move on to something else.

Book One dragged so much for me that i genuinely thought that i wouldn't finish the book. I just couldn't see there being any possible way of me enjoying the next 500+ pages.

Then Baz came along. 

Now i loved Baz. Baz was the saving grace of this book for me. 

He was interesting, funny, different, and very Malfoy like...He was great.

I loved the developing friendship with Simon and Baz. I loved the secret little crush. I loved the romance. If this whole book was from Baz's perspective i would have absolutely loved it.

Instead it was from Baz, Simon, Agatha, Penny, Lucy, and god knows who else's perspectives. It was just too much.

It's very hard to read this book and not compare it to Harry Potter. Or more accurately: not compare it to Harry Potter fanfiction. It was clear that in this story Simon was Harry, Baz was Draco, Penny was Hermione, The Mage was Dumbledore, The Humdrum was Voldemort....when will the vampire/magician AU Harry Potter end?!

Now i don't want this to be a "oh man i hate this book" post because, honestly, this is the best Rainbow Rowell book that i've read. I was far more interested in what happened in this story than in Fangirl, and definitely didn't feel the hatred i felt for Eleanor and Park.

Carry On definitely had moments where i couldn't put the book down, and it had moments (mainly from Baz) where i just felt so much love for a character. I just don't think, overall, her books are for me. And that's okay.

Honestly this book has taught me something very important: you don't have to love every book you read. 

It's okay to just like a book. Or to finish a book and go "eh i didn't really care about that".

Books don't have to be either loved or hated, they can just be meh books. And that's totally fine!!

Meghan xxx 

Kisscut: Review

Hello there internet.

Today i'm going back a couple of months to re-start all the reviews

that i've missed writing up while on my little internet break.

First book up is Kisscut by Karin Slaughter.

4/5

This book starts with a stand off between a teenage girl threatening to shoot a teenage boy, and the police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, where the young girl ends up dead.

The autopsy on the girl reveals years and years of horrific abuse (some of which was incredibly difficult to read about), and the people around her close up. No one wants to talk about what happened to this girl. 

Then another young girl is abducted, and what they thought was a case of one girl being abused turns out to be something far, far worse than any of them could ever imagine.

The book is told from the perspectives of Jeffrey, his ex and the towns pediatrician/medical examiner Sara Linton, and detective Lena Adams. And each perspective is interesting to read from, and each brings something new to the story.

There are so many twists and turns in this book, and it was near impossible to put it down. 

It seemed like every time we found out something new, it wasn't

exactly what they, or you, thought.

Seeing the way that Jeffrey, Sara, and Lena all interpret different aspects of the case was so fascinating to me. And seeing how they all dealt with the issues they each had going

on outside of the case was just as interesting as the case they were working.

I love the way Karin Slaughter writes, and i would quite happily marathon all of her books

after reading this one. 

This book deals with a lot of heavy stuff.

Trigger warnings for rape, abuse, self harm, child abuse, and heavy violence.

Meghan xxx

Something Like Thunder: Review

Hello there internet!

I am so so so so behind on reviews, (I'm blaming Pretty Little Liars and Netflix for that!) but now i am catching up on reviewing the books i've read so far this year!

I was planning on doing this in order, but i NEED to talk about this book first!!

Something Like Thunder by Jay Bell

5/5 

If you have ever spent more than about a second on this blog then you would

probably notice that i have a great love for Jay Bell and

his Something Like... series. And Thunder was no exception!! 

Something Like Thunder is told from the perspective of Nathaniel, and oh boy is it a good one.

After getting a glance at Nathaniel in Something Like Spring, then seeing him through Kelly's eyes in Something Like Lightning, i was so excited for finally get

to have a whole story from his point of view.

Getting to see how Nathaniel's story linked with the characters that i already loved (and hated...looking at you Caesar...although i am desperate for a book from Caesar's pov...)

and obviously seeing him interacting with Tim was all i ever wanted.

In this series Tim and Ben have always been the relationship that i cared most about, but after Thunder they definitely have some competition! Nathaniel and Kelly made me cry, and pissed me off, and made me want to hit them, and made me love them so so so much.

I love how when you think you know everything about these characters Jay will pull something out of the bag that makes you want to scream with recognition 

and excitement. Like finally realising who Nathaniel's mother is, by discovering who his father is! (Talk about a massive twist in the story omg)

I bloody love this book, and as always, i never wanted it to end. 

I don't know how Jay Bell does it, 

but i would happily read stories in this world everyday forever. 

Meghan xx

Fahrenheit 451 Review

Hello there internet!

Today i thought i'd do a little review :)

So here is my review of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I gave the book a solid 5/5 because my gosh did i love it.

I am so glad that i decided to pick this book up after debating whether or not i would like it.

No worries there, i bloody loved it!

If you don't know what Fahrenheit 451 is about, i'll try to give a spoiler free little bio: 

It is a classic dystopian set in a world where books are banned. Not just banned, if you are found with a book then the book, your home, and possibly you, will be burned by the firemen.

In this world firemen are not the great fire-fighting people we have now, instead they are the ones that set the fires. And the book follows one of these book burning firemen called Guy Montag.

Books have been banned because they are the source of all the unhappiness and discord in the world. However, Montag is starting to doubt that idea, because even without reading

a single book in his life, Montag is unhappy. 

I think the plot of this book is unbelievably clever and it is so wonderfully executed.

I was really skeptical about Montag at the start of the book, but as the story went on i actually started to really like him. 

This is where the review might get all spoiler-y. Read on if you wish :)

I bloody loved Clarisse, and that is one of the big issues i had with the book. I wish we had more of her, and got more of a backstory about her life, or maybe just

a little bit more time with her.

Although saying that, i think that a lot of the parts of the story that i loved, wouldn't have happened, or just wouldn't have been as good, if Clarisse hadn't vanished/died...WHAT HAPPENED TO HER???

My favourite moment of the entire book is when Montag and the rest of the firemen all climbed into their van and drove to a new house to burn, and they ended up in front of Montag's house.

It was like my heart stopped for a beat.

It was so incredibly well written, and they were outside of the house for so long before

he mentioned/realised that it was his house, that everything just stopped for a second.

Amazing.

I think that this is easily one of the best books i have read, probably ever, and

it has quickly made its way onto my favoutites shelf.

I cannot wait to read more of Ray Bradbury's books!!

Meghan-Alice xx

Review: Death Note Vol. 4

Hey there internet, and welcome to 2015 here on Not Quite Alice! :D

I thought i'd kick this year off with a review of the first book i read this year: Death Note Vol. 4 Black Edition.

I absolutely love the Death Note series and i was so so so so excited to finally pick up volume 4 at Christmas time, so naturally i had to start the year reading it!

As this is the fourth volume of a series, expect spoilers ahead! If you haven't read it, maybe best not to read it?!

One of my favourite parts about this volume is when they find the Death Note and as each person touches the notebook they see Ryuk. Every reaction is absolutely perfect for the characters, it's one of my favourite parts of the series so far! 

In the same way as that, i absolutely LOVED when Light touched the notebook and all of his memories came flooding back. I adored the way that we were shown all of the back story of Light coming up with his plan, and how well thought out and intricate he had planned everything. Light's scheme throughout this volume was beyond amazing. Going into it i was hoping for lots of Light time, and it definitely happened!!

Can we talk for a little bit about L's death? I never thought that i would care all that much about L dying, but as soon as it happened i had to stop reading for a little bit. It was so wonderful, and perfect, and heartbreaking, but oh so great. So well done on that section team!

Near and Mello. How great are they?! I absolutely how much like L Near is. It's amazing. I love how different they are, and how they were both introduced was beyond wonderful. They have fast become some of my favourite characters in the series, especially Near!

One of my favourite aspects of this volume was when Light started taking over the role as L while he was still acting as Kira. I think all of this power is starting to really get to him, but watching it happen is amazing. 

I think one of the best parts of this volume was the dynamic of Light taking over from L with the task force in Japan, and then Near taking over from L with the original side of the whole investigation. It was such a great thing to read, with both of them being overly sarcastic with each other. Got to love a bunch of sarcasm in a police investigation. 

THE KIDNAPPING. Okay, we need to talk about that for a minute. The director being kidnapped, and then 'committing suicide' was such an ingenious part, and then Sayu being taken. It was one of the most exciting parts of the series so far. When Light's dad had to get off the plane in a random place, then was taken underground, it was just so exciting and it made me want to keep reading and reading.

NEW SHINIGAMI. NEW. SHINIGAMI. This was possibly the most exciting moment of the book? I loved that a new shinigami came down to the human world, it was beyond great. So happy that a new guy came down, seeing as we're now a Rem down. 

I'm pretty sure out of the volumes i've read so far this was my favourite. It was so exciting and the story was just incredible, i loved every second of it. Especially after the third volume was slightly disappointing to me, but this one was great from start to finish. 

5/5 easily.

Meghan xx

City of Heavenly Fire: Book Review

Hello there internet! Today i'm here with my review of City of Heavenly Fire, the final book in The Mortal Instruments series. Then i'll take a break from reviews - promise.

I would love to say that this is going to be spoiler free, however it's the sixth book in the series, and i have a whole lot of feelings about it.

First of all, how pretty is that cover?! I really am a sucker for a pretty cover! Okay, now onto the book itself!

Let's talk about Emma and the Blackthorn's. I had moments when i really, really liked Emma and i was so happy that she came into the story. And then i had moments when i couldn't stand her. A lot of the times when the book was in her perspective it didn't seem to really add anything to the story. I think maybe if her parts were split between her perspective and that of some of the Blackthorn children, it would of added a bit more to the story. 

Now i just want to know more about Julian, and i definitely needed more about Mark! The parts we had with them in were some of my favourite moments. I mean i wish Mark wasn't dragged into the Wild Hunt, the poor, poor baby.

Maia. Maia. Maia. I really didn't like her in this book. I don't know why but with the exception of the pack leader fight i just didn't care about her. She was one of my favourites in the past, and in this book i just kind of wish her perspective wasn't in the book as much as it was. However, the part at the Praetor Lupus with Jordan did break my heart a little bit...at least until she started thinking about how she was going to break up with him before he died...seemed unnecessary. 

Speaking of Jordan...JORDAN :'( I really started to love Jordan. He was kind, he was funny, he cared about all of them, and then he was just taken away! Screw you Sebastian. Stop ruining everything! 

Speaking of Sebastian ruining everything, could he maybe not hit on his sister so much? It was so creepy and uncomfortable. I think it really added to the hatred i feel for Sebastian, added to how much of a bad guy he really is.

Oh now it's time for Clary...Clary, Clary, Clary. She really started to bug me in this book. There were moments when she was the same Clary that i liked from the previous books, and then there were moments when she made me so angry. People were fighting around her, there was a war going on, people were dying, what was Clary thinking about? How hot Jace is. My God girl, get over yourself a bit. Other than her constant thoughts about Jace, i still really loved when the story was focused on what Clary and the gang were up to.

Alec. My poor little baby. I love you so much. You continue to break my little heart, but my god am i glad that you and Jace had your little heart to heart, and i am SO HAPPY that you got the 'i'm proud of you' speech off of your dad. But most of all, i cried when you and Magnus got back together and that he gave you the journal of his life. Go be happy, and stop breaking my heart.

Speaking of Magnus, he was the reason for about 80% of my tears in this book. Poor, poor baby. I wanted to kill Sebastian for the way Magnus was treated and when his father was going to take his immortality which would lead to his death, i could barely read through the tears. Magnus needs to live, he needs to be with Alec, and no one should be able to stop it! Magnus is one of my favourite characters, and him nearly dying nearly killed me. 

Raphael! Well the most unnecessary death of any series ever goes to, Raphael. I actually really liked Raphael, he was one of my top ten favourites. And when he refused to kill Magnus my heart swelled a little bit with happiness, then Sebastian ruined it all. 

Now let's get to Jace. I love Jace. I love Jace so much. The poor little angel, thinking he's just like Sebastian and that he wants the end of the world, let's all just give Jace a big hug to make him feel better. He has to go through so much in every book, and it all seems so unfair. Poor, poor baby. (I have the 'poor, poor baby' feeling about a lot of the characters in this book)

However, Jace and Clary getting it on in the Demon world? Talk about weird timing! It was such a cute, funny, awkward, great little scene to break up all the fighting and sadness. I had to put the book down for a minute due to laughing when Jace just pulled out a condom. What was Jace thinking? "What will i need in hell? Weapons, food, water, condoms..." Such a funny little moment.

Talking of funny little moments. Alec walking in on Isabelle and Simon both times were possibly the funniest moments i have ever read in any book ever. Especially when he almost walked in on them role-playing in his bedroom...So funny. And his little 'OH MY GOD NOT AGAIN' moment in the Demon world. I love Alec, Simon, and Isabelle so much, and those moments were some of my favourite moments in the book.

Talking about people getting it on, can we talk about the Seelie Queen and Sebastian for a second? How creepy was that?! It just came out of nowhere and made me feel so uncomfortable, it actually made me shudder thinking about the two of them together. 

Now Isabelle! I think everyone knows by now that Isabelle is possibly my favourite character in the series. She was responsible for another of the 10% of my tears. Her nearly dying was literally the worst moment of the book. I was so scared that she wasn't going to live, and while crying about her nearly dying, i realised that Alec would have lost his little brother and sister and then i had to put the book down and walk away for a minute before i completely broke down.

Simon! Oh man here's the final 10% of my tears...Cassandra Clare has so much to answer for after that! Him forgetting everything, especially him forgetting Isabelle, broke my heart so much. It just hurt so bad. I'm glad that he started to remember little things after Isabelle and Magnus went to him after school, and the idea of him becoming a Shadowhunter made me so happy. Oh man i love Simon so much.

Honestly i think that this was the most perfect ending to the series, and i couldn't have wanted more from it. It was so great, and i loved it all so much. I'm so sad that the series is finally over, but i am so excited The Dark Artifices!!

Meghan x

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City of Lost Souls: Book Review

Well hello there internet, today i am here with a book review of the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. And oh boy am i excited.

As always i try not to spoil anything, but this is my honest review and i cannot promise it is spoiler free.

City of Lost souls is amazing. I can't really think of another word that encompasses how i feel towards this book. 

I thought that nothing would come close to how much i love City of Glass from this series, but City of Lost Souls definitely gave it a run for its money! I laughed, i cried, i felt happy, i felt uncomfortable. It was brilliant.

I adored this addition to the story, even the parts that creeped me out and made me feel anxious. Everything about the story made me feel excited and i loved every second of it.

Jace...Jace broke my little heart. When he came back momentarily as himself he made me want to reach into the book and take him somewhere safe. Poor baby. Seeing him act so like himself and so un-like himself at the same time was horrible, yet captivating, and it was truly brilliant writing.

Sebastian made me want to hurt something. Mainly his stupid, smug little face, but as a bad guy, he was kind of great. I love a bad guy in a story, especially when you can't find a single redeeming feature, i think it makes you feel more. I hated him, but i loved how much Cassandra Clare made me hate him.

Alec and Magnus were the people who re-built my broken heart...and then smashed it all over again. I think everyone knows by now that Alec and Magnus are probably my two favourite characters in this series, and in this book they made me smile, laugh, and really, really cry. They make me so happy and so sad, and i love them both so much.

I think this is honestly one of the best books in the series, and the plot was just fantastic. So many twists and turns and truly wonderful moments. I loved every second of it. I was so skeptical going into this one for some reason, but i think it may have just topped the list as my favourite in the series.

Meghan x

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City of Fallen Angels - Book Review

Hello again lovely people of the internet, i'm here today with another review of a Cassandra Clare book! Today is time for the wonderful fourth book in The Mortal Instruments series: City of Fallen Angels.

As always, i'm going to try and keep the spoilers down but there may be spoilers ahead!

First of all, the first time i read the mortal instruments i finished at City of Glass, so this was the first tmi book that i hadn't read before in a LONG time, so i was nervous and so excited!

There's one thing i need to say before the proper review starts...JACE :'( :'( poor little baby.

Okay, now for actual thoughts on the book.

Lilith! Oh man Lilith! I think Lilith is easily one of the best evil characters i have ever read. I thought i loved Valentine as the bad guy as the series, but Lilith is a whole new level. I absolutely loved how she was entwined with everything in the story, from Jace acting weird, Sebastian, Simon and Camille, everything about her character made me really love this book.

Well it wouldn't be a review about tmi without expressing my love of Alec and Magnus. I love them so much. Their relationship makes me so happy, and getting to see more of them just made me the happiest girl in the world. Alec is my favourite character in the whole series, and him and Alec being together makes me so happy.

Now Jace...Jace, Jace, Jace...my poor, poor little baby. I just wanted to reach into the story and hug him constantly. I feel like Jace is the person in this series that has the most to deal with, i mean i know everyone in it goes through stuff, but Jace is on a whole new level. The poor, poor baby.

Okay new character time!! Jordan was such a nice little addition to the series. I really like him. From the moment he turned up at band practice i thought he was going to be great and he really was. I have a whole lot of love for Jordan man.

Sebastian...ugh. I spent pretty much the whole book waiting for him to come back, and when we find out that him and Jace have been linked up by Lilith it hurt, it hurt bad. I really like that there is a character in the series that i can hate this much, i feel like it really adds to the story and makes me care about everyone that much more.

THE ENDING. OH MY GOD THE ENDING HURT SO BAD. Jace :'( I thought i hated Sebastian back in City of Glass, but that doesn't compare to the hatred i felt for him at the end of Fallen Angels. Screw you Sebastian. Screw you.

Meghan x

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City of Glass - Book Review

Hey there internet! It's book review time, and i'm super excited about this one because City of Glass is one of my favourites in the Mortal Instruments series. Let's go!

As always, i try my best not to, but there may be possible spoilers ahead.

I love all of the Mortal Instruments and City of Glass is pretty much my favourite out of all of them. Oh. My. God. Where to even start. I adore this part of the series, with all of its terrific twists and turns, all the secrets slowly coming out, all the happy endings, all the Alec!

You may have gathered by now that Alec is pretty much my favourite character in the whole series and this book has so much Alec that my little heart nearly exploded from happiness. I love that we get to see more of him, and more of his relationship with Magnus, especially all the cute moments *cough* Why didn't you call me back? *cough* I think we should just have a whole new book dedicated to Alec...a girl can hope.

Jace. Jace. Jace. Poor, poor little Jace. Can someone just give the poor kid a break once in a while?! Michael, Valentine, Stephen...let the kid decide who he is on his own! And then Sebastian on top of it all...i just feel so bad for the kid! My poor, poor little Jace.

Speaking of Valentine and Sebastian...Screw you both! As far as bad guys go, i really love Valentine, i think he's great but you can also kind of see that he thinks he's doing the right thing, even though he definitely isn't! Sebastian though...why? Everyone trusted you! 

City of Glass was such a good story, and one of the best additions to a story i think i have ever read, and i even loved the parts i hated *cough* MAX *cough* 

I absolutely adore the world that Cassandra Clare has created with these books, and i am so glad that she turned the fantastic trilogy into an even more fantastic 6 book series!!

Meghan x

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The Phantom - Book Review

Hey there internet, i'm here today with another overdue review! This time i'm going back to the start of May to review The Phantom by Barbara Steiner.

The Phantom is one of the many books in the Point Horror collection, and it was the first one i'd ever read. My sister-in-law loved Point Horror growing up, and she recently bought a few, after she read this one she told me it was very 'are you afraid of the dark?' which was my favourite show growing up, so i was really excited to read it!

Let me tell you now, this book was super fun! It took me about an hour/an hour and a half to read and it was just a really good, quick read.

It's all about this group of friends who lost a friend/boyfriend and on the day of one of the biggest football games of the year, his ghost comes to haunt them! It was all very Goosebumps/Are you afraid of the dark? and i loved it.

You really start to care about the characters and you want to keep reading so you can find out who's behind all of the suffering these poor kids are being put through, and it doesn't disappoint!

It might be a little easy to work out who did it if you read/watch a lot of crime/horror stories but it's still packed full of mystery and fun!

Overall i gave The Phantom 4/5 over on GoodReads, because i did really, really enjoy it, but it's not quite that amazing to get a full 5. I do recommend it to anyone who loved/loves Goosebumps and Are you afraid of the dark? as it's a nice little flashback to that!

Meghan x

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The Future of Us - Book Review

Hey there again internet! I'm here with a pretty overdue review of The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. 

The Future of Us tells the story of Josh and Emma, two teenagers trying to sort out their friendship while going through high school in 1996. When Emma receives a computer, Josh's mom makes him go round with an internet start up disc, and it changes everything. When the upload finishes Emma logs on to the internet and on to her future via her Facebook page in 2011. 

I read this book back at the start of April, it's now the end of May, and for some reason i've been putting off writing this review. I have no idea why! It's not like i didn't enjoy the book, quite the opposite actually - i really, really enjoyed it!

I loved the characters, the plot, the writing style, the development of relationships formed way before the start of the book, i liked pretty much everything about the book, but putting those feelings into words is something i've been struggling with. 

As much as i enjoyed this book for some reason i couldn't bring myself to give it a five out of five, i'm not entirely sure why, i think it might be because about half way through i really started to hate Emma. She began to annoy me so much that i had to put the book down and walk away for a few hours. I think it might be because i knew how i wanted the story to go, and it was going that way, and she was the only thing that was holding it back and at times it just seemed a little unnecessary. 

Even with my hatred of Emma growing, i still really loved this book. I loved Josh, i loved all of the minor characters, i loved how the personalities of them in the future really showed through on Facebook. I thought it was an excellent plot really well executed. 

I adore Jay Asher, and although this was my first introduction to Carolyn Mackler i can tell i'm going to love reading her other books!

"Why does it say she has three hundred and twenty friends?...Who has that many friends?"

Meghan x

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Between the Lives - Book Review

Hello there internet! I am oh so excited about today's post, partly because i feel like i haven't written a book review in so long, but also because i just loved this book so much! But i'm getting ahead of myself, first we need to talk about the book before i get into all the feelings.

So the lovely people at Books With Bite sent me a proof copy of Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington to review, and i am so happy about it.

Release Date: August 2014

The Plot: For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she shifts to her 'other' life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she's a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend; in the other she's considered a reckless delinquent.

Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments that bring her dangerously close to the life she's always wanted. But if she can only have one life, which is the one she'll choose?

Well, what can i say? Between the Lives was funny, heartbreaking, wonderful, dramatic, most of all - it was beautiful. 

The development of Sabine and Ethan's relationship was realistic, and oh so beautiful and lovely to read. I loved the way that they interacted with each other and the challenges that Ethan brought into Sabine's life were so important to both the story and to their relationship. The moments that they shared when he was looking after her were some of my favourite parts of the book, and they are now definitely one of my favourite fictional couples by far.

I loved the development of Sabine's character and the way that one life began to impact the way she acted in her other life, and the continuity was great, which can sometimes be missing in books with parallel world-type stories. I think that although Sabine went through a lot, both in Roxbury and Wellesley, and i think that's what has made her one of my new favourite characters. Her wit, the mix of her personalities, her relationships, all of it made me want to keep reading about her life and never stop.

As for Ethan...well what can i say, he was one of the best male characters i've come across who wasn't the main character. The way he acted with Sabine made me completely fall in love with both him and the story. He is ultimately the reason that i broke down into tears nearing the end of the book. And i won't give anything away, but i may need some time to recover from that.

The letter!! Oh man the letter! I was already in tears because of everything else in the book, and then that letter came along and that was it - i was gone. I just broke down into tears, and had to finish the book through very teary eyes. And i wouldn't want it any other way!

The ending of Between the Lives is one of the most wonderful, surprising, heart-breaking, heart-warming, beautiful endings to a book i have read in such a long time. And i want more! I need to know what happens after the book ends, but if i can't have that, i'm glad i get to go back and read this book over and over again!

I have completely fallen in love with this book, and these worlds, and i hope you do too, because believe me,  it's oh so worth the tears!

"You were right. I was lost. But you found me, between the lives."

Meghan x

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