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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Top 5...#10

Hello again internet! I'm here today with another installment of my top 5 series. This time i'm going to be looking at the top five authors that made me the reader that i am today. 

These authors basically started my love of reading from a young age, and they still rank high in my all time favourite authors. The type of stories they write may be quite different, but without all five of them my reading habits today would be very different, if they even existed at all.

So here we go!



5: Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot is one of my heroes in all honesty. The Princess Diaries, All American Girl, Avalon High, Abandon, the list goes on and on. The Princess Diaries are some of my favourite books of all time and i adore Meg Cabot's writing style. I think that Meg Cabot really inspired my reading, and she has definitely had an impact on my writing style!

4: Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events was all i cared about once upon a time. They were all i read, all i talked about, and i eagerly awaited the day that someone would turn them into a film or tv show. I loved the sarcastic tone of the books, and the way that although they were children's books, they weren't written as though he was talking to a child, but rather like he was talking to an equal. I still adore these books and i think a lot of my humor developed due to Lemony Snicket.

3: R.L.Stine

I credit R.L.Stine with being the cause of a few of my fears, and also for my love of horror. The Goosebumps books taught me that being creeped out and scared isn't always a bad thing, sometimes it's great. I love horror films and horror books so so so much and i know that started with R.L.Stine, with Goosebumps and his Point Horror books he made me realise how amazing horror is. I would be such a different person, and reader, without the imput of R.L.Stine.

2: Jacqueline Wilson

Jacqueline Wilson was hands down my favourite author growing up. I adore absolutely everything i have ever read by her, and i still go back to a lot of my old favourites. What made Jacqueline Wilson books so amazing was the fact that they didn't feature exceptional people, or people with special powers, just ordinary people living in the ordinary world, and that's what i needed growing up. I needed people to look up to that made sense in the world i lived in. Ellie from Girls Under Pressure was essentially my hero growing up and i will never be able to explain how grateful i am that Jacqueline Wilson wrote such amazing characters.

1: J.K.Rowling

I don't think it's much of a surprise that J.K. has the number one spot here. If it wasn't for Harry Potter i would be a completely different person. I often see people say that HP changed their lives, but The Philosopher's Stone came out when i was 5, and that's when my parents first read it to me, so i've grown up with the books, and while they didn't change my life, they definitely shaped my life. I owe J.K.Rowling and the Harry Potter series so much, because i honestly believe that around 90% of my personality is made up of what i've learned and loved from Harry, and i love that i still have that love for a book series that's been there for the past 16 years.

Meghan x

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My Top 3 Favorite Books of All Time: Guest Post

Hello there Meghan's Blog! My name is Ashley and i am very excited about being asked to write a post for this blog. Meghan is a good friend of mine that i met through the wonderful world of blogging, and i'm really happy that she's letting me ramble on about some books for a bit. Isn't she lovely.

I thought maybe i'd write a little about me then go onto the books? Okay. Well i also write a blog, only mine is about make-up and clothes. I really enjoy writing and reading, and i am currently in my fourth and final year of an English Literature and Linguistics degree in Alabama. Woo! I thought as this is my first blog post about books that i have ever written, i'd start with the basics: my favorites.

1) My all-time favorite book is 1984 by George Orwell. I first read 1984 back in 8th grade, that was way back when i was 13! and i completely fell in love with it. Not only the story which just grabbed me and demanded my attention, but with the way that Orwell writes. From the day i first opened that book he has been my favorite author and this is the book that started it all. I adore everything about this book and i hope that everyone reads it at least once in their lives, because it is such an important book.

2) My second favorite book is the ever so great Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Now i love all of the Harry Potter books, but Order of the Phoenix is by far my favorite and that's why i chose this one to represent my love of the series. I think that this book was the moment when i realized i could never have a life that doesn't involve Harry Potter and this book just solidifies all of the love i have for the series, and also makes me realize all of the emotions that the series makes me feel. 

3) Finally i want to mention the sososososo amazing IT by Stephen King. I like Stephen King, i don't love him as much as Meghan and there are some books by him i have hated, but IT will always have a place in my heart. This book kind of terrified me, but in a good way. I adored the way in which King creeped me out, and i loved the way the story developed. I'm not the biggest horror fan in the world, but i would happily marry the genre if they were all like IT.

So they're my three favorite books of all time, i hope you enjoyed this little post, and thank you to Meghan for letting my write a post for her blog! I really enjoyed writing this and i hope i can come back one day! Love Ashley xx

Thank-You Ashley for writing this post! If you're interested in Ashley's blogging then check our joint blog here. I hope you enjoyed this guest post and regular blogging will return in a few days.

Meghan x

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Summertime Madness Tag

Hello again internet, i'm here today with a tag i saw last night on YouTube and thought was great, so i've decided to do it here! 

This tag was created by the wonderful Jack at JackEatsBooks and is all about summertime and books...i'm very excited about it.

Here we go!

1. Show a book with a summery cover! e.g. Sun, Beach, etc.

For this i've gone with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. This cover just says summertime to me! Relaxing on some beautiful green grass in the sunshine, what could be more summery than that? I live in the middle of nowhere, and the village i live in is the furthest point from any coastline in Britain, so beaches never remind me of summer, but seeing as i'm surrounded by fields, grass always reminds me of summer!

2. Pick one fictional place that would be the perfect destination for your summer vacation!

This one was so difficult to think of! All of the places i kept choosing were all real places with fictional elements (Shadowhunter world in NYC, etc), and i thought that was a bit too much like cheating, so i kept looking. I finally came up with a place i would love to visit, although maybe i'm too old to now? Anyway i've decided i would love to go on holiday to Camp Half Blood from Percy Jackson, because that would be such a fun holiday!

3. You're about to go on a flight to your summer vacation. But you want to read a book that lasts for the whole flight, so what novella do you choose?

I went through all of the novella's that i've read and kept changing my mind, so i thought i'd choose one that i haven't read yet, and when i say one it's actually many. I've gone for the Bane Chronicles, which are all of the novella's that link in with The Mortal Instruments series. I'm so excited to read them, but i want to wait to read them from the physical book in november...but if i was going on a flight i'd cave and get the e-book version to read!

4. You have a case of Summertime Sadness what happy book do you pick up to shine a smile on your face?

My go-to happy books are the Jess Jordan trilogy by Sue Limb. I adore these books, and they are some of the ultimate happy books, and can put a smile on my face oh so easily!

5. You're sitting at the beach alone...which fictional character would be your beach babe?

I spent longer than i am prepared to admit deciding between two characters and i'm still not 100%... I finally decided to put Jace to one side and go back to my first love: Draco Malfoy. I've always loved Draco, so having him at the beach would be great. And because we're both so pale, we could both escape to the shade together.

6. To match your ice cream you want an icy cool sidekick! Which fictional sidekick do you pick?

Alec Lightwood. Such an easy choice! I love Alec, if it wasn't for Jace he'd be my favourite character in The Mortal Instruments. I think we'd get on really well and i think he's just great. So yeah, i'd love to spend the summer with Alec as my sidekick!

7. Share the summertime happiness! Who do you tag?

Anyone and Everyone! If you're reading this, i tag you!

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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Book Fact Tag

Hello there internet, today i thought i'd do a tag because they're always fun to do and i haven't done one in a while. So i found this one when i was browsing around on some book blogs the other day and i thought it'd be fun to do (partly so i can continue my procrastination from my essays...). 

Anyway here is the Book Fact Tag!

(Sidenote, i have absolutely no idea who came up with this tag, and i forgot to write down the blog where i saw it, so i'm sorry for that!)

1: How many books do you have?

Erm, the last time i counted was when i left for uni nearly four years ago and back then it was about 500, and i've bought A LOT more since then, so i have absolutely no idea!

2: What book series have you not read that everybody else has?

The Maze Runner. I feel like everyone has read this series apart from me, and i do want to read it at some point but it'll probably be after i go see the film...

3: What book do you surprisingly hate?

Noughts and Crosses. I read the first book in the series and didn't really enjoy it, then i couldn't even finish the second, and i'm so disappointed because i thought i was going to love it.

4: What book had a super shocking ending?

Oh i can't think of one? Erm...Maybe The Fault in Our Stars because i (SPOILER) thought that maybe Hazel would die and not Gus? But i can't really think of a book that was super shocking.

5: Favourite genre?

I'd have to say it's a tie between contemporary and horror. I adore everything horror really, and i love the way contemporary is written.

6: What book can you not wait for to come out?

City of Heavenly Fire!! I am SO ready to finish that seires! Also, anything else Stephen King, Jay Bell, or Jay Asher writes, because i love them.

7: Favourite character of all time?

Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye), Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter Series), Tim Wyman (Seasons Series), Joffrey Baratheon (A Song of Ice and Fire Series), Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter Series). 

8: Least favourite character of all time?

Umbridge (Harry Potter Series), Dumbledore (Harry Potter Series), Bella Swan (Twilight Series), Simon Lewis (The Mortal Instruments Series).

9: Favourite book of all time?

The Catcher in the Rye, Thirteen Reasons Why, Something Like Winter, Dracula, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire are probably my top five.

Meghan x

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Top 5...#9

Hello again internet! I'm here today with a new Top 5, this time i'm going to talk about the top five series' that i think would make some great tv shows! I'm really excited about this one, because it combines two things that i like the most: books and tv. Here we go!

5: The Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter

I really like the Gallagher Girls series and i would love to see it come to life, but i think it would make a much better tv show rather than a series of films. When i read the books i can see them as a tv show which would be great for kids, and adults, with a great story about a boarding school which teaches girls how to be a great spy. And if you don't think that sounds like a great tv show then i don't know what you're thinking of.

4: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

I loved reading these books when i was younger, and i loved re-reading them. I think that they're the perfect books to make an amazing kids tv show out of, because they are the perfect mix of heart-warming and creepy. And i would love watching this show with my little nieces and nephews, or you know on Netflix on my own in my room...either way, i think it would be great.

3: The Winter Trilogy by Ruth Warburton

The winter trilogy is easily one of my favourite series and is probably my favourite series about witches. I think the amount of action, romance, friendship, problems, family issues, and drama that is in this series would make the most wonderful tv series! This series has everything really, there's points of humor, drama, excitement, romance, everything, and i think it would make a great show to fill the gossip girl and charmed filled holes in our lives.

2: Fallen by Lauren Kate

Angels, Nephilim, Romance, Action...what more could you want in a tv show? I think the fallen series has a bit of something for everyone really and i think it would just be one of those shows that could be done really, really well. If we go on a 1 book/1 season basis then i can see the third season being a little difficult/weird, but it could still be a great show!

1: Seasons Series by Jay Bell

I don't think anyone will be surprised by this. The seasons series is pretty much my favourite series, and are easily four of my favourite books of all time. I think that the amount of amazing and complex characters found in the series would make some incredible television show characters. Also the stories that each character goes through would make an incredible show (they'd also be incredible movies, just saying) and seeing the characters that i feel like i know come to life on a screen would basically be the best thing ever. (Or even if Jay Bell just wants to add to the series so i can have more? That'd be great...)

What book series do you think would make a great tv show?

Meghan x

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