4 stars

Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

16:24

To All the Boys I've Loved Before
by Jenny Han

 Source: Personal purchase, paperback
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, 

 Goodreads Synopsis:

 To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

 My Review:

 This book was definitely a cover buy for me - I had heard a bit about the book, and people had told me that they enjoyed it, but when I saw it in the bookshop, the cover was too nice not to have (the spine on my copy is bright pink too, so it looks amazing on my shelf!).  I had been told that it was cute and not too heavy, so I read it to get me out of my massive book hangover from I'll Give You the Sun, and it worked! It was just the book I needed - it was really short and sweet, and I really enjoyed reading it.

 At the start of the book, Lara Jean (the main character) was a bit annoying - she was moaning about really small things, and making them into a huge deal, when really they could have just been overlooked. But, she did change during the book - she turned out to be a really strong character, and really interesting to read about - I actually cared about her a lot at the end (which I didn't expect to, as I hated her at the very beginning!). It's no spoiler that Lara Jean's mum is dead (we find out at the very beginning), but she didn't go on about it too much in the book, which surprised me a lot, but it pleased me too.

 Although Lara Jean was quite innocent, she wasn't easily pushed, which I liked. She was a really strong protagonist, even though she wasn't shouting in everyone's faces all the time. She handled things well I thought, but the whole book is based around these letters she writes, and they get sent out. It was stupid of her to write them - it caused her loads of pain and embarrassment when they got sent, so why would you write lots of personal things in them? It was just idiotic of her, but it wouldn't make a good book if she didn't.

 The ending was terrible. It felt really rushed, and didn't give me closure at all. I know there is a sequel coming out in May (according to Goodreads), but it doesn't feel like one is needed. If the author just added a bit more, it would be a great, 1 book contemporary. I guess she just wants to make more money, but it's really not necessary - I will buy the next book, but I really don't think it will be that good. 

 I did really like this book - I was gripped from the start, and wanted to read on. It was such an easy read, I could really relax while reading it, which is definitely what I needed when I read it.

 My rating:

5 Stars

Review: I'll Give You the Sun

16:16

I'll Give You the Sun
by Jandy Nelson

 Source: Book depository
Page count: 371
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realism, LGBTQ+

 Goodreads Synopsis:

 Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

 My Review:

 Ohmygosh this book was amazing! I loved every part of it (especially the cover - it's so beautiful!), and in my opinion, it definitely could have been longer. This could be continued into a 10 book series and I would love them all. Everything about this book is just so great, and I could read (and re-read) it forever!

 I was hooked throughout the whole book. From the very beginning I was gripped. I would have even read it in one sitting if I could have.

 It was so cleverly crafted - everything linked back together at the end (which must have been even harder because it was told through 2 different narrators, who were in 2 different times) really well. It had so much emotion in it - I actually welled up at the end with happy tears, which doesn't often happen to me! I was grinning, laughing, and burying my face in my hands with embarrassment at different points in the book - it really reached out to me.

 My only minor (and this didn't really bother me at all, I'm just nit-picking here) problem was that the British character in it didn't seem British at all. He just sounded like what an American would do for an impression of a British person (the author is American...), which kind of annoyed me, but it didn't bother me too much. As I got into the book, he just sounded like all the other characters, but I feel like I can't write a review that's all good!

 I think everyone should read this book. I recommend it to everyone, and it's instantly my absolute favourite contemporary. It might even be one of my new favourite books!

 Rating: 

3 Stars

Review: These Broken Stars

20:11

These Broken Stars
By Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

 Source: Book depository
Page count: Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, 
Genres: 374

 Goodreads Synopsis:


Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.


 My Review:


 I'm going to start off by saying how this book was beautifully written. I was so jealous of the author's writing - they really made a sense of mood, and the description was amazing.

The book took a while to get going, but once I was past the start, I really enjoyed it. The middle was definitely the best part - the starting and ending definitely weren't as good, and bored me a little. But the middle was so good! I was racing through that, so it did disappoint me a bit when I got to the end.

Which was so confusing! Anyone else who has read this book must agree with me. It was so strange and odd! It was also not satisfying at all *sigh*. So, it really was disappointing, which is sad, been as this book is so hyped about.

Though, I did really like Tarver. He was a great character, really nice to read about, and kept on going, which is what I was looked for in him and Lilac.

Although, Lilac was a disappointment. She was always complaining and getting things wrong - she was really irritating to read about. When she did finally grow up, she just got foolish and reckless - as if all of sudden, she had a complete change of heart, and now doesn't care about her life at all. This was really annoying!

But, saying all this, I did go into this book with really high expectations. I had heard such good things about this book, which made me think it was going to be great. One of the main selling points on the back of this was the character development - this really puzzled me because the character development in this book was appalling. Tarver just developed to be a whiny character in the end, and Lilac just turned out to be stupid. This really made me wonder - why put that on the back of a book cover? I know it sold the book a bit, but the quote was from someone's review. Why would you put that in your review? To me, it's just a lie.

Though, I was that excited to read this book, that in hindsight, I don't think it could have ever lived up to my expectations. I did really enjoy the book though, and I am going to buy the rest of the series!

Rating: 

3.5 stars

Review: Shatter Me

13:17

Shatter Me
By Tahereh Mafi

 Source: Physical
Page count: 338
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, 

Goodreads Synopsis:

I have a curse
I have a gift

I am a monster
I'm more than human

My touch is lethal
My touch is power

I am their weapon
I will fight back

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

 My Review:

 I'm going to start off this by saying: loads of people hate this book. How? I thought this was amazing - I was really excited throughout the whole book, and wanted to just keep on reading. The description was great - it was different to other books I've read as it had loads of similes and metaphors, most of them were really original (but some of them really didn't make sense!). The writing was really clever - it made me feel empathy for Juliette by page 23 - this is very unusual for me, as normally I never feel like that at such an early stage in a book!

 One thing I really didn't like in this book was the romance. It was too intense - they had only known eachother for a few weeks, and they already had a really passionate relationship. In my eyes, it was too early for them as a couple. Too much insta-love! I also didn't like how the dystopia seemed to be based around the romance, not the other way round. For me, I would have liked more action and less romance.

 Another thing I didn't like was the fact that they were on the run, yet wasting valuable time kissing! It was a really dangerous situation - they were running for their lives! I know that if I was Juliette I would be focusing on how to stay alive, not using time to spend gazing into my boyfriend's eyes. 

 I think the book needed more dystopian aspects, and for it to be less centered around the romance. There wasn't much world building because it was so character-based - I would have prefered to know more about The Reestablishment so we can hate them more. I would have also liked to know more about Juliette before she got locked up - this way we would care more about her, and I the way it is so character-centered would become more effective.

 I also hated the British stereotype in the book! I am British, and Mafi made her only British character say things like "blimey" and "bloody confusing". No-one says things like that! British people don't speak much differently to Americans, and aren't at all posh. This annoyed me so much!

 From my review, it sounds like I hated this book, but I really didn't. It had me captivated from the beginning and I was hooked until the very end. I need the next book now!

 Rating: 

 I would recommend it if you enjoyed Divergent.

 Please note: This month I am extremely busy: I am loaded with exams and homework *cries*, and I am doing NanoWrimo too, so I won't be able to post as much.