Thursday's Random Quote #3

Today's quote I have picked from Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, which I read a few weeks ago. The story is about a girl who was in a car crash, she lived but sadly her father died. She blames herself for the accident and refuses to drive ever again. That's where Roger comes in. Amy's mother wants her to drive the family car down to their new home and enlists the help of Roger, a family friend. The road trip is a life changing experience for both of them.

Walcott:- "Tomorrow will be better"

Amy:- "But what if it's not?"

Walcott:- "Then you say it again tomorrow. Because it might be. You never know, right? At some point, tomorrow will be better."

I feel like this quote has a lot of feeling behind it. Walcott is trying to assure Amy that everything's going to be okay. At this point in the book, Amy needs all the encouragement she can get. Life's not perfect and there's going to be bad days but there's also great days that make life worth living. It's certainly a good motto to live by as it gives hope for the future. 

Happy Reading

:)

xx

Review - All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Title:- All The Bright Places

Author:- Jennifer Niven

Pages:- 388 pages, Paperback

Published:- 8th January, 2015

Publisher:- Penguin

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
 
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
 
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

**Contains Spoilers**

The main reason I started to read this book was because it's been sitting on my shelf since I brought it and it seemed to be calling to me. "Read Me!" I was captivated by the sentence on the cover. "The story of a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die." I mean, how can you not be captivated by that?!

This seems to be the second book this month I've read that involved one of the main character in a car crash. Luckily she lived, but her older sister died in the crash. Ever since then she's been hiding in her shell, not truly living. Then this boy comes along and shakes her world up which pushes her out of her shell.

I could not put this book down. I was hooked from the very first page. The story begins in such an interesting way that you can't help but read on. This may sound a little ironic but I felt like Finch and Violet's characters had a lot of life to them. They felt real and whole. Jennifer Niven built them up so well in the first few paragraphs that I could actually feel their pain. 

The structure of the book is well thought out. When the book begins it's mostly told from Finch's point of view with only a few pages from Violet. It shows Finch's "awakeness" and the way he's trying to keep himself aware of the world around him, compared to Violet trying to hide away from everyone. During the middle each of their point of views are shown equally. It shows that Finch has helped Violet out of her shell and their characters have developed. By the end of the book, we only see Violet's point of view as Finch's has been slowly filtered out. 

This book is like a firework, soaring onto the air and then exploding, sending sparks everywhere! I could feel the tension building throughout the book towards an explosive ending and I wasn't disappointed, the ending was heart wrenching and a little bittersweet.

After reading the author's note, I was sad to find out that Jennifer Niven herself had experienced someone close to her who had committed suicide. "For a long time, it was too painful to even think about, much less talk about, but it is important to talk about what happened." This is quite evident from the way she's wrote this book. I do wonder if Finch's slow silence reflects the way the author felt about those suicides, like she felt her loved ones slowly shut down and blocked her out.

I can vouch, as someone who has had a loved one commit suicide, that this was written in a rather heartfelt way with care and respect. I, too, tortured myself thinking about whether or not there was anything I could've done differently. I'm grateful for the way this issue was handled within this book by showing the stigma attached but also giving it dignity. Mental illnesses are nothing to be ashamed of. 

Rating :- ★★★★★

Happy Reading

:)

xx

Review - Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Title:- Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Author:- Morgan Matson

Pages:- 343 pages, Paperback

Published:- July 7th 2011

Publisher:- Simon and Schuster

Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way. 

**Contains Spoilers**

The weather recently has been beautiful, blue skies and sunshine, so I decided I wanted to read something that would reflect this weather. Whilst looking through my bookcase my eyes fell on this book and I knew it would be the perfect book to read right now. I've had this book for a while so I thought it was about time I got round to reading it. 

The way the beginning of the book is written really reflects the disconnection of the main character, Amy. It also gives small amounts of information about what happened to make Amy shut down. It is clear from the start that Amy feels like she's to blame for the accident and her fathers death. These chapters also set up Rogers character as well. He's a nice guy who seems to be trying to help Amy out but it is soon made apparent that there's more to it than that and that he has his own reasons for wanting to go on this road trip.

I found that the small flashback chapters really added to the story as they showed what Amy and her family were like before the accident. As the book goes on, these flashbacks reveal more about what happened on the day of the accident. I think this was a good way to show what had happened than have the characters describe it. 

Personally, I found that this book felt real. I could feel the guilt that both Amy and Charlie felt about their fathers death. They both blamed theirselves when really it was neither of their faults. It really was just bad fate and neither of them could've done anything to change that. 

Amy's character really grew throughout the book. She went from being trapped within herself, blaming herself for her fathers death, to becoming more confident and realising that the accident wasn't her fault. With Roger's help, she learnt to forgive herself and stand up for herself where her mother and brother were concerned. I'm glad that by the end of the book she was brave enough to drive by herself to her new home and face her mother.

What I really would have loved to be included at the end of this book is the reunion with her mother and brother. I feel like the author could have included all three of them opening up about the accident and how it had effected them. Also, it would've been cool to see where Roger and Amy's relationship went. Did anything come of it? I'd like to think that they at least tried to make something work.

Rating:- ★★★★ (4.5 stars)

Happy Reading

:)

xx

Thursday's Random Quote #2

I don't know if there is already a meme like this one so please excuse me if there is. Basically, I'm going to pick up a random book, open the book to a random page, pick a random quote from that page then write about it. It's just for a bit of fun and I'm sure it will help to keep my blog active if I make it a weekly thing.

"My own brain is to me the most unacceptable of machinery - Always buzzing, humming, soaring roaring diving, and then buried in mud. And why? What's this passion for?"

This quote is taken from near the beginning of All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven when Finch and Violet first start talking over Facebook. They were quoting works by Virginia Woolf which has sparked my interest in her. The reason this quote stuck out so much to me is because I feel like it describes me. I always feel like I'm overthinking and I barely feel like my mind is quiet but when it is, it's rather noticeable. Being an art and design student, it also reflects the way I work. Gathering all the research for my projects and building up my sketchbooks. It's a rather busy and adventurous process. 

Happy Reading
:)
xx

Review - Jessie Hearts NYC by Keris Stainton

Title:- Jessie Hearts NYC

Author:- Keris Stainton

Pages:- 255 pages, Paperback

Published:- July 2011

Publisher:- Orchard Books

Jessie's just arrived in New York, hoping to forget about her awful ex. 
New Yorker Finn is in love with his best friend's girlfriend. 
They might be perfect together, but in a city of eight million people, will they ever find each other?

**Contains Spoilers**

This is what I would call a pallet cleanser kind of book. The type of book you read in between two hefty novels. It clears your mind of the last book you read so that you can focus more easily when you pick up the next novel and enter into another book world. 

I was browsing the isles of a bookshop when I came across this and Keris Stainton's other book (Emma Hearts LA) and just knew I had to read them. One of the main reasons I picked up this book is because the main character and her best friend share mine and my older sister's names, Jessie and Emma.

At first, I really struggled to get into this book and I couldn't seem to concentrate on the story, my mind kept wondering off to other places. I think it was because I'm used to reading more challenging books. The books I usually read are YA so they're aimed at more mature readers whereas this seems to be aimed at teens. 

As the storyline developed, I managed to get more into the plot. I felt however, that the whole story could have been developed more. To me, it seemed very basic, like the writer had hit all the skeletal plot points but there was nothing there to give it body. There were hardly any detailed descriptions about where the characters were which made it quite hard to picture in my mind. 

The characters are likeable enough and the main characters, Jessie and Finn, have quite interesting back stories but it felt like only the basic key features about their appearance had been described. The writer did describe a few times what some of the characters were wearing but it wasn't in detail. This is one of the main reasons why I think this book is more suitable for a teen than a young adult.

Overall, I'd give this book 3 stars because the storyline was quite interesting even though I struggled to get into it. The characters were interesting enough to keep the little attention I did have. I would definitely recommend this book to teenagers because I feel like that was the authors target market. 

Rating:- ★★★

Happy Reading

:)

xx

June Wrap Up and July TBR

I am so bad at writing blog posts and posting them regularly. I'm slowly managing to get back into my reading now that I'm away from university for the summer holidays. Sadly, I'm doing terribly with my blog and not posting much. I really need to get into a routine of making blog posts and publishing them. Anyway, onto the wrap up and TBR...

June Wrap Up :-

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

I have set myself the goal of reading all the Harry Potter books this year. So far I feel that I am managing to keep up with this goal as I have read four out of the seven books. I'm really enjoying this experience as I never managed to get all the way through the books the first time I tried to read them.

Jessie Hearts NYC by Keris Stainton

I mostly ended up reading this book to help me clear my mind of the last few books I've read. As I was reading, I ended up making notes and writing down my personal thoughts so that will be posted soon.

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I read the first book in this series last year and really enjoyed it so I thought it was about time I picked up the second one. This one was even more witty than the first one, with more heart-pounding moments and loads of action.

  

July TBR :-

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Honestly, I just saw this on my shelf and thought it would be a good summer read.

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

This book seems to be calling to me so I thought I might as well pick it up and give it a read.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

To keep up with my goal of reading all the Harry Potter books it's only right that this be apart of my July TBR.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I've had this book for a while and thought it was about time I actually read it.

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

I'm intrigued by this book and thought it would be a good story to read in between other books to help clear my mind.

    

2015 Reading Challenge :-

I've only read 11 books so far this year which isn't great but I have been rather busy with university work. Either way, I've managed to complete about 16 of the challenges below.

Happy Reading
:)
xx