Tag: contemporary

Review: Seven Days by Eve Ainsworth

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18679049Seven Days by Eve Ainsworth
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 245
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★

This was the first YA book I read for the #cramathon and I’m really pleased because it was the perfect book to start with: fast, short and overall enjoyable. Seven Days was a book I also got from the library, which I’m so grateful for, because while I did like reading it, it’s not the kind of book I would have wanted to spend lots of money on. So, if you’re dying to read a certain book but are apprehensive about whether you’ll like it or not, why not check out libraries? Now, on to the review… Continue reading “Review: Seven Days by Eve Ainsworth” →

Series Review: The Spinster Club Trilogy by Holly Bourne

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Am I Normal Yet?, How Hard Can Love Be? and What’s a Girl Gotta Do?
Genre: Contemporary, Feminism, Romance
Published by: Usborne
Pages: 434, 480, 432
Rating: ★★★★★
More: The Manifesto on How to be Interesting

Over the summer, I read this absolutely amazing series called ‘The Spinster Club’ and I loved it so much I couldn’t even put into words how much it all meant for me. Dealing with everything you could possibly want in a contemporary and more, Holly Bourne manages to actually do the impossible and create a series when I loved each and every one of the books equally. Now, there’s a short story epilogue to the series, called …And A Happy New Year? that’ll be the first thing I read after Christmas and I’m sure to review the finale, but first, let’s reflect on just how awesome this feminist trilogy is!

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Review: The Best Possible Answer by E. Katherine Kottaras

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cover93050-mediumThe Best Possible Answer by E. Katherine Kottaras
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 272
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Academic overachiever Viviana has a panic attack that puts her in the hospital after the nudes she sent to her now ex-boyfriend completely destroy her life. As she tries to pick up the pieces, she gets a job at her apartment building’s pool and meeting a new group of friends who will help get her through. This sounds amazing, right? I was really pumped for this contemporary, I was all set to read it over the summer, but then life got in the way and I didn’t start until October and had to put it down for almost month before I finished. But I did. I eventually came back to it and realized why I might have put this down in this first place.

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Review: Something In Between by Melissa de la Cruz

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28688476Something In Between by Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Mira Ink
Pages: 432
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

I was really excited to read Something in Between because of the subject matter. It’s a shame that I read this one so soon after The Sun is Also a Star, though, as I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between the portrayal of illegal immigrants. Both authors took the same stance: that it’s unjust and an ugly term to describe people that have only done what was best for their families, and I think that message was the most powerful, but I wholeheartedly preferred Nicola Yoon’s take because it felt less romanticised. Let’s discuss… Continue reading “Review: Something In Between by Melissa de la Cruz” →

Review: Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

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29341439Kids of Appetite by David Arnold
Genre: Contemporary, Coming of Age
Published by: Headline
Pages: 352
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★★
More by this author: Mosquitoland
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was so pumped when I saw David Arnold had a new book out this year! I read Mosquitoland around the same time I read Becky Albertali’s debut and Maddie read Jeff Zentner’s debut. So this time was pretty great for discovering new authors. I fell in love with David Arnold’s writing style IMMEDIATELY, even if I didn’t enjoy the story as much. Kids of Appetite had the perfect mix of witty narrative and FULL-ON plot. I was all about these kids from chapter one and am delighted to say that this author’s books are just getting better and better!

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Review: The Form of Thing Unknown by Robin Bridges

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cover93174-mediumThe Form of Things Unknown by Robin Bridges
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, (Re-telling)
Published by: Kensington Books
Pages: 304
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★.5
Note: I received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review!

Natalie is suffering from some strange hallucinations while on the set for her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With questions of ‘who’s dating who’ and ‘we’re all crazy here’ the characters’ lives somewhat mimic those in the story they’re retelling. It’s an interesting concept, similar to Robin Bridges’ other novel Dreaming of Antigone where the protagonists are both aware of the text they’re retelling whilst retelling it. I’m not sure if it’s a style that completely works for me, but I’ve never been a fan of really meta fiction. But I think The Form of Things Unknown does a good job of blurring the lines between the original text and the new characters’ lives.

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Review: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

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28763485The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Published by: Penguin Random House
Pages: 384
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★★
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

It seems that all my favourite authors of last year are coming out with their next books around this time of year and I couldn’t be happier, because it means the last reading quarter is guaranteed to be a good one! Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is Also a Star is no exception. After giving her debut, Everything, Everything 5 stars, I had high hopes for this book and it didn’t let me down. In fact, let’s talk about why this cosmic romance was so wonderful… Continue reading “Review: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon” →

Review:The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles

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31170713The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles
Genre: Supernatural, Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Bloomsbury Children’s
Pages: 400
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. 

Okay, so this book has a lot of hype. And by a lot, I mean A LOT. Seriously, scroll down the Goodreads page and all you’ll see is five star reviews! People are getting excited about this, so why didn’t I feel the magic? Maybe partly because I was switching from reading an e-book copy and listening to it on the text-to-speech function, but that doesn’t sound quite right. The Edge of Everything covers a great deal of things. If you didn’t think that a supernatural boyfriend was enough, then you have a girl’s quest to recover her father’s body, a boy’s struggle to get out of a binding service, and a family dealing with a shady past. And the best bit is they all link together!

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Review: Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan

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23898966Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan
Genre: Contemporary, Retelling, Romance
Published by: Electric Monkey
Pages: 166
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Other: Two Boys Kissing | Every Day

Marly’s Ghost is what David Levithan calls a ‘remix’ of Charles’ Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’, except at Valentine’s Day instead of Christmas. The basic premise is that Ben’s girlfriend Marly died and now he can’t connect to the celebrations and feels he’ll never love again. So Marly’s ghost visits him in the middle of the night, and tells him he’ll be visited by three ghosts. Can you guess who? That’s right! The ghosts of Valentine’s Past, Present and Future.

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Review: The Movie Version by Emma Wunsch

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The Movie Version by Emma Wunsch
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Amulet Books
Pages: 368
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★★

The idea of a character that constantly compares real life to the movies, and how it would be better if it was a movie, sounds like my kind of thing. I feel like I’m constantly quoting films or bringing them up in conversation, whether it alienates other people or not. So, The Movie Version was setting itself up to be good, but I didn’t realise it would be so great. With a great sibling relationship, a mental health issue and the trials and tribulations of first love, this book ticked way more boxes than I thought it would.  Continue reading “Review: The Movie Version by Emma Wunsch” →