Christmas Present Book Reccomendations

As I've said a number of times over recent posts, I love getting and giving books as presents but sometimes its difficult to decide what to get and for whom. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you will have loads of ideas for really great books to get for all your friends and family. As a quick disclaimer, I'm going to try and avoid the big hitters (The Fault In Our Stars, Harry Potter, Twilight, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, anything by Dan Brown etc).

I'll structure them by age up till 16, then genre. Most of them will be suitable for reluctant readers (particularly in the age restricted sections) but I'll make it clear if there's a book which is slightly more 'literary' - if there's such a thing!


(Ages 8/9+)

Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy - With a kick-ass female protagonist and a walking, talking, fire-slinging skeleton this book has just about everything you could want: murder, mystery, magic and some hilarious one liners. Plus, there's a whole series of them, so once you've got your younger family member hooked they can keep on reading to their little hearts content. I think I read this series aged 12-14 and I still really enjoyed them.

(Ages 10+) 

Ally's World 'The Past, The Present and The Loud Loud Girl' by Karen McCombie - This series was one of my favourites growing up. It is slightly on the more typically 'girly' side, set in London near Alexandra Palace it is the diary of 13 year old Ally who regales us with tales of her slightly mad family.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - For the lover of fantasy. I adored this book, with its sometimes very lyrical language and magical world construction. There is also a very bad film adaptation whose only redeeming feature is its excellent cast.

(Ages 12+)

Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan - Dark, funny, and just a little bit gory, this is the story of a young boy who discovers what its like to get bitten by a vampire. This is on the more 'manly' side, but it was a series I loved growing up, so anyone can enjoy them. Again, another one with a bad film adaptation.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket - Another dark, funny book but for a completely different reason. The Baudelaire siblings are left orphaned and in the care of their suspicious Uncle Olaf after a terrible fire at their family home. This one has a rather good film adaptation which would make an excellent companion present for the book.

(Ages 14+) 

The Princess Diaries by Cathy Hopkins - I really enjoyed this series, but I think I read them slightly too young. The later books get a bit 'sexy' as far as I can remember, but all of them should be suitable for 14-15 year olds. It's about 15 year old Mia who suddenly finds out that she is the heir to the throne of (fictional) Genovia.  Another book with a good film adaptation.

The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness - As you know I read and loved these books over the summer, and I'm twenty! These books have no age limit on them, really, but I think 14 would be the perfect age to read them. If you haven't seen my review, you can check it out here.

(Ages 16+/YA)

Looking For Alaska by John Green - This is John Green's first novel, and his most mature, so I would definitely recommend being 16 before giving this one a read. Pudge goes away to college, armed with last words, to search for The Great Perhaps, and instead finds friends in The Colonel and Alaska. With humour, romance and great depth this novel is more than just a light read.

Mr Penumbra's Twenty Four Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan - Another book I read at the start of the summer and loved. This book feels very mysterious and little magical. My review is here.

The Lovers Dictionary by David Levithan - This is actually found on the adult shelves of the book shop, but think it is really suitable for a YA audience. I have done a review but the link for it is broken, so that will be up as soon as I've managed to sort out the niggles! This is a book for people who like unconventional narratives. It's a bit of a gateway for poets too, as the style of writing is very lyrical.

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - Again this is technically an adult book but since it is concerned with a coming of age narrative I think its a great read for young adults. I read it as part of my A level course and adored it.

Adult

NW by Zadie Smith - This is a book for people who love books. It is a very 'writerly' and a pleasure to read. I'd avoid this for non-readers/reluctant readers. This book feels like London to me, it speaks with the voice of a city, so I'd recommend it for any Londoners/city folk!

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson -  What can I say about this book? It is hilarious, really easy to read and suitable for anyone - mum's, dad's, grandparents, siblings, friends. I read it whilst bored in a rainy mobile home in France adn I couldn't stop reading sections aloud to my mates. I also reviewed this book back in the early days of this blog, so if you want a little more information you can check that out.

The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal - This is definitely a book off the beaten track for me. My Papa (Granddad) lent it to me a few years ago and, although it was slow going, I ended up loving it! It follows a collection of Japanese netsuke, so it's a great book for people interested in history but delivered in a slightly unconventional way.

Bastard Out Of Carolina by Dorothy Allison - As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had to read this book for my module and I loved it. It does have some hard hitting content, but I think young women would enjoy this just as much as adults. It would also be a great book to give a young man to teach him about male violence and sexual assault. In both circumstances I'd say this book is for confident readers who are emotionally mature enough to cope with hard topics, which is why I'm keeping it in the adult section rather than moving into YA.

Hopefully that has given you a couple of ideas. Let me know if you have any suggestions of your own! Tweet me @VickiMaitland or leave a comment below.

Blogmas 4: Semester Wrap-Up and Holiday TBR

I realised today that I haven't done a reading wrap-up or TBR for almost 3 months - so I thought I'd give you a quick catch up of what I've been reading over the past semester.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - I actually did a book-to-film review of this in September. It was before my seminar on the book though, and I think I have somewhat different thoughts on it now that I've studied it in more depth. I still really recommend it - both as a book and as a film.

If This Is A Man/The Truce by Primo Levi - I had to read both of these books for my course. Primo Levi was an Italian Jew who was sent to Auschwitz during the end of the Second World War. If This Is A Man documents his life inside Auschwitz and The Truce documents his long return home from Poland back to Italy. Both are very enlightening texts, although I much preferred If This Is A Man as I felt like The Truce wasn't giving me what I wanted from it (as problematic as that is considering the autobiographical nature of the novel). I gave it 3/5 on Goodreads.

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels - Another book I had to read for my trauma module. This is a story in two parts. The first follows a young boy Jakob who escaped Germany after seeing his mother and father killed and his sister taken by the Nazis, and who grows up under the care of a kind Greek stranger. The second begins after Jakob's death, and follows Ben - a young man who admired Jakob - go on a journey of self-discovery, confronting his own relationship with The Holocaust. This book is very lyrical and metaphorical - which was both beautiful and distracting at times. I gave it 4/5 on Goodreads.

Bastard Out Of Carolina by Dorothy Allison - This is a harrowing story of a young girl growing up in the Deep South of America who gets sexually and emotionally abused by her step-father. As you may have guessed, this was another book I had to read for my trauma module. I adored this book - and I am currently doing my end of year project on it. I really recommend reading this - particularly if you're a young woman. I gave it 5/5.

Ugly Shy Girl by Laura Dockrill - I got this book because it was 99p on Kindle. It is a super short, very light read about a girl who is bullied at school before finding her friendship niche. I enjoyed it for the most part, but the ending confused me, so I gave it 3/5. It was also the first book I read which wasn't for my course.

Beloved  by Toni Morrison - I went into this book having already tried to read it three/four years ago. I was not looking forward to the experience at all, but I actually ended up really enjoying it. It is very hard to get into, but as soon as you become accustomed to the narrative style it is very rewarding. I ended up giving it 4/5.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  - This is a short essay on feminism. I really enjoyed this, although I did find it somewhat problematic in places. I am planning on putting up a review at some point this month once I've had time for a re-read to collate my thoughts.

In The Heart Of The Country by J M Coetzee - The final book I had to read for my trauma module, and possibly my least favourite. It follows a young woman called Magda who repeatedly acts out the death of her father and his new wife, as well as her own rape by her servant. Magda is very aware of her own insanity, making this a very confusing book to read with no real sense of truth and fiction or even right or wrong.

They were all the books I've read over the semester. I probably won't be able to do anymore reading until after my essay deadline on the 15th, as all my reading will be focused around that. However, I do have a couple of books in mind for when I finish my project.

To Rise Again At A Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris - I got a copy to review from my university newspaper, so I need to get on with this book as soon as possible. I'm currently 50 pages in and really enjoying it so far. This book was also Booker nominated.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - My sister got this book from my grandparents earlier this year, and although crime fiction isn't really my scene I really want to read this outing from J K Rowling.

Do you have any recommendations for me? Or have you got any opinions on any of the books I've mentioned? Tweet me @VickiMaitland or leave a comment below! Tomorrow is my Christmas Present Book Guide - so I'll see you then!

August Wrap-Up and September TBR

I didn't have a very productive reading month. This was partly intentional, as I explained in my August TBR post, but a couple of other factors got in the way of more reading too. Firstly, I spent ten days away at a festival (not a lot of reading time), and secondly I split up from my boyfriend of two years (trash tv being a much easier distraction than literature, and my own writing being much better therapy).

The first book I finished this month was We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, and you can see my review of it here if you haven't checked it out already.

The next book I read was If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. This is about two young sisters who live in the woods with their drug taking, mostly absent, mother. One day, a strange man and women find them, and it is revealed that the man is the girls father who has come to take them home. I was mostly disappointed in this book, and felt it could have gone into a lot more depth of the lead characters trauma. YA books are normally very good at exploring trauma in a young person without it being too in your face, but this book almost brushed off the trauma completely, making the traumatic passage at the end feel very heavy handed.

The final book I finished this month was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. This book is centered around the rape and murder of a young girl, and is told from her point of view as she watches over her family and friends after her death. For me, this book almost had the opposite problem to If You Find Me. The traumatic scene is right at the beginning of this book, and is very well written but the story looses its momentum as soon as the reader is made aware that the family are going to be okay. The last fifty of so pages felt almost redundant, although the rest of the story is excellently written.

I also started reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I am just under 400 pages through and mostly enjoying it so far. I've also started watching the film, and I'm planning on doing a combined book/movie review once I've finished both.

This month, other than finishing Cloud Atlas I have very few concrete reading plans. I've borrowed How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid from the library, so I'll have to read that before the month is out. My term starts on the 22nd of this month too, so I'll have to start reading Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer too. Other than that, I need to do further work on my dissertation plans and do more preparatory reading for my Traumatergies module.

If you are interested in any of the academic reading I'll be doing at uni, let me know and I can make a post about what sort of things I'll be reading. To get in contact, you can either leave a comment below or tweet me @VickiMaitland

July Wrap-Up/ August TBR

Before I started writing this I thought that I'd had a bad reading month. Turns out, checking out my Goodreads, that I'd actually had a pretty good reading month - mostly thanks to BT's shoddy service and Patrick Ness's incredible writing.

So the first books I read in July were The Ask and The Answer, Monsters Of Men  and More Than This by Patrick Ness. I powered through the whole Chaos Walking Series in a matter of days, and moved straight onto More Than This during my Patrick Ness binge. My review of The Chaos Walking Series can be found here.

I then read The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp by Eva Rice. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I was going to, and even though I felt it could still have done with an edit (a fact I've excused as my copy is a proof copy and not the final edition), it was pretty enjoyable, sweet and lighthearted. I really liked the character of Tara, Lucy was the perfect mixture of infuriating and sympathetic, and even if the plot was a tad predictable it was still fun to read - mostly because of the period it was set in (the 50's-60's).

Next on my list was Trouble by Non Pratt - the story of a 15 year old who finds herself pregnant and the new boy at school who pretends to be the father. Once I got into the story I found it surprisingly touching and deep, particularly as I really did not like the girls voice in the first couple of 'chapters'.

The last book I finished this month was the much anticipated and reviewed We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. For me, it pretty much lived up to the hype, and you'll be able to read my review soon.

I also started We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Its taken me a while to get into but I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm about 3/4 of the way through.

All I'm going to say for my August TBR is that I'd like to finish We Need To Talk About Kevin. I want to start on some of the critical reading for my Trauma module, and work on planning my dissertation properly, so reading isn't no.1 on my list of priorities this month (although that probably means I'll procratinate by reading)

#reviewsdaytuesday: The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

I read these books at the start of the month when I didn’t have any internet, and they pretty much saved me from madness. Set in a new world, we join Todd, the last boy in Prentisstown, when he is one month away from becoming a man. Prentisstown is a place where all the men can hear each other’s thoughts (which they call noise) and there are no women. As I’m reviewing the series as a whole, I can’t promise there won’t be spoilers for each book, but I won’t spoil the ending of the series as a whole.

I know its the wrong book, but I've lent The Knife Of Never Letting Go out to the fella!

I loved the two main characters in this book. Todd is headstrong, confused and trying to do the right thing: the perfect teenager. Viola (the girl Todd meets in the opening chapters of The Knife of Never Letting Go) is powerful, protective and wise. Both of them felt very full as characters, and very believable, and I enjoyed hearing from both their perspectives in the latter books. There were so many memorable moments in the series (Todd? Todd? – my heart broke), and all the big revelation moments were perfectly delivered.

This being said, there were some moments (particularly as the second and third books progressed) that I felt weren’t necessary. The amount of times Aaron comes back in the first book is a perfect example of this. Aaron feels very two dimensional as a villain. He lacks and explanation for his acts, and I feel like Ness perhaps overused his role in the opening book as the driving force of evil – he was coming back from the dead in impossible ways. This overusing of an evil is the biggest flaw in all of Ness’s work that I’ve read (particularly in his standalone More Than This). I believe the terror can be driven from within the main characters as well as from the outside, and in the first book I don’t know whether this was explored as much as it could have been.

As a series, Chaos Walking is an investigation into the concept of privacy and power (and the connections between them). Prentisstown is a settling in chaos, where men’s thoughts spread out from them uncontrollably, where they couldn’t handle the silence of women and so went to war. This is thrown into sharp relief when Todd and Viola end up in Farbranch, where women rule and men follow. Again this is contrasted with New Prentisstown, where power lies in the control of noise (and, latterly, the conflict between this and the ultimate absorption into noise). For the most part I found this compelling and engaging, however I wish the area of conflict arose earlier in The Ask and The Answer, rather than mainly in Of Monsters and Men. As a book, The Ask and The Answer is a bit of a filler in the series – a transition between the chase of the middle and the war of the end – although, when I was reading it, it never felt that way.

I also really enjoyed the dialogue around manliness and men in the books. In Prentisstown, you have to murder in order to become a man. In contrast, Ben says that war makes monsters of men. The conflict between men and women is an integral part of the series, vying for power in almost every circumstance, and in many ways this conflict represents the conflict between silence and noise; the private and the public; truth and lies.

I loved this series, and I almost read a book a day. They are easy reads with a lot of depth of thought in them. They have a strict moral code which is figured out by Todd as the books develop, which is perfect for a YA read. There are so many wonderful, well thought out, characters in this series which I haven't even mentioned here: Manchee, Wilf, Hildy, Davy, Lee, 1017. All of these characters add so much more to the books and I don't know what the series would be without them.

I cannot more highly recommend this series.

June Wrap-Up and July TBR

 The month of June sped past this year – helped along I’m sure by the week long read-your-bookshelf-a-thon. I read some great books this June, many of which I’ve got in a pile to-be-reviewed, but I’ll give a brief gloss over of my thoughts here.

Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach – a poetic fable about accepting your dreams and ignoring others who try to stop you from living them. A short a sweet read, it took me around half an hour to read.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith – Not as good as NW, which will forever be my favourite Smith book, but a good read none the less. The voice of her characters are always so engaging, and I love the identity conflicts in this book.

Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – I read this book in practically one sitting. Fantastical, a little bit magical, wonderful. I highly recommend it.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith – I’ll be reviewing this in tandem with White Teeth as I feel they largely express the same kinds of issues, and for me were pretty much on a par as a reading experience (although I think I prefer White Teeth, the jury is still out).

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – What a book. If you haven’t, read it. Just, read it. Okay?

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce – It took me a while to get into this book, but it does become quite a sweet read (which is what I wanted from it). Think it could have done with a bit of an edit either end and a bolster in the middle, but that might just be me.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann – I could see what this book was trying to do, but I’m not convinced it ever really got there. It was a decent read, but didn’t fill me with vigour.

The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp by Eva Rice – I enjoyed reading this book, set predominantly in the early sixties it’s a sweet coming of age story. Tara was a very well written character, but I feel there were a couple of things which ended up largely unanswered towards the end of the book. But it was a sweet way to finish the months reading.

So that is it for June! 7 books read, I’m more than pleased with that!

It’s already a week and a half into July, so Ill jot down the books I’ve already read as well as the ones I’d like to read.

Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness – I read these books almost one a day. Fantastically gripping trilogy.

More Than This by Patrick Ness ­– Another wonderful book, although I felt in places it was too much of a parody of itself that it started to get slightly ridiculous.

I’ve started reading Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman. I’ve read this book before and it didn’t do anything for me, but the fella loves the series so I figure I better give it another shot. It’s slightly the wrong time of year for this kind of book, but we’ll see where it takes me.

I’d like to read 1984 by George Orwell if I can this month. I got it for Dad for his birthday and he enjoyed it. Besides, it’s a classic, so I should probably give it a read.

Trouble by Non Pratt is also on my TBR pile this month. Hopefully I’ll get round to it, as by August I want to be reading books from my Uni required reading list.

I’ll leave it there for now. Have you read any of the books I’m planning on reading this month? What did you think of them? Tweet me @VickiMaitland or let me know in the comments what you thought!

The One With The Lightning Storm...

Almost two weeks ago, my little corner of England was hit with a spate of small storms. In one such storm, there was a flash of light, followed by a power cut and the distinct smell of burning plastic coming from the BT modem. Thus, my family were plunged back into the early 90's - the world wide web a thing of the past, forced to rely on more traditional means of entertainment (my choice - the works of Patrick Ness (as per, reviews to follow)).

After multiple phone calls to BT (many of which were spent asking them to just send us out the box as we are perfectly capable of plugging something in), we finally have our internet back! Huzzah!

All of this is serving as an apology for the (almost) complete radio silence this blog has experienced over the past fortnight. I normally have at least a weeks worth of posts queued in advance, but, alas, the day the storm hit was also the day when I was going to copy and paste my posts from word document to blogger.

Normal service will resume, and you can expect my next official post up on Thursday morning!

#reviewsdaytuesday: The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

(This post is a re-upload from my books only blog.)

I’ve heard this book recommended by several book-tubers and my goodness was it worth it! And, at only 215 pages long, it was the perfect way to ease me back into reading contemporary fiction after a semester of writing and eighteenth century novels!

The first thing to say about this book is it’s layout. I’ve never seen a book quite like this. Complied of a series of dictionary entries we see fragments of a relationship between two unnamed people displayed for us to collect together. This book is quite unlike anything I’ve read, some entries a word or sentence, others a page or two long, and completely out of any form of chronology, this is the kind of book that makes you work to find out the story, but it is so satisfying once you get into it. As it’s so short, I would recommend reading this in one sitting if you can, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours and it would allow you to retain as much of the story as possible so it’s easier to piece together. We never learn the whole story, which in some books can make for an uncomfortable reading experience, but in this story I really got the sense that Levithan knew exactly what happened and was simply choosing to show his audience the key moments.

If this isn’t enough to convince you to read this book, the maybe the language will. In places this book is like reading poetry, the language glistens and glides along the page as if every word was exactly constructed. The entry titles in this are a huge part of the narrative, and occasionally are more revealing than the entry itself. Simple but stunning.

I highly recommend this book for a young adult to adult audience (I picked it up in the adult section of Waterstones but it could belong in either). This book is also a very ‘writerly book’, so if you are interested in writing creative fiction, then it really gives a new and innovative way of telling a narrative and using language.

I gave this book 5/5 on Goodreads, and fully intend to read it again as soon as I have the chance. If you’re planning to read this book or have read it already let me know your thoughts on it!

Author: Levithan, David

Title: The Lover’s Dictionary

No. Pages: 215

Genre: YA/Adult

Publisher: Fourth Estate

Publication Date: 2012

My Rating: 5/5

Diversity and Censorship in Literature

All this week I have been volunteering at the UEA's Festival of Literature for Young People (aka, FLY). At the festival, students aged 11-18 get to listen to author talks and take part in workshops run by authors to get them thinking differently about literature - both reading and writing. Yesterday, I was an usher for the mornings author talks, so I got to sit in on the talks and listen to what both Bali Rai and Alex Scarrow had to say. I had heard of Alex Scarrow before - mostly due to his brother Simon Scarrow who wrote The Last Centurion series and came to my college to talk about it - but had never heard of Bali Rai. Both gave very different talks. 

Alex's talk was totally geared towards his readership, 11-14 year olds. He performed at the front of the lecture theatre and had all the students roaring with laughter.

Bali's talk, on the other hand, was very much spoken up to the students rather than down to them or at them. As an older student who has a vested interest in the production of literature, it was his talk which really stuck with me.

Bali spoke extensively on the need for diversity in children’s, teen’s and young adult literature. As a first generation immigrant – born in Leicester to Indian parents who spoken very little English – he found that the books he was reading were not at all connected to him. He couldn’t identify with either their protagonists or their plots. It was only his love of reading which made him stick to trawling through various adaptations of the well worn ‘Famous Five’ plot (upper middle class white children who speak the Queens English going on adventures).

Similarly he spoke about the whiteness of highly successful books. Harry Potter, had he been named Harish Patel, would never have been successful, mostly because it would never have been published. (This being said, I love the head cannon of Harry being a mixed race kid, James Potter could easily have been a black man, Lily Evans a white woman – Harry the boy with unruly hair and unusual eyes).

He also spoke about the success of American books and authors as opposed to books set and written in Britain by British authors such as himself. He specifically pulled out The Fault In Our Stars by John Green and Before I Die by Jenny Downham to compare. The Fault In Our Stars is a book about two terminally ill teenagers who fall in love. Before I Die is a book about one terminally ill teenager who wants to experience all life has to offer. However, Before I Die only became hugely successful after it had been Americanised – it was reformed into Now Is Good, a film starting Dakota Fanning doing an (incredible, in my opinion,) English accent. The plot may not have been changed, but the title change and the decision to cast an American fundamentally changed the way the book was viewed.

As a writer, he decided to write about the thongs which spoke to him – inner city life, characters from the full spectrum of racial and ethnic backgrounds, plot lines which were inspired by the gritty reality of life. He doesn’t shy away from discussions of abuse, racism and classism. He doesn’t pull punches, either, as he proved when reading a small extract from his book The Web of Darkness.

Throughout the talk he made it very clear that he was writing hard hitting stuff, and that if you as a reader do not enjoy reading about nasty, grimy, gritty characters who do horrible things, then you will not enjoy his books. However, the area of his discussion which really interested me was this:

Why shouldn’t all students of all ages been given the opportunity to read about it if they want to?

He made the example that an emotionally mature 11 year old who is a confident reader is probably better suited to read some of his books than an immature 15 year old, and has just as much right to pick up one of his books from their school library shelf as any of the older students.

All of this kept I mind the idea that age warnings/content warnings should be displayed on the books in a prominent place (an argument I tend to agree with, and one which Patrick Ness heavily debated on Twitter a month or so ago - @Patrick_Ness).

I pretty much agreed with Bali, although I do understand how it can be hard from school teachers and librarians to judge whether one child of one age group is more or less emotionally ready than another child of a different age group. However, as a confident reader myself, I remember the days when I had read through the entirety of my age ranges books at my local library and was bored of reading the same boring things again and again. I also remember reading a book before I was ready for its content precisely because the age warnings were not displayed on the book.

If I could implement a system which both allows confident readers to read broadly as well as warning readers about the content of the books it would be something similar to a tactic which used to be used by the Little Black Dress publishing house. A small pie chart was placed on the back cover of the book showing how much of it was romantic, funny, sad etc. This could easily be adapted to show if the book featured sexual or triggering content.

Another way to do this would be the same way as films show why they have been given their age rating – a small table which says things like ‘Sexual content: none, Bad language: Some, mild’ etc etc.

Of course, both of these systems would have to be approved by all publishing houses to have any effect. The last way to warn younger readers about what they might be reading is the enlarging of the ‘Not Suitable For Younger Readers’ notice which appears on the back of some books, including Bali’s The Web of Darkness.

The idea of censoring children’s literature is a controversial topic, one which Bali did not tread on lightly, and many people have very strong opinions on the innocence of children. Sadly, I believe we do not live in an innocent age – we never have – and it is much better for children to read about horrific events within the context of literature, where morals are often clear and laid bare, than through the media with its scare mongering or, as Bali suggested, through potentially damaging pornography.

If you are interested in engaging in the debate, as I know I haven’t fully expressed the extent of it here, then please either leave a comment below, or contact me via twitter @VickMaitland. If you want more information on FLY please visit the festival website or contact @UEAFLYFestival on twitter.

#RYBSAT Final Wrap-up

Before I reveal the total amount of pages I read, I'll quickly wrap-up the last few days of RYBSAT.

So, as you might have been able to tell from the distinct lack of posts, the last three days of Read-Your-Book-Shelf-A-Thon were pretty much no shows. I spent all day Friday out, firstly at the dentists, then with my sister seeing The Fault In Our Stars, and finally with my girlies in the evening. I was working 9.30-4.30 on Saturday, and with only a 20 minute lunch I barely had time to walk onto campus and grab some food, let alone read anything! I went straight from work to the fella's, who was having a Summer Solstice meet-up. We stayed up till the sunrise, and by the time I got home the next day all I wanted to do was sleep. Across the whole three days I managed to read till the end of Tigers In Red Weather (about 50 pages or so). So not great, but here is my final wrap-up:

Total Books Finished: 4 – On Beauty, The Book Thief, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Tigers In Red Weather.

Total Pages Read: 1,484

You can find all my daily update posts under the Wrap-up's heading on my homepage.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my reading progress. I read three whole books and a third of a fourth (I had started On Beauty before the week began) in pretty much four days. I'm a bit sad that I couldn't have carried on the progress, as I was on a real roll, but after the busy couple of days by the time Sunday came round my eyes were far too tired to read!

I'll be posting reviews of most of the books I've read over the past week in the next few weeks. 

I'd also like to say a huge thank you to the organisers of RYBSAT, in particular Miranda, who was so encouraging and re-tweeted all my blog posts!

#RYBSAT Day 4

Pages Read: 246

Books Finished: 0

Total Books Finished: 3 – On Beauty, The Book Thief, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Total Pages Read: 1,430

Today didn’t go so well. I had no time to read in the morning, and zero motivation to read in the evening. I made myself read through the England match, as reading through the football has helped before, and managed to read about 200 pages. I read another 46 before bed, and could probably have finished it as I had trouble getting to sleep, but I really needed to rest my eyes.

Tomorrow I’m going to see The Fault In Our Stars at the cinema with my sister, as well as meeting up with my girls in the late afternoon/evening for cocktails (my look for that will be up post-read-a-thon: it’s a take on Tanya Burrs’ Birthday Look). I’ve got an early start the next day too (I’m working from 9-4) and then have a meet-up in the evening with a the fella and a slightly different group of friends, so I’ve no idea if I’m going to be able to get much reading done over the next couple of days. The fate of this read-a-thon may lie in Sunday!

#RYBSAT Day 3

Pages Read: 421

Books Finished: 1 – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Total Books Finished: 3 – On Beauty, The Book Thief, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Total Pages Read: 1,184

I am super happy with my page count today! I started the morning carrying on with Harold Fry but found it really difficult to read – I had so much sympathy for Harold but it felt like nothing was going his way, and after the heartbreak of The Book Thief I didn’t think I could face another sad book. I managed to plough through a hundred or so pages before lunch, which was less that I’d have liked to. When I got home from work I steadied myself and picked up Harold Fry again. Thank goodness I did! The plot took a turn for the better, and it made the book so much more enjoyable to read – it almost read a bit like The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared – which, in all honesty, is what I expected it to be like from the start. I flew through the remaining 200 pages and immediately picked up Tigers In Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann.

This has been the quickest turn around I’ve had so far – normally I give myself a small non-reading break between books – and I think it’s worked out okay for me. I managed to read another 87 pages before my eyes began to hurt. This brought my total up to 421 pages! I really didn’t think I would read as much as I did yesterday, but I’m so happy I did!

Tomorrow I’ve got another busy day. I’m going to see the fella in the morning, and have work in the afternoon, so I’ll only really have the evening to read. I’ve got 300 pages left of Tigers so hopefully I should just be able to finish it by the end of the day. 

#RYBSAT Day 2

Pages Read: 428

Books Finished: 1 – The Book Thief

Total Books Finished: 2 – On Beauty, The Book Thief

Total Pages Read: 763

As I said yesterday, I had a full day at work today, but a lot of time on the bus. In those bus journeys, I managed to read over 200 pages, which I was pretty happy with. I flew through The Book Thief (full review to follow), and I’d have to say that it is the kind of book which is perfect for a read-a-thon. Lots of short chapters are really good motivators to read (not that you need any extra motivation with this book), and the character voice was so unique that it was really enjoyable and easy to get swept along with. In total I read 417 pages of The Book Thief.

Before I went to bed, I picked up my next book – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I’ve slightly bent the rules for this book. It was on my TBR shelf, but it was further down the line. However, it was lent to me by my grandma a while back, so I thought I should boost it up there. It’s only 381 pages long, so judging by my pace I should finish that in day 3. If not, once again it’s got short chapters, so if I’m finding it slow there are plenty of places to pause and pick up a different book (which will be Tigers In Red Weather). I only read 11 pages (the first chapter) before my eyes started feeling it! I’m up to page 22 (it started on 11).

Tomorrow I’ve got another shift at work (although this is the same as Monday, so it’s not a super long shift and leaves me with all of the morning and all of the evening to read). I’ll also try to tweet my progress @VickiMaitland and I’ll be using and following the #RYBSAT tag!

#RYBSAT Day 1

Pages Read: 335

Books Finished: 1

Total Books Finished: 1

Total Pages Read: 335

(I meant to post this this morning, but miss-timed and had to run for a bus, sorry this is late!)

I stayed up till midnight (albeit accidentally) so I managed to get a head start reading. I only read 25 or so pages, but that put me on to a good start for the next morning. The book I was reading was Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, and I was just under 2/3 of the way through it at midnight. I finished this book 168 pages later just before lunch and after eating, getting ready for work and having some internet time, I had to leave for work before I could pick up the next book. I got home just before dinner, but as soon as I could I began to read Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. This has been on my TBR shelf (the one I’m using for this read-a-thon) since Christmas, and on my wish list for a few years, so I’m super excited to get round to it. I read all evening, and have got 167 pages through it so far, bringing my total page count to 335, which I’m relatively happy with.

Tomorrow I’ve got a pretty busy day, with a long shift at work, but it does involve 2 long bus journeys, which means I should get a decent chunk of reading done, despite not being able to dedicate my whole day to it like I’d hoped. I’ve got the whole evening at home though, so hopefully I can catch up on missed out time then.

#reviewsdaytuesday: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (Illustrated by Maria Kalman)

(This post is an edited re-upload from my books only blog.)

This is a book that I’ve heard lots about, not only for the content but also for the aesthetics, so I really wanted to get it. I bought my edition off abebooks (admittedly for only a couple of pounds) but was a bit annoyed to discover just how sunbleached and ripped the dust-jacket was. The only description given on the website was that it was ex-library. Since then, I've purchased another couple of books from the website and each time found them a lot more drawn in a messy than advertised, and the delivery time felt exceptionally long compared with amazon, so I probably won't be using them again. But on to the review!

Written as a letter punctuated by drawings, this is the story of why Min and Ed broke up, from Min to Ed. Why We Broke Up is aesthetically beautiful. Each chapter is introduced with a bright colour picture of an object, and the chapter that follows is the story of that object, and how it connects to Min and Ed’s relationship, and, ultimately, why it caused them to break up.

What makes this story so wonderful is the reality of it. It meanders from tenderness and pain, sweetness and love, to bitterness and anger. The objects in it are exactly the kind of seemingly meaningless objects that would remind you so exactly of a person or a moment. The emotions are wild and just so high school, but also serious and true.

I really enjoyed this book. The only problem I had with it was timing. I read it immediately after The Lover’s Dictionary, which did a similar thing in a more grown-up way, so the comparison wasn’t exactly fair. Nevertheless, the character voice was perfect, and I gave it 4/5 stars.

Author: Handler, Daniel and Kalman, Maria (Illustrator)
Title: Why We Broke Up
No. Pages: 354
Genre: YA (there is a discussion of sex in this book)
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Publications Date: 2011
My Rating: 4/5

May Wrap-Up and June TBR

May Wrap-Up

May has felt like a very long month! I had an exam right at the beginning of the month, and I’ve got another at the start of June. Because of that, May has been a month of re-reads and revision. But I thought I’d wrap it up anyway!

The first book I read was Virginia Woolf’s A Room Of One’s Own. It’s a transcript of a speech she gave to a lady’s college on the topic of women and fiction. The premise of the speech is that women need money and room of their own to be able to write fiction – although she also talks about Jane Austen who wrote in the main room, covering up her work every time someone came in. It’s a meandering speech with multiple contradictions, but it’s really worth a read.

Next I read both House of Mirth and The Reef, which are both by Edith Wharton. House of Mirth is the story of socialite Lily Bart who, at the age of twenty-nine, is under pressure to find a husband and get married. Not wanting to settle for anyone, whilst simultaneously desperate to marry into big money, she find herself in debt in an attempt to keep up appearances. In The Reef, George Darrow is on his way to France to marry the woman he has been in love with all his life. Whilst waiting in Paris, he bumps into Sophy Viner, a maid for a woman whose house he used to visit, and decides to treat her for the weekend. Six months later, and things appear to be right on track for Darrow and his fiancé Anna until her son Owen announces his intention to marry the governess. When the governess arrives, it turns out she is Sophy Viner, and things become a bit awkward for everyone.

I loved House of Mirth and somehow on the re-read it was even better. Lily Bart is an intensely likable character, despite her many flaws, and her plot is truly heart-breaking. I spent the entire book begging people to believe her, begging Selden to see her and hoping she would come to her senses. A really good read.

The Reef was slightly less enjoyable for me as I felt less sympathy towards all of the characters. I also didn’t really understand what the big fuss was, and why Darrow and Sophy couldn’t just have been honest with Anna and Owen right from the off. Still a good read though!

Finally, the last book I read was a collection of Virginia Woolf’s Selected Short Stories. I enjoy Woolf’s fiction but not as much as her essays, so these were relatively ‘meh’ for me. I feel like Woolf’s style is much more suited to the short story (particularly after reading her Novel Night and Day a couple of months back). Somehow having a shortened work means the lengthy sentences and surreal descriptions are more manageable. I particularly enjoyed The Lady in the Looking Glass and Lappin and Lapinova.

And that’s all I read in May. It doesn’t look like a lot, but I was reading lots of critical material alongside it.

June TBR

I am super excited for June as it means I finally get to read entirely for pleasure! There are loads of books on my shelf that I’m just dying to read.

First things first, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I got this book for Christmas and I’ve heard so much about it but haven’t got round to picking it up just yet.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith. I love Zadie Smith’s writing, but haven’t read this yet! Same goes for my next read…

On Beauty by Zadie Smith.

Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Again this was a book I got for Christmas and haven’t been able to read. Its only tiny, so I should speed through it!

And finally, Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookshop by Robin Sloane. Both my sister and my dad have read this and enjoyed it, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about!

I'm also going to be participating in the Read-Your-Book-Shelf-A-Thon. This runs from the 16th -23rd of June, wherever you are in the world. The premise of the read-a-thon is to literally pick a place in your book shelf and just read from there, along the entirety of your shelf. If you've already read the book then you are allowed to skip it. I won't list all the books I'm planning on reading, but basically I'm going to start from whichever book I'm currently reading and read on from there. I'll try and post daily (or at least every-other-day) updates about my progress and will be tweeting using the #RYBSAT tag. I'll also post a proper TBR the day before the read-a-thon begins. Blog will resume normal service after the read-a-thon.

I think I’ll cap my reading list there for now! I’ve got a lot of plans for June, and I want to enjoy reading these books rather than feeling like I have to just because I said I would. What are your reading plans for June? Have you read anything I’m planning on? Let me know in the comments or by tweeting me @VickiMaitland.

Tag: Social Media Book Tag

I am a huge fan of book tags, but I rarely see them on blogs. I know lifeofafemalebibliophile has a wonderful Tag Thursdays segment on her blog, but she seems to be the only one I've come across. I find most of the tags on YouTube, which sometimes means there's questions I can't answer, so if you've got a blog and do book tags, or know a blog which does please let me know - I'm always on the look out for new reads!

I found this tag over on Margaret's channel, and it was originally created by Reagan, so with all the admin out of the way let's get down to it!

Twitter: a book you want to share with the world - Rather aptly (because of the length of some of its entries), I've chosen The Lovers Dictionary by David Levithan. I was completely blown away by this book! I'd read Adverbs by Daniel Handler previously, and was pretty impressed with it, and this book has a similar premise but delivers ten times better. Everything about it, from the premise to the layout to the plot to the language was all stunning. AND it's only 215 pages long, so everyone's got the time to read it! I did a review of it over on my book exclusive blog, so if you want to find out more of my thoughts you can check it out here (although if you don't have time to look at it right away I'm planning on transferring a lot of my posts from that blog over here, so it'll probably be up in the next few months anyway).

Facebook: a book you enjoyed that was recommended by someone else - The Night Circus by Erin Mogenstern was recommended to me by my sister. I picked it up expecting it to be a children's fantasy/magic book, and was stunned at how beautiful and adult it was. Definately a YA/adult read, it follows Le Cirque de Reves - a mysterious circus that arrives out of nowhere, opens at dusk and closes at dawn. A wonderful read, and I would definitely recommend it again!

Tumblr: a book you raved out before blogging, but haven't since - When I was younger I adored Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. It was mystical and magical and everything I wanted from a book as a young reader. I really want to go back and re-read it. I saw the film and read one or two of the sequels, but nothing could beat the original...

Myspace: a book you don't plan on re-reading - I like to think I'm pretty good at sticking books out even if I don't like them, but there were several on my eighteenth century literature course which I was very happy to see the back of. Pamela by Samuel Richards is one of those. That book couldn't be over soon enough!

Instagram: a book with a gorgeous cover - Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. Not only has it got a wonderful cover, but Maria Kalman has done beautiful illustrations throughout. Again, I've done a review here.

YouTube: a book you wish would be made into a movie - The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N Murari was full of suspense and action, and set in such a beautiful place with a horrific foreground I could really imagine it looking wonderful and haunting on the big screen.

Skype: a book with characters you wish you could talk to - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet is one of my favourite characters of all time, and I wish I could have a conversation looking into those fierce eyes! Similarly, I'd love to have a chin wag with almost any of the more minor characters (plotwise, not in our hearts) in Harry Potter.

There you go! I'm tagging anyone who wants to give it a go, but let me know if you do in the comments, or by tweeting me @VickiMaitland

September Wrap-Up and October TBR

Wow. This last month has gone so quickly. I've moved in to my new house and have spent the past two and a half weeks living with my housemates. We've gone out a couple of times as returners during freshers week, drunk a tad too much, danced a lot and had sing-along washing-up times. University started last week so I've been attending lots of first lectures and seminars too, as well as beginning to organise the creative writing society. Amongst all that crazyness there hasn't been loads of time for reading, I'm afraid, so this Wrap-up might look a little pathetic. But there you have it!

September Wrap-Up

The first book I read this month I finished in a couple of days when I was on holiday. The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari was incredible. Set in 2000 during the middle-end of the Taliban's reign of Afganistan, the book is based in fact (although the work itself is fiction), and follows the life of a young lady. Rukhsana hates life under the Taliban. They have forced her to give up her job, where a burkha and she cannot leave the house without a male companion. All she and her family want to do is find a way to escape Afganistan and get across the boarder to Pakistan and freedom. When they discover the governments decision to set up a cricket team, Rukhsana believes she has found her cousins way out. Having learnt cricket at university in Delhi, she vows to teach her cousins and help them escape. This book was a fascinating read about the lives of young women under brutal regimes. I was only young during the outbreak of the war in Afganistan and didn't really understand fully the Taliban and its laws. This was an eye-opening read for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 4/5

I also read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman whilst on holiday. The only other Gaiman book I'd read was Coraline and I hadn't really enjoyed it, but after hearing him on BBC Radio 3's Arts and Idea's podcast I thought I'd give him another go. I enjoyed this book - or rather collection of interconnected short stories which follow the life of a boy growing up in a graveyard - and gave it 3/5.

The final book I read this month was A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka. This book is a lot more enjoyable than it sounds. From the perspective of one of two feuding sisters, this is a surprisingly light read about family life. The father in this is both funny, infuriating and pitiable, the sisters well balanced and not caricatured, and the 'villian' both contemptible and lamentable. I wouldn't palce it in the top 1001 books you have to read before you die, but it's a nice little read. 3/5

And that, sadly, is it, which means I've read 941 pages this month. Which, it's fair to say, is a little bit disappointing after last months success. I did get halfway through The Life of Pi, however, and if I get the chance to finish that tomorrow or Monday I can add that to the pile!

October TBR

I'm not really sure what to put in this. Most of the book I'll be reading will be university stuff, but fingers crossed I'll get around to reading some other bits and bobs too!

As I said, I plan on finishing Life of Pi by Yann Martell in the next couple of days or so, and hopefully I'll also finish Vagina, a new biography too!!

The first of the novels I'll be reading for uni this month is Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I have always wanted to read this, and am not really sure what it't about, so hopefully that'll be interesting.

The second novel I'll be reading is Gulliver's Travels  by Johnathan Swift. Again, despite going to Gulliver's Kingdom when I was little, I don't really know what this book is about. 

I think I'll leave it at that to be getting on with. Hopefully I'll get into a bit of a routine and I'll post more frequently again!

Best Wishes

xx

August Wrap-up and September TBR

Hello, sorry this is coming to you so late but I was away on holiday in the over the end of August and the first week of September, then I've been moving into my new house and saying goodbye to old friends and preparing for uni and yeah. Generally been crazy! But enough of that, let's get down to it!

August Wrap-up

The first book I read in August was Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, and I reviewed it here. Same goes with the second book I read (Divergent by Veronica Roth).

Then I picked up Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. I really liked the concept of this book - the struggle to produce words when letters dissappear is super intersting, particularly as a writer. The world building in this book (which is an epistolary story) is amazing, it doesn't feel like it's being explained just for the reader, which could have been difficult as the author is almost solely speaking to characters which already exist in the world. This said, I never really got involved with the characters - there were too many names flying around with not enough backstory. I gave it 3/5.

This was followed by two books which weren't on my TBR - City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, which I also reviewed here.

Back on piste I read The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith. Following the life of Alex Li-Tandem (an autograph salesman) this story is about his coming to terms with the death of his father and his obsession with the autograph of Kitty Alexander and how these impact his daily life. Whilst this book didn't live up to NW, it was still a really good read and I gave it 4 stars.

Finally, the last book I read in August was The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern. This book was incredible, it managed to skate the line been childish fantasy and young adult novel perfectly. In it, we watch the circus and take part in the lives of the people who work there - particularly the lives of Celia and Marco whose destinies have been preordained since their youth. It is wonderfully written, an easy enough read that anyone with a touch of imagination and the desire to be taken on an adventure would really enjoy. I gave it 4/5.

So that was it! Sorry my wrap-up wasn't as detailed as they have been in the past, but there are 4 full length reviews hidden in those hyperlinks, so it's not as short as it might appear. I did pretty well with my TBR from last time - the only book I didn't read was Vagina, but I wasn't in the mood for non-fiction. Maybe next month, eh? In total I read 2921 pages in the month of August, which I'm very pleased about.

September TBR

I feel a tad cheeky putting two of these on here as I've already read them, but here goes.

The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari. This book is about Rukhsana, a young Afgan women living under the brutal reign of the Taliban in 2000. Partially based in fact, we follow her as she risks her life teaching her cousins cricket in order to help them escape the country she has grown to fear.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Beginning life as a collection of bedtime stories for his daughter, The Graveyard Book features Bod, the boy raised by ghosts, as he grows up and discovered the real reason for his supernatural upbringing.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka. Recently my friend gave me a copy of 1001 books to read before you die, and this was in there so I thought I'd pick it up. Fingers crossed nit's as good as they say!

The rest of these books I'm adding tentatively, as Uni starts on the 23rd and I'll have got a tonne of reading to do for it.

The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler - I've heard so many good things about this book that when I saw it on Amazon Kindle for 99p I had to have it!

White Teeth by Zadie Smith - Loving her at the moment, and when I saw this in a charity shop for a bargin 75p I had to pick it up.

And once again, Vagina, a new biography by Naomi Wolf. Maybe.

Till next time,

xx

Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The story follows a couple narratives, the main one being Cassie, a 16 (ish, I think) year old girl. Cassie lives a normal life with her mum, dad and baby brother Sammy. She is invisible to the guy she has a crush on, worries about her hair and spends most of her time texting her best friend. Basically your standard teenager. However, her whole life gets flipped upside-down when the Mothership is seen orbiting Earth. Then the First Wave arrives - and there's no going back. We enter the story shortly after the Fourth Wave has ended. Cassie is camping in the woods, alone save for a teddy bear and a being in the dark.

When I first started reading this book I adored it. It was fast paced, exciting, you learn so much in such a short period of time and I raced through the first 60-100 pages. Cassie was a very real, down to earth character. Yancey does an excellent job of capturing the growth from girl to woman that Cassie is forced to prematurely experience (one line of the book mentions how she is worried that her supply of tampons will run out - which I loved as writers (especially male writers) tend to miss out).

I was surprised and a bit disappointed at first when the narrator changed, as it seemed a shame to move away from Cassie as she was becoming a fully fledged character. The other characters we follow aren't as well developed as Cassie initially, but they are engaging enough to sustain the plot, and I was looking forward to the point when the narratives collided.

However, I haven't only got praise for this book. One aspect of it very nearly put me off finishing it, mostly because I thought this book was better than the trope it used.

There will be sort of spoilers from this point on (concerning Cassie and Evan - both of whom the blurb of the book introduces), so read on at your peril if spoilers bother you.

-------- SPOILER WARNING ---------------------------------------------------------------

When Cassie first meets Evan, I'm ok with that. I understand that the author wanted to create a bit of romantic tension for his leading lady, and having her lusting after a guy who she's literally said a sentence to isn't the most engaging plot. When Evan kisses Cassie, that's when I get angry.

This kissing scene is described as a deeply romantic, sensual act. However, Evan essentially kisses Cassie against her will. We already know that he knows a lot more about Cassie than he's been letting on (and we later learn that he's been stalking her), and to add what can be described as sexual assault to this mix (and to portray it in a way which is meant to have teenage girls swooning) is disgusting and dangerous. I hate Evan and Cassies entire relationship - it's totally overdramatic and over the top. Whilst Zombie's relationship with Ringer is understated, natural and sweet, Evans and Cassie's is scary.

Not only this, but from the moment Cassie meets Evan most of her strength and conviction (her best and strongest personality traits) vanish, and she virtually regresses back into the teenage girl with a crush.From being such a strong female lead she turns into a girl who can't cope without her man. I thought this book was better than that, and Cassie's character was strong enough to sustain her part of the narrative. I understand why Evan was needed (from a knowledge point of view) but I don't understand why they had to be so overly 'romantic'.


This being said, the premise of the book was excellent and the execution (for the most part) was superb. I recommend reading it, so long as you can question the presentation you're given.

I gave it 3.5/5

xx

Currently Reading: Vagina: a new biography by Naomi Wolf