Monday 29 June 2015

Finding Audrey-A Book Review||❤

Finding Audrey
By Sophie Kinsella
Rating: 5/5 stars
Publication Date: June 9th 2015
*recieved in exchange for an honest review*
An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

My Thoughts
Finding Audrey is probably one of the most beautiful books I have read this year. Not many books cover the topic of anxiety and this book just put it in just the right way. I think it is important for people who suffer from anxiety and even people who don't should really read this book. It really just shows the effects of mental illness and really could help to open peoples eyes and see how things such as depression are not a joke in teenagers and is a rising issue. Finding Audrey really is an astounding book which really should be shown to people of all ages.

Audrey suffers from severe anxiety where she hides underneath the black sunglasses, hasn't entered school since the incident and refuses to venture outdoors. Even people walking into her mini den without permission would cause her to have a panic attack. Audrey was a trouble character with an equally as crazy bunch she calls her family. Her mum is a religous Daily Mail reader, her brother is addicted to video games and literally can't live without them and her Dad is just confused most of the time and caught between her brother and mum feuding every single day.

What I loved about the book was it's positivity. Although it did show how anxiety is a quite an emotional subject I felt myself laughing so much at how quirky each character was in each way and how each situation was lightened by someone saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or her mum mumbling on about what a new article had just read on the Daily Mail. How her family never expected Audrey to speak up about a video game in defence of her brother, the first scene of the book was side splitting, the way that she talked with her brother and how she also found herself an utterly adorable boyfriend in the end of all of this. I loved had mental illness in it but it wasn't exactly about the darkness of mental illness and it maybe it will make people aware of mental illness in young people.

All I ask you to do it please read this book. You will learn so much and it just is my favourite of 2015. I didn't want the book to end at all and I felt quite different after reading it (in a good way). Well done Sophie Kinsella for writing such a great book!!

Keep Reading,
Naomi...xxx

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Monday 15 June 2015

Frosbite:Vampire Academy-A Book Review||❤

Frostbite-Vampire Academy (#2)
By Richelle Mead
Publication Date: April 10th 2008
Rating: 4/5 stars
It’s winter break at St Vladimir’s, and a massive Strigoi vampire attack has put the school on high alert. This year’s trip away from the academy to the wintery peaks of Idaho has suddenly become mandatory.

But Rose’s troubles seem to follow her wherever she goes—dealing with the pain of knowing that her relationship with her tutor Dimitri can never be, things get even more complicated when one her closest friends admits his feelings for her.

The glittering winter landscape may create the illusion of safety but Rose—and her heart—are in more danger than she ever could have imagined...


My Thoughts
I always wanted to carry on with the Vampire Academy series but I never seemed to find the time to read it until I picked it up again Thank god that at the start of the book it had a complete recap which outlined everything which had happened so I didn't have to re-read the book again which saved me time and let me get stuck in straight into the book. This series seems to get more and more exciting as it goes along and it gave me a book hangover, you know when the book is just too good and I wished that I was a kick-ass dhampir so I could punch people and stuff (haha I'm such a liar, I'm scared to kill really mini flies!)

The character development throughout this series is amazing. Although most of the people from the main school weren't there it was more interesting to learn about the other dhampirs and the get a real insight of the vampire monarchy. My favourite character in the books was definitley Christian Ozera with his snark comments and layed back personality. Personally, I didn't like Rose Hathaway. In my eyes she was an immature character who bit off more than she could chew. She was too vain for my liking and used people for her own entertainment. I also felt like she cared about how she looked too much and hooking up with her instructor and wasn't as badass as I thought she was in the first book. Lissa Dragomir was a character I took favour to as she was a classy person who had grace and was effortless in what she did. She managed to get her point across without being too pushy and had a way of making people listen to her and what she believed in. Who absolutely had me wanting to strangle them even though I wouldn't be able to was Dimitri. There is something about him trying to be all dominant which really peeded me off and I just wanted to kick him in the head.

On a more positive note, I loved the plot this book. I mean it just couldn't get any better. I thought that I was supposed to hate this book but I just kept on reading it. I loved how it was carefully set out and that it slowly built up to the climax and so many twists happened that I sat there mind blown. It wasn't one of those books where so much is blasted at you from the start that you can't keep track but I felt like part of the story. Frostbite is definitely a great sequel to to the Vampire Academy series. Mead's writing style was brilliant and made the book easy to follow.

Overall, I really did enjoy the book except for 2 of the characters who got on my nerves for a while but I hope to warm to them a bit more as I read on into the series as it only has really just begun.

Keep Reading,
Naomi...xxx


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Monday 8 June 2015

The It Girl-A Book Review||❤

The It Girl
By Katy Birchall
Publication Date: 7th May 2015
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
Everybody wants to be a famous It Girl. Don't they?
Anna Huntley's aims in life:
1) Must keep my two lovely new (and only) school friends by not doing anything in usual manner of socially inept dork and outcast.
2) Train Dog (my labrador) to high-five. This is probably the most ambitious life goal on this list.
3) Do not set the school's Deputy Queen Bee mean girl's hair on fire (again).
4) Work out whether 2) and 3) constitute being socially inept or outcastish.
5) Go to Africa and give out rice.
6) To hide in a cupboard FOR LIFE with Dog now Dad is engaged to one of the most famous actresses EVER, the paparazzi want to spash my face all over the papers and everyone in school (and The World) is soon to discover the level of my social ineptitude.
7) Is rice a bit done now? Maybe I can give out chocolate in Africa too. I do like chocolate. Must work out how to do it from the cupboard...

My Thoughts
 It Girl is a book about a girl, Anna, who has recently moved to London. She feels like a total social outcast and nobody seems to understand her bright sense of humour and thinks that she is plain weird. Now that her Dad has recently become engaged to a famous actress, who's daughter is big in the social world, Anna grasps this opportunity to try and fit in but little does she know that she really is being used. The most popular guy in the school starts to talk to her out of nowhere, she is suddenly being asked to sit with the cool girls even though she had just damaged one of their hairstyles which involved hairspray and a bunsen burner plus she is now being chased by paparazzi and can barely take her dog for a walk! Now that she has not been talking to her 2 friends who have been with her through the embarrassing moments, what really is the price of fame?

This book was one of those books I thought I didn't like. I was in quite a bad mood when I read it but after a while I went  back to reading it and I started to remember parts and I burst out laughing our of nowhere. There is only one way to describe this book and that is bloody hilarious. I haven't laughed so hard at a book in donkey years!! Anna just seemed like such an awkward person like me who always does the wrong things at the wrong to me and likes to hide in dark closets and curl up in a ball forever. It was almost like the author jumped into a 15 year olds head, extracted their thoughts then put it down on paper. I have probaby never read a more relatable book.

My favourite character in the book would have to be Anna's dog because he was just lazy and a bit hyper at times and stole everbodies food so I loved him. Anna had me falling out of my seat! She set fire to a girls hair, has terrible dance moves and experience something which meant hanging upside down in a Wolverine vest. Every single situation she was in was as funny as the rest and I loved how she didn't really care that much before her becoming famous and even after she became famous. That is what I loved about her, she made mistakes like everybody else and always recovered from them and making things right.

The ending was probably one of the funniest endings ever (in grey:She was about to kiss a boy outside the school hall and then her dad honked his car horn and told her to get in, talk about spoiling special moments!) Overall, I really did enjoy this book and I really can't wait for the next book to come up!

Keep Reading,
Naomi...xxx
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Friday 5 June 2015

Disscussion:Why Is Every Dystopian Book Compared To The Hunger Games?



 Hello,
This is a topic which has been annoying me for a very long time. Nearly every single Dystopian book will say at the front of it 'Similar to the Hunger Games' or 'Even better than the Hunger Games'. It seems to me that people now think that every single dystopian book bows down to the Hunger Games like it was the creator of the Dystopian genre. Now, I am all Hunger Games. I adored the series, loved the films and I can quote it from the top of my head but when I tried to explain Throne Of Glass to my peers in music (my composition, film music, was based off the book) they said 'you mean basically the Hunger Games'. My jaw dropped and I wanted to fall out of my chair. It seems to me that it is harder now for any author to publish a dystopian novel without being compared to the popular book and film series.

I think now that using The Hunger Games has become a strategy to sell books to people. Non-readers would think 'oh The Hunger Games, I read that maybe I should that book' and when they actually read it, it is about fairies warding off trolls in a world where trolls have the almighty power (I made up that idea on the spot btw). Does that have anything to do with going into an arena to fight other people your age then uprise againt the Capitol, erm I think not. This problem also sparks in books with Vampires in it. If I say this book has vampires in it. people internally groan and think TWILIGHT TWIGHLIGHT TWILIGHT.

My problem here is I think that each book has its own identity in the Dystopian genre and should be known for other books other than the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is just a small part of a massive field filled with so many other books but people seem to think that by putting things onto that patch it would suddenly make things seems better than they already are. I think that we need to stop getting into this 'basically the Hunger Games' mindset just because the person is an assasin or the person has brown hair and wears it in a braid.

In conclusion, I think it is about time we stepped out of our fixed mindsets and not compare so many books to the Hunger Games because it is the easier way round. It just makes it look like the Dystopian Genre is all the same when it is most definitely not!

What Is Your Opinion?

Keep Reading,
Naomi...xxx
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Wednesday 3 June 2015

Waiting On Wednesday||❤


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
 This week is..........
Hello, Goodye and Everything In Between
By Jennifer E. Smith
Publication Date: 1st September 2015

On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they'll retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night will lead them to friends and family, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

This new must-read novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that must be made when life and love lead in different directions

What Are You Waiting On This Wednesday?

Keep Reading,
Naomi...xxx
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Monday 1 June 2015

The Summer I Turned Pretty-A Book Review||❤

The Summer I Turned Pretty
By Jenny Han
Publication Date: 1st January 2015
Rating: 4/5 stars
Every year Isabel spends a perfect summer at her family friends' house. There's the swimming pool at night, the private stretch of sandy beach... and the two boys.

Unavailable, aloof Conrad - who she's been in love with forever - and friendly Jeremiah, the only one who's ever really paid her any attention. But this year something is different.

My Thoughts
I was stressing over my school work and I was in need of a quick read which would make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have heard a lot about Jenny Han in the past and her books have been raved about so many times so I decided to pick up one of her books to see if she was any good. As it is nearing summer and that means that it is  the time to stock up on cute contemporary reads and fall head over heels into fictional boys.

Conrad. Conrad, Conrad, Conrad. The swoon worthy bad boy who was oh so perfect. He had the signature smirk, he was a fun person, even with the hard exterior but cared and he was just down right gorgeous. I just wanted to grab Conrad out of the book and take him hostage (alright I am getting weird now...) forever. Yes he did smoke cigarettes and was probably the hottest guy in town but I just couldn't get over the guy. Although he didn't really appear in the book that much, Conrad was one of those characters you longed to learn more and more about and was a like a complete mystery throughout the book. Isabel was quite an annoying character. She thought she was grown up and tried to act something she wasn't but ended up looking immature and clueless throughout the book. I am all about going with your gut instinct but it seemed liked everything Isabel did was out of spite and not to benefit others. This put her in a negative light for me.

I love Jenny Han's writing style. It is laid back and really voices from a teenagers perspective. It was almost like my friend was telling me about their summer and I felt like I could connect with the book. I loved the concept of the book and how Isabel tried to get over this person even though she only saw them at around summer time. One thing I couldn't get over was her nickname 'Belly' it was ridiculous and annoyed the hell out of me. I didn't know whether it was meant to be cute or funny or was put there to aggravate me but could they just have called her 'Bel' or something remotely normal like that.


This book was about living in the moment and doing what you have always wanted to before it is taken away from you and that is what I love about the book. I don't mean by living in the now for your whole life and being a ridiculous person but I mean by taking chances which you will only get in your teenage years and doing what you longed to do before you are treated in a more adult way and all this pressure is put onto your shoulders.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book and I will definitely carry on with this series because I already have the second book in the series so I can't wait to finish it. Also I hope to explore Jenny Han more as an author because she is just awesome!

Keep Reading,
Naomi...xxx
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