Beauty Queens by Libba Bray REVIEW

Basically this books is about a bunch of beauty queens who are left stranded on an island after a plane crash, leaving them with very little food and water. The beauty queens must now work together to survive and find a way of the island.

Racism, Sexual orientation, Feminism, sex, self-esteem is just some of the many themes in Beauty Queen. Sometimes when you read a book with this many themes it can become quite boring as it just focuses too much on one themes and not on the others or it focuses too much on the themes and it makes the book drag on. In this book this wasn't the case, Libba Bray covered so many themes and still made the book funny and interesting.

The style of this book itself was amazing, you are given character profiles which helps you learn more about the characters and connect better with them.  You have bits in the book where it looks like the corporation have gone through the book and took out what they don't want you to see and not forgetting the corporation advertisements which I just have to say brought a smile to my face.

Normally if I read a book with this many characters in it, I get confused and can't remember who is who, but it wasn't the case with this book the characters were all so unique, every single one of the beauty queens had their own set of issues and were all relatable.

I didn't expect to like beauty queens as much as I did, but I absolutely love it and I can't wait to check out more of Libba Bray books. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars 

Divergent by Veronica Roth (contains spoilers)

Hey guys so today I am here with my review of Divergent by Veronica Roth, if you don't know what Divergent is, well let me explain so here we go. In the book there are five factions, Abnegation who are the selfless ones, Amity the peaceful ones, Candor the honest ones, Duntless the brave ones and Erudite who are the smart ones, so when you reach the age of sixteen you choose which faction you want to live in, you can either stay with your family in the faction you were born into, or leave them and do your own thing. The story follows sixteen year old Beatrice who has to choose which faction she wants to live in and that's where the story really takes off.

So I had heard a lot about this book and me being me decided, it wasn't going to live up the hype and I put off reading it until a few weeks ago...boy was I wrong, it met my expectations and just raised that bar.

Pros of the book:

• ·        this book grabbed my attention and didn't realise it until I finished it, I literally finished this book in two days, and I don't know if you've seen the book but it's kind of a big book, It also made me feel every single emotion that the character Beatrice was feeling, weather it was happy, scared or sad
•            To me the characters develop really well in this book, especially Beatrice, she goes from this kind of unhappy little girl to this wonderful strong independent woman, I think this is the first book in a long time where I instantly loved the main character, usually I hate them at the start and then warm up to them
• ·        The romance doesn't make you feel sick, unlike a lot of books these days I have to say the romance was really well written, In a lot of books I have been reading recently the romance either makes me feel really sick or really annoyed because it's just unbelievable, in Divergent the romance is so cute, like it made me go "AWWWWWW" and brought the biggest smile to my face
• ·       It surprised me, finally a book that surprises me at the end instead of having me going "Yup, seen that one coming" I was like "WHAT? WOW! WHAT?" so yes it's nice to be surprised for once

Cons of the book:

I don't have any cons for this book :)

My Rating

So I gave this book five out of five stars on Goodreads, because it is simply amazing, I would highly recommend this book, it is just Amazing and I am currently reading the second one so look out for my review of it which should be up pretty soon 

Apologies

Hey guys, so I know I haven't posted in a while and that is because I have had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life, like a death in the family, and then my end of year show in college and loads of coursework so I haven't been reading much, and when I have managed to finish a book I haven't had time to write up a review or make a video, so I am really sorry and I promise I will be back soon, please forgive me :) 

Review of Matched by Ally Condie

Hey guys so a few weeks ago I finished reading Matched by Ally Condie and I just have to say it was one of the best books I had ever read,  I don’t think I have ever been this angry over a book before but this book made me really mad.

So the book focuses on the main character Cassia, and Cassia lives in a futuristic world, where the government called the “Society” control everything and I mean everything, from who you marry, to how many kids you have. You might think wow, who would live in a world like that? But these people are happy with their lives, everyone who chooses to get married and have kids is usually always happy with their match, so let’s meet Cassia, Cassia ends up getting matched to not one person but two (Xander and Ky). Although she is told that it was only a glitch and Xander is her true match Cassia starts to question the society and find out who her true match is on her own.

What I liked about this book is that it instantly pulls you in and makes you fall in love with it. I did not expect to like this book as soon as I read it but I did it was amazing, I remember reading parts in this book and getting so angry that I just wanted to scream and shout and even in that anger I couldn’t stop reading. Cassia’s character development I thought was really well done as she went from this good girl who did everything the society told her, always obeyed the rules, to this strong girl who believes in what she chooses.  

What I disliked about this book is you didn’t hear much about Xander, I would have loved to see his character develop a bit more like everyone else’s did, to me it felt like Cassia didn’t really give him a chance she just instantly friendzoned him and that annoyed me. Another thing I didn’t really like is how the hell is everyone so cool about the society making decisions for them? It’s like “oh we are going to die at 80 but that’s fine cause the society says it is” even thinking about it still makes me angry.

I gave this book five out five stars on goodreads, because even though there was some things I was not happy about, I did love it and could not put it down. I would recommend this book to people looking for a different type of love story and people who liked Delirium by Lauren Oliver as the two are very similar. 

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg Review

Hey guys so I have just finished reading The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg. This book has put me through so many emotions, I would literally be crying one minute and laughing the next, I can tell you now I was getting some weird looks in college.

After being told that her boyfriend no longer loves her Brie’s heart breaks and kills her. In the after world Brie meets Patrick and the two soon form a friendship. Patrick is a lost soul and must help Brie through the five stages of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance).

But things in the living world aren’t so good, Brie’s family are falling apart and her best friend has been keeping a secret about why Jacob (the ex-boyfriend) broke up with her. Can Brie finally move on? Or is she doomed to wonder the earth looking for answers?

When I first heard of this book, I wasn’t that excited for it, I thought it might be dull, but as soon as I started reading that first page I was hooked. What I really like about this book is that it is not all sad and depressing which is what you would except from a book about death, but at the same time it’s not all happy and cheerful it’s just the right balance of both.

As for the characters they are just so relatable, weather it’s Brie, or Jacob or Patrick, you could put yourself in their shoes, because there is at least one time in your life you have or will feel the way one of the characters do. Although their where times when I wanted to grab Brie by the shoulders if I put myself into her shoes I would probably be feeling and acting the same as she did.

The pacing off this book was really well done, it wasn’t too fast and it wasn’t too slow, it was just perfect, it had the right amount of everything, I also really really liked how the start of each chapter either had song lyrics or the name of a song. Which I thought was a nice we touch as it related to the chapter and how the characters where feeling in it.

Over all I gave this book five out of five stars, I would recommend this book to everyone of my friends, viewers, family, it is just amazing. If you are a fan of books such as Before I fall By Lauren Oliver or Between by Jessica Warman then I would defiantly recommend this book for you.

Thanks for checking out my review of The Catastrophic History of You and Me, feel free to leave comments telling me how you felt and your opinions of the book.

Bad Girls Don't Die Review

Hey guys so this is my review of bad girls don’t die by Katie Alender.

This book is follows the main character Alexis, Alexis doesn’t seem to fit in and she seems happy that way, her sister Kasey is obsessed with dolls and keeps a collection of them, Alexis thinks nothing of it until things at home began to change, doors begin to open and close on their own, water boils on an unlit stove, and Kasey is beginning to change her blue eyes turn green and she is becoming more angry. It is now up to Alexis to save her little sister.

 To me there were quite a few things that annoyed me with this book; one of the main reasons is that it was very predictable this book reminded me of almost e very chick flick I have ever seen, Alexis the girl that doesn’t fit in, hates Megan her sworn enemy but they too of them have to work together, Alexis finds out that Megan has had a tough past and next think you know they are best friends. Not forgetting the big romance which I feel the book didn’t need and that it just took away from the main plot line, Carter is the “cute” guy in school and he accidently hits Alexis with a door knocking her to the ground so of course he brings her to the school nurse, and they end up falling in love...cause we didn’t see that one coming. Moving on to the creepiness, this was probably the thing that disappointed me the most, I thought this book was going to terrify me, I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep but instead it was so toned down that in my opinion I don’t think it was scare a twelve year old never mind an 18 year old.

Throughout the book we don’t really see much character development, so here are just some notes on the characters, Alexis is this girl who doesn’t fit in, she has pink hair, she is rude to the teachers, she is rude to her family, she skips class and hates on everyone in her school including weather it’s the cheerleaders her friends the doom squad which is the nickname she has giving to the Goth kids, I personally find Alexis to be a bit of a hypocrite as she says the  doom squad always try too hard to live up to their name yet she is trying too hard to live up to hers, then she is always talking bad about the doom squad which just makes me think why are you hanging around with them then if you really don’t like them. Another thing I don’t like about Alexis is how she dislikes the cheerleaders for spreading rumours around and ruining people’s lives yet she is doing the same thing.

Next I want to bring up Carter, boy did I dislike this character, to me he was so annoying, he’s the type of person I roll my eyes out, he’s just so needy and he always shows up at the wrong time and when Alexis makes can’t hang about with him he makes her feel bad which really annoys me.

Megan, in my opinion this is the only character we see a lot of character development, at the start we see her as this popular, beautiful cheerleader that always gets what she wants, but later in the book we find out some home truths and we learn that she is not, Megan seems like a character you could talk to, she’s down to earth, she tells people what she thinks of them in a nice way, she’s brave and she speaks my mind, by far my favourite character.

I gave this book 3 star out of 5 and I feel that I was being very generous by doing that, I loved the idea I was just very disappointed with it written down, I will read the rest of the series and hope they get better thanks for reading my review if you agree or disagree give me your opinions in the comments below and tell me why J

Amy and Rodgers Epic Detour Review

Name: Amy and Rodgers Epic Detour

By: Morgan Matson

What it is about:

After the death of her father Amy’s mother has decided to move to Connecticut, Amy’s mother has already moved down it Connecticut and with her brother in Rehab, Amy has to get from California to Connecticut by herself there is just one problem Amy hasn’t driven a car since the accident her father died in, this is where Rodger comes in, Rodger is a son of Amy’s mothers old friend, going down to stay with his father for the summer Rodger agrees to drive Amy down to Connecticut using her car, On  the way the two of them decide not to follow the schedule Amy’s mother set out for them, which takes them on the detour of a life time.

What I expected: When I first seen this book I thought it would be all about this big romance, I also thought it was going to be a real girly book all about a boy and girl falling in love as they drive from state to state

Was it what I expected?

It was definitely not what I expected it had hardly any romance in it at all, although it was hinted at from halfway in the book you could start to tell that Amy was starting to develop feelings for Rodger, but it was done very nicely, so that it wasn’t overly sickening that you just wanted to stop reading like a lot of books do.

What I liked about the book:

What I liked about the book was the writing style I loved it, it was done in a very different way that I haven’t seen in a lot of books for example in the first 8 pages the writer has given information like Amy’s report card, Amy’s emails, and the map a long with the lists of states that Amy is meant to drive thought that the reader finds out has been sent by Amy’s mother, I thought this was a really good way to grab the reader’s attention. Another thing I really liked about the style of this book is that at the start of every chapter there is quotes and song lyrics I think this is really fun and interesting as a lot of them related to the chapter in some way. Also liked how it went from present to the past to reveal what had happened in Amy’s past and why she didn't want to drive.

What I didn't like about this book:

What I didn't like about the book is that Rodger did annoy me for most of the book as he was obsessed with his ex,  another thing I didn't like was that it kind of felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again and I started to get bored as it was describing almost the same things in different places, I absolutely loved the ending (won’t say why don’t want to spoil it)

The characters: I really loved the characters in this book each and every one, I loved all their stories, and the development all though Rodger was obsessed with his ex and it really annoyed me, because she sounded like a bitch, i found Amy so relatable because it is so easy to slip into her frame of mind and I know if the same thing happened me I would probably be thinking the same, My favourite character in this book wasn't a main character is Walcott I simply just fell in love with this character he was so funny but so deep at the same time and gives such good advice, I got my favourite quote in this book from Walcott and that is “Tomorrow will be better” I just think that is such a good saying and it’s so simple, oh I just love this character so much.

Would I recommend it?
Yes I would recommend it to someone who isn’t interested in the love aspect of the book and wants to read a book with meaning and a bit of depth then but if I knew the person just wanted to read it for the romance then I wouldn't.

I would rate this book three and a half starts out of five although you cannot do that on Goodreads (well I don’t think you can). So on good reads I will give it a three as I don’t think it is a four or a five in my opinion. Thanks for reading please share your opinions with me in the comments J