Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Living Dead Girl Elizabeth Scott
Published: September 8th 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Goodreads Summary

The thing is, you can get used to anything. You think you can't, you want to die, but you don't. You won't. You just are. This is Alice. She was taken by Ray five years ago. She thought she knew how her story would end. She was wrong.

Is it possible to write a poetic book about kidnapping and imprisonment of a child? I 

guess the answer here is yes. This is a really hauntingly, disturbingly beautiful short 

novel which features a horrific crime. 

“I have been smashed and put back together so many times nothing works right. 

Nothing is where it should be, heavy thumping in my shoulder where my heart now 

beats.”

15 year old “Alice” was lured into Ray’s car when she was ten, taken from a field trip into 

Shady Pines where she was conditioned to become another person. The horrific physical 

and emotional abuse was flowing through the book without having to be spelt out and 

shouted at the reader. Although the pain that is endured by the character isn’t explicit 

It’s still a hard story to read. The fact that there have been and are children that are 

being put through this right now is horrifying and this book shows you a slight insight. 

To say that Elizabeth Scott managed to capture the horror of the characters capture in a 

rather beautiful way is an understatement. I didn’t think that a story could leave scars, 

but this book certainly has. I haven’t stopped thinking about it for weeks. 

“She became a story, one I have mostly forgotten. One I can't end because she died a 

long time ago.”

Scott manages to draw you in with her unique writing, the fact that the chapters start 

with “Once Upon a Time” when reciting what happened to “Alice” when she was 

younger is unforgettable, it plays on the fact that it’s telling a atrocious thing that 

happened to a young girl while starting it off with a popular fairy tale opening. 

I wasn’t expecting this book to cover all the basics, the characters back stories were 

detailed in the small amount of words that this book required. For a second I felt sorry 

for the monster and for what Ray was doing, knowing his loveless upbringing and the 

abuse that he received from his mother was enough for me to know why he became the 

monster he is, it was enough for me to sympathise with him. I didn’t even think that I 

would have been able to image the horror and the experience of someone that was so 

much abused. I didn’t think it was possible for an author to even describe such a thing in 

a book; I felt as if I was right there with Alice throughout her torture, throughout the 

control he had over her. I felt trapped in this character and felt as if I was living her 

story. 


This was labelled as a young adult novel, I know so many bloggers have already 

mentioned the fact that it shouldn’t have but I disagree. This is exactly what mature 

teenagers need to read. Everyone should read this. I am now carrying this story around 

with me everywhere I go.

Review: Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Before I Die Jenny Downham
Published: May 2007
Publisher: Ember
Amazon

Goodreads Summary

For the many readers who love The Fault in Our Stars, this is the story of a girl who is determined to live, love, and to write her own ending before her time is finally up. Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, and drugs with excruciating side effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of “normal” life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, are all painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time runs out.

Miracles don’t happen. Tess is going to die and there’s no way to stop it, the cancer is eating her up. But she can do all the things she wants before her time runs out.

The title basically gives away 80% of the story. Tess makes a list of things she wants to do before she dies; things like losing her virginity, trying drugs, saying yes to everything for the whole day.

I read reviews of this book and how everyone was sad and heartbroken. I expected this to be heart breaking and for me not to want to leave my house for about a week because I couldn’t deal with the story. But this did exactly the opposite. For those of you who are saying this is the saddest book ever, or how heart breaking the book is; yes it is. Yes it’s heart breaking, yes it makes you want to crawl into a hole and give up with life for a bit. But you’re all missing the point. This wasn’t intended to be a sad book that wants to make everyone depressed because Tess didn’t get to continue her life, and yes it’s super unfair that she had cancer since she was 12, and yes it’s sad that she just got a boyfriend who he loves her and she dies. But she didn’t give up. Hell she made a list of things that could possibly shorten her already short life, a list that her dying body could hardly keep up but she still did it. She did those things to make her feel alive for as long as she could and if this story doesn’t inspire you to get off your ass and grab the life by the throat then you’re missing the whole point of this book.

The characters are developed so well in this book I just want to hold them all and cry. Jenny Downham has a serious gift when it comes to creating life like characters. Her best friend Zoey doesn’t take crap even when it comes to Tess’ cancer. I do think that she takes her whole not caring about the illness too far. I wouldn’t treat my bestfriend any differently but I don’t know… I don’t really liked Zoey until the end. Tessa’s dad and brother were just right. I was so sympathetic towards her dad. I just wanted him to be happy and not have a dying daughter and for his wife to not have left him to deal with it all by myself.

The love story. As much as I like Adam and his also somewhat heart breaking family story I kind of wish that the focus wasn’t so much on the love story. Tessa’s life changed when she met her 18 year old new neighbour and they fell in love. I feel like her list and her life before she met Adam should have been more of a highlight of the novel. Although I did like Adam; he didn’t get scared and he stayed by Tessa’s side the whole time he took so much crap from her. She acted out of order a lot and I don’t think he had a backbone. He should have learned to stand up for himself. Even if it was to his dying girlfriend. 

Review: Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
Published: April 1st 2014
Publisher: Farrar

Goodreads Summary

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead—to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven't forgiven? It's not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was—lovely and amazing and deeply flawed—can she truly start to discover her own path.

I was so excited to read this book, it looked really promising and I wasn’t at all disappointed with this one!

Laurel’s sister May dies young and when her English teacher assigns her class to write a letter to a dead person Laurel choses Kurt Cobain as he died young just like her sister May. Quickly her notebook is filled with letters to other dead celebrities which she fails to turn in for her assignment, instead she begins to find herself in the words she writes to those that aren’t with us anymore.

“I know I wrote letters to people with no address on this earth, I know that you are dead. But I hear you. I hear all of you. We were here. Our lives matter.” 

The letters started out as a somewhat diary, Laurel talked about her everyday life, missing her sister and starting high school. Then the letters turn into confessions about what happened to Laurel when she was little, she wrote about the things that she couldn’t speak about to other people. Things that she believes caused her sister’s death.

It’s an amazingly beautiful novella and I was certain before even starting this book that I would love it. Now after finishing it and after writing this review I’m starting to doubt this. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful piece and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single word written by Ava in this book but I can’t help but compare this to The Perks of Being A Wallflower. I don’t think I would have noticed the similarities so much if I haven’t just finished TPOBAW before I started this but there are so many of these similarities I felt as if I was reading the same story just in a females point of view.

Laurel starts in a new high school where she doesn’t know anybody. Where nobody knows her name or what happened to her sister. (pointing out the obvious same thing with Charlie in TPOBAW) it must be hard, I mean I know how hard it is stating a brand new school and not knowing anybody and just feeling so alone!

The letters that Laurel writes, they capture the person that she’s writing about. I learned some things that I didn’t even know about them. In some of these letters I actually got goose bumps while reading; Ava Dellaira managed to bring the people back from the dead even in that short amount of time. But yet again I can’t help it but mention that is exactly what Charlie did; I mean the letters to his friend. This idea to write letters to dead people was clearly a somewhat original idea and I loved it.

“I feel like I am drowning in memories. Everything is too bright.” 

What happened to Laurel when she was younger, when her sister would take her to the cinema and leave her with a guy so she could sneak off with her boyfriend. This is what got me rather mad. At this point I hated May, I hated her character so much! How could she not see what would happen? How could she not even for a second think that something would happen to her younger vulnerable sister in the hands of a strange guy! It’s so unbelievably stupid! I don’t think this revelation caused May’s death, I don’t think that Laurel finally telling her bigger sister what happened in a strangers car when she would leave her there caused her to fall. But I have to bring this back to TPOBAW… Charlie was also molested, his auntie took advantage of him and he never told anyone, he as well managed to get his head around it in his letters. Just like Laurel.

I don’t think I’m the only one that found these similarities to Stephen Chbosky’s novel. They are both rather similar and I read in Ava’s acknowledgments that they are close friends so I’m puzzled as to why both books are alike. I love both Love Letters To The Dead and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower equally but I have to say that I did connect with Laurel’s story more; and I do think that it’s because she’s a female. 

Review: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Published: February 1999
Publisher: MTV books and pockets

Goodreads Summary

"I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day...or wondering who did the heart breaking and wondering why." Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

This is a rather hard book to review. I was putting this review off for as long as I possibly could as I just can’t seem to form any words to describe how much I loved this book!

Having not watched the movie I decided to tackle this book down after I found a cheap copy in my local store! The book addresses just within the first few pages; suicide, domestic abuse, homosexuality, molestation, rape, abortion, drug use and mental illness. Which is basically a jackpot for me as I’ve been trying to find books that more or less address these issues but are also YA.

Charlie is a freshman who is shy, nervous and not at all popular. Not only that but his bestfriend, his only friend committed suicide. Charlie decides to face the world in a different way, he decides to write letters about his many experiences as a social wallflower to his friend. The way the book was written is original and astonishing. Letters are always somewhat personal and private, you can list all of your fears on a piece of paper and either send it to someone or not. Because Stephen decided to write Charlie’s story this way it’s so much easier to connect with him. To know exactly what he is feeling.

I feel as if this book tackled everything along with the pressure and what it feels like to be a teenager in a new school with no friends.

I can’t praise this book enough, no wonder so many people fall in love with it. 

Mini Reviews: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout & My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Opal #3

Release Date: December 11th, 2012

Publisher: Entangled Teen 

Buy: Amazon | Book Depository



I read this book last year and I have no idea why I didn't review it. But here are some of the things I remember about this book.
This is the third book in the series and often the books and romance lack as they lose their edge; and this book certainly did. I still loved it don't get me wrong but the whole Daemon chasing Katy bit was gone and for me this is what the whole series was about.
The story however was awesome as expected! Katy's and Daemon's relationship progressed as more danger and complications were thrown at them. One of the main things I love about Jen's writing is that all of the plans that the characters come up with aren't easy. They don't always go as planned, I think a lot of authors tend to forget about this and try to make their books as perfect as they can. I remember that this book left me feeling really confused! There's a massive cliff hanger at the end that was just mind blowing and I obviously couldn't cope with it!
Oh also this book was dedicated to me along with nine other ladies from our Daemon team!

My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

Series: Soul Screamers #1

Release Date: January 1st 2011

Publisher: Mira Ink

Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Kaylee senses when someone is about to die and she screams bloody murder. Literally. I loved the originality of this idea! I haven't come across anything like this and I was so glad I did. It started out completely normal with teenagers trying to sneak into a bar and turns into something spooky and supernatural! The chemistry between the two main characters Kaylee and Nash was great. They were one of my favourite book couples last year for being so cute and hot together! 

The story was really gripping and I remember most of what happened, however I know I was shocked to my core about the ending but I cannot for the life of me remember why! I think I will have to reread this before I get the second book in this series. 

Review: Shatter Me By Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
Date Published: October 2nd 2011
Publisher: HarperCollin
Amazon Book Depository 

Goodreads Summary 

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now. Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

This book surprised me a lot. Shatter Me is a beautifully written novel about a dying dystopian society where humans didn’t take a good enough care of our world.

The story follows a young Juliette that has a curse gift where she can kill someone just by touching them. I have never heard of anything close to this idea and I think it’s absolutely amazing! A lot of books nowadays have a lot of contact in them; especially romance books where the first little feather like touch is important to any of the characters relationships. This gift that Juliette has rules it out almost; as the girl has never touched anybody without hurting them. She has never hugged her own mother or father, she never had a bestfriend that would hold her when she was upset and she never had a boyfriend because she would kill him. It’s so sad and beautiful at the same time. I mean imagine if that were you. I can’t even begin to imagine what would be like to never feel someone else’s skin.

“I spent my life folded between the pages of books.
In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.” 

:’)

Juliette touched someone 264 days before the Reestablishment locked her up for murder. She hasn’t touched anyone, spoken to anyone in 264 days until a boy is thrown into her cell- a boy named Adam whom she has a history with already. After a few weeks Juliette is then taken to a facility where a highly disturbing guy named Warner wants to use her and her gift as a weapon and is strangely obsessed with her.

While I was reading this I was confused as to why these random events would lead to her meeting Warner, but as the book progresses you can see exactly what is happening and why.

I loved this book, the story was great, the dystopian world was great although somewhat confusing, and the writing was great- but it was annoying at times.

The reason for it being annoying.

1)     The repetition. At first I loved the emphasis of the white bird which meant freedom for Juliette. I loved the fact that it was repeated three times. But the random words halfway through the sentences sentences sentences. It was annoying annoying annoying. There was no use for it. Halfway through the book I thought that my book was faulty and that the words weren’t meant to be there!

2)     The strikethroughs I loved at the beginning. It was a way of Juliette to get her thoughts out and it would be crossed out like this.  What Mafi did was rather clever. But again it got rather boring and annoying at times. I loved hearing what Juliette thought but there were long sentences that were crossed out and it’s annoying to read.

Those are the only things that annoyed me the most about this book. There were certain metaphors that made absolutely no sense to me and I have a feeling Mafi only included them to sound sophisticated and poetic. But I’m going to let this slide.

“Killing time isn't as difficult as it sounds.

I can shoot a hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the palm of my hand. I can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hand tick tick tick its final tock just before I fall asleep. I can suffocate seconds just by holding my breath. I've been murdering minutes for hours and no one seems to mind.” 

I mentioned already that the world that Mafi created was confusing but that I loved it nevertheless. The reason why it was so confusing was because MAFI FAILED TO EXPLAIN IT. I mostly guessed that all of their foods and resources run out and that the atmosphere and the weather fucked up but honestly I have no clue why; my educated guess would be that humans fucked up and let the world get ruined by using up everything and not caring enough for our planet. But I wish that Mafi explained this. It was almost not thought out.

Juliette’s power is great. She can touch someone and kill them. But again there was no explanation why she had the said power and why the hell she enjoyed using it. Warner the sick little puppy made her touch one of his soldiers as a way for her to show that she was powerful so they wouldn’t underestimate her. But when she touched the soldier she got a weird kick out of it. She liked it. Is this some weird sexual thing? Cause it sure seemed like it.

“Why are you touching me? 
Because I can.” 

There is an exception to Juliette’s gift, and that’s Adam. He can touch her and not die or scream out in pain and she doesn’t get a weird kick out of it. Well scratch the last bit because in some scenes she does. I actually rolled my eyes at this bit. I’m glad the two love birds can touch each other up but wouldn’t this be great if they couldn’t?! If Adam still loved Juliette even though she could kill him!!!? Am I the only person that thinks this would be a much better idea for their little romance?!!?!?!?!?!?1??!?!?!?1??!?!?!

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
Release Date: January 7th 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Amazon Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

'I'll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name's Simon. I think you're going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he'll be dead. And he was never the same after that.'

I don't know what drew me to this book more; the cover or the short summary of the book. I mean come on that is some good artwork and a great summary! Or it might have been my crazy brain picking this book out of all the other books and it just so happened to be about mental illness. It might also be a sign to myself, from myself about the craziness that is me. But I will go with the interesting summary and cover that got my attention.

I have been thinking about this review for about a week now and I still can't think of how to start it properly or how to write it; so I decided to just post my thoughts as I write them and hope for the best. A little bit like this book.

Matthews brother is dead, and he was never the same after that. His pale, cold handed mother was mad but she loved him and his father who's tall and broad and calls Matthew mon ami not only lost a little boy but became obsessed with not losing another one. 
I want to let you all know more about this story but I can't without writing out the whole entire book word for word for you to understand truly what this book is about. It's much more than a young person dealing with a mental illness, it's so much more than a family losing a child, it's more than... I don't know how to finish this sentence. Every single word that I say about this book, for me does not do it justice. There will be people out there that have read a much better story, that were gripped by another author's words more than Nathan's, and there will be people that might even hate this book and want to burn it. But for me this book was amazing. Just thinking about the words that I read and the story and Matthew's past was brilliant. I cried and I laughed and I wanted to hold Matthew's poor mother because she lost a little boy and then she lost her teenage son to a mental illness and had to visit him in a hospital. My heart broke for her.

This book addressed mental illness beautify, it wasn't sugar coated, and it wasn't made into a love story. It was plain and simple. It was beautiful and heartbreaking.
I can't think right now.
https://www.goodreads.com/videos/53141-common-side-effects go and watch this mesmerising and stunning video of the book.

Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Release Date: February 4th 2014
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Amazon Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

In this book we’re introduced to a new character called Cress who is imprisoned in a satellite near the moon by Sybil the right hand girl to Levena the Lunar queen. Cress is a fairy-tale adaptation of Rapunzel what with being imprisoned away from people (or aliens for this matter) where she’s all by herself and has long blonde hair. But apart from those two factors nothing else reminds me of Rapunzel. I wish that Marissa Meyer worked a little bit harder to edge that fairy tale into the book like she did with Cinder.

I was rather annoyed that a new character was being introduced when Cinder was around and most of the attention should have been focused on her instead of introducing another girl. I was already in love with Cinder I think she’s a great female character who doesn’t take any horse crap; and then there’s Scarlet who’s even more badass and isn’t scared of pretty much anything who’s determined to get what she wants and then there’s Cress. Cress is a damsel in distress, who is scared of pretty much everything. She is the total opposite of the rest of the characters which isn’t initially a terrible thing but makes her so much more annoying. Not only does she believe in falling in love with Captain Thorne who she hasn’t met (can’t blame a girl for falling in love with a celebrity) but then she can’t exactly take care of herself like she should; and she always needed to reassure herself and make up a different scenario in order for her to cope with the stress.

Aside from that the book was brilliant.

SPOILER ALERT

Cress is awaiting her rescue while things go wrong and Sybil finds out about this; attacking Cinder and the gang leaving Captain Thorne and Cress aboard the satellite that’s about to crash into Earth. Scarlet is stuck on the moon being tortured for being human, Cress and Thorne the pilot of their ship is about to die, Wolf has been shot and is also about to die and things aren’t exactly looking too hopeful for Cinder and her friends. After surviving the crash Cress and Thorne are rescued by some humans and brought into a town where Cress ends up being sold to no one other than the good doctor who helped Cinder. Reuniting the whole gang together. Giving them the advantage of being able to break into the palace, kidnap the emperor and stop his wedding.

But nothing would have made this book any better than crushing my sprit right before taking off with the emperor and having everything sorted out. Lunars can now get the plague; and the good doctor himself develops the early stages of it while in the palace. Having to leave him behind goodbyes are made where he confesses to Cress that he’s her father. And seriously their goodbye and confession made me cry buckets. I could not even look at this book afterwards I had to put it in the freezer as a punishment for breaking me! Just when everything was going right and Cress was about to get her father back he had to go and die. God damn it. 

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer 
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Release Date: January 3rd 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

The lovely Regina from The Sunflower Pages recommended me this book and I'm so happy she did :)

This book! I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved this book! A fairy tale with a twist that will make sure you never forget it.

Cinder is a cyborg, a mechanic with no family and a horrible stepmother and two sisters. A nobody until the New Beijing prince Kai shows up at her booth and asks her to look at his broken android.  

The plague that has no cure, that is taking most peoples friends and family, infects Cinders younger sister making Cinder the one to blame in her stepmothers eyes. In order for a cure to be found cyborgs are needed to be guinea pigs and sacrifice their lives in order to save humans. Even after the 4^th world war humans still find beings that are “beneath them” that are second class even though they are part human part mechanical. Cinder’s evil stepmother and sister volunteer her to be the test subject in the research for a cure. But instead Cinder finds out she’s immune to the plague that’s wiping cyborgs and humans alike. Not only this but from space a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move onto earth and take over. So basically Earth is screwed either way.

A cyborg Cinderella story set in the future? Erm not really my scene but I’m so happy I got the chance to read it! I don’t really like the whole mechanical scene but Cinderella was one of my favourite stories as a child.

The way the book is written is incredible. I was getting goose bumps just by reading the book, even in the more boring chapters where nothing exciting was happing. Marissa is able to send her readers into the future alongside Cinder and her trusted android Iko. It was really easy to picture everything happening in the space of my bedroom and I can’t remember the last time I was mesmerised by a book this much.

The fact that some bits from Cinderella were in this book made me super happy. The prince, the evil stepmother and two sisters, the ball. Although I would never have imagined Cinderella to have a mechanical foot and hand. I imagined that Cinder would leave her foot when running away from the ball at the end of the night just like Cinderella had with her glass slipper and I screamed in joy when this came true! Leaving this bit out of the book would have been the biggest mistake.

Overall this book was amazingly written and created a great retelling of a classic story. However there were aspects that weren’t developed as much as they could have been. The fact that I’m still confused about the Lunar (moon people), there was no culture even though the book was set in New Beijing. But apart from that I am a massive fan and I need the other books in the series now!

Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska by John Green
First Published: March 3rd 2005
Publisher: HarperCollins Childrens Books
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

A deeply affecting coming-of-age story, Looking for Alaska traces the journey of Miles Halter, a misfit Florida teenager who leaves the safety of home for a boarding school in Alabama and a chance to explore the "Great Perhaps." Debut novelist and NPR commentator Green perfectly captures the intensity of feeling and despair that defines adolescence in this hip, shocking, and emotionally charged work of fiction.

Miles has a quirky interest in famous people's last words, especially François Rabelais's final statement, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." Determined not to wait for death to begin a similar quest, Miles convinces his parents to let him leave home. Once settled at Culver Creek Preparatory School, he befriends a couple of equally gifted outcasts: his roommate Chip―commonly known as the Colonel—who has a predilection for memorizing long, alphabetical lists for fun; and the beautiful and unpredictable Alaska, whom Miles comes to adore.

The kids grow closer as they make their way through a school year filled with contraband, tests, pranks, breakups, and revelations about family and life. But as the story hurtles toward its shattering climax, chapter headings like "forty-six days before" and "the last day" portend a tragic event―one that will change Miles forever and lead him to new conclusions about the value of his cherished "Great Perhaps.

I love John Green. It's not a secret. For me he is one of the very few YA authors who put a nerdy real life like spin on his books. There is always something quirky with a character that is just amazing. A different perspective on life, or a belief. Like with Miles and his obsessions with last words, and his "Great Perhaps"

This is the third book I've read by John Green and it's amazing. I love it and I love him more. The book has all the essentials; it's funny, sad, meaningful and just in all amazing. The story follows Miles a boy who has never had close friends at school and was always the weird nerdy boy. Until he moved to the Culver Creek Preparatory school. Meeting his roommate the Colonel who showed him a new world full of great friends, smoking and pranks. Not to mention he meets a girl. A girl called Alaska who is funny, sexy and beautiful.

The thing I love the most about this book is that everything is normal to an extent, it's not ridiculously fictionalized.

I usually don't like to read in a male POV as I can't really connect with the character (yes girls are different than boys and we do think differently so reading in his POV was kinda weird) pages 153-155 are literally the most awkward, funny and absolutely ridiculous. If you own the book go and open it right now! 

Miles is a great character, I love how cute and innocent he is. But what I love the most about this character is that he isn't ashamed of being shy and innocent and not knowing certain things. I love his obsession with last words, it's something that makes him, him. Not to mention some of the stuff that he comes up with. 

The Colonel and the rest of the gang are realistic characters; seriously this book has been pretty much realistic for me and I absolutely loved this! 

Right onto Alaska. So she isn't one of the top characters. As a matter of fact I hated her most of the time. She is just pretty much annoying every time she's in the book... Apparently she's super experienced with sex, and alcohol and cigarettes. Which is fine, but it felt like she was showing off all the time about all of this! Not to mention her weird mood swings, I did not understand her at all. At first I could see why Miles thought she was amazing, I mean the whole mystery was really good and I loved that part but honestly after about a few chapters I was shooting daggers her way. 

This book has a big twist. (That I knew about before hand that's why I didn't cry like a baby) but I'm not going to ruin this for you guys... So go read the book! It's really worth it. It is kind of annoying at times (especially Alaska) but if you're looking for a book that's more of less down to earth then this is right for you. 

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title: The Fault In Our Stars
Author: John Green
Published: January 10th 2012
Publisher: Dutton Books
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

When I got the book I thought to myself. It can't be so bad. It can't ruin my life. It can't take over everything. It can't hurt my soul and everything inside me.
GUESS WHO WAS WRONG!!!!!!!

Hi. I'm Paulina and this book ruined me and I cannot live without this book because even though my soul has crushed and died I want to marry this little thing and forever hold it because I love it so much.

Me at the start of the book 

Couple of pages in 

Going so crazy I can't help myself.

Why. Who. Why would this book hurt me so much

Someone hold me. 

Right. Literally. This. Is. What. Happens. 

And I'm still like. 

Just thinking of the book right now. 

 Guess who is now emotionally unstable because of something that happened in a book.

So all in all. This book is amazing. Everyone go read it, the movie is coming out soon just go and read the book and join me being this broken shell.