Review: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Title: All The Bright Places

Author: Jennifer Niven

Publisher: Knopf

Published: 6th January 2015

Goodreads Summary

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning! Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is my second attempt at reviewing this… I deleted my first draft as I didn’t think it did the book any justice. Why are the great books so hard to review!?

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, he keeps thinking of ways to kill himself, he even rates his ideas.

Violet Markey lives for the future, she is counting down days until her graduation and when she can escape her town and her aching grief about her sister’s death.

The unlikely pair meet at the unlikeliest place, a bell tower where suicide would be perfect.

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park- Yeah kinda… I still feel that it’s only referring to Eleanor and Park because it was narrated by both of the main characters, I don’t see any other resemblance to that book.

I have read bad reviews about this book, of course it’s impossible for everybody to fall in love with it. I do think that Jennifer reaches a certain young adult audience, and I do think that the responses to this book depend on the personal experience with depression and suicide. I cannot tell whether I would have found this book as great as I did if my personal experiences weren’t there. This book spoke to me on another level and made me feel incrediby mixed feelings. It made me feel alive for the first time in years in a way that I couldn’t possibly imagine.

“We are all alone, trapped in these bodies and our own minds, and whatever company we have in this life is only fleeting and superficial.” 

Of course suicide is a hard subject to tackle. I think it can go either way, a quirky funny way or go for the ugly truth. This book seemed to tackle both things. This indie relationship between the two characters was loveable but also fake. Of course I would love for there to be couples like Finch and Violet, and for couples like Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace from The Fault In Our Stars but the world doesn’t really work that way. Having these special relationship in books grounds us to reality but make us imagine the world these authors create.

“No more winter at all. Finch, you brought me spring.” 

The ending was hard for me, I cried and thought about it for so many days. I wanted to keep this world going; but the way that Violet handled the news and the realisation was annoying but beautiful. I think for the type of protagonist that Violet was her reaction was perfect. Everything that happened with the school and funeral linked back to reality.

I do recommend this book to everybody, whether or not you have personal experiences with suicide and depression. I think this is perfect for anybody that has enjoyed The Fault In Our Stars, Eleanor and Park, Anna and The French Kiss, ect…

“People rarely bring flowers to a suicide.”

Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Title: Stolen

Author: Lucy Christopher 

Publisher: Chicken House

Published: May 4th 2009 

Paperback 301 pages.

Gooodreads summary; 

It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him. This is my story. A letter from nowhere. Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

How can I review this book? Its 8.25pm on a cold December night, three days away from Christmas and all I can think about is the story that Lucy Christopher just shared with me. I feel like I was given this precious gift, a part of her soul really. It’s like this with every book I think, especially the very good ones. But this is different, this is a first for me.

Gemma is only sixteen when she is taken away from her family, from her friends and her entire life into the hands of a horrible monster. She is picked up from an airport and plucked into a hot desert where the land wants to kill you, with the fear of what her captor will do to her.

“How long will you keep me?" I asked.
You shrugged. "Forever, of course.” 

There is nothing out there like this story. Nothing. This book captures the true essence of what it’s like to fear somebody and to be scared for your life.

Gemma is a very strong protagonist, she was scared, even ready to die at the hands of her captor but she had hope.

Ty is a troubled man who had a hard life, he’s strong physically but emotionally he’s damaged.

I still can’t believe just how great Gemma’s character was! I can already imagine more than half of the female characters in young adult books now and how they could react in this situation. Gemma was different. She was scared but she willed herself to try and run away. She wanted to escape even if it killed her.

This is a letter from Gemma to her captor; written in detail of everything she experienced and felt throughout her time with Ty and honestly how much can you write about a month or so? How long can you make a letter out of this? I was incredibly sceptical of the format that it was written in, I mean it shows Gemma’s true feelings but how much can really happen in a sunny desert with nobody else around? Apparently a lot, this was a fantastic idea, especially for the beginning and the end of the novel.

My mind couldn’t keep up and my heart never settled on what I thought of Ty, just like Gemma. There was this character who has done wrong but is so hurt and is so delusional that you cannot help but forgive him for his wrong doings.

“and it’s hard to hate someone once you understand them.”

My heart was in my throat until the very last word on the page. What does Gemma think of this and what do I think of this. I was so conflicted because I wanted Gemma to love him. I wanted her to forgive him, to somehow be with him?! I think I was the one suffering through Stockholm syndrome. I was never nervous when Gemma was scared of Ty, I was never scared for her when she was trying to escape him. I always had hope.

Review: Isla and The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.

Isla and The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Series: Anna and The French Kiss *3
Published: August 14th 2014
Publisher: Dutton

Goodreads Summary

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last? Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

What a beautiful way to finish an amazing journey. Did I mention my wonderful boyfriend managed to get me a signed copy of this book for my birthday? I did. Well you can hear about it again!

I didn’t want to read this book, I didn’t want to say goodbye! It wasn’t until I reread Anna and The French Kiss (because my boyfriend got it for me for Christmas after I complained that I didn’t have my copy anymore) a familiar name popped up. Isla. She was in Anna and The French Kiss; which yes I do realise that it’s a really stupid discovery of mine but as soon as I saw her name pop up I knew I needed this with me right away. Hopeless (I would not have called her that) romantic Isla who has been in love with Josh, the moody artist since their first year at the School of America in Paris. After a rather embarrassing encounter back in Manhattan between the pair love is soon to be followed back to the city of love. (I just read what I wrote and I want to puke) Hell why doesn’t Isla deserve to be with her crush? Good for her! You go girl!
I like to hide my lovey dovey side away and pretend like I don’t have a weakness when it comes to cute romantic stories. But to hell with it. I loved this book. It’s a close second to Anna and the French Kiss with Lola and the boy Next Door being shortly behind.

Maybe it’s a Paris thing. I read a review that labelled Isla as the stalker and Josh as a self-centred artist, calling them horny rich kids. I couldn’t agree more. Isla would have been the perfect example to show kids of the dangers of stalkers, and Josh is so far up his own ass that it’s ridiculous. However that doesn’t mean the book was bad. I think these two characters were perfect together. A little bit sad and extremely surprising that Isla actually managed to get with the boy of her dreams that she most likely had wet dreams over every night. Some of the things that girl did were such a red sign that I was cringing in between pages.

They managed to make it long distance! Hooray. Happy endings for everybody involved. It’s in the title. This has been the best thing to up my spirits. There is nothing better than reading a soppily cute story with a happy ending for all the characters, especially Anna (spoiler). Then theres Kurt, he’s annoying and he’s Isla’s best friend. I think that’s all there is to his character. (not saying he wasn’t developed by Stephanie, but his character is seriously
just a backdrop to this story)

I would describe each story as if it were a cute, fluffy puppy. You can’t help but love it

Review:Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Published: 27th May 2010
Publisher: Definition 
Paperback Pages: 432

Goodreads Summary 

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister. Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

What a massive roller coaster. I mean. I have no idea what to think of this book and it has been months since I’ve read it! I am still not over what has happened in this book.

This is a story of two bestfriends who happen to fall in love. Maya and Logan just wanted to be together. They just wanted to be left alone and be able to love each other. But nothing is ever that simple. Their love is more than forbidden. It’s against the law. Maya and Logan are siblings who fall in love with each other and must deal with the wrongness.

I have always been baffled by incest. It’s the main reason why I wanted to read this book in the first place. I have a younger brother and I couldn’t even imagine nor that I want to imagine anything close as to what Maya and Logan went through. There is a line between brothers and sisters. You can be best friends, hate each other, sleep in the same bed or share a bedroom together but crossing that line to become lovers just doesn’t fit in. Maya and Logan have been pushed into a life where they have to grow up fast, where they are looking after their younger siblings, pay the bills and keep the whole house from falling apart. The line between brother and sister gets blurry for the pair and they start to feel things for each other that they know are wrong.

It’s far too easy for authors to create a book with taboo romances that focus on the breathing and the fast paced lives of the characters. What you find in this book is unlike any other book you might come across.  Here, you will find characters that are so deeply written with such compassion and such insight to their lives that they will break your heart.

In the first half of the book I have felt more than cheated. I have read reviews which talked about the relationship, and about the love and how close the characters were getting. But instead I was faced with half a book about Maya and Logan trying to keep their family lives together; while taking care of themselves and their younger siblings. This made me incredibly angry. Angry towards their mother, angry towards the state that they were living, angry by the fact that there are children who are taking care of children right now and I cannot stop that! I will never understand a mother that abandons their children because of a new man or a new drug or alcohol. This will baffle me until the day I die and I will never have sympathy for parents that leave their children to fend for themselves.

Once the first initial contact between the siblings started to play out I was enthusiastic to see how the author would handle this unthinkable relationship. I was, I guess excited to see what both of the characters were thinking and to see where this whole thing began. The fact that Tabitha wrote the book in both of the characters perceptions it was rather interesting to see how they were both dealing with this new relationship and their views.

I was open minded while reading this book. I knew exactly what I was going to read and I made sure that I wouldn’t judge this until I finished the last sentence written. For me I was absolutely torn. I have a brother so for me this absurd relationship was making me want to stop reading. To pretend that it didn’t exist and that it never happens in the real world. But on the other hand, my romantic hand, I felt heartbroken for the pair. I was rooting for the pair. Why should they be denied love just because they share the same DNA?

Of course I am not forgetting that they are brother and sister and that people were not okay with this story. The one thing I am certain that other readers will agree with me; is in fact the amazing writing, I am still dumbstruck as to how Tabitha was able to write this book! The emotion, the raw insight to the story of both of the main characters was purely amazing; and I don’t mean jumping around because you’re just so excited amazing. I mean staring blankly, unable to move because you can’t process what just happened amazing. What better way is there to feel after a book?

I have completely forgotten the ending for this book. Just now as I’m furiously trying to type all of my thoughts in this review that I was hit with the shock of the ending once again. I’m not going to lie and say that I cried. I don’t remember whether or not I did, but I do remember putting the book down while staring at it with my mouth wide open. I remember not being able to sleep because I kept thinking about this book. I was not able to shut my brain off because of that ending. I assume that tonight it’s also going to be the one thing I am thinking about. It was. Just. SO INCREDIBLY HEART BREAKINGLY AMAZINGLY HURTFUL!