Forgotten Friday Four

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan: 

As has been the trend of a lot of my Forgotten Friday posts, this is another which I read and reviewed last summer, but never got round to posting.  And, seeing as I am still only halfway through my current read (Girl of Nightmare by Kendrae Blake), but still wanting to post, I figured that it was time for this one to finally go up.  So here is my review of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters:

Review -

After reading the first of the series (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) earlier this year, I wasn’t amazingly keen to read this one.  I so badly wanted to like the first one, after hearing so many good things about the series, but unfortunately it failed to really draw me in and I found myself not too attached to the characters or the story; although I do blame myself for not reading them earlier, as my view may just be because they are aimed at 9 and 10 year olds!

Despite this though, I found myself picking up the 2^nd one recently, deciding to give the series another go – and I'm glad I did!  I found that I enjoyed this one alot more than the first, with the 

characters growing more on me and the overall story being one I was eager to read about.  Due to this, instead of finding that I was having to force myself through chapters (as was sometimes the case with the Lightning Thief), I was actually wanting to continue on and read further and further into the story, resulting in me finished the book in a mere two days.  I think it may have been the absence of unrelated events, something I found a lot of in the lightning thief, which hooked me this time, as I was able to see reasons for most of their actions.  

As for the characters, I was happy to see an addition to the usual trio (Percy, Annabeth and Grover) in Tyson and actually found myself really warming to him -  I think he might even be my favourite character so far!  I just loved his childish nature and the irony of his character, as well as the humorous love/ hate relationship which existed between him and Percy.  As well as this, I also  liked seeing more of Clarise and, dare I say, less of Grover.  I don’t have a problem with Grover at all, I just preferred the trio in this book.  Sorry!

Finally, I think that, as usual, my favourite part of this book was the ending.  Without spoiling anything, it left me shocked and wanting to quickly grab the next one.  I never expected the turn of events and I honestly loved it!  It gives the story somewhere to go, and has me really excited to read the Titan's Curse! 

Top Ten Tuesday Twelve

Top ten books I'd love to see as movies/TV shows

Top ten tuesday is a weekly feature/meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.  I was very excited for this when I saw that it was this weeks topic, not due to the amount of books I'd like to see as films/TV shows, but because the ones I would like to see I can just picture so vividly and so really wanted to share them.  So here are the six books which I would really like to see as either movies or TV shows: 

1) The Gone series by Michael Grant - I remember hearing about the possibility of this one being made into a TV show (sorry if I'm wrong) and honestly I don't understand why someone hasn't already, as this was first thought when I read this weeks topic.  I can just imagine this being the perfect series to make into a TV show.

2) Numbers by Rachel Ward - I can just imagine this one working as a fast-paced kind of action film, as I think it would work so well with the plot and would just make the most of this book.

3) The My Blood Approves series - This is another which I can just imagine being turned into a great TV show, with each season being based on each book in turn.

4) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - I know this may be unusual choice, but I'd just love to see this one play out on screen, with all the twists, turns and time shifts which I think would make a very interesting and possibly even unusual film to watch.

5) Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman - I read this years ago now, and I still can't believe that it is yet to be made into a movie.  This was one of my first thoughts when I heard about this topic, as I can just imagine this being turned into an amazing film. 

6) Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn - I can just so badly see this one being such a cute christmasy romantic comedy type film, with the constant switches between the pair and the red notebook - just like the book, it would make the perfect christmas movie!

Will Grayson, WIll Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Review:

This was another book which has been sitting aimlessly on my shelf for what's likely nearly a year now, and for some unknown reason,  I have only recently decided to pick it up.  I guess I was just scared of disappoint (as this is by likely two of my favourite authors), didn't know really what to expect and wasn't amazingly hooked by the blurb.  But nonetheless, I decided to finally pick this up some time last week.  And, honestly, I'm really glad I did.  I loved the characters, storyline and grew more and more attached through the book, until I was laughing and smiling along with them right till the very end.

The characters in this book were likely one of the main things that kept me reading,  I loved both Will Graysons and found that the split POV worked well and was easily followed, with the writing style of each really reflecting their separate character.  I also found the crossover between the two's lives and of the characters in general really made the story come together more and allowed what began as two separate stories to end as one.

Having said that, my favourite character would have to be Tiny Cooper, as I'm sure others would agree with me.  I loved his bold and flamboyant character, and his musical was something I never found myself minding hearing about - in fact, I quite enjoyed learning more about it.  Not only was he funny, but he also became the glue between the two stories, giving them something in common and ultimately making the story a whole lot better.

Another aspect which I liked was the humour in this book, as no matter how subtle, I found myself laughing and smiling along with all the characters.  I liked how realistic it all seemed and I guess that's how I felt so attached to the characters by the end of it.

Speaking of the ending, I would have to say that this was possibly my favourite part the whole book.  It was so nice to see everyone come together, even characters who prior to this had only been seen in one POV, and I honestly found myself smiling through it all.

All in all, I'd say that my only complaint about this book would be the fairly slow start, although I do think this wasn't helped by the split POV, and so could be put down to this.  Otherwise, I would recommend this to anyone who wants a funny, fairly lighthearted read, or is a fan of either John Green, David Levithan or both!

Quotes:

The things you hope for the most are the things that destroy you the most in the end.

When things break, it's not the actual breaking that prevents them from getting back together again.  It's because a little piece gets lost - the two remaining ends couldn't fit together even if they wanted to.  The whole shape has changed. 

Being in a relationship, that's something you choose.  Being friends, that's just something you are. 

Maybe there is something you're afraid to say, or someone you're afraid to love, or somewhere you're afraid to go.  It's gonna hurt.  It's gonna hurt because it matters.  

Songs: 

Better Than Me - The Brobecks 

Golden - Fall Out Boy

Other Books:

Paper Towns by John Green - I think my main reason for recommending this one is pretty clear, but it also centres alot around friendship, as I believe Will Grayson, Will Grayson doe as well.

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn - As with the above suggestion, this book is also here due to it being written by David Levithan, but it also shares another aspect as this story is also told in a split POV by two people who are not often in each others stories.(Review here) 

Top Ten Tuesday Eleven

Top ten books I plan to have in my beach bag this summer

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme/feature hosted by The Broke and Bookish.  After not participating in this for a while now, I decided that this topic was a perfect one to get me back into it, as it was one I knew I could create a pretty healthy list for, and one which I would enjoy making.  So, here are my top ten books which I plan to have in my beach bag this summer:

1) Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - Having read Anna last year whilst on holiday, I can't seem to bring myself to finish the series before summer this year, simply to end it the way I started it.  But, you can be assured, that as soon as I can, I will reading this in a heartbeat.

2) The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith - Contemporaries and romances are always a must to read over the summer, so this is which I will definitely be picking up when the sun is out.

3) The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - This is another book which, despite wanting to read so badly, I can't seem to do so until the holidays again, as this was when I first read The Prince of Mist by Zafon two years ago.

4) The Disrespectable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - After reading We Were Liars last year, I can say that I love E. Lockhart's writing style and books in general, so I can't wait to pick this one up this summer.

5) Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan - Despite not usually being the type of book I would read this summer, I am almost certain that this one will be in my beach bag this summer as I am really excited to continue the series with this fourth installment.  

6) Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - This is another contemporary which I am definitely planning to finally get round to reading this summer, after having sat on my bookshelf for too long now.  

7) The Mortal Instruments:City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare - Due to the length of this one, it is extremely likely that I will hold off reading this till summer, when I will almost certainly have to time to continue this series and give this book my full attention. 

8) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling - I can't believe that I am still yet to read this series, having so far only read the first book, so I determined to continue it and read this one in the summer.

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Review

After first reading the blurb of this book late last year, I have been anxiously waiting for the day when I would finally allow myself to read it rather than reading those books which have been on my shelf just a little too long.  The entire concept of two stories in one, especially with the major connection between the two just drew me in almost instantly, as I was not only interested Lizzie's story, but in Darcy's as well.  But after being so excited to read this, I was so worried that I would be let down tremendously,

However, this was definitely not the case.

Even after simply reading the first page, I felt as though I was hooked, with both of the first opening chapters short length but large impact drawing me and making it almost impossible for me not to read on.  I have to admit that as I got further and further through the book, my progression and speed in reading it did slow, the entire book taking me just over two weeks to read in total.  But for the length of it, I still believe this to not be too bad at all (for me personally).  I found the characters, especially the likes of Darcy, Mindy and Imogen, to be very intriguing, and I liked how Darcy still felt like a teenager, and didn't just mature because of her situation.  I also liked the sub-plot given to us in the form of Imogen, and I really enjoyed watching her story unravel just as Darcy did as well.

Despite being intrigued by both stories, I have to admit that I was more excited for, and did end up enjoying Darcy's story just slightly more than Lizzie's.  I found hers more relatable (obviously!) but I also founds hers to just generally be more interesting.  Saying this, I did however begin to to prefer Lizzie's towards the end of the book, with a plot twist and overall exciting ending given to her story. I think I just generally loved the connection they had, such as when a mention was made about the ending of Lizzie's story in Darcy's.

However, despite my almost glowing review so far, I did have a few bug bears about it, such as the lack of supporting characters.  Both of the stories focused mainly on the lead characters, Lizzie and Darcy, with very few other characters, other than those very close to them, had a large role in the story.  And even those who did play a part in the plot were almost always in the background, with only a small number of scenes even referencing to them.  Another aspect I disliked was the predictability of Lizzie's story.  I understand that it is meant to be a representation of what Darcy, a teenage girl, would have written, but I still feel as though the story, particularly the romance, could have been more original and more entertaining.  I even found myself bored to death of Yamaraj by the end of the book! 

But, all in all, I think it's all pretty clear about what my views on this are - mostly all good!  I would definitely recommend this one to anyone, but particularly those interested in writing.

Quotes:

"The real world worked differently than stories.  In a novel you always knew the moment when something Happened, when someone Changed.  But real life was full of gradual, continuous transformation.  It was full of accidents and undefinables, and things that just happened on their own.  The only certainty was "It's complicated"." 
"...he said that ghosts are just stories that tell themselves." 
"So are the living."
"Maybe that's the price of loving someone: you lost your grasp of where they ended and you began." 

Songs: 

Underdog - Imagine Dragons 
On A Lonely Night - A Rocket to the Moon 
Glory and Gore - Lorde

Other Books: 

Unfortunately, I couldn't think of any other books to suggest here, so I figured than rather recommending a book with very little in common with Afterworlds, I would just leave it.  Sorry!