Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Review:

This was yet another of my summer reads, after I read both Anna and Lola at some point over the past year.  I have been waiting so long to read this as I was so scared of disappointment, until I finally allowed myself to this August; and, as much as I liked it, I did have a few problems with it.

Firstly, as is always the case with Stephanie Perkins, I loved the romance element in this book.  I liked how realistic Isla seemed in relation to her crush on Josh, with this adding some unexpected humour to the beginning of the book.  I also liked how the romance happened alot quicker than in the first two books, even if it did feel slightly too quick in my opinion; lets just say that I wasn't a huge fan on how they got together.  But nonetheless, I really enjoyed reading about their relationship, particularly as they began to encounter problems that they had to learn to overcome.

One element which I seem to have many mixed views on is the characters.  I found myself loving most of the side characters, such as Kurt and Hattie, but then not being too keen on the two main characters, Isla and Josh. Starting positively, I loved Kurt and Isla's relationship and liked seeing a friendship like theirs in here.  I also liked how much Hattie contrasted him, with the relationship she has with her sister being an argumentative one instead.  But most of all, I just liked how both of the characters evolved throughout the book, with their personalities growing so much.

However, as much as loved these two, I found myself having some problems with the main couple in this book.  I don't know why exactly, but I could just never seem to really connect to Josh at all really, with him as a character being someone I just didn't click with.  And as for Isla, as much as I related to her (especially in the beginning of the book) and did seem to connect with her more, in the middle of the book particularly I found her to be slightly immature and kind of irritating, although she did redeem herself towards the end of it.

Now, I couldn't do this review without mentioning setting, which for this book is both New York and Paris.  Once again, I adored both of these backdrops, with the return to SOAP being a welcome one.  My only problem, and it is honestly just a little niggle, is that we didn't see more New York/ Manhattan, as I would have loved to have seen more of this, new setting as well as some of the returning setting.

Finally, I feel as though I have to talk about the ending, or at least the last fifty or so pages of this book, as they honestly redeemed this book so much in my eyes.  Firstly, I loved seeing the resolution between Isla and Hattie, as well as seeing Isla finally realize some things that she was wrong about.  But most of all, I just loved seeing the return of all the characters throughout the series, with everyone coming back for what I can only imagine is the perfect ending of the series.  And no matter how badly I couldn't connect with Josh, that scene was just pure amazingness.

So, I'd have to say that, all in all, I did enjoy this one.  It certainly didn't knock Lola and the Boy Next Door off the top spot for my favourite one out of the series, and I would properly also have to give Anna second place, but that doesn't mean that this wasn't a good book.  It gave a great ending to the series and I can't wait to see what Stephanie Perkins has in store next!

Favourite:

Character(s): Kurt

Scene(s): Isla and Josh's first date

Isla reading Josh's book

Quote: "The best relationships are the ones that are as happy and content in silence as they are in action."

Relate:

Song(s): Sparks Fly - Taylor Swift
Let's Love - Echosmith 

Other Book(s): Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Rating: 

4/5 stars 

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough

Review:

After I first discovered this one late last year, I have been wanting to buy it and read it ever since, but have been putting it off due to the number of books that were already on my TBR.  But recently I finally gave in and brought it, with it being read pretty much as soon as I had.  However, I have to admit that I was actually quite disappointed with this one. I'm not sure if it just wasn't my cup of tea or if I just hyped it up too much myself, but I just found myself really not enjoying this one at all.

One of the main reasons for this was the very slow pace of the book.  I just found that a lot of the first half of the book was filled with too much pointless information and not enough which would actually be important to the plot.  Half the time it felt as though the characters were just wandering around aimlessly, and even when they weren't I had a hard time figuring what they actually were doing.  

Leading on from this, I felt that once the plot did get going that there was just too much going on at once.  I was so confused with how one sub-plot fitted in with the main story and with what was going on with another one entirely; I just didn't understand how so many things and people connected in with one main plot.  I found myself rejoicing whenever a explanation came that half the time that I felt there wasn't much point me reading the rest of it, which just left me more confused than before.  If I'm honest, I still don't think I have a complete idea what was going on even now!

Another reason for my confusion was the amount of characters included in this one book.  As much as I liked the split POV and felt it allowed us to see the story from different angles, I did get slightly irritated with just how many characters there were, with so many people included in one story.  So many people were involved that half the time I forget who one character was and why another was important that by the end I couldn't remember who half of them even were.

On a more positive note, I did like how the actual story of Long Lankin was revealed to us, although I would have prefered for it to have been uncovered earlier.  I actual search for answers when it related to the main story of the ghost himself, but felt that it spent too much time on extra information about  people's encounters with him.  I enjoyed hearing all the different stories about Long Lankin, but honestly I think that they should have been told alot sooner on.

Finally, as much as this was a ghost story and all, I really didn't find that scary.  I feel as though I say this about every horror book I read, but I really wanted this one to be alot more frightening than it was.  The only scenes I found scary were at the beginning, and these didn't even include Lankin himself, who was meant to be the main ghost/villain in this book.  Due to this, the ending for me was a bit of a let down.

So all in all, I was definitely not a fan of this one, and I think its safe to say that I will not be picking up the sequel - sorry! 

Favourite:

Character(s): Eda

Scene(s): Cora feeding the parrot and hearing the ghost

Quote(s): "Perhaps there are places people should never live in, never even got to, no matter how beautiful they may seem."

Relate:

Song(s): Alive - Gabrielle Aplin

Other book (s): Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendrae Blake

Rating:

2.5 /5

Top Ten Tuesday Fifteen

Top Ten books that would be on your syllabus if you taught YA contemporary 101

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.  After skipping last week, I decided that I had to participate in this one as it allowed me to talk about one of my most read genres and some of my favourite books from that.  So here is my list for my top ten books that would be on my syllabus if I taught YA contemporary 101: 

1) Looking For Alaska by John Green - Not only is this one of my favourite contemporaries anyway, but it also has one of the biggest (and best in my opinion) plot twists that I think I ever read; it's also just a great book anyway!

2) Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - This is likely one of, if not my favourite YA contemporary romance, so I couldn't imagine not adding this one in.  

3) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - I feel as though this is one of the better known YA contemporaries, so it was almost guaranteed a spot on here as it's not only an amazing read but also deals with so many deeper issues as well.  

4) We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach - I loved this book so much that I felt I just had to include it, with the split POV and just the concept of it being amazing.  

5) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - I feel as though I'd have to include this one for both plot twist (as this one also contains a huge one) as well as for the unique, almost lyrical style of writing, something I believe adds so much to this book.  

6) Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - Morgan Matson is known for adding extra little twists and added content into her books (e.g. receipts, lists, playlists - my personal favourite), and so it was only right to put this one onto the list as an example of how you can add things like that into a contemporary novel.  

7) Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green - This is another one which I absolutely adore, putting it almost straight on this list.  

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Review: 

As was the case with many of my summer reads this year, The Geography of You and Me was one that I brought after reading The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight last year.  And so, seeing as that was read in the summer time last year, I couldn’t not keep the tradition running and read this one under the sun as well.  Add to that the fact that this is a contemporary romance novel, and you get almost the perfect criteria for a summer read (in my eyes anyway).

Firstly, I loved how quick this book was to get into the plot.  It dived straight into the blackout, not wasting any time with introductions but instead letting the characters do that themselves.  I also liked how we were instantly introduced to both main characters, Lucy and Owen, this further moving the story along and giving the book a fast yet steady pace.

Sticking with characters, I found that I liked many of the characters in this book, despite the lack of long running side characters.  I liked both Owen and Lucy as characters, especially how they seemed to act like actually people rather than loved-up characters in a novel.  I liked how they fought and how they both moved on when they were separated, something which I felt made the whole thing more lifelike than if they would have waited for each other.  It was weirdly satisfying to see them move on and be happy without the other, even if they secretly longed for them.

However, as much as loved Lucy and Owen, I would have liked to have seen some longer running side characters, as these were few and far between.  The story focused so strongly on them that I just wanted to scream at the book to give me someone else to read about, or at least someone else who would stick around for longer than a section.  It could just be me and my love for side characters and long-running friendships in books, but I couldn’t help but get slowly and slowly more irritated by the lack of them, with the only ones coming to mind being both their parents.

One aspect which I absolutely adored was the communication between the pair, this mostly done through postcards.  I personally love old ways of staying in contact, so reading about the several pieces of card which were flown across the globe really enticed me as I waited for the next one to be popped in the post.  The jokes they shared through them were just an added bonus.

Finally I couldn’t end without talking about how much I loved the conclusion of the book, this only second to the start.  I am a sucker for books containing travel and amazing destinations, so I loved reading about the various places these two visited (no matter how exciting or dull they were), but I have to admit that my favourite place was were it all started, in New York.  I liked how as they got on with their lives they still came back to the rooftop and to this city where it all started; it was the perfect ending to a great book.

Favourite:

Character(s): Lucy

Scene(s): Atop the rooftop in the blackout

Quote(s): ‘Just because you painted a house didn’t mean the furniture inside was any different.” 

Relate a:

Song(s): Holy Ground – Taylor Swift

Aquaman - Walk The Moon

Book(s):

Rating:

4/5 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

After reading We Were Liars last summer (review here) and absolutely adoring it, it’s safe to say that I was quick to find and buy another book by E. Lockhart.  But as is the case with many of my summer reads this year, I soon figured that this second book by Lockhart could only truly be read in the summer holidays.  So, after managing to hold off from this one for many months now, I finally picked this one up and read it as my first official read of the summer.

To start, I really liked most of the characters in this book, particularly the range of personalities and just people in general.  This book was certainly not shy for introducing many different characters, with so many also having an impact, no matter how small, on the plot and the main character, Frankie’s, life.  I also liked how they were all shown to be who they were, such as how Frankie is described by some at the end, and how Matthew is also described in the same way at both the beginning and the end.

Moving on from characters, the plot was another thing which I really enjoyed, despite the fact that it took a while for everything to truly get going.  I loved reading about the different pranks, about the secret society and even about Frankie’s relationship with Matthew.  Saying this, I did find that the book held onto the story of Frankie and Matthew for just a little too long, with their relationship being the main focus of almost the entire first half of the book.  I hope it wasn’t just me who was just waiting for all the pranks and mischief to start!

I was also a little disappointed with some of the plot twists in this one, as I found some quite predictable and not all surprising.  This may be also down to the shock of the twist in We Were Liars as I found that one to be completely unexpected and quite the opposite of some of the ones in this.

Back to the positive points, once again I found myself in love with E. Lockhart’s writing, especially considering how different it felt from We Were Liars.  It felt so unique and I liked how captivating and intriguing I found it.  It definitely drew me and kept me reading.

As for the structure, once again I found this to be another aspect which kept me reading, thanks to the short and sweet chapters.  This really helped to keep the book flowing and the pace up, with the story flowing quickly from chapter to chapter.  I also liked how the book was wrapped up, with the same idea and extract that is placed on the very first page of the actual novel.  It was good to be able to look back, read it through again and understand it all a lot more than when it was just a clue to the plot.

So overall, I did like this book, but I doubt it will be one that will stick in my mind or that I will find myself coming back to in the future.  I loved the writing, the story and the characters, but I guess it just wasn’t a book I could love.

Favourite:

Character(s): Trish and Matthew

Scene(s): Debate between Frankie and Elizabeth in the café.

Quote(s): “It is better to be alone, she figured, than to be with someone who can’t see who you are.  It is better to lead than follow.  It is better to speak up than stay silent.  It is better to open doors than shut them on people.”

Relate a:

Song(s): Cool Kids – Echosmith

Buzzcut Season – Lorde

Other Book(s): We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

 Rating:

3.5/5