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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

If you’re expecting a scary or spooky book, you’re going to be disappointed. This book is not scary so go into the book knowing that it isn’t. I’ve heard that a lot of people thought it was going to be really creepy and got let down.

Luckily for me, I went into this trilogy knowing that it was an adventure/fantasy book so I got a lot more out of it than others. After marathoning all three books, I can officially tell you this: Ransom Riggs is a genius.

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins odd Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its decaying bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine’s Children were more than just peculiar. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for a good reason. And somehow – impossible though it seems – they may still be alive.

As aforementioned, this book is not a creepy book, it is an adventurous one. I tried to explain it to my Dad and I said ‘it’s got the plot line of a children’s book but it’s written in an adult way.’ And it’s true. A young boy goes on an adventure and makes new friends along the way who have powers. That’s pretty much the premise of the book but it’s so much more than that!

 

This is Riggs’ first novel and it’s such a brilliant debut. The idea is magnificent and the way the story is told with the pictures is also amazing. I loved the pictures. Some people said that the pictures weren’t scary at all and that they were boring – I didn’t think they were. They added a sense of realness to the story. There were pictures of people that looked like they could actually be the characters of the peculiar children, there was a picture of a boat, of a child, sat on a pavement in a bunny costume, of an old woman dressed all in black… They weren’t creepy (ok, maybe a couple was) they were just normal photos that had been taken and they had collected altogether and turned into a story which I think is so clever of Riggs. You would read a page, look at the picture and get a sense of how the setting looked like, how it might have felt, the way the characters may have looked. Sure, Riggs also included a lot of written descriptions about all of these but the pictures just added more.

“Stars too, were time travelers. How many of those ancient points of light were the last echoes of suns now dead? How many had been born but their light not yet come this far? If all the suns but ours collapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take us to realise we were alone? I had always known the sky was full of mysteries – but not until now had I realised how full of them the earth was.”
– Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
 
 

The world that Riggs had created was also very intriguing. I loved the concept of the ‘loop day’, of peculiar children, of monsters and of a boy who thinks he’s got nothing to do with all of it until one day, he finds out he does.

The only downfall that I can say about Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is the romance between Emma and Jacob. It was just weird. Emma had dated Jacob’s Grandfather. Jacob’s Grandfather and Emma were in love, and now Jacob comes along, Emma hasn’t aged a day and then the two of them fell in love. It just felt so weird and there was even a time in the book where Jacob says that himself. it was just strange and I didn’t get why Riggs had to throw that weird type of romance in.

Overall, this was an incredible book. It was incredibly written, there were incredible characters and the use of photographs alongside the story was fantastic. This is a spectacular debut novel from Ransom Riggs and I look forward to reading other books by him!

 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I don’t know where to start with this review. I had seen everyone on Goodreads, BookTube, Twitter, Bookstagram… Basically, everywhere there was hype about this book and say how amazing it was and that it was perfection.

A few weeks ago, I popped down to my local library and I saw this book on the shelf. I picked it up and I realised it was about time that I read it. I had high expectations: I wanted to love it and I wanted to take a big breath and scream to the world about how amazing it is.


In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Réves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire.

Although there are acrobats, fortune-tellers, and contortionists, the Circus of Dreams is no conventional spectacle. some tents contain clouds, some ice. The circus seems to almost cast a spell over its aficionados, who call themselves the rêveurs – the dreamers. At the heart of the story is the tangled relationship between two young magicians, Celia, the enchanter’s daughter, and Marco, the sorcerer’s apprentice. at the behest of their shadowy masters, they find themselves locked in a deadly contest, forced to test the very limits of their imagination and of their love…

The Night Circus jumps to different timelines. One chapter you could be in 1894 and the next chapter, you’re in either 1900 or 1890. I don’t know. I got very very confused by it, I can understand why Morgenstern did it: there were characters who’s lived intertwined with the circus and their point of view had to be told so that all of the loose ends could be tied up at the end. So I get why she did it; it just wasn’t an easy read so if that’s what you’re looking for, this book isn’t for you.

I also found the blurb on the book very misleading. It states there’s a deep romance between the two main characters. There really isn’t. One minute they’re just going about their typical Night Circus days and the next, they’re professing their love for each other. What? Where in the world did that come from? The romance was just so sudden and there was hardly any build up to it.

The blurb also states that there is a battle. Again. No there isn’t. There is a thirty-something year battle and for half of those years, they don’t even know who they’re “battling” against. And it’s a magic match. To see which one of the two competitors is the best at using magic because two very old guys are bored and just want to use kids for fun.

“I am tired of trying to hold things together that cannot be held. Trying to control what cannot be controlled. I am tired of denying myself what I want for fear of breaking things I cannot fix. They will break no matter what we do.”
– Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
 
 

BUT! ENOUGH OF ME MOANING! MOANING IS BORING! LET’S GET ON TO THE GOOD STUFF!

The plot idea was fascinating. A circus that only comes at night and includes actual magic? A circus that is actually a stage for a life-long battle? It sounds amazing and the plot really was. I loved the characters of Herr Thiessen and the twins. And I also loved to hate the teachers: Hector and Alexander. They just didn’t have a care in the world about the consequences of their games. I also really didn’t like Marco. I found him to be very arrogant and selfish. But I loved Celia, so again, I loved to dislike Marco.

This is a slow book to read but when all of the characters come together and the timelines become consistent, the book gets rather exciting because all of the individual storylines come together and become one.

The Night Circus is a very good read. If you’re looking for something different then I recommend this. There’s beautiful writing, a beautiful, magical world has been created. There are elements of this book that are just brilliantly thought out and proves how much of an excellent writer Morgenstern is. I actually do understand the hype that surrounds this book and although I wasn’t that captivated to scream how much I love it from the rooftops, I did thoroughly enjoy reading it.

 

All The Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry

All The Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry

All The Truth That’s In Me is not a modern day, young adult contemporary novel. It’s a young adult, historical fiction novel that’s set in the 1800s and is an exceptionally written book. When I was reading the blurb, the thing that captured my attention was how the main character has had her tongue cut out, so she can’t talk. I thought that was horrifying. But it still made me want to read the book!

Judith can’t speak. Ever since the horrifying trauma that left her best friend dead and Judith without her tongue, she’s been a pariah in her close-knit community of Roswell Station; even her own mother won’t look her in the eye. All Judith can do is silently pour out her thoughts and feelings to the love of her life, the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember – even if he doesn’t know it – her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked by enemies, long-buried secrets come to light and Judith’s world starts to shift on its axis. 
 
This book was magnificent. It was just UGGGHHHHH THE FEELS! IT WAS SO GOOD AND IT MADE ME FEEL LIKE MY WHOLE BODY WAS BEING RIPPED APART BY THOSE FEELS!
 
I don’t even know where to start with this review. At first, I thought it was a bit odd. I didn’t know that it was a historical fiction book, so when I started reading descriptions of the town that didn’t sound modern day, I checked out the ever-so-handy Goodreads and realised it was set in the 1800s. Now everything made sense. 
 
All The Truth That’s In Me is written in letter form. The whole story is written like Judith is writing letters containing her story to her childhood crush – Lucas. For example: “I saw you look over to where I was standing and smile at me.” I think it’s a beautiful way for the story to be told. 
 
There was only one issue that I had with this book but it wasn’t a big enough issue to knock the star rating down to four. My issue was where Judith goes back to her kidnapper to get his help when her town is attacked… I know she’s getting his help because the town needs it, but still. There is no way I would be brave enough to go back to the place where I was held captive for two years and where my tongue was cut out. No way.
The rest of the book was just brilliant. It was a bit slow at first (maybe for the first 20 pages?) but after you get the attack by the enemies out of the way, the story starts to unravel and you start learning more and more about the characters and their secrets. 
 
 
 
“There is a curious comfort in letting go. After the agony, letting go brings numbness, and after the numbness, clarity. As if I can see the world for the first time, and my place in it, independent of you, a whole vista of what may be. Even if it is not grand or inspiring, it is real and solid, unlike the fantasy I’ve built around you. I will do this. I will triumph over you.”
– Julie Berry, All The Truth That’s In Me
 
 
 
There are a lot of shock moments in this book, there are a few disturbing moments and a few moments where I even had to put down the book and take everything that I had just read in. I literally had to put the book down and stare at my wall because the feels from the part I had just read were too much for me. 
 
All of the characters were written superbly that I genuinely felt I was part of their world, that I was going on this crazy ride with them. 
 
The ending of this book was just… ARRRGGGHHH IT WAS MAGNIFICENT. IT WAS A HUGE PLOT TWIST THAT I DIDN’T SEE COMING! IT WAS ALL SORTS OF MESSED UP! IT WAS CRAZY! BUT IT WAS AMAZING!
 
All The Truth That’s In Me gave me a massive book hangover and it left me wanting to read every single word that Julie Berry has ever wrote because her writing style is just so addictive and beautiful.
 
Go. Go and read this book now. Get it from the library, order it off Amazon, I don’t care. Just read this book. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
 
Warning: contains references to physical abuse
 
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

I haven’t read a book by Holly Black since The Spiderwick Chronicles when I was about eleven; so when I found out that she did young adult fantasy/supernatural books, I knew right there and then that I had to read them. Holly Black had a way of writing The Spiderwick Chronicles that left me in awe.
Faeries make a re-appearance in Holly Black’s: The Darkest Part of the Forest.
 


Near the little town of Fairfold, in the darkest part of the forest, is a glass casket. Inside lies a sleeping faerie prince that none can rouse. He’s the most fascinating thing Hazel and her brother Ben have ever seen. They dream of waking him – but what happens when dreams come true?

In the darkest part of the forest, you must be careful what you wish for…
Let me start off by saying that this book was absolutely fantastic! It’s the first fantasy book that I’ve read in a long time because my time has seemed to be taken up my YA Contemporary, but this book just reminded me how much I love the fantasy genre and how magical it is – especially when it is written as beautifully as this.
At first, I didn’t care much for Hazel, she seemed like a very two-dimensional character. But as the story goes on and the plot develops, so do the characters. The character development is phenomenal. I went from not liking Hazel to absolutely worshipping her towards the end. And Ben! We see his struggles as a gay character throughout the book but you know what I love about this book? Everyone is accepting of the fact that he’s gay – there’s no name-calling, no teasing, just no bullying or hate in general and it’s a breath of fresh air to see a book that includes a gay character that is fully accepted within the society.
“We love until we do not. For us, love doesn’t fade gradually. It snaps like a branch bent too far.”
– Holly Black, The Darkest Part of the Forest
 
 
Also… I think I might have fallen in love with the horned boy… And Jack… Oops…
Both the main and the secondary characters in this book have all been given a lot of attention as well. The secondary characters are given as much depth as the main characters and we are told parts of every characters background in detail that makes the reader feel like they know this character, they know what they’ve been through, how they are feeling right now and what’s caused them to act how they do in the present day.
There are so many twists and turns throughout this book and a realisation that will leave your mouth hanging open in disbelief. There’s magic, there’s fighting, there’s faeries, there’s romance. There’s everything that you could possibly want from a book about the magical realms within a forest.
I can’t say any more about this book without revealing spoilers but all you have to know is that it’s beautifully written, it’s an amazing storyline, there’s plot twists galore and the main characters (and secondary characters) are amazingly written.
There we go. I think it’s 10000% obvious that I fully recommend this book to anyone. Go on, get it now and read it. And then tell me what you think!
Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

I first read this book a couple of months after it came out a year go, but my local Waterstones run a book club and this month’s book was Never Always Sometimes. Since I decided that I was going to start going to the book club, I decided to give the book a re-read.


Even though I’ve labelled this book as 3 stars, I would actually give it 3.5 but I felt like that extra half a star to make it 4 would be too generous.

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be clichés, so they even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school.
Some of the rules have been easy to follow, but Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule No.8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule No.10, never date your best friend.
Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember. So, when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover they’ve actually been missing out on school.
The whole premise of the book is based around the Never List, the list of ten clichés that is high school including a house party, a crush on a teacher, have a permanent lunch spot and dying your hair a bright colour. This book is all about clichés to the point where the book itself is a cliché. I don’t know whether this was done by Alsaid on purpose to carry on the premise of the story or whether it’s just another teen fiction story that is – by accident – full of the unfortunate clichés of being a teenager.
If Alsaid made the book a cliché, then it was amazingly clever of him and I applaud him for it.
The book is split into three parts: part one is all from Dave’s point of view, part two is from Julia’s and part three is from both of theirs, switching every chapter.
Never Always Sometimes was heartbreaking, moving and hilarious. The whole question of “can a boy and girl be friends without ever getting into a relationship?” surrounds this book. Now, we all know that of course opposite sexes can be friends but it’s still an interesting concept to read about.
“Love was lazy as hell. Love laid around in bed, warm from the sheets and the sunlight pouring into the room. Love was too lazy too lazy to get up and close the blinds. Love was too comfortable to get up and go pee. Love took too many naps, it watched TV, but not really, because it was too busy kissing and napping. Love was also funny, which somehow made the bed feel more comfortable, the laughter warming the sheets, softening the mattress and the lovers’ skin.”
– Adi Alsaid, Never Always Sometimes
 
 
The whole plotline was also very very obvious, you knew what was going to happen 100 pages for it did (again, another cliché – on purpose or not, we will never know).
It’s interesting to see how Dave deals with his feelings for Julia and how he deals with starting to become popular and meet new people (and girls) after he starts doing the Nevers List.
Alsaid is a brilliant writer. His words just flow really easy and the characters are 100% relatable in the way that they deal with situations (even when they handle them badly). The one thing that I thought was a bit odd was the four-year time jump at the beginning. I’m not a massive fan of time jumps. Six months or a year I can handle, but four years? I wasn’t too happy but after reading about the characters for a while, I finally understood why the time jump was so important.

This is a good book. It’s a nice, easy read but I’m not so sure whether the all of clichés that were in the story were there on purpose. Everything was just too obvious and because of this, it made the book feel a bit silly. The very ending wasn’t the best either, some of it could have been gotten rid of but apart from those few points, this book was a good read and I do recommend it.

 

Resistance is Futile by Jenny T. Colgan

Resistance is Futile by Jenny T. Colgan

Resistance is Futile was one of my impulse buys. I saw it in my local Waterstones, quickly read the blurb and it sounded so different to anything I had read before. Mathematics? Sci-Fi elements? Awesome. It’s like Big Bang Theory meets Independence Day.

Connie’s smart. She’s funny. But when it comes to love, she’s only human.

As a brilliant mathematician with bright red hair – Connie’s used to being considered a little unusual. But when she’s recruited for a top-secret-code-breaking project, nothing can prepare her for working with someone quite as peculiar as Luke.

Connie prepares herself for a life of love, friendship… and the possible obliteration of mankind.

I love sci-fi ok? I love aliens, I love space, I love futuristic things… But I’ve never actually read a sci-fi book. Weird huh? So this was a first for me.

Resistance is Futile is a very fast paced book, but the fact that it’s so odd and different made it a 4-star book for me. It’s a sci-fi, romance and action book, crammed into 380 pages. It’s the fast pace that lets it down. Whilst I was reading it, the dialogue was like watching a tennis match. It was moving from character to character so quickly that I couldn’t keep up and I had to re-read some parts to make sure I knew what was going on and who had said what. It was quite off-putting to begin with, but I got used to it after a bit and managed to follow slightly easier.

“Everyone is alien. And even when you are in love with someone, even when you think you know them better than you know yourself; even when you think you know everything about them and them you, and you live in eachother’s souls. Even then you know nothing about them at all.”
– Jenny T. Colgan, Resistance is Futile
 
 

Another thing that let this book down was how suddenly Connie and Luke expressed their love for each other. One minute, they were working on the top-secret project together (yeah, they were flirting slightly) and then the next moment, they’re saying how much they love each other and end up kissing. What? I mean, I’ve heard of spontaneous relationships but this was crazy.

However, this book was extremely funny. There was one line in particular that literally made me laugh out loud – the neighbours must have thought I was crazy.

I also loved the characters and how they were portrayed by Colgan. There was such a mix of characters and each of them brought something different to the table. Arthur was American and bought a balance of humour and seriousness, Evelyn brought sophistication and a maternal figure, Ranjit brought youthful enthusiasm and Sé brought pure seriousness but complete trustworthiness.

The plot was so out-there and there was loads of twists and turns that were a complete shock to me and that ending?! Well, that’s a scene that I will never forget! It was brilliantly written and I had to read it twice to make sure that I had read it properly.

If you want a romance book with a sci-fi twist, then this book is for you. It was a brilliant read and I absolutely loved it apart from the fast-paced dialogue and the fast-paced relationship between Luke and Connie. I thoroughly recommend this book and give it a few months or so, I would love to read this book again!

 

Heaven by Alexandra Adornetto

Heaven by Alexandra Adornetto

I don’t know whether this was better or worse than the first installment in the Halo series: Halo. It was bad enough to get two stars anyway.

 The first one had the theme of conquering those who try and come between true love, the second book – Hades – had the theme of darkness and trying to overthrow it, the third one… Well… I don’t even know what the theme was.



Bethany and Xavier have already pushed the boundaries of Heaven with their relationship. In this conclusion to the Halo trilogy, the two take their love to the next, forbidden, step: they marry.

 At a time when they believe nothing will come between them again, they are faced with their most daunting challenge yet: the Sevens, a military order of angels designed to maintain balance in the universe. These soldiers won’t stop until their job is done – capture the wayward angel and send her home.

 The thing that didn’t work with this book was that it was the third book, it came after Hades – which was the best book in the series. And if you follow a good book with a not-so-very-good book, then it’s going to look even worse. 

“That is when you need faith the most. Not when everything is going your way, not when you have much to be thankful for, but when there is darkness all around.”
– Alexandra Adornetto, Heaven
 
 


 One of the parts that annoyed me the most about this book was when Beth and Xavier had to attend college to ‘blend in’. It was such a boring part of the book and it dragged for what seemed forever. Then, Heaven perked up a little bit when the Sevens were introduced. They are Heavens warriors and they are badass. They added a thrill of the chase as they are hunting down Bethany. 

 Three-quarters of the way through, something happens to Gabriel which is very shocking and instead of that shocking element being carried on, Gabriel suddenly (trying not to spoil anything here) has a change of personality and it completely goes against his storyline. 

 There are quite a few shocks in this story but they last for a very short time because Adornetto doesn’t cling on to those shocking elements that make the reader think ‘YES! SOMETHING GOOD IS FINALLY HAPPENING WITH THIS PLOT!’ Instead, she counteracts the shockingness with some soppy, stupid action that ends up ruining everything.

 The Halo series had so potential to be an amazing series but with bad writing and annoying characters, this series just fell to the dirt for me. Throughout Heaven, there were so many good opportunities to finish off this series on a high, but it just flopped, which is a massive shame.

 I won’t be reading this series again, it just put me in a massive reading slump.


Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

I don’t even know where to start with this review. I don’t even know how to write this review without spoiling anything because I’ve just finished reading this so my brain is full of what I’ve just read. So I’m sorry if a few things don’t make sense but this book is so hard to review without any spoilers.

Hades is the second book in the Halo trilogy and thank God *excuse the pun* that this was slightly better.

Is love a great enough power against evil? Bethany believes so – after all, the love of her angel siblings and her boyfriend Xavier saved her from the clutches of Hell itself.

But when Jake returns to town, he may be able to destroy everything she cares about.

Will Jake’s actions shatter Beth’s faith in love? Or can she overcome heartache and betrayal to find her way back to Xavier?

Ok first of all, yes this book is better than Halo – but not by much.

The main plot in this book is much darker than the first installment in the series and I found the darker approach much better (well, I say darker but nothing bad really happens to Bethany – again.) This is one of the things that I find so frustrating with the series. When evil comes along to try and ruin Beth’s life, nothing bad happens to her. She might get a few scratches here and there and be threatened, but nothing bad is ever done to her and it’s annoying.

There was also some terrible writing in this book. Absolutely terrible. How Adornetto ever got away with it, I have no idea. I actually noted down some of the rubbish writing so I could share it with you guys. So here you, a few amazingly awful quotes from Hades:

– “Little did we know they would find us before we had a chance to find them.” 
If you follow me on Goodreads, you will know that I had a little rant about this sentence. After I read this, I noticed how much unneeded foreshadowing Adornetto did. What’s the point in telling us that bad stuff is going to happen before it does? Why not leave out the in-your-face foreshadowing and give us a bit of a shock?

 


 – “I wanted them to know that Taylah was out there still, only now she was free. I wanted to tell them about Heaven and the peace she would find there. But of course, sharing any of that knowledge was impossible. Not only would I be breaking our most secret code and exposing our presence on Earth…”
SHE HAS ALREADY TOLD XAVIER WHAT SHE IS! SHE HAS ALREADY BROKEN THE “MOST SECRET CODE’. What a huge contradiction on Adornetto’s part. This is terrible. And Bethany stupid.

– “Are you okay, Huggie Bear?’ I asked, protectively reaching up to fix his hair.”
Beth just called Xavier “Huggie Bear”. What. What writer even does that? I mean, I’ve heard of ridiculous nicknames for your other half but ‘Huggie Bear’? That should be made illegal. *shudders* Just no.

– “When Big Daddy fell from grace…”
Yup. Lucifer is called ‘Big Daddy’ in this by his followers. I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S WORSE, HUGGIE BEAR OR BIG DADDY! And the description of Lucifer (there’s no way I’m calling him Big Daddy) is all wrong, but I’m not even going to go into that because we’d be here all day.

 

As you can see, I came across some appalling writing and ideas in this book. HOWEVER! Even though nothing bad happened to Bethany (not really, anyway. A few minor incidents here and there, but still…) I found the story much more gripping than Halo.

My favourite part of this book was an exorcism scene. It’s like it was ripped right from the pages of a Supernatural script. Adornetto’s writing during this scene surpassed anything I had read during the series and blew my mind. It was fantastic. The way she described the demon possession, the surroundings of the building and how the creature moved was breathtaking and it’s a scene that I will always remember for being brilliant. I don’t know why Adornetto couldn’t keep writing like this.

I can’t say much else about this book without revealing what happens but just know this: even though there is some terrible writing, Adornetto has got a good story going here, she’s got some really good ideas and the darkness of the book worked so much better than Halo. Yes, there was still Bethany and Xavier confessing their undying love for each other all of the time (shut up, already – no one cares), and the ending was absolutely ridiculous but this book was definitely better than Halo

Now onto the third and final book… Heaven. Fingers crossed that I don’t drive myself mad reading it.

 

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Halo is one of those books where I don’t know how I really feel about it…
Is love a great enough power against evil?

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel the warrior; Ivy the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone – especially herself.

I don’t know who I was annoyed at the most: Gabriel or Bethany. I got very annoyed at Bethany because whilst I was reading it, I was yelling at her to not fall in love with anyone because she’s got a job to do. I mean come on, if I was an angel I would not want to let some boy stop me from doing my job. Hello! I would work for God. How awesome is that? I’d have powers and wings. No mortal boy is stopping me from being an awesome angel. Bethany was so stubborn and would go against anything that Gabriel said. He’s Gabriel, you do not want to mess with him (yes, he’s exactly the Gabriel that you’re thinking of.)
However, I wanted to yell at Gabriel because even though being an angel would be super cool, I can completely understand why Bethany would be fascinated with Earth. It’s completely different to anything that she’s ever experienced before and because she’s a young angel, she’s going to be influenced very easily. Gabriel would be so stern with Bethany and expect her not to pique an interest in anything. I know he’s an archangel and everything but come on, give the girl some slack.
“One of the most frustrating words in the human language, as far as I could tell, was love. So much meaning attached to this one little word. People bandied it about freely, using it to describe their attachments to possessions, pets, vacation destinations, and favourite foods. In the same breath they then applied this word to the person they considered most important in their lives. Wasn’t that insulting? Shouldn’t there be some other term to describe deeper emotion?”
– Alexandra Adornetto, Halo
 
 
Even though I could see both of the characters points of view, I admit I was absolutely sick of hearing how much Xavier and Bethany loved each other, or how gorgeous Xavier was. We get it, you find him attractive. Get over it already. I also hated how overprotective Xavier was. If I had a boyfriend and he was like that, I would tell him to stop and that I could handle carrying my own school books. And I hated when he decided he could just answer for Bethany is class. I seriously wanted to punch him. But everything was ok, it was fine that he was overprotective because he was attractive *sarcasm* (I hate books like that, that get the male to do everything for the female because we’re apparently so weak we can’t even carry our own books.)

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the book as well. It started to get good when Jake Thorn was introduced but again another cliche of a British guy being evil. Us British people aren’t all evil ok? I finished this book in two days and even though there were some very annoying bits with the romance and the characters, I found the whole idea of the book very interesting.

I am in no way religious (if I was, I’d be a Buddhist) but I like reading books about heaven, hell or limbo. I find it fascinating when it gets a fantasy twist put on it and I think it was this that made me keep reading it. I like reading about evil trying to take over and the good guys trying to fight it.

I also found Adornetto to be very descriptive in her writing. Sometimes I found it brilliant as it made me imagine the setting of Venus Cove much more clearly and made me understand the characters better, but on the other hand, sometimes it got annoying because she would repeat herself when describing things. However, I would say that the descriptive side of the book is more positive than negative in its storytelling.

Because of this, I will be reading the second book in the series: Hades. I don’t think I will thoroughly enjoy the second book because I wasn’t a big fan of the second, but let’s hope that I like it enough to not put it down for the second time.

 

Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard

Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard

You what drew me to this book in Waterstones? No, not the fact that it was on the stand labelled ‘Zoella’s Book Club‘. It was the amazing cover which was designed by Rachel Vale (everyone, please give her a round of applause for she is so talented!)

I turned the book over and gave the blurb a quick read. Finally! A book about friendships and the struggles that they go through.

Caddy and Rosie have always been inseparable. But that was before Suzanne. Now Caddy wants to be more than just the quiet one. She wants something to happen.

I was brave…
Suzanne is trying to escape her past and be someone different. Someone free.

She was reckless…
But sometimes downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

We were trouble…
And no one can break your heart like a best friend.

Whilst I was reading this book, I stated on my Goodreads that “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this book.” That was whilst I was on page 45. Now that I have finished it and I’ve had time to reflect, I can say that my opinion has only slightly changed.

It is true, Beautiful Broken Things was like a breath of fresh air. There was no unconditional love and a boy and a girl feeling like they couldn’t breathe without each other. This book was purely about three girls overcoming obstacles in their friendships and about trying to save one another.

First things first, I think using Caddy as the narrator was completely wrong. She describes herself as “dull” in the book and I completely agree, she was dull. I wish the book had been written from Rosie’s perspective – that would have been much more interesting.

“But people we love come and go, Caddy. That doesn’t mean we loved them any less at the time.”
– Sara Barnard, Beautiful Broken Things
 
 

The character of Caddy (or Cadnam, which is her real name. By the way, who even calls their kid Cadnam? That’s just mean) is selfish, childlike and annoying. There’s a whole scene to do with Coronation Street and trigger warnings that – every time I think about – get me really really angry. Sometimes, I just wanted to scream at her to stop talking. However, I can see why Barnard chose Caddy to be the voice throughout the book. Most of the books plots happen between Suzanne and Caddy.

I loved the character of Suzanne. I felt like she was the character that had the most depth – not because of what happened to her, but because she was the character that was written the best, the character that was most real (again, not because of what happened to her.)

You know what I love most about this book? It’s that it’s relateable. My best friend and I have been best friends for nearly ten years and every time either of us gets close to another person, we instantly get jealous and we’re like “back off, she’s my best friend.” And this is what the beginning of Beautiful Broken Things is like.

There are some dark moments in this book but I think Barnard talks about them with great depth and doesn’t shy away from anything, she doesn’t skim over what happens. She writes about it in a matter-of-fact way that is definitely needed for this book.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would definitely read it again. I love the whole premise of the book and I loved the character of Suzanne. The only thing that let this book down was Caddy. I just didn’t like her character at all. But once you get past the teenage horribleness of her character, there’s a very very good book.

Warning: this book contains scenes of physical/emotional abuse