REVIEW | Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

Title: Nowhere But Here

Author: Katie McGarry

Series or standalone: 1st in the Thunder Road companion series

Genre: Mature YA Contemporary 

Publication Date: 26th May 2015

Format: eARC & Paperback

Source: NetGalley (Harlequin Teen) & Bought

Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighbourhood. Sure, she’s curious about her biological father — the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent — but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father, and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both.
Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They’re the good guys. They protect people. They’re...family. And while Emily — the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club’s most respected member — is in town, he’s gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it’s his shot at his dream. What he doesn’t count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down.
No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.

Nowhere But Here definitely exceeded my expectations by around 50000000000000 (plus maybe 10 more zeros). I went into this book expecting it to be a YA version of Sons of Anarchy with a sexy romance and I definitely wasn't wrong, but what I didn't expect was the depth and the HUGE amount of emotions that it would evoke. I've read Katie McGarry first book, Pushing the Limits, and I loved it a lot so I knew that no matter what, I'd at least enjoy this novel, but not only did I love it, it had me in tears, it had my heart racing, it had my stomach in knots, it had me feeling butterflies, it had me feeling EVERYTHING. 
I loved the idea of the biker club because you never really see that in YA, and I think it was done exceptionally well and with authenticity. There are so many characters and you really begin to feel like a part of this huge family and I could literally feel the love pouring off of the pages between these fictional people who seemed so real to me. 
I also really appreciated how some topics were dealt with in the book like broken families, death and disabilities. One thing that I didn't like at the beginning was when Oz would constantly think about Emily's body and how sexy it was and I thought it was a bit unnecessary, but then I realised that that's how Oz grew up. He grew up in a biker club where women were seen as objects and playthings until the men in the club found that one woman who meant the world to them. So I can sort of see where that was coming from, but it did make me a little bit uncomfortable. 
Another thing that isn't just solely from this book, but from many YA books, is how sex is shown (or not shown) in them. I think it's important (especially as this is a mature YA book) that authors don't gloss over certain things. Like when a character orgasms and then just puts his pants back on. Um..... are you going to clean that up or??????? Just stuff like that that gets left out that makes it really unrealistic.
Other than those very minor things, I absolutely adored this book. My feelings were all over the place and I fell in love with not only the characters, but that sense of family and home that they had. It was truly beautiful! 5 stars!

REVIEW | Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Title: Every Last Word

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone

Series or standalone: Standalone

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Publication Date: 16th June 2015

Format: eARC

Source: NetGalley (Disney Hyperion)

Goodreads

"If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling."
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. 
Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for this review copy! 
This book was phenomenal. It was one of the best young adult contemporaries that I've read that deals with mental illness. The main character, Sam, has OCD which is an anxiety disorder. I suffer from an anxiety disorder too, so I really wanted to read this and see how I could connect with it and how well Tamara Ireland Stone portrayed it. I have to say, she did this fantastically. You really get a feel for what it's like to go through her mental disorder and I think people who don't suffer from mental illness firsthand will really get to see what it's like and the effects that it can have on a person, their life and the people around them. 

I was honestly hooked from the start. It had a plot-line that kept me completely engaged the entire time and the romance was portrayed so realistically and was so swoon-worthy it had me smiling to myself while I was reading. I just think that the romance is so real and fun to read about and it was perfectly paced. The characters were all great! I loved her psychologist and the poetry group and everyone in it so much! I just felt for them all and felt like I was friends with them too by the end! I also loved how poetry was incorporated into the novel. It was done wonderfully and the poems were all so unique and different and lovely. 

The only criticism I have for this book is that there is a HUGE absence of Sam's family. They appear a couple of times, but other than that, I don't know anything about them at all! I really wanted them to be fleshed out a lot more because I feel as though they played a huge role in helping Sam through everything (especially at the start and end of the novel, as well as before the events in the novel even happen.) 
Other than that, what a beautiful, engaging and inspiring novel. Absolutely adored it! 5 stars!

REVIEW | KISSING IN AMERICA BY MARGO RABB

Title: Kissing in America

Author: Margo Rabb

Series or standalone: Standalone

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Publication Date: 26th May 2015

Format: ARC

Source: Publisher (Penguin)

Goodreads

In the two years since her father died, sixteen-year-old Eva has found comfort in reading romance novels—118 of them, to be exact—to dull the pain of her loss that’s still so present. Her romantic fantasies become a reality when she meets Will, who seems to truly understand Eva’s grief. Unfortunately, after Eva falls head-over-heels for him, he picks up and moves to California without any warning. Not wanting to lose the only person who has been able to pull her out of sadness—and, perhaps, her shot at real love—Eva and her best friend, Annie, concoct a plan to travel to the west coast to see Will again. As they road trip across America, Eva and Annie confront the complex truth about love. 

Firstly, I just want to thank Penguin for sending my workplace an ARC for us booksellers to read! 
I've seen a couple of negative reviews of this book on goodreads and all I can think is, Did we read the same book? I thought this book was absolutely hilarious, honest and exhilarating to read! I loved every moment of it. I knew I was going to love it because I was literally laughing out loud by page 2, and it takes A LOT for a book to make me do this. I think it's because the type of humour in this book is EXACTLY my type of humour. It had me giggling like an idiot! 
I want to stress that this isn't a romance. It's a coming of age story that focuses mainly on friendship, family and grief and how these affect Eva throughout the events in the novel. I absolutely loved the poetry theme and the depth to the family issues and the road trip was just brilliant! I also loved how we got to see REAL issues that impact REAL teens today. I found the main character to be really relatable even though I haven't been through a grieving process or anything, I just felt like I connected to her for some reason, and props to Margo Rabb for creating a character that I easily could attach myself to! 
I love the theme in this book that true love comes in all different forms, not just romantic love. I loved reading about Eva's growth as a person and I loved joining her on her journey to self-discovery.
I loved everything about this book and I highly, highly recommend picking it up if you love a good contemporary that has a romance throughout, but isn't solely romance focused. LOVED IT. 5 stars!

REVIEW | FINDING AUDREY BY SOPHIE KINSELLA

Title: Finding Audrey

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Series or standalone: Standalone

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Publication Date: 4th June 2015

Format: Paperback 

Source: Publisher (Doubleday Children's)

Goodreads

Audrey can't leave the house.
She can't even take off her dark glasses inside the house. Then her brother's friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again - well, Starbucks is a start.And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she'd thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.
Be prepared to laugh, dream and hope with Audrey as she learns that even when you feel like you have lost yourself, love can still find you . . .

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book! At first I was so excited for it because it sounded perfect for me because when I was Audrey's age, I had actually gone through something freakishly similar to her in this book! But then again, I had issues with it that I was hoping wouldn't arise but unfortunately I couldn't ignore. 
I'll start off by saying that a lot of things about Audrey and this book were so similar to me that I was freaking out a little bit. Like, Sophie Kinsella, did you steal my diary from when I was 14 or what? When I was 14, I was bullied and had a really rough time in high school, so much so that I couldn't go to school, or even leave my own house (all of which happens to Audrey). I also developed a relationship with a boy who helped me greatly and moved schools (like Audrey plans to do). IS THAT NOT FREAKY? 
Anyway, Sophie Kinsella's writing style is so great because it's hilarious and it reads like one of those comedy tv shows! This book is under 300 pages and I could've finished it in a couple of hours if I hadn't had things to do! It just reads so easily and the book also contains film scripts and notes that speed up and enhance the reading experience! 
Moving on to the things that I had issues with:
 - The fact that you never find out what happened in detail to cause her anxiety to dictate her mind.
 - The unrealistic and stereotyped parental figures. Her mother was the typical "video games are bad for you and you need to play outside because that's what I did when I was younger" except exaggerated TIMES A THOUSAND. Her father was a classic 'always on his blackberry and never hears what his wife says and just agrees with everything she says' kinda guy and I found them to be REALLY unrealistic. I mean, I'm sure there are parents out there that are like this, but to the extent where I found myself questioning how exaggerated these stereotypes were was ridiculous. 
 - The insta-love. Now, I understand that at Audrey's age, you get into a relationship and you're telling each other you love them straight away (I know, because I did that too. Oh how silly I was!) but I thought it was a bit strange that one minute Audrey was having such bad anxiety that she couldn't look him in the eye or even face him and the next minute they're making out? It just didn't make that much sense to me, especially coming from someone who has experienced severe anxiety at that age and throughout my entire life.

But it was fun and quick and easy to read. It had its cute moments and I would recommend it for anyone looking for a quick contemporary or anyone interested in mental illnesses and such. I really wish I could have loved it :(

I ended up giving this 2 stars!

REVIEW | Shadows of the Master by Emily Rodda

Title: Shadows of the Master

Author: Emily Rodda

Series or standalone: Star of Deltora #1

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Publication Date: 1st August 2015

Format: Paperback ARC

Source: Publisher (Omnibus Books)

Goodreads

Britta has always wanted to be a trader like her father, sailing the nine seas and bringing precious cargo home to Del harbour. Her dreams seemed safe until her fathers quest to find the fabled Staff of Tier ended in blood and horror. Now his shamed family is in hiding, and his ship, the Star of Deltora, belongs to the powerful Rosalyn fleet. But Brittas ambition burns as fiercely as ever.When she suddenly gets the chance to win back her future she knows she has to take it whatever the cost. She has no idea that shadows from a distant, haunted isle are watching her every move.


If you watch my videos, or know me at all, you would know that the Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda is the series that got me into reading when I was 10 years old, so when I heard that Emily Rodda was coming out with a new book set in the same world, I was beyond excited! 
This is the first book in a new series that takes place a few decades after the events in the first Deltora Quest series and follows a female protagonist called Britta, who has a passion for trading and wants to be everything her father used to be before he betrayed everyone and left Britta and her family in forced hiding. She now has a chance to redeem herself and become an apprentice who would eventually take control of the Rosalyn fleet and the famous ship, the Star of Deltora. But first, she has to become one of three finalists in a competition set by the old commander, and then, if she can do that, set sail and undergo various tests and challenges!
I may be biased, but this definitely isn't as epic as Deltora Quest. The scale of the protagonists adventure just doesn't compare to Lief's in DQ, as he had the entire world of Deltora's fate resting on him succeeding in his quest, whereas this book focuses on a small scale competition that purely benefits Britta and not the whole world. I understand that as the series goes on, this may change and the scale of her adventures may increase, but it just didn't seem as huge and epic as DQ. 
It was a strong start though and I can see that this book was merely a build up which will undoubtedly be something great because Emily Rodda is a fantastic storyteller. I think younger readers will thoroughly enjoy how action-packed the story is and how adventurous Britta is as a main character. 
I definitely think that the story shows promise and I would highly recommend reading all three of the Deltora Quest series' and then picking up this one! It's definitely a new middle grade series to look out for! It hits stores on the 1st of August in Australia!

BOOK REVIEW | THE REST OF US JUST LIVE HERE by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Author: Patrick Ness

Series or standalone: Standalone

Genre: Mature Young Adult Fantasy/Contemporary/It's impossible to describe haha

Publication Date: 27th August 2015

Format: Paperback ARC

Source: Publisher (Walker Books)

Goodreads

What if you weren’t the Chosen One?
What if you’re not the one who’s so often the hero in YA fiction; who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you were like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend might just be the God of mountain lions...

Firstly I just want to say thank you to Walker Books for providing me with this ARC to read and review!

I think it's fair to say that Patrick Ness is a literary genius. I've read almost all of his published works and have loved every single one of them! The Rest of Us Just Live Here, however, is very different from not only his other books, but also anything I've ever read before! 

It's an extremely unique book that follows characters that aren't the 'chosen ones'. Each chapter starts off with a quick summary of what would have happened in the chapter if it was from the perspective of the chosen one of the story. However, this book follows a teenage boy and his friends who have absolutely nothing to do with the exciting paranormal freaky stuff that's happening. They just happen to live in this town where weird things happen to a certain group of kids and it follows them and how that affects their lives. So basically, it's like if Harry Potter was told from that random Hufflepuff, Hannah Abbott. 

What I loved, not only about this book, but also Patrick Ness' other books, is his characters. They are always so expertly developed and realistic, no matter what the genre of the book is. I especially appreciated the incorporation of various mental illnesses that were portrayed and also the LGBTQ aspects! I think it's so important for characters to be shown with mental illnesses because it's just way too common for their not to be at least one character with a mental illness! The same goes for characters who are LGBTQ! I loved how Patrick Ness has characters like this, but it's NORMAL. Because it is normal in our society and that's how modern literature should portray characters! 

The storyline itself was really weird at first because it's so different and so it took me a little while to get into it and understand what the heck was going on, but the characters made the confusing period totally worth it because they were so rich, relatable and wonderfully written. 

Patrick Ness always has a way with words in all of his books and it just flows so effortlessly that the book just flew by for me! As I got more and more into the story, the more exciting it became and the more attached I was to these characters and their lives! It wasn't about the fantasy/paranormal stuff that was happening in the background. It was such a character driven novel, about them finding themselves and dealing with certain mental illnesses and family issues and their friendships and relationships. I loved how it almost read like a contemporary! 

That's all I'm going to say for now, as it hasn't been released yet, but I plan on filming a discussion video later on where I'll discuss spoilery things from the book! Make sure you go and pre-order this one because we all know Patrick Ness never disappoints!

I ended up giving this one 3 stars because it didn't have as big of an impact on me as the Chaos Walking trilogy but I still really liked it!

BOUT OF BOOKS 13.0 WRAP UP!

So it was my first time participating in Bout of Books and I had so much fun! I ended up completing 3 books and 2 volumes of manga throughout the week! Not as much as I had hoped, but I was busy helping my sister move and working and such! 

Here's a rundown of everything I read!

DAY ONE

I read from pages 120 - 201 of Hunger by Michael Grant. This is the second book in the Gone series, which I am absolutely LOVING. So I read 81 pages of this on day one!

Then I listened to an hour and thirty-three minutes of Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby, which is an ADORABLE contemporary YA book! I listened to some of this because I was driving around quite a lot that day and didn't want to waste that time not reading! I have no idea how many pages an hour and thirty-three minutes equates to but I added it in here anyway even though I didn't listen to any more of it throughout the week. 

DAY TWO

Then on day two I spent all of the reading time I had completing this beast of a book! I read from pages 201 - 586 which was a total of 385 pages. I didn't enjoy Hunger as much as the first book in the series (Gone) but I still really liked it and I ended up giving it 4 stars!

DAY THREE

On the third day of the readathon, I completed volume 5 of Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba. Death Note is a manga series which I first watched the anime of a few years ago and adored it so much that I vowed to myself that I would read the manga one day, and so here I am! I felt like this volume was very much a build up for the next one and not a lot happened, so I gave it 4 stars.

Then I read roughly half of volume 6 of Death Note (100 pages) before I fell asleep!

DAY FOUR

Day four was a busy day for me, so I only ended up finishing the 6th volume of Death Note which was the last 111 pages. This volume was EPIC and I absolutely loved it so I gave it 5 stars! What a cliffhanger though! I need the next one!

DAY FIVE

On day five I decided to start Angelfall by Susan Ee which is the first book in a fantasy/post-apocolyptic trilogy. I managed to read the first 214 pages of this one before the day was over!

DAY SIX

On day six, I finished Angelfall by reading the last 112 pages! I felt like it took a little while for me to get into this one, but the last 100 pages or so were EXCELLENT and I ended up giving this one a 4.5 stars! 

I also started an ARC of Patrick Ness' upcoming August release, The Rest of Us Just Live Here. I received this from Walker Books Australia so thank you so much Walker! I only managed to read the first 18 pages of this on day six, but I really enjoyed what I read so far!

DAY SEVEN

Day seven was another busy day for me, but I ended up going to a book fair with my mum and sister and I found this beauty for $2! So I bought it and when I got home that night, I devoured this in one sitting! (All 240 pages) It's the Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, the first in the Princess Diaries series and I absolutely adored it! Obviously this wasn't on my original TBR, but I couldn't resist and I couldn't have asked for a better book to end the readathon with! 5 stars!

So all up I read 3 novels and 2 mangas and a little bit of two other books. How did you guys do in the Bout of Books 13.0 readathon? 

:D