BOOK REVIEW | MARY POPPINS

Title: Mary Poppins
Author: P.L. Travers
Series: Book 1 in a series
Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Genre: Children’s Classics
Goodreads

This review contains spoilers for the end of the book! Beware!

Characters: ★

The characters in this book are so weird. Sure, the kids would have been relatable at the time this was written but Mary Poppins was an extremely unlikeable character who just awful and bizarre, and not in the good way either. None of the characters stood out to me and they all felt really flat.

Plot: ★

The plot was just awful. Nothing happened. Mary Poppins came and was horrible to the children; they went on a couple of weird adventures that had no backstory or plot to them, and then she left. The end.

Writing: ★★

I suppose the writing was alright, but it definitely wasn’t what I expected.

Romance/Feels: ★
None whatsoever.

Ending: ★
The ending is what confuses me the most. Mary Poppins decides to leave the children and then the children all of a sudden decide that they don’t want Mary Poppins to leave even though she’s been nothing but HORRIBLE to them. What????

Overall Enjoyment: ★
I unfortunately did not enjoy this book at all. L Definitely one of my least favourite books I’ve ever read.

Rereadability: I got rid of the book after I read it so I won’t be rereading it.

Final Rating: 1.67 stars to be exact!

Book Review (Non-spoiler) | Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Title: Before I Die
Author: Jenny Downham
Series: Standalone
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Goodreads

Blurb: Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, and drugs with excruciating side effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of "normal" life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, are all painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time runs out.

Characters: ★★★★★

The characters in this book are all so real. That’s the best way to describe them. The main character Tessa is dying and her character really portrays the anger and all of the emotions that come with knowing you don’t have very long left to live. Every character in this book is flawed in some way, no one is perfect and everyone is unique. Every character has their own story and I feel as though these stories are really fleshed out and real.

Plot: ★★★★★

The plot follows Tessa as she makes a list of things to do before she dies. It follows and ups and downs of her life with Leukaemia. There are a few different plotlines from different characters that weave together and it’s so raw and heartbreaking.

Writing: ★★★★★

Absolutely stunning because it’s so real and so raw. I absolutely adore the way this book is written. It’s perfect in every way.

Romance/Feels: ★★★★★
SO MANY FEELS I JUST CAN’T. Firstly there’s the romance, which is just so perfect. They’re both so different but they help each other and it’s so, so beautiful. The ending is where all of the feels come in because it’s just… shbgaksg

Ending: ★★★★★
Which brings me to this. The ending is so emotional and I love the way it’s written (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve read it). I cried and cried and cried long after I turned the final page.

Overall Enjoyment: ★★★★★
Absolutely stunning. I’ve read this novel four times now and every time I feel I get something new out of it. Definitely one of my all time favourite books without a doubt.

Rereadability: DUH. I’ve read this four times and intend to reread for the rest of my life.

Final Rating: 5 humongous stars! 

BOOK REVIEW | DOON BY CAREY CORP & LORIE LANGDON

Title: Doon 

Author: Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon
Publisher: Zondervan / Blink
Publication date: August 20, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 368

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My Rating: ★★★★★

Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. 
But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. 
Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for...or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.

Doon follows the story of two best friends who are spending their holiday in Scotland as one of the girls has inherited her late Aunt's cottage in Alloway. The other girl, Veronica, keeps having hallucinations of a handsome blonde boy in a kilt and he seems to be calling to her to follow him. The girls start to uncover some strange secrets about Kenna's Aunt and they find themselves crossing the Brig o' Doon and stepping into another world with castles and handsome princes and magic. 

The setting is definitely one of the things that made this book so fantastic because I could clearly picture everything in this world and it was all so magical and enchanting! It was honestly like I was stepping through the pages and entering this magical kingdom myself! 

At first I was hesitant because I found out that this book is published by Blink, which is a Christian YA publishing group stemming from Harper Collins and I'm an Atheist. However, I was so pleased to see that the story isn't trying to push religious aspects across and it was just honestly giving us a fantastic and magical story. It has elements that I wouldn't expect from a Christian book as there were mentions of sex and cheating and all sorts of contemporary aspects that are usually found in YA books. So don't let this put you off, because there were only two instances where I thought the 'Christian' aspect was coming through, and that was when Veronica recalls going to Church as a child and misses the community, and when she prays to God to save someone she loves. I'm sure that you could try and tie the story to Christianity like people have done with Narnia and the Lord of the Rings and such, but to be honest, I'm just in it for the story. 

The two main characters were really relatable and had personality traits that I personally loved. Kenna is a musical theatre girl, and I absolutely LOVED that. It had a lot of contemporary aspects that balanced out the fantastical elements and it was just PERFECT. It honestly has everything I could ever want from a YA fantasy and I am so glad that I picked it up! The authors have also created a playlist to go along with the book which I will link down below but it is so perfect and I highly recommend listening to the songs while reading or after you finish the book! 

The plot was really interesting and it kept me hooked the entire way through and also had some surprising twists that I honestly didn't expect! The ending wasn't too abrupt and left me wanting the next book desperately! It also almost reads like a contemporary (especially at the start) which made it so much easier to get into the story and it made it so relatable. What a fantastic start to a series! I can't wait for the next book!  

Doon Series Website: http://www.doonseries.com/

Doon Playlist: http://www.doonseries.com/doon-series/doon-playlist/

BOOK REVIEW | GRACELING BY KRISTIN CASHORE

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Genre: YA Fantasy

My Rating: ★★★★★

Click here to go to this books' goodreads page!

Goodreads Summary:
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.
She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...

OH MY GOSH, THIS BOOK. I was not expecting to love this as much as I did! It has a pretty high rating on goodreads (4.11) but a lot of mixed reviews saying that the start of the book was too slow. I can see what these reviewers are saying, but to be honest, I loved every second of the book because the world was SO RICH and the beginning just solidified all of the elements of this world and these characters. Because of this slow (but still incredibly enjoyable) beginning, the world was crystal clear in my mind and the characters were really well developed and I just loved everything about it!

In this world, some people are born with graces, which are essentially special talents, some useful such as fighting, mind reading, etc. and then some not so useful such as being able to twist your torso 360 degrees. The main character Katsa is graced with killing, and because of this, the King (her Uncle) uses her for his personal gain to stay in power. But Katsa is starting to rebel when she meets Prince Po, a stunning boy with a grace for fighting and they embark on an exciting and fast paces journey together and OH MAN. IT'S SO GOOD YOU GUYS.

Everything about this world is so well developed and the writing is on point. I became so attached to the characters and the entire storyline just sucked me in completely! I adored the sense of adventure and all of the relationships between characters and I can't wait to continue on with the series! I absolutely loved it! Highly, HIGHLY recommend!

BOOK REVIEW | MAKING FACES BY AMY HARMON

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Genre: New Adult Contemporary

My Rating: ★★★★★

Click here to go to this books' goodreads page!

Goodreads Summary:
Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore.
Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

This book is absolutely perfect in every single way. I honestly don't have a negative thing to say about it. 
It starts off following the story of four very different people: Fern, a tiny redhead who has always been ugly; Bailey, Fern's cousin who has Cystic Fibrosis and is confined to a wheelchair; Rita, a beautiful girl who is friends with Fern; and Ambrose, a star wrestler with a face that makes girls swoon left, right and centre. The story starts while they're in high school during the year 2001 and the effect 9/11 had on them. Alternately, it follows another storyline a couple of years later when Ambrose comes back from serving in Iraq with a severely disfigured face. It's almost a backwards Beauty and the Beast tale, where Ambrose used to be beautiful, but now he's forever stuck with half of his face severely disfigured. From then, it's a beautiful story of loss, love and learning to accept and love yourself. 

This honestly blew me away, even though I already had high expectations seeing as the Goodreads rating for it is 4.50 and thousands and thousands of people have read this beautiful book! The writing is honestly flawless and immediately draws you in. Because there are flashbacks to when they were children and also flashbacks to 2001, you get so much backstory with these characters that you immediately draw a connection with them and they feel so real. I also love the backstories given in regards to all of their families. Everyone's family is shown throughout the book and the families play a really important role in the story, which as we all know, parents and families often get overlooked in YA & NA contemporaries. 

There are so many important aspects that are shown throughout this book that are so important to be highlighted in literature such as abuse, pregnancy, war, death and chronic illnesses and diseases and all of these things are so common and happen to so many people and it enhances the messages of this story so much. I could honestly keep going on about this story but I'm afraid I won't stop!

All of the characters are so unique and there are so many important messages conveyed through this book that will stay with you for years to come, at least I know that's how it's going to be for me! I will forever cherish this beautiful book that has given me so much to think about and to be grateful for. I will never stop recommending this book. GO READ IT.

BOOKTUBE-A-THON UPDATE | DAY SEVEN

IT'S OVER! WE'VE DONE IT!
On the last day of the booktube-a-thon, I finished...

It's Not Summer Without You - Jenny Han

This is the second book in the Summer Trilogy by Jenny Han and I love this series so much! I finished off this book by reading the last 175 pages on day 7.

After that, I went straight onto the last book...

We'll Always Have Summer - Jenny Han

This was an absolutely beautiful ending to an amazing trilogy that I really and truly adored! I read the book in its entirety on day 7, which was 300 pages exactly. By finishing this trilogy, I have successfully completed the challenge to start and finish a series! Nailed it!

LET'S LOOK AT THE FINAL STATS.

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 1: 165 PAGES

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 2: 195 PAGES

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 3: 362 PAGES

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 4: 414 PAGES
TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 5: 165 PAGES
TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 6: 377 PAGES
TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 7: 475 PAGES
TOTAL PAGES READ THROUGHOUT THE BOOKTUBE-A-THON: 2153 PAGES

BOOKS COMPLETED: 8

CHALLENGES COMPLETED: 7 

THE CHALLENGES:
1. READ A BOOK WITH PICTURES (DELTORA QUEST GRAPHIC NOVEL) ✓
2. START AND FINISH A SERIES (THE SUMMER TRILOGY) ✓
3. READ A BOOK WITH RED ON THE COVER (DELTORA QUEST GRAPHIC NOVEL) ✓
4. READ A BOOK SOMEBODY ELSE PICKED OUT FOR YOU (PROPHECY OF THE GEMS) ✓
5. READ A BOOK FROM THE GENRE YOU'VE READ THE LEAST OF THIS YEAR (PETER PAN) ✓
6. READ AND WATCH A BOOK-TO-MOVIE ADAPTATION (PETER PAN) ✓
7. READ 7 BOOKS - 1. SWEET RECKONING 2. PETER PAN 3. TIGER LILY 4. DELTORA QUEST GRAPHIC NOVEL 5. THE PROPHECY OF THE GEMS 6. THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY 7. IT'S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU 8. WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE SUMMER ✓

YAY! How did you guys go during the booktube-a-thon?

BOOKTUBE-A-THON UPDATE | DAY SIX

Hey friends!
So on day 6 of the booktube-a-thon, I started and finished...

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Wowowowowow I LOVED this book! I read it in its entirety which is 276 pages and I loved every second of it! Once I finish the entire trilogy, I'll definitely be doing a series review! I read this book as part of the challenge to start and finish a series, so that was one book down, two to go!

Obviously after finishing that, I started reading...

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

This is the second book in the Summer Trilogy and on day 6 I managed to read 101 pages of it :)

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 1: 165 PAGES

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 2: 195 PAGES

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 3: 362 PAGES

TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 4: 414 PAGES
TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 5: 165 PAGES
TOTAL PAGES READ ON DAY 6: 377 PAGES
TOTAL PAGES READ SO FAR: 1678 PAGES

BOOKS COMPLETED: 6

CHALLENGES COMPLETED: 5