GUEST POST: My Experience of 'The Fault In Our Stars'

I read the Fault in Our Stars by John Green around a year ago and I recently realised that I had yet to write a review for it.

(I’ve tried to make it as non spoilery as possible, but if you haven’t read the book and don’t me want to ruin anything, then go and buy a copy now and come back when you’re done)

So here it goes:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is my favourite book by a mile.

I have this weird thing with favourite books. I sometimes find myself getting weirdly jealous of people who have a favourite book that is obscure and that not many people know about, because I wish my special book could be something special to me and not something I hear about everywhere I go. TFIOS (The Fault in Our Stars) certainly does not fit that description. And for that reason, I sometimes (rather selfishly) wish that TFIOS wasn’t so huge and famous.

Now don’t get me wrong, John Green is a totally amazing person who totally deserves to be so insanely successful, and if The Fault in Our Stars wasn’t so successful, I’d probably never have discovered more of the beautiful collection of John Green books (such as Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson) or have been introduced to the Vlogbrothers and the amazing community that is Nerdfighteria! I wouldn’t be able to see my favourite book on screen and I wouldn’t have such a vast community of fans that I can talk to about the book. At school everyone has their thing. You have the girl that’s obsessed with Niall Horan, the Tom Hiddleston stalker, the girl who fangirls every week about Teen Wolf and the ones who rave about Korean music.

And I am the TFIOS girl.

I’m the one that tells everyone to read the book, who informs them about the rest of John Green’s books after they are left longing for more, I’m the one who surprises them by telling them John Green also vlogs with his brother or who updates them on movie news. And it’s great to be the TFIOS girl.

But still I wish that TFIOS could be my special thing.

It’s kind of hard to explain why, so I’m using a quote to do so. In the book, Hazel says:

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books like An Imperial Affliction, which you can’t tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like betrayal”

Which sums up my view of TFIOS!

Now you’re either going to completely understand where I am coming from, or you’re going to think I’m ranging from selfish to insane. But one day you’ll find your thing and you’ll understand.

GUEST POST: The Mortal Instruments Series

I have recently read The Mortal Instruments series. I have read many reviews about this series of books with a negative perspective however I’m proud to say that I disagree with all these opinions. I must admit I started this series with some reluctance but I loved it because these books take you on an adventure in a realistic yet surreal way. You have ordinary people like Clary and Simon (kind of ordinary, they change through the series) and then mysterious people like Jace, Alec and Isabelle.

Order of the Series

1. City of Bones
2. City of Ashes
3. City of Glass
4. City of Fallen Angels
5. City of Lost Souls
6. City of Heavenly Fire

Click through to read more. This is partly of a recap of the series before City of Heavenly Fire so contains spoilers.

GUEST REVIEW: Ketchup Clouds - Annabel Pitcher

PAGES: 320
PUBLISHER: Indigo
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Fifteen-year-old Zoe has a secret - a dark and terrible secret that she can't confess to anyone she knows. But then one day she hears of a criminal, Stuart Harris, locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. Or lies. Or murder. Full of heartache yet humour, Zoe tells her story in the only way she can - in letters to the man in prison in America. Armed with a pen, Zoe takes a deep breath, eats a jam sandwich, and begins her tale of love and betrayal.

REVIEW

Ketchup Clouds is about a girl who writes a letter to Stuart, a man on death row, and confides her secrets to him under a fake name (Zoe Collins) and address so no reply can be written to her.

So before I read Ketchup Clouds, I saw a lot of negative reviews that put me off the book, but I have to say I really enjoyed it! Ketchup Clouds kept me hooked all the way until the last chapter wanting to discover the details of Zoe’s secret and discover the fates of the rest of the characters! Ketchup Clouds will draw you in from the first sentence and won’t let you go until the end of the book!

Dear Mr. S. Harris,

Ignore the blob of red in the top left corner. It’s jam, not blood, though I don’t think I need to tell you the difference. It wasn’t your wife’s jam the police found on your shoe.

The whole book is narrated by Zoe and the reader follows her struggle with her guilt. I found his aspect of Zoe incredibly relatable and I’m sure most readers would feel the same way. (I’m sure everyone has done something bad that they have regretted, but have been scared of telling the truth and facing the consequences and therefore have kept it a secret and lived with the burden. I know I have!)

I know what it’s like… Mine was a boy. And I killed him. Three months ago exactly… No one has a clue and I’m walking around like that boy, Scot Free, saying all the right things and doing all the right stuff, but inside I’m sort of screaming,”

One of the things I found most interesting about this book was the way it explored capital punishment. Both Stuart and Zoe are guilty of taking a life and both greatly regret what they did. Stuart has been honest about his crime and is being ‘rewarded’ with the death penalty, whereas Zoe’s dishonesty lets her walk free. Ketchup Clouds allowed me to think deeply about the American justice system.

Stuart was also a really fascinating character who was very important to the story. While he never responds to any letters Zoe writes, Zoe becomes increasingly closer to him over the course of the novel she goes from writing “Dear Mr S Harris” to “My dearest Stu”.

I’m not the biggest fan of love triangles as I often find the girl or boy at the centre to be very selfish. This one was particularly infuriating because of a certain little development on page 89 that I really don’t want to spoil! Let’s just say you’ll be very surprised! (But seriously don’t let the love triangle put you off the book!)

Zoe’s family were a really interesting part of the story. For example her little sister Dot is deaf so she uses sign language, something I’ve never seen in a YA book before!

Also this book included some fandom references such as cats called Lloyd and Webber and multiple Harry Potter references such as when she says to Stuart:

“Harry Potter has a scar and glasses and you have a scar and glasses and he never got any post either. But then all of a sudden he received a mysterious letter saying he was a wizard and his life was miraculously transformed.”

Overall Ketchup Clouds is a great read that I would recommend to all fans of young adult literature, especially those looking for something different and unique!

- Priya.

(http://priyapiggle.wordpress.com)

GUEST REVIEW: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock - Matthew Quick

PAGES: 288
PUBLISHER: Headline
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

How would you spend your birthday if you knew it would be your last? Eighteen-year-old Leonard Peacock knows exactly what he'll do. He'll say goodbye. Not to his mum - who he calls Linda because it annoys her - who's moved out and left him to fend for himself. Nor to his former best friend, whose torments have driven him to consider committing the unthinkable. But to his four friends: a Humphrey-Bogart-obsessed neighbour, a teenage violin virtuoso, a pastor's daughter and a teacher. Most of the time, Leonard believes he's weird and sad but these friends have made him think that maybe he's not. He wants to thank them, and say goodbye.

REVIEW

Hey guys! Today, I’m going to be reviewing Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. This was the first Matthew Quick book I read but I absolutely adored it! I will definitely be picking up The Silver Linings Playbook as soon as I can. Now let’s start with the overall non-spoiler review.

Going into this book after having read the summary, I was expecting it to be very depressing and at parts it was. However, the book as a whole was funny. Leonard was an amazing narrator with a lot of character and I really cared for him. This book focused on him and I loved that. It was weird to be in the mind of someone who wanted to commit suicide but I feel like this book made me more aware of the issue and made me aware that what I can do can affect someone a lot and I hope I never be mean to anyone in the way that some of the classmates were to Leonard. The supporting characters weren’t as well developed however except for Lauren and Herr Silverman. I wish we would have seen more of Walt or Baback. I also wish that we would have got to seen his mother a little bit more, I would have liked to see them happy at the end.

This book deals with a lot of major issues that we are all aware of but try to hide and I loved that. We try to disguise all the problems that teenagers go through but this book handled them straight on. This allowed us to see these issues first hand and in some way, feel what it’s like to go through them. It allowed us to see why people want to commit suicide and what happens to people who go through traumatizing events. Matthew Quick write brilliantly and it felt as if he really knew about the subjects in hisbook.The thing about this book is that Leonard is doing something that none of us really like and we don’t like to know about it but when you’re in his head, you can see where he’s coming from and why he wants to do that. It’s a scary thought but you start to understand why people commit suicide.

This book was slow to start with and I found the writing style to be odd to start with. The book had footnotes! Having read mainly YA, I’ve never really come across footnotes in books that I read for pleasure. Once you get into the book, however it will grip you and you will fall in love with Matthew Quick’s writing. I sure did!

Overall, I’d give this book 4 stars as I did really enjoy it but I just can’t bring myself to give it 5 stars, because it wasn’t one of my absolute favourites. I do however recommend it to anyone and everyone! This book will really help you to understand the problems many young teenagers go through.

- Sofia.

http://fifisofa.wordpress.com/

GUEST REVIEW: Say Her Name - James Dawson

PAGES: 304
PUBLISHER: Hot Key
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

This review refers to an uncorrected advance copy, and is due to be published on 05/06/14.

SUMMARY

Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe is not the kind of person who believes in ghosts. A Halloween dare at her ridiculously spooky boarding school is no big deal, especially when her best friend Naya and cute local boy Caine agree to join in too. They are ordered to summon the legendary ghost of 'Bloody Mary': say her name five times in front of a candlelit mirror, and she shall appear...But, surprise surprise, nothing happens. Or does it? Next morning, Bobbie finds a message on her bathroom mirror...five days...but what does it mean? And who left it there? Things get increasingly weird and more terrifying for Bobbie and Naya, until it becomes all too clear that Bloody Mary was indeed called from the afterlife that night, and she is definitely not a friendly ghost. Bobbie, Naya and Caine are now in a race against time before their five days are up and Mary comes for them, as she has come for countless others before...

REVIEW

It's Halloween and a few girls from Piper's Hall Boarding School for Young Ladies, joined by a cute boy or two from the village, are telling ghost stories. Bobbie- smart and practical and shy- doesn't believe in the paranormal so isn't afraid to join in on the "Bloody Mary" say-her-name-in-a-mirror-and-she-shall-come-and-kill-you game. Bobbie, Naya- her hilarious wish-she-was-my-best-mate best friend and cute local boy Caine volunteer, knowing it's just a silly story.. Or is it?

The next day Bobbie finds a message written on the bathroom mirror "5 DAYS" and a constant drip drip drip that has no apparent source, and from then on things get weirder and weirder, and it appears Bloody Mary is very real indeed. Why is she after them? Can they stop her? Or is Bobbie just going crazy? In a race against the clock, Bobbie leads her friends on a journey to find out the truth around Bloody Mary and how to stop her from taking them before it's to late. But is there any way to stop her? 

Prepare too be scared, very scared, by this new and genius twist to an old ghost story. I honestly couldn't see a way out for Bobbie, Naya, and Caine! It keeps you hooked from the spooky start, and along with lovable characters and tear jerking moments, the story made me too scared to look in the mirror in fear or seeing her! You get a really good image in your head- it's written in a way that you can't help but see play out before your eyes. All in all, if you're looking to laugh and be slightly terrified at the same time, then you'll enjoy this book!

- Maddy.
maddyreads.blogspot.co.uk

GUEST REVIEW: Paper Towns by John Green

PAGES: 320
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4.5 Stars

SUMMARY

From the bestselling author of The Fault in our Stars. Quentin has always loved Margo Roth Spiegelman, for Margo (and her adventures) are the stuff of legend at their high school. So when she one day climbs through his window and summons him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow. But the next day Margo doesn't come to school and a week later she is still missing. Q soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance ...and they are for him. But as he gets deeper into the mystery - culminating in another awesome road trip across America - he becomes less sure of who and what he is looking for. Masterfully written by John Green, this is a thoughtful, insightful and hilarious coming-of-age story.

REVIEW

So I know this may not be well written or in amazing detail but here goes...

I thought Paper Towns by John Green was an interesting book. I must say it wasn't what i expected it to be as a book and had a ending i did not see coming. I enjoyed the journey the book as took me on to find Margo and even if at some points I thought the journey that Quentin was taking was pointless and that he was never going to find her. 

This book is filled (in a John Green fashion) with metaphors and clever writing skill and it made me think about the way in which other people think and about the journey we are all making in life. I can see from the different characters point of views even though the book is only written in one and I think this takes amazing talent for writing which can not be taught. 

My only problem with this book is the same as my problem was with The Fault In Our Stars and that is in the way it was finished with the question of what happened to the rest of their lives but in the same instance I enjoy the mystery of thinking the journey is not over with the end of the book even though I know in my heart that the story of Quentin and Margo is over. 

Overall I enjoyed the book immensely even if sometimes I had to sit back and think about what was happening but this, for me, made it more likeable as it got me thinking that maybe we are all just paper boys and paper girls living in a paper town. 

I would give this book a 4.5/ 5 (just because i can never give a book 5 as after that other books would go off the scale) 

I highly recommend this book.

- Eleanor.

GUEST REVIEW: Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins

PAGES: 380
PUBLISHER: Usbourne
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Anna is less than thrilled to be shipped off to boarding school in Paris, leaving a fledgling romance behind - until she meets Etienne St Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Etienne has it all... including a girlfriend. But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with a longed-for French kiss?

REVIEW

‘Anna and the French Kiss’ is the debut novel from Stephanie Perkins, first published in 2010. I’ve known about ‘Anna’ for the better part of three years, and only just got my hands on it. It moved instantly to the top of my To Be Read pile, and before I’d even finished it, it shot straight into the list of my all-time favourite books.

Anna Oliphant gets sent by her newly-minted dad to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. SOAP (School of America in Paris) has English speaking students, but almost everyone speaks French as fluently as the locals - Anna’s language barrier is only the first obstacle. 

She’s adopted by football-playing Meredith and her group of friends, including the “boy masterpiece” that is Étienne St. Clair. 

St. Clair has it all: he’s charming, he’s got great hair, he speaks fluent French, he’s beautiful, he’s smart, he’s funny, he’s quirky - but he’s also got a college girlfriend. Anna is determined to ignore or downplay the connection they have. Until tragedy strikes in St. Clair’s family, and it’s Anna that manages to be there for him - and then they can’t ignore what’s between them, and Anna and St. Clair start to become Banana and Étienne.

GOOD PARTS

The characters are the best part of this book. Every character is interesting, and reading their interactions is like eavesdropping on conversations with your own friends.

It’s probably no surprise that the main two characters are my favourite, but they’ve earned the spots. Anna is an every-girl: she learns to be brave, she’s funny, she tries to do the right thing, she wears Batman pyjamas, she drools in cake shops. Étienne is the perfect romantic hero: adorable in every way with flaws shooting right through him that never make him less lovable. Paris, the setting of the book, seems like a character itself: Stephanie’s descriptions and her way of poetically weaving the city into her sentences bring it to life.

LESS GOOD PARTS

Finding negatives about ‘Anna’ was a struggle: it took a re-read to find any, because after the first read my head was full of fluff and the rose-coloured glasses were firmly on. To nit-pick, the ending feels slightly rushed, after the detailed and faithful narrative - but given how much more time I could happily have spent with the characters, there’s no wonder I wanted a longer ending.

OVERALL

‘Anna’ is a great read. I raced through each page, stopping only to regret how close to the end I was. I actually laughed out loud, visibly cringed, clapped my hands in glee - at one point I had to put the book down while my cheeks cooled off from flaming in reaction to Anna’s own embarrassment. Anna and Étienne might be my OTP, and I can’t wait get another glimpse of them in the companion novels, ‘Lola and the Boy Next Door’ and ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’.

- Kay.

GUEST REVIEW: The Sound - Sarah Alderson

PAGES: 320
PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

When aspiring music journalist Ren Kingston takes a job nannying for a wealthy family on the exclusive island of Nantucket, playground for Boston's elite, she's hoping for a low-key summer reading books and blogging about bands. Boys are firmly off the agenda. What she doesn't count on is falling in with a bunch of party-loving private school kids who are hiding some dark secrets; falling (possibly) in love with the local bad boy; and falling out with a dangerous serial killer...

REVIEW

I’m still, ultimately, wondering what I actually think of this book. I started to enjoy it straight away, and then slowly, there were many elements I loved and many I began to hate. It’s taken me at least an hour to mull all my thoughts over and actually come to a decision as to what to rate it. 

The Sound follows Ren, who moves to the States to babysit for a family. She plans to read and blog, a casual summer, but it doesn’t quite go to plan; she meets a group of friends who have a problem with a certain boy; Jesse Miller. 

I loved the romance in this book; I loved the action scenes; I loved how the final 100 pages gripped me. I adored the beginning, learning about Ren, her background, who and what she was interested in. 

But then, in the middle of the book, from about 60 pages in to the 100 pages before it finished, I just wanted it to end. It made me cringe, it made me raise my eyebrows; and I wondered when the clichés would end. Things like the stereotypical representation of America, girls being “scared” to eat carbs; almost making out like every girl has an eating disorder. 

And at first, the love triangle of Ren-Jeremy-Jesse worked really well, but then it became tedious, and predictable as to what would happen. This book had a beautiful, gorgeous romance by the end; but through the trials of the love triangle… Honestly? It just really annoyed me. 

There were also things like how Ren tackled Brodie being bullied; telling her theories and things to do. The fact that this bully told her about things like “skanks” and so forth made me feel… slightly vulnerable, almost, and shocked, to see what four-year-olds are actually exposed to in this day and age. I wasn’t naive, but I certainly didn’t know things like that at that age. 

But for these faults, I really enjoyed this, reading it in the space of two hours. It has romance; it has mystery; it has action; and it tackles serious issues like sexual assault. Once you get past all the predictability and clichés of this book, it’s a really pleasing, gripping yet beautiful read. 

- Charli

You can follow me on Twitter @charli_taw and see my blog at charliotherworld.blogspot.com 

GUEST REVIEW: Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

PAGES: 480
PUBLISHER: Macmillan
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. Without Wren Cath is completely on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room-mate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words ...And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone. Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible...

REVIEW

People always see me reading books around school and a lot of people don’t know me that well, so to start a conversation they usually ask me what my favourite book is. In the past, I have never been able to answer it properly because I’ve never had a definite favourite, I love so many books and it’s hard to just choose one. Also this person would also judge me based on the book I say, so I always chose carefully. But ever since last September, the answer to this question was clear. Fangirl is my favourite book. Then of course, a lot of people who I talk to have never heard of the book so they ask why I like it so much. I still do not know how to answer this question, because there are many reasons as to why I love this book. I recently discovered that my goodreads review isn’t exactly great because I didn’t know what to write. So this is my first proper review as to why I love this book. I’ll try to make it as non-spoilery as possible but just to make sure only read on if you have read the book.

Rainbow Rowell has this way of writing which I absolutely love. Before reading Fangirl, I had read Eleanor and Park and that’s how I got excited about the release of Fangirl. Eleanor and Park was a great and lovely book that really hit me with the feels. What I loved about Eleanor and Park was that she made me feel like I could relate to the characters, despite being nothing like them. During Eleanor and Park, I felt a special connection to both characters and this made me excited for Fangirl. But this isn’t a review of Eleanor and Park, that shall be for another post.

Fangirl started off with a sentence that just captured me right away and after reading the first page I couldn’t put it down.

There was a boy in her room.

Now I understand that isn’t exactly the best opening sentence but what caught my attention was the way that Cath reacted. Going into this book, I had a feeling I would be able to relate to the main character somehow, but I didn’t think she would be almost an exact replica of me and that’s what I loved. My experience with fangirls, led me to believe that they aren’t generally like me. I’m used to encountering the sort of fangirls who scream and cry at everything to do with their fandom, which attracts attention. I’m the sort of girl who hides behind my books and prefers to go unnoticed. And that is exactly what Cath was like, as you could tell from her reaction to there being a boy in her room. She froze and panicked and went silent, which is exactly what I would do. This then got me interested in the book and I flew through the first few chapters quickly.
   

GUEST REVIEW: Split Second - Sophie McKenzie

GUEST REVIEW

This review has been written for us by one of our customers and we're very grateful! If you want to be involved please email us at yabirmingham@gmail.com. 

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PAGES: 368

PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster

FORMAT: Hardback

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Bound together by the devastating consequences of a terrorist attack on a London market, teenagers Charlotte (Charlie) and Nat appear at first to have much in common. But, as Charlie gets closer to Nat and his family, she begins to wonder if perhaps he knows more about the attack than he has let on. Split Second is an action-packed thriller that shifts between the perspectives of its two main characters as their courage and their loyalties are tested to the limit.

REVIEW

When I first read this book’s summary, although very intriguing, I wasn’t sure whether I would enjoy it- the word ‘terrorist’ does have quite an effect on me, since people who follow my religion are often labelled so. But from the first sentence I was instantly pulled in, and I could not stop reading it. I was glad that McKenzie has used the word terrorist correctly, labelling people who actually inflict violence with the word, rather than calling every person with a scarf on their head or a beard so.

Split Second is set in London in the near future where current issues, like unemployment and budget cuts, are cleverly explored and made me wonder whether the same concepts would actually happen if it was to happen in our society; whether politicians would take the same route as one of the characters in the book in order to gain power, lie and use the peoples weaknesses for their own good.

The book alternates between two protagonists’ point of view, Charlie and Nat; who, due to an event that had occurred early on in the book, both suffered from a terrible loss, which caused them to get involved with a secret organisation in order to seek revenge. Having a similar goal, Nat and Charlie find themselves growing closer together, but even though there is a certain romantic aspect to the book, I was glad that McKenzie did not put too much emphasis on it, and rather focused on issues that are widely witnessed in today’s society. 

The racist and discriminative words that some of the characters used seem farfetched, but they are not far from the truth. The book really touched me, having many Pakistani friends and seeing how racist some people could be, made me feel very overprotective and ignited my hate towards them. It is quite terrifying, wondering whether people would turn against other human beings just to regain the supposed power and glory of their country. 

All in all, the book was very enjoyable and very insightful. The characters were easily relatable, and the alternating views really worked and made the story all the more interesting. A fast paced novel that makes you worry about the power politicians hold over us and puts emphasis on the idea that no one can be trusted. The sequel, which I am very much looking forward to, will be published this year and will be entitled ‘Every second counts’.

- Maryam.