Saturday 24 January 2015

If I Stay - Gayle Forman

So unfortunately for me, I saw the movie before the book. Never mind though, because both, book and film were perfect. Even though the book is more descriptive, I would say it would be hard to see the book come to life if I hadn't seen the film.
In this book we have a family of four. A Mom, Dad, a young boy called Teddy and a 17 year old girl called Mia. The four of them are involved in a accident, leaving only one. Mia.
Through the book we go on transitions from flashbacks/memories of Mia's life, and the out of body experience where Mia can see her visitors in the ICU without actually being awake.
The flashbacks are in proportion to those of the out of body experiences. All  of which link to eachother. One thing the out of body experiencing Mia knows is she controls the game. She has to chose whether to wake up an orphan or give up the fight.
Without ruining it for you all, it's an emotional roller coaster ride. A tale of love, loss, friendship and experience. I highly recommend this book to anyone, even if you hate reading I still recommend it.
Finally I just want to add a few Thankyou notes here.
Thank you  Chloë Grace Moretz who brought Mia's character to life, becoming the true vision of Mia.
Thank you to the cast and crew of the 'If I Stay' movie. Because without you all, I would have a whole heart and a damn lot more tears to cry else where. Thankyou for creating the perfect adaptation of the book.
And finaly.
To Gayle Forman, to whom I owe the biggest Thankyou too, because without you these books would cease to exist, and we as readers would never of gotten a chance to have another journey and another life.
Book Rate:
5/5

Monday 19 January 2015

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Finishing my 3rd book of 2015 left me emotionally ruined leaving me no choice but to eat some chocolate.
Like most of John Greens books I have been unable to put it's power and meaning into words. Looking for Alaska is in no way different. I was left speechless and crying for ten minutes. I had written, deleted and re written this review several times to make sure I got it right finally settling with this.
In 262 pages Green was able to create a novel that allows teenagers to review their place in the world and deal with eachother better.
Miles Halter is a junior in a boarding school in Alabama. The teen from Florida is used to the sun, but not the heat of the Deep South. He's also not used to being one of the gang, but at Culver Creek this shy boy is accepted for what he is, after being wrapped in duct tape and thrown into a lake.
Like any school, there are cliques, the biggest two being the rich kids who live locally, who go home for the weekend and the kids who are there 24/7.
The latter group adopts Miles, and within that group his particular circle of friends is certainly a right bunch: there is The Colonel, his roommate, who is barely ever refered to by his real name. Takumi, the Japanese kid with the Southern accent; and Alaska Young, "the hottest girl in all of human history." Apart from a demanding school load, their main hobbies consist of smoking, drinking and the Culver Creek tradition of playing pranks on the other group all while avoiding the piercing gaze of The Eagle, the school's headmaster.
The experiences come fast for Miles, but the one thing constantly on his mind, Alaska. Flirty and distant, friendly and angry, unattainable (with a boyfriend in college) and available, and highly intelligent, her personality leads Miles and his friends into a labyrinth of emotions that, after a shattering tragedy, leave him wondering if there is any way out.
Looking for Alaska is funny, sad and inspiring. To all those who read this book, I hope you enjoy it.
Rating:
5 / 5

Monday 5 January 2015

Hells Horizon by Darren Shan

Hell's Horizon is in fact the 2nd book of The City trilogy. Much like Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher, I haven't read the book that came before. I did however pick this book up from a store close to my sixth form while they were having a sale. This book could sell for £13 or in the range of £5-£8 but I was able to add it to my library for just 59p and what a buy it was.
Al Jeery is a loyal member of his personal guard but is relieved from his duties to investigate a murder. Al isn't a trained investigator but with time he gets the hang of it and just before he finds  the killer, another murder investigation makes its way to him on a even more personal level.
Along the way Al goes through hell and somehow made it through. I'd be reading the book all happy something I wished to happen was soon going to, only to find a shock in its place.
Darren Shan could easily of drowned us in swear words, but there was never any irrelevant use of bad language or an overkill.
For a book like this I can't go into extreme detail without ruining the whole book. However what I can say is, Al Jeery finds out secrets of the city and his past and I'm deffinetly going to try and get a hold of the first and third and final book.
I recommend no one under the age of 14 should read this book, anyone with a detective brain should read this and see if they can catch the kilĺer/s before Al does.

Friday 2 January 2015

Christmas with Billy and Me - Giovanna Fletcher

When I first got this book I was a little disappointed with how thin it was but Giovanna deffinetly has a talent when it comes to writing. I can't decide whether it's a Talent or a Skill.
So I do have to admit I haven't read Billy and Me that came before this but I was unable to find it in the same shop I had bought this from.
The books starts off with a little back story of Stacey who now owns a little teashop after its initial owner, her best friend passed away. Further into the story Stacey and Billy recieve and email from a mystery man requesting if he can propose to the love of his life in the small teashop. Of course they say yes, but who's the mystery man and the blushing bride to be?  I'll leave that for you guys to find out.
What Fletcher has managed to do is avoid writing something cliché. She could have quite easily overloaded us with sappiness but she didn’t. She took a different road and made a damn fine short story.
The book sort of hinted at more tales of Sophie May and Billy. The open ending made me so happy. Come on Mrs Fletcher, make your fans happy and write about them again. Please.
I give this book a rating of
4.5 out of 5.
Mostly on the pure basis that I want more books about Sophie and Billy a great book to read if you're into this sort of things. Also a great book if you don't have alot of time but wish to read.