Sunday 30 September 2018

What I Read This Summer

I am going to start off this post by saying just how sorry I am for how bad these pictures are. This post is already delayed and I just want to get it up now, but when taking these pictures, the weather was not on my side and so they turned out a little rubbish so I appologise. For the point of this post though, I am basically reviewing the four main books I read in August and at the start of September. Ideally, I would have liked to have read more but never mind, however, this post does contain quite a mix of books covering all sorts of topics within the Young Adult genre. I also have a lot of thoughts about all of these books so the reviews are a little long but I just have so many feelings about each story that they just had to be said. 
This will also be the last book related post for a while now as now that I am back at school, I am no longer reading much fiction as my TBR now consists of a bunch of historical non-fictions in relation to my history A-Level. Saying that, I also think that if I do fancy talking about any books, I might start doing individual book reviews just because these posts are getting quite long in terms of content, and sometimes I feel restricted as I never want to go into too much detail in case it makes the post too long, but let me know what you think in the comments. 
The One Memory Of Flora Banks - Emily Barr
3/5
This is a book that I never really saw much hype around but I wanted to give it a read as I liked the synopsis on the back. As for a summary, this book is written from the perspective of Flora who is seventeen and suffers from amnesia. The story follows her as she begins to learn she is more capable than what she ever thought she was and it is all started because she remembers kissing a boy. For me, generally speaking, this was a fairly average read and it is probably a book I won't read again, but I will go into detail why now. 
Starting with the characters, obviously, the main one is Flora. I both like and dislike Flora as she is quite a vulnerable character which is due to her amnesia. However, Flora is also very exciting, she is unpredictable and she takes risks which make for a really exciting plot. She is quite emotional and it does get quite consistent but it all fits with the storyline. As for the other characters, her love interest is portrayed as very romantic and caring especially towards Flora's condition. A character I really love though is Flora's brother, he sees past her condition and helps challenge her herself which makes for a beautiful relationship that you get to experience. Obviously, you do come across other characters throughout the books but my favourite one is definitely Flora's brother and for me, their relationship made the book that bit more enjoyable for me. 
For the plot, it is very unique but it was a slow burner for me. The book follows Flora from living her daily life to doing something she had never even dreamed of. Flora experiences this because of unusual circumstances which you do follow and they eventually get resolved. For me, the start was super slow and so it was not gripping whatsoever but when it got to part two, it started to pick up a bit. I definitely think that this book is not gripping, but there are a few twists and turn, especially nearing the end of the book which did manage to catch me by surprise. I have definitely never read a book like this before and I think that the story is very unique especially for what appears to seem like a typical love story. 
Just to finish off, as for the author's writing, it is very easy to read and to follow. The book is written from Flora's perspective entirely and I feel as though Barr really encaptures Flora's personality throughout the book. Her thoughts are well described, just like her actions and the way she writes adds mystery as Flora sometimes struggles to determine true or false and real or imaginary. The writing makes the story for me but sometimes it gets long-winded, especially close to the start for me. The book, however, is split into three parts and as you jump from one part to another there is a bit of a time jump but it is very easy to follow and there was not one point that I felt confused. 
Generally speaking, it was an average read for me but it has taken me a while to complete because it was not gripping and therefore, I would not really recommend it unless you are looking for a super unique storyline. 
Moxie - Jennifer Mathieu
Rating: 5/5
I was so insanely excited to read this book as I had heard quite a few things about it. From what I had heard before going into this book, it was basically about a young girl called Vivian who used forms of protests in order to create a feminism movement within her high school. To be honest, that is a pretty great summary of the book and I do think that's all you need to know. 
Starting with the characters straight away, I loved the main character, Vivian. She was so relatable at times and you really see her grow throughout the story as she gains confidence and learns to fight for what she believes in. I found that I related a lot to Vivian as she starts off quite timid but become more and more ambitious because of the people she surrounds herself with. She reacts to situations in a way very similar to how I would of in that situation and so I found it to be a very realistic perspective. The other characters I also found really amazing too, Vivian's friendship group and family make for a great story and their individual stories and experiences all add to the main plot of the book. One character I really loved was Seth and the main reason for that is because he is a male but he is one of the few that stands with Vivian in the feminist movement and I think it's great that a character like Seth was included in this book as it just goes to show that feminism is for all genders. 
Onto the plot, I actually thought that it was fairly unique. Personally, I had never read a book about feminism until this one but I thought that it was a great place to start as I think that high school is one of the first stages of recognizing the difference in how males and females are treated. This story is also set in Texas and the high school that it is set in is also so unbelievable with their sexist policies except I am pretty sure a lot of people could relate to it  which although is disappointing, it makes it quite motivating as you see what Vivian does in order to make a difference and so it goes to show that you could do it too. I enjoy the build in this book, how one small protest starts to build up into something with a huge impact. Although the main point to this story is the protest for feminism, you also see a lot of character development, you see Vivian grow as a person which I think a lot of younger girls could really relate to. You see her become her own person in front of both her family and friends but you also see her start new relationships, particularly with Seth who plays her love interest. The book does have a few smaller plots in it but I won't spoil anything, however, the great part is that they all get revealed in a way that is satisfying for the reader. 
Finally, for the writing style, it goes perfectly with the book. It is fully from Vivian's perspective but because she is such a great main character, I really enjoyed reading fully from her point of view. The book has a great pace to it, there is nothing that is really skipped or brushed over and the descriptions are just enough to maintain the interest of the reader. I really love how the book unravels and how some of the little mysteries along the way get revealed, it is quite predictable but yet enjoyable. Mathieu also talks about feminism in a really great way, the emotions portrayed by Vivian are so accurate and well described that it makes for such a great read. The chapters are fairly average in length but I found the writing style so easy to read that it made for a pretty quick book, it probably took me about three days. One thing I also really loved was that at the end of some of the chapters, there would be some illustrations of the posters Vivian created for the feminist movement and I think that those drawings just really bring the whole idea and concept to life. I have also never really known a book to do something like that, so it just really made it interesting to read. 
This was probably my favourite book that I read in August and I think that everyone should read it. It is so inspiring and motivating, especially with sexism still being a huge issue today in society a book like this needs to be shared more often. 

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Rating: 3.5/5
I feel like this book is such a classic within the YA genre and I was still yet to read it. This book is targetted towards people a little younger than me and I did notice that as I started to read it but never the less, I did enjoy it. To quickly summarise what this book is about, it's written from the perspective of Charlie, who is starting a new year in high school and it is basically a coming of age story covering things from friendship and relationships to anxiety and growing up. 
Starting with the characters, with it being from the perspective of Charlie, you almost have to like him. The main way I would describe Charlie is innocent, he starts his new year with such a positive and naive outlook on the world which makes him annoying at times, I won't lie, but mainly he makes you feel sympathetic towards him. Charlie's development throughout this book is so great to read about, he meets this new group of friends, he does a lot of growing up and the way he changes is so fulfilling as an ending. As for the other characters, Charlie's family grows on you as you reader onwards, I particularly found this to be the case with his sister and their relationship. However, my favourite character is probably Sam, she is one of Charlie's new friends along with Sam's stepbrother, Patrick, both of which are very outgoing and fun characters. They, to me, make this book very amusing to read and they are a huge part of Charlie's development.
For the plot, it is pretty simple and predictable in terms of your typical high school issues and encounters. It is definitely relatable to the majority of people but I did find that Charlie's experiences were things I had already sort of learned from so that is why I would recommend the book to someone younger. A lot of the topics are very current and still issues that young people deal with today like grief, sexuality, and relationships. Honestly, this is just a great coming of age story. 
Finally as for the writing style and so on, I love that this was a short book. In case you didn't know, this book is written in the form of letters (more like diary entries) which I was quite skeptical about as I thought that I could get on board, but to my surprise, it was actually quite easy to follow. The letters act like chapters and they range from all sorts of lengths but this book is pretty quick to get through although I would say that at times, it got a little too boring. The writing style was not as easy to read as what I am used to, I found particular parts a little more difficult to get through as they were either boring, unnecessary or just difficult for me to get my head around. I mainly put this down to the book being written from a complex character's perspective. Mostly though, the writing style was good, the story has a great way of revealing itself and the way certain topics are written is very well done on behalf of the author, as they are sensitive but realistic and hard-hitting. 

I'll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson
Rating: 2.5/5
This book initially, I hadn't heard much about it. The main reason I had bought this book was that I read another one of Jandy Nelson's YA books and really liked it so I wanted to read some of her other work. Starting off this mini-review though, it is not as good as The Sky Is Everywhere which is her other book I have read. I will get into why this book I didn't love this book as much as the other in a minute but let's just say that it got better as you read on. This was the book I took with me to Florida and surprisingly I read it in two weeks which is a really long time for me as I tend to get very involved in books, but not this one. To quickly summarise though, this book is about twins, Jude and Noah and the book changes perspective between Noah at 13 years old and Jude at 16 years old. Between those three years, a lot had changed, the main one is a tragedy that I won't spoil. The book basically follows both of their lives and how they have changed over the three years. Some topics they cover is sexuality, friendship, and faith. 
As for the characters, obviously you get to know Noah and Jude the best as it is from their perspectives however my opinion seemed to alternate a lot between them both. Noah, for example, is very emotional but initially I really liked him, however as I read on further, he seemed to have changed for the worse. Jude on the other hand, starts out quite abnoxious but you start to learn that she went through a lot as a woman, which I wont spoil for you. Jude is an interesting character as she puts a lot of trust into her faith, which does also make her quite emotional. As for the other characters, the twins' family is very interesting as it is so complicated which gives the author lots of opportunities to add to the plot. The family though is complex in the way that makes it upsetting for the reader to read sometimes. Other characters include the love interests for both Jude and Noah, which are super cute and form great relationships by the end however, you don't really find out too much about the love interests which I thought was a bit of a shame. 
For the plot, to quickly summarise, Noah and Jude are both inspired by their mother to apply for the art college, CSA, but as you read on you learn that both the father and the mother have a favourite twin and this forms Jude and Noah to act and behave a certain way. As you follow Jude and Noah at different times of their life, they both meet people they later fall for which is one of the themes in this book. Both Jude and Noah also meet the same person, at different times of their life, and because of this, secrets later get revealed. I really want to keep a lot of this a mystery as I think that this way is the best way to approach this book. All I will say is that, the ending was so surprising for me and that it was so cleverly thought out. As much as I loved the concept of this story and the overall plot, it did take a while for it to start picking up. 
Now, the main reason I disliked this book so much was because of the layout of the book. This book is of a pretty average size for me but the chapters were so incredibly long that it took me just over two weeks to finish. I am the sort of person that loves to stop reading a book once I have finished the chapter, however, I just couldn't do it with this book. Combined with the long-winded descriptions of this book and the chapter lengths, I just found it so boring to read at times. It wasn't until about halfway that I could actually maintain the pace I was reading at as the action started to pick up then. The author did do a great job at making the writing styles unique to each of the twins, but I did find that I just really didn't enjoy reading Noah's chapters as they were too lyrical, confusing and not to the point. This book would have been so much more enjoyable to read if the long chapters had been divided into smaller, more tolerable chapters.

If you just read all of that, then thank you so much, I know it was a long one. Let me know in the comments if you have read any of these and what your thoughts on them are, I would love to know!
Grace xx

4 comments:

  1. Moxie sounds llike an amazing book! I can totally relate with not being able to read as many books anymore due to school. Loved this post! xx

    www.lifeasnajida.co.uk

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  2. Moxie sounds sooo good! I'm on the hunt for a new book, just finished Little Fires Everywhere so this post came at the perfect time :)

    Anika | anikamay.co.uk

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    Replies
    1. Let me know what you think if you do read it!xx

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