Rating:Tia and Will’s lives get flipped upside down when they’re voted Yearbook’s Biggest Flirts in this sassy novel from the author of Endless Summer and The One That I Want.
Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She can’t get enough of his Midwestern accent and laidback swagger.
As the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. Tia’s seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn’t interested in commitment. But pushing Will away drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia tells herself it’s no big deal…until the yearbook elections are announced. Getting voted Biggest Flirts with Will is, well, awkward. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will’s new relationship—and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. What started as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated…
So, I fed my book addiction and bought this book on the day of it’s release. I don’t do that too often, unless it’s a part of a series. I don’t like to commit before I know everything about a book, you know?
My initial thoughts
So, I initially adored this book. I loved Tia and her laidback attitude. I loved how she was completely aware of how people viewed her, that she was viewed as a bit easy and a bit loose, but she was happy with that, because she had her own morals about how to act, what she did, and she had some major issues to contend with. I loved how she was a total slacker who was dead intelligent, a mild cliché, and that she didn’t have any plans on life. She was as directionless as I was at 18 and she had actual issues. I loved her dad and how she and her entire family are completely underestimated because of appearances, people just assume things about them without really knowing anything about them.
I loved Tia’s friends, they were all so different, but they complemented each other. Well, they did when they weren’t hating on each other anyway. I also loved that Tia had so many different friends, she didn’t get all cliquey or anything. I liked that she was friends with the head cheerleader but she was in marching band, something which is classed as being terribly geeky, or I assume it is (I’m not American, I don’t know how these things work). I also adored Sawyer, I predicted his whole storyline, but I adored him, even when he was being a typical male. Will was lovely, I love how Tia did the same thing everyone does to her, took him at his appearance and making assumptions about him. Will was such a nice guy, so sweet and lovely, with some typical boy issues, but completely pleasant.
My thoughts after a few days of finishing
So, I loved the characters. I love the premise of these series, that people have formed judgements of folks at school, without necessarily knowing anything about them, and cast voted for senior superlatives. I enjoyed reading how these titles affected other peoples’ view of others and that they formed an opinion based upon them. I think that is like the biggest theme of the book, forming opinions on people based upon appearance.
I wish there had been more to this book, though. I feel like they only scratched the surface of the characters and Echols could have done so much more with them. I mean, we vaguely understand Tia’s mega commitment issues, it was touched on with what happened with her mom, but it was not explored. Her relationship with her dad was touched upon, but not explored. Her relationship with her sisters was touched on but not explored, hell one of them we did not even get to see. And that is just Tia’s family, I mean, do we ever really learn anything about Will. He is touched upon as being a shy guy who sounds pretty awesome, had a conscience and is willing to put up with Tia’s bullshit, but he never gets developed into a fully fledged character. I think we learned more about Sawyer than we did about Will, how ridiculous is that?
Would I recommend this to others
This was a lovely easy light read. It probably doesn’t deserve my four star rating, but I liked it. Despite the lack of depth to this book, I really did enjoy it, because it was a promising read that didn’t disappoint, it just didn’t live up to its full potential, and I don’t think that’s a major flaw. If you want a light easy read set in a high school in Florida then for the love of God, read this book. This is a perfect light read. You will enjoy it. It won’t cause you stress. It is probably a good book palate cleanser.
So, has anyone else read this book? Did you enjoy it and am I completely off base with my view of it not living up to its full potential? Does anyone else have book palate cleanser recommendations, because we always need a good book to refresh us after an intense read?
So, it’s a freebie week this Tuesday and as The Broke and the Bookish are not going to give me a nice easy topic to complete this Tuesday I am going to make my own. This week I am going to tell you the ten books I wish would be made into films or a TV series. It’s probably been done before but oh well. Also, can anyone tell this post was thrown together quite last minute? I have spent my bank holiday weekend watching lots of TV (I’m like all caught up with Eastenders because the whole Mick and Shirley storyline drew me in,also I adore Danny Dyer, I think my entire family finds it a bit strange, but he is so hilarious) and doing very little. I have descended into an Arrow fanfiction reading frenzy, it normally happens at the end of season whilst I attempt to fill the void during the summer hiatus.
So first up is Fangirl, I see it as being like an awesome coming of age drama type film. It would be a low-key indie affair shot with a limited budget to reflect real college life, with realistic fashion. I’m thinking it would come across a bi Disney channel movie,a bit made for TV, but it would be freaking awesome. Inspired by the video below.
I think Good Omens would make a hilarious film or TV series. I’m thinking maybe a mini series, like one of those three episode ones? I know there have been a few rumours bandied around
I would really like to see Matthew Reily’s Seven Ancient Wonders be made into a film series. It would be amazing. The books are already written as if they were action films, short sentences, fast paced action and even pictures for the child in you, or to demonstrate what’s being discussed.
Fearless series by Francine Pascal would make an amazing TV series. I know they made a pilot episode once, but they did it all wrong. If they had actually followed the books it would have made an amazing TV series, I would love to see that happen. I can see it now, it would be on The CW it would be a bit like arrow, being a grittier TV drama than, say, The Vampire Diaries.
I would love to see the The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix adapted into a film or something. It would be stunning, I’m sure. I don’t know how they’d do it, since the first book is set way before the other two, but I bet they could, and it would be awesome.
I would have loved to see The Princess Diaries as a TV series, like one of those Disney channel ones, or like on Nickelodeon, with someone who was actually still at the beginning of high school, let’s ignore the travesty of the films. I mean they were sweet, but really a loose interpretation of the books.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies would have made a hilarious film. Like genuinely. A spoof film of that book would have been aces. Especially if they could make fun of the adaptations of the original book that have already happened.
I would love to see Cecilia Ahern’s book A Place Called Here adapted to the small or big screen. I think it would be ace n the small screen, a sort of Pushing Daisies style TV show which is sickeningly pretty to look at filled with mysteries of lost things appearing and the stories behind it. It would b such a nice TV show I think.
I always wanted to see a good adaptation of any of Jennifer Crusie’s books, they are all so good, maybe Bet Me. Bet Me was deemed by Crusie as the book she always wanted to write when she ventured into the chick-lie genre, and so once she wrote it she stopped writing that style f book. I always kind of wanted to see a rom-com film adapted from it, because it would be an ace rom-com, it really would
I’ve mentioned this series a few times, but there is a reason for it. It is good. I would quite like to see an adaptation of A Discovery of Witches. I reckon it would make a good TV series, because they are some long ass books. It would probably have to be on something like HBO because there are some sex scenes, which could be edited out I guess, but I feel that would mess with some of the tension of the first book. Maybe if it was shot artfully it could be on a different network. I don’t know why I’m assuming all these shows would have to be made by American networks, I suppose it’s because I can’t see British channels investing in these adaptations.
Anyone else got some book they wish would get adapted for the big or small screen? I’d love to hear about them if you do.
Hi Guys. So, this week was a slower week, like a speedy week for reading, but a slow week for blogging and life in general. I do have some exciting new , though. I’ve booked a holiday to go to America! I am off in September for 10 days to the lovely New Orleans. I am going with my family, there is no shame at being 23 and holidaying with my family because I will be in America so nothing will ruin it for me. I did realise I will be in America for the release of the new in the Throne of Glass series, but I figure that with my hotels complementary wifi I can download the book on my kindle, or I can buy it a bookshop if needs be. And, it also gives me a reason to re-read the series, because I need to entertain myself on the plane, so I can read, which will be awesome.
I am extremely excited about my holiday, it is still a few months away, but I feel like I should plan everything now. It also means I am going to be on a spending curbing. I was going to write spending ban, but I just can’t do that to myself. I know my entire September wage slip is going to turn into my spending money, but I also need to start buying nice things to take with me, so I am going to be more reserved in my spending, beginning when I get paid on Friday. Until Friday I am probably going to be buying stuff like crazy, but that’s the way it goes.
So I’ve read quote a few books this week, and I enjoyed all of them. How has no one been raving about Kody Keplinger. I read all three of these books like back to back in the space of three days and they were awesome. They contended with issues without shoving them down your throat, they felt quite real to me. I really enjoyed them and I have to wonder why I’ve never heard much about these books aside from being recommended them on Amazon. Who knows? They were good anyway, everyone should go out and read them now.
So, I ordered the five season box set of Friday Night Lights this week. I had a strong urge to watch it after reading All Lined Up by Cora Carmack a little while ago. I have a thing for sports films and TV shows, I have no interest in the sport, but I really enjoy to the drama when watching it on TV. It makes no sense to me, but that is how I role.
After reading 6 books this week I’ve been left in a bit of a reading slump, I just don’t know what to read next. I can’t really claim it is a slump, because it has only been a day since I finished my last book, but, for me, that is a slump. If anyone had any book recommendations please list them below, I am always on the look out for new books. And if anyone has any New Orleans recommendations for my holiday please start telling me about them now, they can be places to go, things to do, shops to visit, advise on stuff to remember to take with me. Anything guys.
This post is dedicated to the lovely Aimee over at What Aimee Read Next because she gave me the award in the first place. It was extremely flattering to receive this, especially when I am only a couple of months into this blogging business. I then realised I don’t follow many folks with a smaller follower base, so I had to go blog reading to find some folks who deserve the award, whose blogs I like and want to read, and who seem like they are nice and deserve it. I think the most difficult part was finding blogs with less than three hundred followers. I don’t know how you lot do it. So, I would like to say sorry this post took so damn long, over two weeks I’ve been lurking about on blogs trying to figure out if someone had a big or a small following and whether or not they’d been nominated before. I would like to say now, anyone who I have nominated who had it before, sorry, but be flattered that people like you.
So what is the Liebster Award? How does it work? What do you have to do?
These were all questions I asked myself after being informed I was being given it. Luckily for me all the rules were listed over on Aimee's website, so it was dead easy for me to figure out
The Rules:
- List 11 facts about yourself.
- Answer the 11 questions asked by whoever nominated you.
- Ask 11 new questions to 9 bloggers with less than 300 followers.
- You cannot re-nominate the blog that nominated you.
- Go to their blog and tell them that they have been nominated!
11 Facts About Me
- I studied History at university. I graduated with a 2:2 and had an enjoyable three years studying at Lancaster university. Whilst there I lived with the same people people for all three years, they became some of my best friends. And, just so you all know, I loved studying History, it was one of my favourite subjects, and no, I do not plan on using my degree with whatever job I have. It is too difficult, too competitive and requires further education which I can neither afford or be bothered with.
- I love computer games. I cannot afford to get these fancy new consoles, the X-Box One and the PS4 (I mean, seriously, we’re on the fourth one already, I still like to play games on my old school Playstation) and so I am not sure about all these new games and that. I have three games or series that I am dedicated to. I love Pokemon, even going so far as to buy a Nintendo 3DS simply to play Pokemon Y. I love The Sims, which I think I’ve told you all before. And, I love the Final Fantasy series. I love it enough that I am almost tempted to save my pennies so be able to get the new one on PS4, but I won’t. Also I’m terrible at games, genuinely horrible at them, but I enjoy playing them.
- I love music. I have over 70GB of music on my laptop. I did not realise how much there was until I just checked. It is obscene, really. I do not listen to it all, I don’t have the time to try and listen to it all. Some of it I probably haven’t listened to in months. It’s all a part of this spending impulse control problem I have, I want something and so I buy it. It’s not a problem which is exclusive to my book buying addiction. It is simply a problem I have.
- I have a weird thing where I have to read books in order. Even in series where the books don’t necessarily need to be read in order. You know, the series set in the same place with different characters, I have to read those in order as well. It’s not that weird, but it is at the same time.
- I like fanfiction. I read it often. I used to read more, but since starting my blog I’ve cut down some, because there are so many books to be read.Sometimes, when I’m bored, I do still like to sample a fanfic or two. I think that they are just a bit easier than starting a book sometimes because you don’t have to get to know new characters, you just dive right into the story and enjoy. I won’t reveal all my fandoms, not unless you really want to know. If you do I may do a post on it.
- I really like clothes. I don’t always tell you folks about my love of fashion, but I properly love clothes. I don’t go anywhere so can’t really justify buying a lot of things, but there is nothing more than enjoy that having a shopping binge where I just add clothes to my basket and see how much it costs (it normally goes into the hundreds) it is an evening well spent.
- I still live at home with my mom. I little cringe worthy at the age of twenty-three, but the British housing market is expensive and difficult to break into, and a mortgage is not something I can afford. Also, as my many friends have told me, why waste money paying rent for a rubbish apartment when I can pay a pittance to stay home and have my laundry done and meals cooked. This way I can save for my ‘future’.
- I have a thing for Home stuff, and housing programmes. I often watch shows like Grand Designs and Location, Location, Location and it makes me happy to sit and look at all the things I will one day buy for my future home. It is probably part of getting older, but I was doing this when I was still at school, so I think it is just a me thing.
- I cannot drive. Not even a little bit. I have never sat behind the wheel of a car. I may learn to drive eventually, but currently my provisional license is for use as ID only. The only reason I got my provisional license to begin with was because my passport was looking battered and it just is not acceptable to use as ID when you are going to a club.
- My favourite season is winter, because both Christmas and my birthday fall in that season, but weather wise I prefer Autumn. I also prefer Autumn for the fashion that comes out. I adore summer clothing, it is so pretty, but I have a complete inability to endure warm weather, ain’t it the worst?
- Finally, because I am currently scraping the barrel on stuff to tell you all about myself, I will reveal something I rarely tell anyone I actually know, let alone internet folk. I am from a single parent family, not such big news I know, but my dad died when I was a baby, a car accident. I will not go into the details, because I don’t know it all. Why am I writing this to you all? It is kind of important to know because it means I properly love books where there is a strong family bond and I find it so interesting to read about different family dynamics because I have never experienced some of the more stereotypical family situations. I am fully aware no family is the same, but books with families playing important roles in a book intrigue me.
My answers to 11 questions
How do you feel about e-books?
I have no real opinion about e-books. I own a Kindle and love it, so I suppose I am an e-book supporter. E-books are great, convenient and really useful for reading on the move. I love being able to carry around a mini library with me without having the weight involved. I do love normal books, they look great on my shelf and they are so pretty, but with limited living space at home I do not have the luxury of buying loads of books.
What is your favourite genre and why?
I want to say fantasy, because it the genre which intrigues me most. It is true escapism at its best in book form. It’s more likely to be contemporary, though. It is my go to genre, anything with a good romance and I am happy. It is amazing, it keeps me so happy. I think it’s my comfort genre, so that must make it my favourite in a sense then.
Why did you start blogging?
I was inspired by the numerous blogs I read. I was reading so many book blogs and I wanted to voice my own opinion. I was previously writing shoddy reviews on GoodReads, so I decided to commit and create a blog. I had attempted a blog a couple of times before, but I think I committed to this one because I have a passion for books and reading, and I enjoy posting.
What is something weird that you do whilst reading?
I don’t do many weird things. I pull a lot of faces whilst reading, I frown and scowl, stick my tongue out for no apparent reason, I think it’s to help me concentrate. I also talk to my books, just as I shout at characters in films, I do the same to the folks in my books. When I find something cringe-worthy I have to look away because I can feel the embarrassment. I am a very involved reader.
Who is your favourite background/support character?
This is a difficult one, each book I read I develop a love for a secondary character, so it changes each week. Currently, I am loving Haymitch from The Hunger Games. He was essentially me in a middle aged drunk’s body. I am angry cynical and angry, as is Haymitch, but he still has a heart f gold. I was so angry at Katniss in the third book, partly because of how she treated Haymitch, I wanted so much more from him in the third book, and he got marginalised because of Katniss. I still love that series, but I did miss the hilariousness of those moments with Haymitch in it.What is the one book that you really hated but everyone else seemed to love?
This is a hard one. I want to say Smoke and Bone and the entire Grisha series, but I didn’t hate it, I just wasn’t in love with it. There was emotional disconnect, I discussed that over here, and I just did not care enough about any of those characters, I know that is a series everyone loved. I also want to say Twilight, but considering the mega divide between camps with those books I can’t claim everyone loved the series. I also didn’t like Beautiful Disaster, but that was another marmite series, much for the same reason as Twilight was. I can’t claim there is any book I have majorly hated, because I tend to stop reading if I don’t enjoy something. There are several books I did not enjoy as much as everyone else did
What is your fandom of choice?
Are we talking book fandom here? Id we are then it will be Harry Potter every time. It is the best fandom for what I have seen of it, everyone is nice and happy and nice. It’s one of the better communities to be a part of. But my fandom of choice in general? I reckon that’s a cross between the Browncoats and the entire V Mars fandom as both are so nice. I think they were just such nice fandoms, probably because everything has already happened. Everything had been released and the canon is set in stone, so it is essentially all the core fans sticking together to power through the end of something and helping to relive all the memories. God, that sounds weird. But those are my key fandoms, I think, because they are all so damn lovely.
Other than reading what is your passion?
I don’t know if I have a passion outside of reading. I really love TV, but that’s not a passion. I don’t view it as one, anyway. I really quite enjoy blogging, a chance to write is nice. I don’t ever really have much to write about, but I try. I do actually enjoy fiction writing, but I’m not very good at it. I don’t know if any of you have noticed but my grasp on the English language and the correct use of grammar and punctuation is severely lacking. It’s a bit concerning considering I am a university graduate who did an essay based degree, but what can you do? I used to love drawing, but I gradually lost the time to be able to dedicate any time to it. Instead, I stick with reading and let my imagination create the images I was never able to manipulate my hand into imitating on paper.
What canon OTP would you change?
I would change Cassie and Adam from The Secret Circle. I always wanted her to end up with Nick, who was way cooler. I was heartbroken when that didn’t happen. I was sure Cassie would realise you cannot instantly fall in love with a dude from a distance and realise this boy who was helping to support her who was watching out for her was worth her time. She didn’t and poor Nick got left on his lonesome, passed up for bloke who was completely willing to leave is long time girlfriend, whom he had cheated on with Cassie, because of some crazy ‘connection’ they had. What a joke.
What book series really needs a TV/movie adaptation?
Well, I don’t really know. I quite like my book staying as books, because so rarely do TV or film adaptations live up to that which you imagined when reading. It is just too difficult to please everyone when it comes to adaptations, which often leaves everyone unhappy. But, if I had to choose, I would quite like to see Fangirl adapted into a film. This is based purely on the below YouTube video I saw, which was absolute perfection and I wanted to see more.
What was the last book I read and why should you read it?
Well, my most recent finished read was Something Like Normal by Trish Doller. I am hoping to write up a review on it, but it was amazing. I know a few folks have recommended it and raved about it, and I enjoyed it. It was too short for my liking and it didn’t quite delve enough into some of the background facts for my liking, but it was a really enjoyable read. Everyone should read it because it is classed as a New Adult book by many, but it is a really original book. It is from a male perspective, surprising
Who I am nominating for this prestigious award
- Abby @ Enthralling Reads
- Paige @ Oh My Fangirly
- Genevieve @ The Reading Shelf
- Sarah @ The Everyday Reader
- Rachel @ Confessions of a Book Geek
- Allison @ The Allure of Books
- Carina @ All About Books
- Keeley @ Lost in the Pages of Books
- Jazzie @ The Book Dancer
My Questions for my nominees
- What is your preferred reading format? E-book, paperback, hardback?
- If you could only recommend one book for another to read what would it be and why?
- One of the recent themes of Top 10 Tuesday was if you like this TV show or film you should read this, provide a book recommendation based on your favourite film or TV show.
- Where is your favourite place to read?
- What is your opinion on commenting on blog posts?
- What is your most anticipated read of 2014?
- We all know about blogger hype, which book have you read which did not live up to the hype?
- Name one author whose books you will always read.
- There are certain bloggers whose opinions I value of others, when they give a good review I will go out of my way to read that book. Name a blogger whose opinions you value of others and explain why?
- What is your favourite part of blogging? The book tours, the reviews, the memes, the community…?
- Where did your blog name come from?
Well, that’s all from me then. Thank you for visiting, please comment below, I guess? Got no smart or relevant questions to ask to encourage commenting today, so until next time.
In Your Eyes (2014)
Rating:
Synopsis (from IMDB):
In the frozen East Coast winter, Rebecca is withering away in a life of cocktail parties and lonely nights as the sheltered, soft-spoken wife of a successful doctor. Across the country in sun-drenched, arid New Mexico, charismatic ex-con Dylan is struggling to find his footing and a fresh start. When these polar opposites realize they share an inexplicable connection, a unique metaphysical romance begins.
I watched In Your Eyes This weekend. I have been intending to watch it ever since I heard that it was simultaneously being aired at the Tribeca Film Festival and being released online and available for rental. This is a very Veronica Mars style approach to a film release, and I like it. So, I had been holding out about renting, not because I didn’t want to see it, but more because I was a bit wary about using my card on the Vimeo website. No offense to Vimeo, but how can I be sure that they have a completely secure website? However, this weekend, I chose to give in to my desire to see this film, because I properly wanted to see it.
Now, this is my very immediate reaction to the film. I thought it was freaking amazing! There are barely words to describe how much I loved it. As soon as it ended my brother walked up the stairs, I had not seen him all day, so we were having the usual how’s your day been chat and I immediately stated I had been watching more of Joss Whedon’s genius at work and flailed about the film and he was amazed about how excited I was about this film. I was bouncing around, literally flailing about the film and describing how brilliant it was. Now, this was surprising to him because I rarely get so excited about anything, ever. SO my absolute glee about this film was surprising and excellent sign of the films quality. Although, I may be slightly biased as Joss Whedon is a freaking genius who I worship a little bit. I mean, he is the creator of both Buffy and Firefly, and he directed The Avengers. How could you not love everything this man has ever done, ever.
When you rent this film you pay $5 for 72 hours of streaming time, it was extremely difficult to resist the urge to go ahead and just watch this film on repeat all weekend. It is such a beautiful film. It was so well done. The settings, the direction, the casting, and the music choices. They were all superb. I went on a crazy hunt for the music of this film as soon as it ended. I am a sucker for music in films, it helps set a mood, and I always want to own it instantly, it’s the same for music in TV shows, I need songs that are in the emotional scenes so every time I listen to it I will remember whatever I was watching.
Back to the film. It was just superb. It is a completely unique story. It is the typical boy meets girl romance in so many ways, so it could be viewed as a cliché. There’s the boy from the wrong side of the tracks (or the law in this case) a bad boy with a heart of gold. Then there is the privileged girl who is living the ‘perfect life’ with her doctor husband, her big house, and her privileged life. It’s a star-crossed lovers style romance, with a twist. They live at different ends of the country and happen to be connected in some strange way where they each possess the ability to see through the other’s eyes, quite literally. It was quirky, it was heart-warming and it was funny. Although things you want to see in a film which is centred around two people falling in love. It was a bit dramatic at times. It was a bit predictable in places. It was all so well done, though, that you didn’t care that it recycled over used plot points, because it was not noticeable. It refreshed so many old tropes and ideas and made it unique within the space of this film.
I won’t spoil anything for anyone. I want everyone to watch this film. I want everyone to enjoy it as much as I have. It was the highlight of my weekend. The perfect way to unwind after a hot sticky day sat in an office doing boring and repetitive work. It broke the tedium and helped me relax on a Friday evening. I could not have asked for a more perfect film to unwind to. It deserves my extremely high rating, not just because it is a Whedon creation, but because it is such a wonderful creation in itself. Please watch it.
If that hasn’t interested you enough then please see the video below and see if that interests you.
Has anyone else seen this film, yet? Did you like it too? Does anyone have any suggestions which are similar to this film? You should all know I am a sucker for a good indie romance drama type film. Until next time then.
I don’t know where my weeks go anymore. Tuesday just keeps happening. You know what Tuesday means, right? Another Top 10 Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish and this weeks theme is all about friendships in books. I am attempting to bring up different books in my posts, so I struggled a bit, I feel like I’ve read more books than I can ever manage to think of when it comes to these posts.
This is mega friendship all about two girls who have been friends forever, through thick and thin. They stick together no matter what, and it is beautiful. Sure, there are girl fights and girl conflicts, but they can say the most hurtful things (and they do hurt because know each others worst fears and worst actions) yet they are always there for each other. Cos, that’s what you do for your bff.
Look, we all know JK Rowling came out against the whole Ron/Hermione pairing, but before all the romantic issues there was this epic threesome of a friendship. They fight, there are tears, betrayal and jealousy, but damn if they don’t support each other, even if one of them is being a bit of a knobhead. They are the best friends, they help each other, they cause trouble together. They are as thick as thieves. These book centre around Harry and his insane adventures with his two best friends.
Karou and Zuze have the greatest friendship, like, in the first book it’s sweet and lovely. They get though some tough troubles, what with the lies and the deception. In the second book it gets even more intense. Zuze is dedicated in her loyalty to Karou, girl solves a non-riddle and treks across a dessert for that girl. Then, in the final book they cross worlds together. This is a full dedicated friendship, I wish I had a friend who loved my enough to travel across worlds to hang out
Okay, so this is a more one sided style of friendship, considering that this is the friendship aftermath you witness. But, the way Travis mourns for Charlie shows how good friends they were. Despite the fact that they knew each other for such a short length of time, they bonded in extreme conditions and they were close. Travis was friends with all of his unit, and I love all their friendships in this book, but the love between Travis and Charlie brought tears to my eyes.
So, I know everyone has heard of Gossip Girl, I loved the TV series, but before that there were the books. I got the first one free with some teen magazine and I was addicted, I was buying them as they got released. Blair and Serena had the most dramatic friendship none to man, but it was lovely. I loved the drama and the ridiculousness of it all. I adored the drama and their rich upper east side life, it was epic. These books involve plenty of people, but they were some of my favourites.
I liked Katniss and Johanna’s friendship made Catching Fire for me. There were lots of friendships which I loved in this series, though. I loved the friendship between Gale and Katniss, before the whole romance issue. I adored the relationship which developed between Peeta, Katniss and Haymitch. Essentially, I liked Katniss’ friendship with everyone.
This had the most heart-warming friendship going on here. It is a real friendship, they have been together through the good and the bad. It is the kind of friendship which endures criticism and with the pair being honest with each other, no matter how much the truth hurts. It is right up there in one of my favourite bookish friendships, because it is the kind of friendship everyone wants to have.
I am digging deep for some of these books about friendship. This book has an excellent girl power friendship. All Sarra Manning’s books from my teen years do, because girl power was an important thing to promote (because, yeah, I totally listened to the Spice Girls, as all self respecting girls did back in the day). These girls formed a band and kicked some butt, and then things fell apart, but it began well.
I know everyone has heard of this book or seen the film. It was a decent book and a good film. The friendships in the book were fantastic, you could really relate to Charlie in a lot of ways, his awkwardness and eagerness to fit in with these people who have claimed him as a friend. The way Patrick and Sam instantly welcome him into the group is lovely. This entire book is about friendship and fitting in, and a few other major issues, I suppose.
I know this book is not technically about friendship, but the relationship between a person and their dog is basically on the same level as a best friend. Seriously, I love my dog, I would probably place his importance above that of some of my friends, and equal with my best friends. This book is about the profound relationship between man and dog, and it is freaking awesome, way better than some book about friends. Or on par with them at least.
Well, that’s it from me. I promise my blog is to become more than Top 10 Tuesday posts, even though they are easy as I don’t have to come up with an idea. Anyway, I’ll be back soon with some more posts and witty comments. Or comments at least.
So, it’s been another dull week. Summer has hit in the UK and I have spent my week sweating away and slowly becoming more irritable. I love summer for the fashion, I hate it for the temperature.
So I haven’t read that much this week. Just an array of New Adult books. I don’t think I’ve ever told you all, but when I read, I do pick books at random, but I also tend to get stuck in a genre for an indeterminate amount of time. I just keep reading until the genre bores me and becomes repetitive, and then a reading slump tends to hit. Sometimes I can get myself out of it, but currently I can’t, because I am enjoying what I am reading. I would strongly recommend some of these books, such as Cora Carmack’s new book, and Something Like Normal. I think the only book I wouldn’t recommend is Fallen Too Far, it is the kind of book that is helping give the NA genre a bad name. It isn’t well written, it’s a ridiculous story. It’s is just absurd, so many things in that book what just ignored. I did have to finish it, though.
So these are the main things I have seen this week, as well as carrying on with my Veronica Mars rewatch (I almost bought the film and DVD, which is stupid because I bought the film on Amazon Prime as soon as it was released, but a physical copy would be nice). The Other Woman was a good film, at the cinema I felt like I was the only person laughing, well, apart from the friends I went to go see it with. It was funny, though. I don’t get how everyone else didn’t get that. Leslie Mann was absolutely hysterical. At some points I was in tears from laughing. I would recommend it to anyway who fancies a comedy that has some romance in it. I also watched In Your Eyes, the awesome new Joss Whedon creation. It was a wonderful and beautiful film, you guys should go watch it immediately. I plan on posting about it later, actually.
And that has pretty much been my week. I now plan to sit in front of a fun and attempt to not sweat to death. It’s tragic, it’s only like 22 degrees, I should not be struggling with this kind of heat. I’ll get over it, I’m sure. I’ll see you guys later. Please, tell me about your weeks. Anyone read or watched anything good this week?
Tease – Amanda Maciel
Released: 1st May 2014 (UK)
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads
From debut author Amanda Maciel comes a provocative and unforgettable novel, inspired by real-life incidents, about a teenage girl who faces criminal charges for bullying after a classmate commits suicide.
Emma Putnam is dead, and it's all Sara Wharton's fault. At least, that's what everyone seems to think. Sara, along with her best friend and three other classmates, has been criminally charged for the bullying and harassment that led to Emma's shocking suicide. Now Sara is the one who's ostracized, already guilty according to her peers, the community, and the media. In the summer before her senior year, in between meetings with lawyers and a court-recommended therapist, Sara is forced to reflect on the events that brought her to this moment—and ultimately consider her own role in an undeniable tragedy. And she'll have to find a way to move forward, even when it feels like her own life is over.
With its powerful narrative, unconventional point of view, and strong anti-bullying theme, this coming-of-age story offers smart, insightful, and nuanced views on high school society, toxic friendships, and family relationships.
For me, this book was not good. I probably shouldn’t have read it after the reviews I’d already saying that it wasn’t a great book, but I decided to go ahead and form my own opinion. My own opinion, sadly, is very similar to a lot of other peoples. It’s an issue book, I don’t know what I was thinking. Issue books don’t really appeal to me, they are too frequently preachy, and as a twenty-three year old I feel like I have learnt the lessons the books are so often preaching about. So, essentially, I read these books and find the message is so often what I would view as common sense.
So, the message of the book is sound. Bullying is bad. I mean, that’s a no brainer. It also teaches that so often people have their own public persona which they have developed to prevent themselves from getting hurt. People are often not who they appear on the surface, a good lesson, especially for teenagers. I think people often forget that people aren’t always who they pretend to be, especially true when you’re at school and you are attempting to either draw attention to yourself, or avoid it. SO the whole bullying and not taking people at face value are some excellent lessons, but a boring one. It is an excellent lesson for teenagers, as I said, so the book did well in promoting that message.
That wasn’t my issue with the book, though. It has a good message, the execution is shoddy, though. I had no sympathy for Sara, which is true for everyone at first. She doesn’t present herself as too likable. I expected to read a book from the bully’s perspective and find that the bully (Sara) grew and learnt significant lessons, especially with all the fallout which had happened in the book. I don’t feel like you got that though. Any lesson Sara learnt, any character development which occurred felt forced simply to help support the message which Maciel wanted to put across with this book. Nothing felt genuine. I don’t feel like Sara felt any genuine remorse for her actions. You read the book with her continually blaming everyone else for what happened. Where was the message of owning up and taking responsibility for your actions?
I don’t think the book was well executed. It was a good idea to try and have a moral book about bullying, writing from the perspective of the bully, but I feel the story was forced, rather a natural progression. I don’t know. I am a firm believer that people should read a book for themself before forming an opinion. This is just my opinion. You may feel differently.
That time of the week again. So, this week The Broke and the Bookish had proposed I tell you all about the books I almost put down, but didn’t.
Don't shout at me, but I did almost put it down about halfway through. Everyone raved about it, but I just didn’t connect with it. I like it, it intrigued me, but it wasn’t love. I kind of just didn’t care. I persevered, though. I get why people liked it, even if it wasn’t love for me.
Again, don’t shout. I liked this book, at least. I did struggle with it to begin with. It was slow, it appeared quite predictable, I could not grasp why everyone was raving. The raving made me continue, and I am so glad I did.
This book I struggled big time with, I’m sure I’ve told you all that before. I did enjoy it, but when I first attempted to read this it was too big and unwieldy for my enjoyment. Attempt number two was much better, I am so glad I tried again with it.
Divergent was a book I picked up several times and didn’t quite manage to get into it. Eventually I got into it and loved it, and went on to be disappointed by the rest of the series, but what can you do?
This series I, again, began several times but didn’t get hooked. It was an interesting premise, but I simply could not get hooked on the story. Eventually I was, it was freaking awesome, but it took a while, you know? I do strongly recommend this series to everyone. I know we are all tried of dystopians, but this one is definitely an original premise.
I am currently reading this. I have gone to read it several times, as everyone is always saying it’s awesome. I began, was a bit bored, then boo it drew me in and I couldn’t stop reading.
Another raved about book. I think that is becoming a theme, people rave about a book, I start reading it, then I’m left wondering why. I get why they raved about this one, but when I began I just was not in the mood for it. Several pick ups later and I couldn’t put it down.
The Diviners I have mentioned before, I read it, stopped for a while because I didn’t like it, then continued reading because I had nothing else which had taken my fancy on my kindle. It was a good book, just takes a while to get into, the protagonist is not the most likable.
I began reading this back when I was like eleven or something. Back when these books were being released as films. I started reading them several times, because they are long, unwieldy and dead hard to read. They were way beyond my reading level, but I persevered and I am glad I can say I have read these books, I don’t know when I will read them again, though.
I know I’ve mentioned this too. I began reading this a couple of times, and put it down. It was long and daunting and I never was quite in the right mood to power through, then, for whatever reason I carried on reading. Anyone else a bit wary of reading it, please do, it’s long and worth it.
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