Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines 
by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer

OK. Where do I start with this one? Hmmm.
I was really hoping for a lot with this book, but it ended up being a hit and miss for me.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

BIG LITTLE LIES by Liane Moriarty

Wow. BLL has been sitting on my desk next to my laptop for months! Months and months. This post is so overdue. Woops! Sorry to anyone who was waiting for this.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Liane Moriarty is, as you probably already know, one of my favourite authors in the world. AND she's Australian.

Her books are hilarious and intelligent, her characters are authentic and believable, her stories are out-of-this-world entertaining, and her writing is unmatchable in quality and execution. I got to see her at the Perth Writers Festival this year, which was amaaazzzinnggg.

Big Little Lies is her latest release (she's written quite a number of novels, and I haven't read all of them yet but I WILL!) and it has a murder mystery! Someone has been killed, and at a primary school quiz night, no less! The characters are so captivating, the plot can't help but entice, and the writing delivers the whole package together so brilliantly.

There are some heavy things some of the characters go through that are pretty serious and challenging, such as domestic violence, but Liane touched upon them with finesse and grounded authenticity. I absolutely love the way Liz Byrski worded it when she talked about this at the Perth Writers Festival in a panel along with Liane. Liz described them as "dark, contentious issues dealt with very lightly and never trivially".

I'm really excited for this book to be adapted to the screen - especially with Reese Witherspoon playing Madeline and Nicole Kidman playing Celeste.

My rating: 4.5 stars

New on my bookshelf [insta-edition]

Hi! Welcome to the Instagram edition of what's "new on my bookshelf"! 

I only started using Instagram this year, so I'm pretty late on the bandwagon. You can follow me if you like, @arielle.yeap 

Saw @xtinemay's booktalk for this and had to get it. #newonmybookshelf #chimneysandmagic #betweenthelines

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer: I'm currently reading this one, and I only really got it because I heard Christine talking about it and the premise sounded really cool, and then I saw it in Big W and thought may as well just pick this up now. It's about Delilah, an unpopular girl in high school who is kinda obsessed with the prince in this fairy tale book from her school library. So much so, she keeps loaning the book out and constantly rereads it. Then one day, she notices some small changes in the book, and the prince starts talking to her! He wants her to get him OUT. He's stuck in the book, stuck on the pages and worst of all, stuck in a life he constantly has to relive. So far, I'm liking this - it's a pretty light read. The foreword at the beginning, written by Jodi Picoult, is sweet. 

new #YA from one of my fave authors @sophiekinsellawriter #chimneysandmagic #newonmybookshelf 😍📖😍

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella: When I first heard Sophie Kinsella (one of my all time favourite authors) was releasing a YA, I was overjoyed. Then I forgot about it, and suddenly, it was well into 2015 and Finding Audrey was out! I got it, took a piccy of it, and now it's pretty much on the very top of my TBR. I really can't wait to read this. I don't even know what it's about and I don't need to because it's Sophie Kinsella and she never disappoints.

Allegiance by Wanda Wiltshire

Allegiance - Wanda Wiltshire

After reading Betrothed and posting its very first review back in 2013, I was excited to receive Allegiance last year shortly after its release date. Wanda personally requested a print copy for me, which I adore her for! But to be honest, I adore her anyway, just for creating such a beautifully fantastical world and story.

It's taken me a long time to finally finish the book (I haven't been reading anything at all, apart from some children's books here & there). But I really want to start getting back into it. I have a few books I'm excited to read, which is something I didn't have for a long time. Anyway, I wanted to start off with finishing Allegiance first. 

Allegiance is a wonderful continuation from Betrothed in that the tone of the story hasn't changed a lot, although many, many things are different. Marla's human friends live in Faera now, which is great, and we see so much more of the world of faeries, but there's still one foot in the real world (the human world). I've always loved the combination of worlds - the world-building is done very well, Wanda paints a gorgeous picture of Faera and I just want to escape to that world all the time.