P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

 

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

 

This sequel to 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' was cute, light, fun and just plain old lovely.

The book started off where the first book left us - Lara Jean and Peter realising their relationship is way more than pretend, and their reality is just beginning. It's cute, it's exciting, and it's everything we've wanted since the first book. It had me all giddy and bubbly, the way LJ and Peter got together! That porch scene was perf.  

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. 

Canvas Bound by Laura M Kolar | CANVAS TOUR | Review

THE CANVAS TOUR

As part of the blog tour for Laura M Kolar's Canvas Bound, I'm participating with two posts - today's is my review and on September 7th I'll be posting an exclusive interview with the author, Laura, right here on C&M! 

Click here for more of The Canvas Tour!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Now onto the post! 

Canvas Bound by Laura M Kolar

(Book #1 of the Captive Art series )

The thing that prompted me to join this blog tour was the main concept of the novel - painting artwork that came to life... paintings you could literally step into - the idea fascinated me and it turned out to be what I loved most about the book. Click here to read the synopsis - it's what made me want to read the book in the first place and join the blog tour (which, by the way is something I never do - I have never had the inclination to participate in one of these until now!). Do read the blurb-y bit; I'm afraid I won't be divulging any juicy plot details because more often than not, my plot re-tells transform into a horribly tedious rambling.

Canvas Bound is a lovely little debut novel, and for me it was a pretty quick and easy read (and fun too, duh!) - in my books this is always a good thing. It captivated me from the very beginning and that's another really important thing for me when I pick up a book - it's gotta catch my attention from the word GO and Canvas Bound did. 

The character relationships in Canvas Bound were developed well - I really enjoyed reading Dean and how Libby's relationship with him developed. I was totally shipping #Dibby from the very start. Although I did have a chuckle (or more of a snort, even) when we found out his full name was Dean James... perhaps pointing to a certain dashing Old Hollywood star a little too obviously. For some reason I liked the male characters better than Libby or any other female in the book. Libby, to me, unfortunately wasn't the most believable character. She was oftentimes an emotional wreck, and being the protagonist of the novel, we get to see a lot of Libby being totes emosh or chucking small tantrums. Some of the dialogue between her and other characters seemed a bit mechanical, a bit inorganic or unnatural, but despite her shortcomings, I always rooted for her. 

I really appreciated a lot of the pop culture references that were thrown in - classic films, actors and artists. I always find joy in finding that shared appreciation of a particular "something" of the arts, whether it be a classic movie, an actor or a song.

Overall I really did enjoy reading Canvas Bound - the unique concept drew me in and the story was compelling and so packed full of mystery that I just had to keep reading until the end. If you're as intrigued as I was to read this, I'd highly suggest giving it a go. But don't worry, you won't have any apples thrown at you from inside the book like Libby had from in her painting.

My rating: 3.5 stars.

Thanks for sticking it out 'til the end of the post, because guess what? 

You can enter a GIVEAWAY! a Rafflecopter giveaway!! 

And stay tuned because I'll be back for another stop on the tour to give you my author interview with Laura M Kolar in a few days. :)

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Tale of Despereaux being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread by Kate DiCamillo

Thank you to my lovely book blogger pal Jess for giving me this copy. It's the hardcover edition with ripped page edges and it's beautiful. 

This was a super quick read, and definitely a thousand times better than the film adaptation. 

The narrator tells the story in second person - to you, the reader! Or to me, as it were. It was a change from most of the books I've read in the past and I welcomed it. 

The main difference between the film and the book is the character of Roscuro. In the movie he is portrayed as quite benevolent, friendly and innocent, whilst in the book he is much more hard-hearted and just... evil. 

Apart from the murderous, duplicitous rats, the characters were cute and lovely to read, and even quite touching in parts - especially in the chapter where Despereaux forgives his father for sending him to the dungeons to be eaten by the rats.

Although I enjoyed reading this out loud, I would not read this to young children because the rat-side of the plot (and even the Miggery Sow-side of the plot) was really quite dark and might be too scary for the younger kids. Perhaps in a primary school class-setting it would be a little better... but not in a bedtime story evening setting reading to 5 year olds because they will most likely have nightmares filled with rats and dungeons and darkness and murder. 

My Rating: 3.5 stars

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Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

to read more about the book (synopsis, ratings, etc.) click here

My Star Rating : 3.5 stars

Goodness me. I have a lot of thoughts about this book. They're all floating around in my head. Sometimes I can grasp them and form them into sentences. It's like fishing, the way my mind works. You catch em, you let em go. It's a jumble and it's a jungle. Not really. I just said jungle because it matched poetically with jumble. If my mind is like fishing it can't be a jungle too, can it? More like a swamp.
OH I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING ANYMORE!
I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't know how to form this post in a coherent way because all my thoughts about this book are quite random and don't seem to flow well onto each other.
Maybe I'll make some lists again!

I think a lot of people liked Lola & the Boy Next Door a lot more than I did. Base off of Goodreads ratings and my friends on Goodreads' ratings/reviews. 
Why is this?
Perhaps it was Lola.

• I don't like Lola a whole lot. (Please don't yell at me!) I haven't read many reviews on this book but I've never come across anyone who said they didn't like her. So I'm just putting my own 'pinion out there: I did not like Lola. 
• I admit she is relatable. She is quirky and daring and not boring. She is creative. She is a human, teenage girl. She is relatable to probably almost everyone (who likes YA). 
• But not so much to me. She didn't do anything wrong, or anything to make me dislike her, it's just that she was presented in a way that didn't make me care for her. I didn't find myself caring about her. I sympathised... but I didn't fully empathise.
• She does not deserve Cricket (who is her soul mate, her first love and practically the PERFECT BOY). But she recognises this and acknowledges it, which actually redeemed her a little bit for me.
• Lola was delusional for the majority of the novel. I get that her situation with Max and Cricket was complex, and I do see the bad-boy appeal of Max (at the beginning he was introduced as the perfect boyfriend, and let's be honest who could resist a smoking hot, older, musician boyfriend?) but it became very clear very fast that Max was not only the wrong guy for Lola, but a bad guy in general. Meanwhile, Cricket was always there. Pretty much at Lola's beck and call. Very much charming, and very much available. The choice was (seemingly) extremely easy. But Lola held onto Max, held onto her unhealthy fantasy and drug, for too long. Lucky for Lola, Cricket was steadfast and unwavering, and simply waiting for her to be ready for him. 
• Maybe one of the reasons I didn't like Lola was just how amazing a guy Cricket is. He's a great character. He's the kind of guy every girl wants as their OTL. I'm sure every girl not-so-secretly ships themselves with Cricket. He is so blindingly perfect that it's almost disgusting. 

Things I Loved:

• Cricket. Obviously! See above.
• San Francisco. The setting of the novel. The gorgeous architecture, the Victorian houses all in different pastel colours, the hilly terrain. I love that city.
• "The Boy Next Door" aspect. Cricket and Lola are next door neighbours, they are in love and what's more is their bedroom windows perfectly align so they can creep on each other (or in their case, have late night moonlit conversations) through their windows. It's unrealistic, but it's one of those fairytale situations I wish I could be in. A cute boy who is in love with me, and who I'm in love with, climbing across a makeshift bridge from his window to reach my bedroom, yes, I'll take one, thanks.

Things I didn't love:

• The book cover. I don't like having real people's faces replacing the imaginary faces I form in my head from what the book describes. The cover bothers me because the girl and guy on the front are so pose-y and obvious. I thought the guy was Max at first! Not Cricket. Because the book said Max had a tattoo of a star on his hand. And then it said Cricket had all those wristbands which then made me think the guy on the front was an amalgam of both the characters (which is kinda ridiculous I know). So there was much questioning going on which I think is so completely unnecessary and takes away from story itself. And we're all here for a good ol' storytime, not to get confused by the models on the front cover. 
• Lola, but I explained this already. :)

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review: delirium by lauren oliver

title: "Delirium"
author: Lauren Oliver
genre: YA dystopian/romance
release date: February 1, 2011
format: paperback, 441 pages
publisher: Harperteen
source: bought from Dymocks
other details: on my Aussie Swap list
my rating: 3.5 stars

goodreads synopsis: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

my thoughts

It took me a while to get into the swing of things with Delirium. I felt really uneasy about this dystopian world where love is really a disease. The second half of the book is where things really started to happen. I don't think it was that I was starting to understand their society better, I just think the second half of the novel was better because more exciting things were happening. The introduction of Alex and Lena's relationship was just the beginning. 

Now here is something you should know about me, if you don't know already: I am a christian. So everything that I've been taught throughout my whole life, all the values that have been raised on - all of that is the complete opposite of Lena's situation. I was raised on love. Lena was raised on stability. I believe with my whole heart that love is the foundation of life itself. That God is love. That love is the root of all joy and peace, and trust, and every other thing that is good in the world. So you might be able to imagine how difficult it was for me to appreciate the premise of  the novel. (I know it's fiction, so it didn't offend me or anything, it was just hard to wrap my head around to begin with). Even hugging your family is taboo, I mean, COME ON. And of course those corrupted bible scriptures before some of the chapters didn't help.

While I was reading the first half of the book, I was thinking "I highly doubt I will pick up the sequel to this", but now that I've read what happens towards the end I reckon I might actually read Pandemonium because all I'm thinking is "I wanna know what happens next! I want to be there if/when Lena and her mum find each other, I want to know what happens to Hana, and most importantly... I need to know that Alex is okay!!!!"

Yes, Lena caught the lovebug bad, and she did go a little crazy in that department (it wasn't the most believable relationship), but the government is even crazier! Ward 6 in the crypts? *shudder* So awful. But it's pretty amazing that the word 'LOVE' became Lena's mother's ultimate escape route out of that horrible place. 

I think I had slightly higher expectations for this book. Probably vicarious expectations, though, based off of all the hype that the blogosphere was buzzing about last year. But Delirium wasn't a total let down. I still really like Lauren Oliver's writing style. 

chosen quotes

love as a disease:

"... we will never be totally protected. It still moves around us with invisible, sweeping tentacles, choking us."

symptoms of the procedure/the cure:

"..cases of full-blown detachment - where a mother or father is unable to bond normally, dutifully, and responsibly, with his or her children, winds up drowning them or sitting on their windpipes or beating them to death when they cry.."

Lena in love:

"He is my world and my world is him and without him there is no world." 

Lena's revelation:

"They say the cure is about happiness, but I understand now that it isn't, and it never was. It's about fear: fear of pain, fear of hurt, fear, fear, fear - a blind animal existence, bumping between walls, shuffling between ever-narrowing hallways, terrified and dull and stupid."

Review: Friendship on Fire by Danielle Weiler

Title: "Friendship on Fire"
Author: Danielle Weiler
CLICK HERE FOR SYNOPSIS
Genre: YA Contemporary
First Published: March 1, 2011
Format: Paperback, 471pg
Publisher: Sid Harta
Source: Author
Other details: Author Interview and Giveaway (AUS+INTL)
My Rating: 3.5 stars







Danielle Weiler did a pretty great job in her debut YA novel, Friendship on Fire. The writing was clever, the characters were refreshingly real and I loved the pop culture references to movies and music alike. (I absolutely ADORE Brooke Fraser's music! For a slightly more obscure artist, I was pleasantly surprised to read that Daisy listened to Brooke Fraser too :D.) The local references about our Aussie culture were spot on and so relatable, I was constantly thinking back to my time in highschool, comparing my memories to Daisy's story. 


I actually disliked Daisy in the beginning. She was a hot-headed mess, incapable of colouring her hair properly and she had a volatile temper to boot. By the end of the novel though... I loved her! For me, Daisy turned out to be a great role model for teenage girls today. (Apart from her intense weakness for the physically blessed, mysterious guys like Nate). Despite her slight anger management issues, Daisy has a huge heart. Huge. 


It might sound bad, but I'm jealous of Daisy's family and friends - they were incredibly supportive and loving, it's a rare and irreplaceable blessing that isn't seen too often in society today. Daisy is so lucky to have such amazing parents, loving brothers, as well as her best friends Roman, Shana and Sarah. 


Friendship on Fire is a story of life and love. Friendship, family, romance, relationships, heartbreak, and self identity. It was a pleasure to witness Daisy's growth through her last year of highschool (and kinda live vicariously through her too) - getting her driver's licence, weekend house parties, school events, and all that. This 400 and something page novel is quite a long one for contemporary YA. It took me a little time to get into the story, but I was rewarded once I got to the end because there is something special that everyone can find in Friendship on Fire.

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COMING UP

Stay tuned in for my first author interview with Perth author Danielle Weiler!!! 

And keep your eyes peeled shortly after the interview, for TWO GIVEAWAYS of Friendship on Fire! That's right, TWO! One for Aussie residents only and one worldwide/international. :D