Me Before You - Jojo Moyes Review

Me before You has seen a lot of attention from the media lately, every bookstore I went to, I kept seeing this book appearing, sitting at #1 on the store shelves of their best sellers everywhere I went!

After a few days of constantly hearing about this book and yet having no idea what it was about. I finally picked up the book.

Me Before You, is the book that made so many readers sit in tears. Being a beautiful book, with moving characters and a plot that tackles things like illnesses, depression and suicidal issues. Topics that shouldn't be taken lightly. This book openly talks about and shows topics like these from an array of viewpoints. A book that can pull something like that I already give credit too.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Is a novel that took the world by storm. With charming characters and atmosphere. This book got praise from authors and readers around the world.

When Louise Clark loses her job and is forced to find another, an opportunity shows up for her. A daily carer for a disabled man (Will) who can no longer walk or move from his shoulders down.

Never being a carer before, only working at a cafe for most of her life. Louise takes the dive and takes the job.

However things aren't perfect from the get -go, Will doesn't like Louise and no longer sees a reason to live, when he can no longer be the adventurous person he used to be.

Louise, on a mission to change his mind. Will, on a mission to show Louise there is more to life than their small town. Both will change each other's life forever.

I enjoyed this book. I got a real 'Fault In Our Stars' vibe from it too. (I wouldn't say that's a bad thing.)

This book is young adult - adult, and tackling issues that many silently ignore, this book isn't for the light hearted.

I give Me Before You, 4/5 stars.

If you are interested I would definitely encourage you to give this book a read!

- Courtney

Charlie Bone Series - no spoilers (I don't think they count as spoilers}

The Charlie Bone Series ~ Jenny Nimmo

Hiya, this is Mikki here and this is my first time trying a review, sorry it is kind of short -_- … so, here goes…

I have many favorite authors and series (ahem - Harry Potter - ahem) but one of my ultimate favorites is the Charlie Bone Series by English author Jenny Nimmo. This series has seven books and it is too hard to just chose one so I decided to just over view the ENTIRE thing.

Charlie Bone is endowed (magical) and goes to a school called Bloors Academy… sounds like Hogwarts? It isn’t. Yet I still see many similarities. But what I like the most about this series is the INCREDIBLE array of characters, seriously. These books hold some of my most well-loved characters of all time (Lysander Sage <3 ) there are amazing people and animals with range from every type of personality or looks that you can imagine.

Jenny Nimmo has written for the audience of… say 11 – 13 but that doesn’t stop me (15) from loving every inch of this world she has created. And her plot… man! Some would say it is predictable after reading the first three books but if they just continued they would realize it isn’t. She wraps around and around so many different things and then pulls the solution from the most obvious place… yet you never considered that (I’m reading them to my brother for the first time after reading them myself 3 times and I love hearing him think he has figured it out when I know he is so far from the truth).

If you are a younger reader then I definitely say 'go for it' I can't vouch that older readers will love it like I do, it is not as well-written as Harry Potter or Cassandra Clare's books but... hey! That doesn't mean that is is not good. Sometimes you just can't try to compare smaller sellers to larger scale books... beside hidden treasures are sometimes the best.

So don’t let the haters put you off it. Give this series a chance!

I promise you’ll love it, if you’re looking for a fairly easy-going and very entertaining read!

-         Mikki Xox

Cassandra Clare, Lady Midnight Review

Lady Midnight is the first book in the new series by Cassandra Clare, The Dark Artifices.

This is my most anticipated book of the year and when I read it I was definitely not let down.

Lady Midnight is the 12th book to take place in the Shadowhunter world. 

Its however got a spotlight of its own. 

The new cast of characters, location and plot gives the Shadowhunter world a new refreshing feel. Even though readers of this series have read lot from this world. Readers were introduced to so many new things in this book.

Lady Midnight takes place about five years after the war that happened in City of Heavenly Fire (The Dark War). 

The book takes place in the Los Angeles Institute, Where the Blackthorn family lives. 

Julian being the oldest, has to look after his siblings and he has since he was twelve.

He is Parabatai with Emma Carstairs. 

With out spoiling anything else of this book thats all I can say, 

Honestly its better to go in blind reading this book. So get of this post and read this book if you haven't already. (Only if you have read the other Shadowhunter books though)

However I can say my opinion of the book.

This was my most anticipated book of the whole year!

I was so happy when I finally got my hands on this book!

And I'm really upset to say this blog post is three months late. 

This book was amazing. Clare's writing just gets better and better. Her world that she has created just gets deeper and more twisted. Its great. Everything a reader could want. This is the 12th Shadowhunter Chronicle book and I'm still not tired of this world because when Clare writes, so much is going on theres not a boring moment. 

This book had so many plot twists and turns it always kept me on my toes and turning pages.

Where City of Bones took long to set the stage for the Shadow-world, Lady Midnight threw you straight into the plot and storyline of the characters. The book was about the same length of City of Heavenly Fire, Making it about 700 pages. However it was definitely worth my time. I would re-read it again. Once again Clare never gives a dull moment. She keeps moments of the old characters dripped in through the story but doesn't make it, so its over-powering the new cast who we are growing to learn and love. I love the Blackthorns, theres so many of them. Even though, they are each really different and love-able. Clare keeps the action and thrill. However giving us new things about the Shadowhunter world and culture. She adds new characters from different races and characters with different sexualities, she keeps her characters diverse. I love that aspect about her books.

With out saying much of the plot and giving much away thats all I can say.

Honest opinion, If you want the best experience of this book, ignore the Goodreads reviews and just go in blind. 

(If it also helps, I didn't read Tales from a Shadowhunter Academy before this book either, some people say its better, My friend and I both didn't. If you don't have the ebook copy of Tales from a Shadowhunter Academy, don't stress about it. Cassandra does explain things very well. She also recaps quite well the previous book and the Dark War.) 

This book really was breath taking to read.

So I give Lady Midnight 5/5 Stars.

- Courtney (Purple_Book_Readers)

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lighting Thief By Rick Riodan

The Lightning Thief is the first book in the series 'Percy Jackson and The Olympians'.
Its a young adult, adventure, fantasy novel and as the title implies, is influenced by greek mythology
Twelve year old Percy Jackson has a rough life. He's not the best student, been expelled and rejected by many schools, never met his Dad, lives with his Mom and her horrible partner Gabe.

Life's not looking up for Percy.
However the greek mythology Percy only studied in books, start to appear in front of his eyes!
Percy is accused of stealing from Zeus, the God of the skies. Suddenly Greek Mythology starts to come alive in Percy's life. Percy now has to clear his name he starts to find out more of his family and his power.

I never really thought to would read this book. The book interested me however I had watched the movie annotation and I was satisfied with that. I was reading other books as well at the time and just glanced over this book when-ever I saw it on the self. (I didn't really want to spend money on a book that I wasn't too sure of)
When my friend lent me her box-set of the first three book in the series I finally gave in and started reading.

The book gripped me when I first opened the page. The book was funny and charming.
Percy's character was one that a reader couldn't forget. He was the hero, however he wasn't perfect. thats what I really liked. He had dyslexia and ADHD. However Percy was someone people looked up to. The book was full of action, greek mythology, (and I learnt alot of that just by reading this book!) funny character lines. Relatable characters and a plot that kept me on my feet reading.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy and adventure. Different mythologies and people who have a good sense of humor.

Rick Riordan has written many books and I can't wait to read them all.

I give Percy Jackson, The Lightning Thief 4/5 stars

- Courtney

Fangirl By Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is a book that I have always wanted to read. So I was really excited when I had a whole holiday away to sit down and really read the book without any distractions or other work to worry about. (Reading a book in a few sittings is one of the best feelings ever!)

Fangirl is a funny, heartwarming book about the struggles of Cath, A new college student who is trying to break out of her shell. She's a twin with her sister Wren. However Wren wants to party and try new things and make new friends. Cath suddenly feels left alone, with nothing but her favourite books and her fan-fiction and her new roommate, Who at first don’t seem be on the same page.

Cath struggles with finding new friends and leaving the safety of her room, only retreating to the library and going to her creative writing classes. As the novel processes Cath starts to find out who she really is and how to go on in life without the safely of being with her twin or hiding in her creative writing and favourite movies.

Fangirl is a beautiful book. It's charming and funny, romantic and relate-able to to fangirl/boy in all of us.

I’ve never related to a character more in a book before.

The book tackles things like social struggles in today's age and the pressure to fit in and making new friends for someones who abit more introverted, Fangirl also brings in things like first love and finding who you really are.  All the characters were so well written, they  added depth and didn’t make the story feel like it was just about Cath and her struggles.

The only downside about fangirl is that it is a stand alone book.

I felt that it ended too quickly, I wanted to read more. (I guess that's a good thing).

The romance in this book is amazing. The character lines are gold. Every page made me laugh,smile and made me keep reading.

This is the first novel by Rainbow Rowell that I have read and it's really left a great and wonderful impression on me, I can’t wait to read ‘Carry on’ and her other novels.

Without spoiling anything else in the book this is all I can really say.

I’m very reluctant to give books in my reviews 5/5, but I related and loved this book so much!

So I give Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, 5/5 stars

- Courtney

Paper Towns - John Green Review

Today I am reviewing the amazingly funny novel, Paper Towns by John Green.

Lets cover something.
If you are a big YA reader you've heard of John Green at some point.
If its his other novels or his place on the internet (YouTube, Tumblr and other social medias)

I have many friends who I can't get to read Paper towns because their experience of reading The Fault In Out Stars
I am going to say now, Paper Towns is not something that I would compare to other works of John Green. Paper towns is a funny, coming of age novel that has got it's place on the big screen which makes now two of Johns works a motion picture. (Soon yet again another one of his best selling YA novels is coming to the big screen as well!)

The Book follows the life of Quentin (Q for short) A teenager finishing his last year. However when an old childhood friend, Margo goes missing. Q and his friends go on a road-trip to find Margo, who has left clues for them to find her. Expect the closer Q gets to finding Margo. The less he sees of the girl he thought he knew but the more he seems to fall in love with her, his quest to find her seems even more important than prom and his last year at school.

I really enjoyed the plot of the novel. The way Green keeps the book interesting and funny, yet deep and moving. The characters have great character development specially Q, which is set in his point of view. With out spoiling much of the plot thats all i feel like i can say.

Paper Towns did get a movie, I feel like the movie was a great annotation. (Especially after seeing some disappointing ones...) The movie really did in my opinion bring the book to life and gave it some new fans and lovers to the book and other novels of Green's.  However like any other blog post I would defiantly recommend reading the book if you are going to watch the movie. Although the movie explains the plot for watchers who haven't read the book. There are a few nods here and there to the original source and a few things that only the readers may understand.
So if you want to watch the movie, or have and think its great. Read the book! its not that long a read and even if you think it is trust me this book is a page turner and if you don't like it then its okay you are allowed to not like it, im not going to judge.

For any friends that don't read or want to get back into reading, I always send them to the author John Green. (And among others) He's a great YA novelist.  Im a fan of not just his novels but his internet presence. (He is a You-tuber with his brother, The Vlogbrothers. and has his tumblr Fishingboatproceeds. ) When you watch his videos you really get to know the author which I think is great.

Paper towns is a great book balanced with the funny, deep, moving, coming of age story and first love that Green always seems to get right.
I give Paper Towns 7.5/10

- Courtney

The Mortal Instruments: Review (No spoilers)

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, is one of my favorite series.

The series contains six novels and Clare has also written a prequel "The Infernal devices" and other side stories to this magical world that has captivated so many readers.

However this review is based up around my opinion and how I felt reading the novel and even after I put the book down.

The First book in the series is City Of Bones which will be the focus of the review.

City of Bones is a young adult, fantasy, action and romance novel. Set in modern New York. However another side hides under busy streets and crowed towns, The shadow world. Where fairies, vampires, were-wolfs, warlocks,witches and shadow-hunters dwell.

Reading the book it may (in the first few chapters) take awhile to get into. However the fantasy world that Clare had written is really deep and interesting with many different stories to tell. The world starts to gain even more depth and character as the series goes on.
You will find many other readers that have fallen in love with this series.
This is my reason why I love and recommend the works of Cassandra Clare.

Although the series is somewhat a romance novel its not all cheesy love scenes. The depth in the story line (Without not giving much away) is what kept me reading, The feel of you know something is going to happen but you don't know what. Many of the characters can be related to by many different personalities. With most characters having funny and sometimes weird lines. The action is another thing that I love that never dies in the books. The action packed fight scenes are very well written.

In 2013, City of Bones did get a motion picture movie. Sadly although the movie was good its wasn't great. Although the movie may of gotten bad reviews. The movie is very different from the book and I don't believe should be compared. However many fans of the series are getting excited as the rights were sold to make a new TV series annotation called "Shadowhunters" on abc family, this project is already in swing and starring next year.

I would recommend this book series or any other Cassandra Clare book if you love action, fantasy, sarcastic characters and anyone who has time to read it. If you do see this book I would defiantly pick it up if I would you.

The Mortal Instruments; City of Bones gets 4.5/5 stars for me.

-Courtney