Review: Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Emily's best friend Sloane disappears, almost without a trace - the only thing left is a to-do list.

On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that wallflower Emily wouldn't normally do, and definitely without her best friend. But what if completing the list could bring Sloane back?

Dance until dawn? Sure, why not?

Kiss a stranger? Um...

Go skinny dipping? Wait... what?

Emily only has the summer to check everything off Sloane's list. The question is, what will she find at the end of it? (Goodreads description here)

Shall we all just take a minute to appreciate how beautiful this cover is. That font though (it makes me swoon). Seriously. I think this is a pretty good description of what's inside. Very pretty, very american, and very very contemporary. That certainly isn't a bad thing though, it was just what I was in the mood for. And yes, I have been singing the Kelly Clarkson song ever since I read it. It is a cracking tune though, so I've linked the video here.  

The concept of the book, basically a lonesome teenager completing a bucket list in order to make friends, and change for the better, though not original, was very well pulled off. The actual list was quite unique, and there were some very specific  tasks on there. For example 'hug a jamie'. Now i've never seen that one before!

The characters in the book were also very well developed. Even Sloane, who was the disappeared best friend. Although we only met her in flashbacks (nearly) I thought I had a real sense of her character. At first I was under the impression that she was a perfect american teenager, living the dream. But we soon became aware that this wasn't really true, and she just created this image to cover up everything that was wrong with her family. 

The narrater and main character, Emily, was also very relaistic. She was likeable and quite relatable. Although she was bland at times, this just added to how endearing the book was and how relatable Emily was. I got the impression that every reader would interpret her in their own way, which is something I really think shows a good author. It made me realise that romance and amazing friends are out there! (Man, I will read this back and cringe sooooo much!) However she was still quirky at times, and I can sort of imagine being friends with her in real life.

This book was 450 pages long, but I found it quite a quick read, perfect for the holidays! It wasn't up there with Anna and the French Kiss, but it was still very good, and now, whenever I think of contemporary, I will think of this. It basically fitted that genre perfectly. I was lovey dovey, but didn't take itself too seriously, and a real coming of age story.

I give this 

****

I will certainly be picking up Morgan Matson's other book, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour.

Have you read Since You've Been Gone? What do you think makes an MC relatable?

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined. (Link to goodreads page)

I finally got round to reason this! It's been on my TBR for so long, and now I'm free!! I first heard about this book on epic reads, who are constantly raving about it! I went into it knowing very little, and from knowing what happens I think that's for the best. It is quite a predictable book, and having as little info as possible really helps  to make it more unpredictable. 

These books are a YA trilogy which are set in a futuristic USA. I marathoned this series over about 4 days, so all of the books have sort of blurred together. Therefore I doing a review of the while trilogy. This shouldn't contain any spoilers either. 

I really loved this book! As I was reading it I found myself grinning uncontrollably and having such a warm feeling inside. This was mainly in the scenes between America and Maxon, they were so cute together. 

Sometimes the way she was on the border line between him and Aspen was very annoying. Occasionally I felt I didn't exactly  know where she stood, and how she was feeling. I wasn't sure how it happened because the novel is written in first person, but I often felt left out of her feelings. However this could be because she was unsure of where she stood, I just found it confusing at times.

However this was probably the only part of the book I found at all confusing. In general the story was very easy to follow. And although it was get in a dystopian world, the isolated nature of the palace made the dangers outside very rare and easy to understand. We did see the outside world in the later books, and I think that without the further world building, just the focus on the competition would be a little boring.  

Saying this I loved the concept of the competition. Although it has been done before, I thought it was so unique. It captured teenage girls so well! The competition and rivalry, yet the love, and the fake hating. It seems that everyone hated each other, but actually they are really good friends. There were certainly so characters within the selection! I think that Cass did really well at making a variety of character within the girls. They all seemed to be contenders and each had very individual personalities. There was potential for them to be really similar, but they were written, and seen through Americas POV, so we got a good perspective on Americas character as well as the other girls. 

America was a very typical female protagonist. Unaware of how perfect she was and suitably beautiful. She came from the bottom, and rose to fame she didn't really want (*cough* Katniss). I found it very difficult to find faults in her, apart being a bit cynical. This again, is a very common trait in female protagonists, being wary and unwilling to accept things at first. I thought she would be something different, but she was nothing special. Regardless I did still like her, and she was quite relatable. 

One of my pet peeves is disjointed conversations. In this it was some by there being loads of thought in the middle of the conversations. So the conversations didn't seem to flow, and I kept on having to look back to remember what had previously been said.  

Saying this, I thought that the book was very well written. It was a pretty easy read, and I also read it really quickly. The books are about 300 pages each, so for me they all sort of blurred together into a mega book. I've seen it described as reality TV meets dystopian, and this is a very accurate description! Nowadays most books are a combination of genres, but this is very drastic, and I've never read such a chick-lit dystopian before.

Although I probably wouldn't reread this book, I would definitely recommend it. I think it's perfect for people who want an easy summer read, but can't bear to let go of the dystopian genre. 

I give this 

****

because I think that it was good, but not one is my favourites. If you're looking for something warm and fuzzy, but not to shallow then this is perfect!

Have you read The Selection? Do you like it when very different genres are combined? Let me know in the comments!

  

Top 5 Friday: Beach Reads

Summer is fast approaching, and that means it's the season for beach reads!! (sorry if this is a bit late for some of you) However I don't normally like conventional beach reads. By that I mean quite light, romance books, which I tend to find boring. So all of the books have a twist, and are books I wish I read while on my holidays. I've linked all of their Goodreads profiles in case you want more info. 

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Words cannot describe how much I love this book. It's a romance story about a girl who moves to Paris. But it's so much more! The story is so realistic and this is up there with one of my favourite books of all time.  Even if you don't normally like romance, give this a go. I think that everyone will love it!





2. How They Met and Other Stories by David Levithan

Now this one is a book of short stories. All the stories are about love and were written by David Levithan every valentines day since he was in high school.(How cute is that?!)This means that they stories have an amazing variety, and are really heartwarming. Although it is often hard to connect with characters in short stories, I still really wanted to read on and find out what would happen in the next story. 



3. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

No list of unconventional beach reads would be complete without some John Green, and I thought that this one was most fitting. I didn't find this too deep, but it was still very interesting. It was also very original, and I certainly wasn't bored!



4. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Again, this is a love story, but it is very unconventional. The characters were very unique, but I still loved them and really related o them. This book really showed how pure and limitless love is, but wasn't all romance. Defiantly up there in my favourite books(again!).





5. Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham

I loved this book soooo much! It's about a girl who gets shipwrecked on the island, and then has to try and uncover the Voodoo legend which surrounds it. I was so creepy and I became really attached to the characters. It does have a love story in it, but this isn't one of the main features of the book. I just found it a quick, but really exciting read that I would recommend to people who haven't really read any paranomal YA before (and everyone else!)

Happy reading!

Have you read any of these books? What's your favourite beach read?

Currently reading: We Were Liars

A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.

A revolution. An accident. A secret.

Lies upon lies.

True love.

The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

                                             

Surprise, surprise, another person reading We Were Liars by E. Lockhart! I've heard so much about this book and was planning to save it for the holiday. But then my friend mentioned it was only £2 on kindle and I couldn't resist. Turns out it was £2.99 but oh well, not bad! As you are probably all too aware, this book had been everywhere in the last few weeks. I have to admit the marketing campaign did work. I was very intrigued with what could be so secret about it, and decided to read it. (Also I really like the cover, which always helps)
So far I'm not regretting it!