All the Bright Places

Title: All the Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven

Pages: 378

Publisher: Penguin

Source: Bought

Rating: 4/5

Good Reads // Amazon

Summary (from Good Reads): 

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
 
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
 
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

I hadn't really head too much about this book, other than reading the summary so I went into this book with a clear mind. When the book started off, I wasn't too sure about how much I'd like it, it was interesting and I'd read that it was a bit of a cross between Rainbow Rowell and John Green, both being authors that I enjoy, but I didn't know if it'd be my thing due to the topic that the book kind of focuses on. I kept on with it anyway and I am so glad I did. It really picked up and became even more interesting. 

I thought that the story was interesting and dealt with the subject of suicide well, particularly as the topic is quite a sensitive and touchy subject. I felt that after reading this I had actually developed a bit more of a better understanding. 

I found the characters to be interesting and compelling. I enjoyed reading about the characters and getting to know them better. I particularly liked the relationship that formed between Finch and Violet and was so rooting for them pretty much the whole way through the book. It was interesting to see them develop, both in different ways, but together. I thought that this added something else to the book as it was plain to see that both characters were each others coping mechanism. This book doesn't just focus on the characters and their relationship. It also focuses on her things, including bits of adventure along the way.

The ending was a bit of a knock in the face. This is where the book kicks it up a notch, but ultimately, it ties up and makes for a 'good' ending to the book. I really enjoyed this book and was taken by surprise by it. Again, I wasn't really sure about it as I hadn't heard much but I found it interesting and a good read and would definitely recommend it!

Oh, Pretty Girl..

Title: Pretty Girl Thirteen

Author: Liz Coley
Pages: 344

Publisher: Harper Collins

Source: Borrowed from Library

Rating: 3.5/5

Good Reads // Amazon

Summary (from Good Reads): 

Angie Chapman is only 13 when she gets lost in the woods in the middle of the night.

The next thing she knows she’s returned home, scars around her wrists and ankles, physically exhausted. Her parents collapse into tears when they see her, but Angie doesn’t understand – until they tell her she has been missing, presumed dead, for three years.

Angie doesn’t remember anything from her missing years. But there are people who do – people who could tell Angie every terrifying detail, if only they weren’t locked inside her mind.

With help, Angie begins to unravel the darkest secrets of her own past.

But does she really want to know the truth?

This book definitely gave me mixed emotions. I really couldn't decide whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars because there are things that made me want to give it 4 stars, but then there were other things that made me question that rating. 

First off, this book had me from the beginning. The book tells the story of a teenage girl that's been held captive for the 3 years but has no recollection of it whatsoever. This book had such an interesting concept to it which I enjoyed. It was really interesting to learn about new concepts, and it actually introduced me to something that I never knew. The book is definitely a chilling and touchy subject. It's not really very graphic, which I think was quite good, as although there are flashbacks, I feel that sometimes too much graphic content in a book can ruin it. This definitely hit the nail on the head with having just the right amount of information so that you felt sympathetic towards Angie, but it wasn't too the point where you felt like the information was a bit overwhelming. I think that Coley did a good job of dealing with such a touchy subject with this book.

Now here are some of the things that got me a bit. I really felt like the author tried to incorporate too much in this book. How much misfortune can you throw at one person! This really got on my nerves as I felt that the author was just forcing things in to the story to make it more interesting, which yes, I suppose it did but at the same time, I just felt like some things were unnecessary. I also thought that there would be much more of a media presence round the case of missing Angie and her return, but strangely there was not, which was surprising too me. Obviously I realise it's not the main focus of the book at all, but it's just surprising that there was little mention of it until perhaps the middle to end of the book.

Other than those few bits, I did enjoy reading Pretty Girl Thirteen, and it still does make it's way into my mind a few times. I think it's one of those books that's got a gritty, intense story line that can really effect you after you finish reading it. That's definitely the effect that it had on me. 

I would definitely recommend this book, but more so to people that don't mind intense, gritty and chilling books. 

Happy New Year!

First of all, happy 2015 everybody!I hope you all had a lovely New Years Eve/Day! 2014 has been a bit of a roller coaster but I've enjoyed it! 

In 2014, this blog was born and since having started this blog, I have began to read a whole lot more than pervious years, paid more attention to book recommendations and have been introduced to plenty of other book blogs! Personally, I started a new job in June and then in September I quit it and started studying History at University. This was pretty big for me but I'm very happy with my decision. All in all, 2014 has been a life changing, but happy year for me. I'm hoping that 2015 will also be a great year - I already have a few concerts and a holiday to look forward too!

1. Read 60+ books - In 2014 I had a GoodReads Challenge of 40 books. I manage 36  which isn't great, but I know this is because of work and then starting University. I also didn't read anything for a whole month so that didn't help! My goal for 2015 is 60 however I would like to smash this and go further!

2. Read more of a variety - For the most part, I've noticed I tend to stick to Contemporary YA. I do own some Fantasy however I would like to read more. I'd also like to dip into Historical Fiction. 
3. Don't specify books to read for the month - As a mood reader, I can never stick to my TBR list that I create for each month. Instead of specifying 5+ books to read in a month, I would rather specify 1 or 2 books so that I'm not forcing myself to read books on my monthly TBR. 
4. Create reading goals per month - This relates to the resolution above. I'd like to create a target of how many books to read per month. This relates back to being a mood reader, as this allows me to be a lot more flexible with what I read.
5. Read 5 Classics - I've never enjoyed classics that much in the past, however I would like to read a few this year and get a taste for them especially as I'm a bit older before.

1. Blog more! - I started this blog in March of 2014 however I stopped posting for a few months. This year I'd like to blog a lot more and become more consistent.
2. Be more blog organised - Relating to the resolution above, I want to become a lot more organised with this blog and posting. 
3. Blog maintenance - I read plenty of other blogs and have noticed that many have very clean and tidy appearances. This year I'd like to take my blog design up a notch, and perhaps even learn a bit of HTML. I have already thought about paying for a blog design but feel I should wait until I am posting a lot more consistently!
4. Blog post formats - This year I would like to change the way I write reviews. I tend to feel that my writing is not that great in my reviews, therefore I would like to change the way in which I write each review post.
5. Blog memes/features - I would really like to get involved with more blog memes and features. I did participate for a bit in a few memes however this stopped when I took a break from blogging!

1. Be more organised - As I'm balancing uni, work, blog, life as well as my accounting studies, I feel like this year I really need to be a lot more organised. This year I actually have a planner that I feel will really help me to become a lot more organised! 
2. Pick up photography again - When I was at college, I did an A-Level in Photography which I really enjoyed. This year I would really like to pick up photography again. Maybe I'll take up book photography!
3. Be more thankful - This year I want to take the time to be a lot more thankful and appreciative of what I've got. I don't feel like I really take the time to appreciate my life and what I have enough.
4. Spend more time with family - Throughout my teens, I started to become distant from my family, spending a lot of time in my room. As I'm coming to the end of my teens now, I'm starting to realise just how important family is therefore I want to spend more time with my family this year.
5. Learn to save and budget - One of my problems since starting work almost 4 years ago has been learning to save my money and budgeting myself. Although I saved money when I was working full time, now I'm back in full time education and working part time, I'm realising just how much I need to save so this year I want to set a target of how much I'd like to save for the year and budget myself on how much I can spend per month. 

Here's to hoping that 2015 is another great year, for both me and you!