Book Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Book Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Sunday, 5 November 2017

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Last year, I wrote a post about why I read (and love) YA fiction. Since then, the amount of YA fiction that I’ve read has decreased significantly. Not because I’ve grown out of the genre, or because I’ve not bought any YA fiction books, but because I’ve just been so absorbed in other genres that I just haven’t had the time to keep on reading them. This month, that changed and I read a YA fiction book that I’ve been meaning to read for a few years now: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.

This was a book that I had my doubts about but I had heard lots of good things about it so I thought I’d give it a go and see how I liked it myself. Obviously, with the movie adaptation being released this year, I wanted to read it quickly so I could see the film as soon as possible. The story follows Madeline, a girl who has suffered from an auto-immune illness which stops her from being able to leave her house for the entirety of her life. At 18, this obviously causes problems and limits her social interactions and her personal happiness. When a family move in next door, Madeline finds herself intrigued by the family’s young son, Olly. After exchanging email addresses in a novel, clichéd way – paper pressed against the window- the two begin conversing and slowly become friends. Eventually, with a lot of pressure directed at Madeline’s nurse to allow them permission to meet, Madeline and Olly are allowed an hour to spend time together, to get to know one another. Inevitably, they fall in love and things get significantly more difficult for Madeline in her isolated environment. Feeling stuck, she decides to run away from home and breaks the careful bubble that her mother has placed her in. Olly in tow, Madeline travels to Hawaii to explore the world and experience everything that she has been denied access to her entire life.

In all, I enjoyed the book but it didn’t come without complications. I felt like the story was a little bit predictable but in spite of that I sped through it pretty quickly. It’s not a very long story and the writing is quite fast paced- a lot happens in 300 pages but it’s easy to follow and keep up with the pace. I loved the reference to Flowers for Algernon, my favourite book of all time and the layout of the book kept it pretty interesting. It was one of those books that I was happy to have had the opportunity to read, but at the same time it didn’t do anything that made me feel. I didn’t find myself falling in love with the characters – in fact, I found Maddy to be quite a selfish character with no concern for anyone but herself and her own feelings. I felt very sorry for Maddy’s mother and understood her viewpoint very well.

A decent read, but nothing to blow you out of the water with.

2.5/5.

Blog Tour: The Things We Thought We Knew by Mahsuda Snaith

Blog Tour: The Things We Thought We Knew by Mahsuda Snaith

Wednesday, 21 June 2017

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When I was contacted a few weeks ago by Thomas Hill, the Press Officer for Transworld Books, an imprint of Penguin Books, about a new book, naturally I jumped at the chance to get stuck into it. I didn’t know much about The Things We Thought We Knew by Mahsuda Smith, prior to reading so I was able to go in with a completely open mind and thoroughly enjoy everything that the book had to offer. The story follows Ravine, a young girl, after her diagnosis with chronic pain syndrome and is set in Leicester and her and her mother’s council estate block. I loved how detailed the description of the setting is; I really could imagine the cramped but cosy flat, and the surrounding neighbours who really add to the multicultural nature of Leicester as a city and the UK as a whole. The neighbourhood is incredibly close knit, which I think definitely affects Ravine’s state of mind- being confined to her bed, in constant paint, and having everyone know your business really doesn’t seem the ideal situation to me.

I found Ravine’s character incredibly interesting, particularly because I don’t really know anything about chronic pain syndrome. I found her struggle with her feelings, particularly surrounding her best friend’s disappearance particularly poignant and she was definitely a character that I felt a lot of sympathy for, in spite of her tendency to appear selfish. Ravine’s mother, Amma, is a very fascinating character and I resonated with her more than I did with Ravine; her personality was full of spice and sass and her commitment to her daughter and her daughter’s health was admirable. She attempts to get on with her life, hiding her romantic relationship as far as she can, but also puts her daughter first, sacrificing her own basic needs to ensure that those of Ravine are fully met. She really is an admirable character and reminds me of my own mum, in many different ways.

I honestly cannot believe that this novel is a debut, much less that the initial write was done when the author was 16 years old. I think back to the own pieces that I penned at that age and find myself overwhelmed with the sheer sophistication of the writing. The whole mystery surrounding Marianne, Ravine’s best friend’s, disappearance is one that pulls you in from the offset and makes you want to continue reading. I’m not one to use the word “unputdownable” willy-nilly but this book honestly was. It’s hard to talk too thoroughly about the story without spoiling the best bits, so I’ll leave it to you to explore it further.

Thank you so much to the team at Penguin Random House for my copy of the book, in exchange for this review. I really look forward to reading more by Mahsuda and exploring her prose more over the coming years.

The Things We Thought We Knew was published by Penguin Random House on 15^th June 2017.

5/5.

Goodreads: April Recently Read

Goodreads: April Recently Read

Sunday, 30 April 2017

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I can honestly say that I am actually SO impressed with myself and how much I managed to read over the course of the month of April. I am amazed that I managed to find the time to read SEVEN WHOLE BOOKS. And to be honest with you, there were some blooming good ones.

I started off April finishing up with a book that I started at the end of March and it got April off to a pretty good start, as far as I’m concerned. Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner. I’ve already reviewed the book on the blog (you can have a little look at it here, if you so wish!) I loved this book A LOT and it really did get me out of what could have turned into a pretty remarkable reading slump. It was a really interesting, intriguing and thought-provoking book, full of twists and turns. A fantastic read.

As well as having a VERY well-known love of psychological thrillers and crime fiction, one of the genres that I’ve been leaning towards a lot more over the last few years is war fiction. Whilst this one isn’t actually fiction- in fact it’s a letter directed at a concentration camp survivor’s father- But You Did Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivans was a beautiful and heartwrenching piece of writing, one that I enjoyed enormously. It was devastatingly sad, and addressed the feelings that she, Marceline, had after she returned from Auschwitz concentration camp to discover that her father had not survived the tragic events. It was a very poignant story and of course, I had a little sob (surprise, surprise, Hollie…).

When I was in my second year of uni, I was introduced to The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I enjoyed the story but I don’t think I quite appreciated it the way that I should have done. Whilst I was at the cinema a few months back, one of the trailers shown was actually the trailer for this book and I was made up that they were making it into a film. One of the things that I did remember, having read the book, was that I enjoyed the plot, even if I didn’t fully acknowledge the importance of it. I chose to re-read the book this month and I am honestly so glad that I did. I found the writing style absolutely beautiful and I devoured absolutely every word. I definitely recommend giving this one a whirl if you haven’t already.

About a year ago (almost to the day, actually), I reviewed Lisa Williamson’s debut novel The Art of Being Normal. I absolutely LOVED this book, so when I found out that Lisa had written another YA novel, All About Mia, I couldn’t help myself. I quickly bought a copy on Amazon and vowed to get stuck straight in. I went back to Lancashire for a long weekend and chose to take this book along with me. I read it over the course of a few evenings and it was an absolute delight. It really approached the teenage years in a relatable way- it’s been a long while since I was a teenager but it was really nice to read a book written by someone who really seems to understand all about the complexities of growing up. I’ll likely review this one in more detail at some point, but I will say that it was a charming read.  

C. L. Taylor is probably one of my most-read authors over the last few years, so buying her new book was inevitable. As I’d finished reading All About Mia when I was visiting my parents, I nipped over to the local Tesco to get another book for the train ride home and the book I chose was Taylor’s The Escape. My expectations, of course, were very high and I am so over the moon to reveal that I wasn’t disappointed. I was very keen to review this one, so I’ve already done my full review here. It’s probably one of the best psychological thrillers that I’ve read over the last few years and definitely my favourite of C.L. Taylor’s.

My favourite book of April came courtesy of the lovely PR team at Penguin books. Around the end of March, I was surprised with a little parcel from them; a copy of Jane Corry’s Blood Sisters and a little bottle of the good stuff- white wine! I was a kind daughter and donated the wine to my mother but the book was mine and mine to keep. I loved this book. There are no two ways about it. Every single aspect of the book was exactly what I was looking for in a book- it epitomised the genre and left me satisfied. Twist after twist after twist – it was absolutely impossible to guess the ending. I’ll be writing a full review up this week but I couldn’t resist throwing a little something into my wrap up.

The final book that I read in April, I finished this morning. It was a book that I bought after hearing nothing but amazing things about it, for weeks and weeks and weeks. I even bought an additional copy and included it in a book giveaway that I’m holding. I had a lot of faith in its quality and once again, I wasn’t disappointed. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a book unlike anything that I’ve ever read before. I’m sure that you, like most people, have seen and been affected in some way or another by events involving gun crime and police targeting people from minorities in the states. This book approaches issues like these in the only way possible: by telling it exactly like it is, no censorship, the full reality of the situation. This book is a must read; so, so, so very important. One of the best books I’ve read this year, by far.

What have you been reading this month? Let me know in the comments!