Book Review: The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak*

Book Review: The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak*

Thursday, 30 July 2015

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This week I was fortunate enough tor receive an ARC of “The Heartbreakers” by Ali Novak and it took just a few pages for me to realise that I was going to love the book and the author. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this review and give the book the justice it deserves without using a ridiculous amount of expletives, but I’ll give it my best shot.

The first thing I want to say here is: UK paperback release, 31st August. Buy it. 

You will not be disappointed.

The premise of the story is pretty simple; a girl, Stella, one of a set of triplets, meets a boy while on a coffee run with her brother. She later discovers that he is Oliver Perry, the lead singer of her sister, cancer sufferer Cara’s favourite band, and, along with her brother, spends one carefree night with the band. She sends some photographs that she takes that evening to Alec, one of the band members and he in turn shows them to their publicist. Stella is then offered the opportunity of a lifetime running an online blog of photographs of the band for fans to follow- as well as ultimately reuniting her with Oliver. From this point on, a romance blossoms and sparks fly between the pair. 

In short? Ali Novak is a genius. A hilarious, sob-inducing genius. I love a good old clichéd chick-flick where boy meets girl and everyone lives happily ever after and this was definitely that. I loved how the author described the relationship between the three siblings, the relationship between the members of the band and I particularly loved the kindness that Alec showed Stella throughout the novel. It’s definitely a book that’s lighthearted, entertaining and not to be taken completely seriously- who on earth is going to meet a world famous rock star and have him fall head over heels in love with them? Not me, that’s for sure! But that is definitely part of the book’s charm- these events that seem all so unrealistic are all the more attractive. Additionally, I sobbed like a wee baby at the email from a viewer of her photography portfolio, as that particularly hit close to home for me. 

This is definitely the book to turn to if you’ve had a horrendous day- it’s cute, easy going, hilarious and just an all-round enjoyable read. If you like Rainbow Rowell and Stephanie Perkins, you’ll love this! 

4.5/5

Wishlist: NARS Cosmetics

Wishlist: NARS Cosmetics

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

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I’ve never purchased a product from NARS before but I’ve been eyeing up a few bits and bobs which I’m going to ask family members to pick up for me for my birthday! I’ve chosen 3 different products which I’ve heard quite a lot about so hopefully they’re as good as everyone makes out! 

The first product that I chose is the NARS Contour Kit in the shade Olympia. I love the look of this little kit and the colour seems to go with my skin tone. I’ve heard that it’s a pretty good product from other bloggers so I’m hoping that it blends well and looks natural on me. 

I then chose one of NARS’ most renowned product, their Powder Blush in the colour Orgasm. I almost bought this for myself a few months back but I persuaded myself against it but I still want it months later so I think I’ll get it this time around. 

Finally, I chose a Pure Matte Lipstick in the shade Terre de Feu, which I love the look of. I love trying out different brands of lipstick and this one is very different from the colours I already own so I think it’ll definitely fill a gap in my collection! 

Which NARS products do you love and recommend?? Let me know in the comments! 

Book Review: The Secrets We Keep by Stephanie Butland*

Book Review: The Secrets We Keep by Stephanie Butland*

Monday, 27 July 2015

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(Also published as "Letters to my Husband" and "Surrounded by Water.") 

I want to start off by saying that my rating of this book does not, by any means, mean that I didn’t enjoy it as much as the books I’ve read over the past few weeks. I’ve thought long and hard about how I was going to go about reviewing this book, because I both loved and was disappointed by it for different reasons.

The story has an incredibly interesting premise and I was immediately drawn to the description when I came across it on Netgalley. I knew enough about the novel from glancing at other reviews to know that it wasn’t going to be a happy-go-lucky kind of novel, but that’s absolutely fine with me- the more tragic the better, I’d say. We are introduced to Elizabeth, the protagonist of the novel, whose husband, Michael, has drowned whilst trying to save a young girl, Kate. The story focuses on Elizabeth and Michael’s relationship before and after the tragic events have unfolded, but it is a lot more than that as well. It focuses on family and the strong ties that lie within family bases. It focuses on secrets and betrayal and how, more often than not, there is more to someone than meets the eye. The story addresses loss, longing and the realisation that sometimes you have to just give up and move on with your life. 

I enjoyed the prose, I enjoyed the writing style and I loved the characters. I loved to hate certain characters, while others I adored from the start. All of the characters were believable. I found it gut-wrenching and heartbreaking in some places, and ironic and cruel in others. Elizabeth’s grief is explored in such a way I have never read before and it was tormentingly beautiful to read. I enjoyed how her grief turned, through letters, from heartbreaking to bitter to doubtful and then to pure resentment and anger, before returning back to the beautiful heartbreaking full of grief letter that had dominated the first two-thirds of the book. 

Often the word “unputdownable” is used to describe books and there is not a word more suited to this book than that one. I have recently gotten out of my habit of staying up late to finish books, but I broke that trying to finish this one. It had me guessing to the very end, and unfortunately that’s where the disappointment kicks in a little bit. This is where I have difficulties in describing my thoughts, because I genuinely enjoyed the book. I even enjoyed the ending, to some extent. I just expected something massive to happen and that “something massive”, that twist that would have changed everything, just didn’t come, at least not in the way I hoped it would. In spite of this, I would recommend the book to friends and have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. 

3.5/5