Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six by Tayor Jenkins Reid

Edition: Hardcover, 368 pages
Published by: Hutchinson, March 2019
Genre: Fiction, Historic-Fiction, Music, 60s, 70s
Rating: 5 stars
Completed: 31st August 2019

For a while, Daisy Jones & The Six were everywhere. Their albums were on every turntable, they sold out arenas from coast to coast, their sound defined an era. And then, on 12 July 1979, they split. Nobody ever knew why. Until now. They were lovers and friends and brothers and rivals. They couldn’t believe their luck, until it ran out. This is their story of the early days and the wild nights, but everyone remembers the truth differently. The only thing they all know for sure is that from the moment Daisy Jones walked barefoot onstage at the Whisky, their lives were irrevocably changed. Making music is never just about the music. And sometimes it can be hard to tell where the sound stops and the feelings begin.

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LOVED.
Why didn’t I find out about this book when it was first published?! I guess better late than never.

When it comes to music and fashion, the 60s and 70s is my favourite era and when I heard about Daisy Jones & The Six, it just sounded right up my street and what a rollercoaster of a read this was! It literally had me finding every opportunity possible to sit down and read this book, devouring it in less than a week. Needless to say, I’m in denial that this is fiction! I want to listen to the Aurora album so bad! This is my first Taylor Jenkins Reid and I was not disappointed.

Set in the sixties in LA, the story follows the rise and fall of Daisy Jones & The Six, which is led by Billy, a talented frontman and they were on the brink of success but when they met Daisy, they became even bigger than they ever could imagine and thus making a masterpiece of an album called Aurora. They were at the peak of their fame becoming one of the most iconic bands in the 70s before their sudden infamous split in 1979 after their performance at the Chicago Stadium.

Book Review: Soundless by Richelle Mead

Edition: Paperback, 266 pages
Published By: Penguin Books
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 2 stars
Completed: 20th April 2017

In a village without sound…

For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible to leave the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink. Many go hungry. Fei and all the people she loves are plunged into crisis, with nothing to look forward to but darkness and starvation.

One girl hears a call to action…

Until one night, Fei is awoken by a searing noise. Sound becomes her weapon.

She sets out to uncover what’s happened to her and to fight the dangers threatening her village. A handsome miner with a revolutionary spirit accompanies Fei on her quest, bringing with him new risks and the possibility of romance. They embark on a majestic journey from the peak of their jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth will change their lives forever…

And unlocks a power that will save her people.

I was already fully aware that this book has a lot of mixed review – mostly negative, which is the reason why I wasn’t that interested in reading it because I trust the reviews. However this was a Christmas gift so I had to read it. My friend knew I enjoyed the Vampire Academy series a lot and thought I’d like this one. I thought oh its only 266 pages; it can’t be that bad, right? It was.

Book Review: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Edition: Paperback, 480 pages
Published by: Simon & Shuster UK, 7th May 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Family, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5 stars

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

This is my third Morgan Matson read and this one gave me alotta emotions. I don’t deal with emotional books very well. I was literally bawling my eyes out.

Second Chance Summer is about seventeen year old Taylor Edwards, whose family isn’t particularly close because everyone is so busy but then one day she and her family received devastating news that her dad has cancer. So her parents decide to spend one last summer together at their lake house. Taylor hasn’t been back to the lake house in the last five years. She never wanted to come back because she has bad memories and last time she was there, things did not end well.

Book Review: Never Never, Part 3 by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Edition: e-Book, 92 pages
Published by: Hoover Ink
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 2 stars
Completed: 10th August 2016

New York Times bestselling authors Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher are back with the much-anticipated final installment in the Never Never novella series.

Together, Silas Nash and Charlize Wynwood must look deeper into the past to find out who they were and who they want to be. With time ticking down, the couple are in a race to find the answers they need before they lose everything.

Can they regain what they once had? And will it restore who they once were?

Part 3 picks up from where we left off on Part 2 and I see RED because I’m rather frustrated and annoyed with the final outcome of this novella series, as expected from the negative reviews so far.

This review will contain SPOILERS. It’s hard to review this without spoiling anything. So if you haven’t yet read Part 1 and 2 yet, then maybe you should but if you don’t care, then read on. Here we go:

Book Review: The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson

Edition: Paperback, 333 pages
Published by: Faber & Faber
Genre: Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: 8th August 2016

George Foss never thought he’d see her again, but on a late-August night in Boston, there she is, in his local bar, Jack’s Tavern.

When George first met her, she was an eighteen-year-old college freshman from Sweetgum, Florida. She and George became inseparable in their first fall semester, so George was devastated when he got the news that she had committed suicide over Christmas break. But, as he stood in the living room of the girl’s grieving parents, he realized the girl in the photo on their mantelpiece – the one who had committed suicide – was not his girlfriend. Later, he discovered the true identity of the girl he had loved – and of the things she may have done to escape her past.

Now, twenty years later, she’s back, and she’s telling George that he’s the only one who can help her…

Many thanks to Faber & Faber publishing for kindly sending me a copy of the book!

Following the success of The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson’s debut novel The Girl With A Clock For A Heart has been reissued with a new cover.

This story follows George Foss, who works at a literary magazine, lives with his cat called Nora and has a sort of girlfriend, Irene. He lives an ordinary life and nothing interesting happens, until his college one-time mysterious girlfriend appears out of the blue at a bar asking for help. Does he help her? Of course he does. He doesn’t even have to think about it.

Book Review: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Edition: Paperback, 528 pages
Published by: Simon & Schuster Children’s, 3rd May 2016
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: 30th July 2016

Andie had it all planned out.

When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future.

Important internship? Check.

Amazing friends? Check.

Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks).

But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life.

Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected.

And where’s the fun in that?

The Unexpected Everything centres on our main character Andie, who is the daughter of an important Congressman. Andie has everything planned out for the summer and Andie always plans to stick to a plan. Andie is a very smart and logical character. She’s independent and a straight-A student who has a pre-med internship lined up for her but everything comes crashing down when her father is involved in a political scandal. This causes her summer plans to inevitably change and finds herself walking a lot of dogs and also meeting a boy named Clark.

This is only just my second Morgan Matson read and what I like about her books is that she does a great job of balancing serious issues with fun, summer themes. It also focuses on genuine friendship and family, giving the story a more emotional impact, than just it being about a boy.

Book Review: One by Sarah Crossan

Edition: Hardcover, 448 pages
Published by: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Genre: Children’s, Disability, Family, Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 18th June 2016

Grace and Tippi don’t like being stared and sneered at, but they’re used to it. They’re conjoined twins – united in blood and bone.

What they want is to be looked at in turn, like they truly are two people. They want real friends. And what about love?

But a heart-wrenching decision lies ahead for Tippi and Grace. One that could change their lives more than they ever asked for…

This moving and beautifully crafted novel about identity, sisterhood and love ultimately asks one question: what does it mean to want and have a soulmate?

One tells a unique story about conjoined twins, Grace and Tippy. They have both have a pair of arms, hearts and lungs but they are joined at the waist, thus only having one body – so the coordination seems like a big mystery. The story begins with Grace and Tippy’s parents struggling to afford home schooling fees because their dad has been laid off. As a result, they are forced to attend an actual public school for the first time.

Book Review: All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

Edition: eARC
Published by: Harlequin UK
Release date: 14th July 2016
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Rating: 3.5 stars
Completed: 13th July 2016

You can erase the memory. But you cannot erase the crime.

Jenny’s wounds have healed.
An experimental treatment has removed the memory of a horrific and degrading attack.
She is moving on with her life.

That was the plan. Except it’s not working out.
Something has gone. The light in the eyes. And something was left behind. A scar. On her lower back. Which she can’t stop touching.
And she’s getting worse.
Not to mention the fact that her father is obsessed with finding her attacker and her mother is in toxic denial.

It may be that the only way to uncover what’s wrong is to help Jenny recover her memory. But even if it can be done, pulling at the threads of her suppressed experience will unravel much more than the truth about her attack.

Many thanks to Harlequin UK, via Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Spoiler free review:

Just to warn you, this book also contains graphic content.

All Is Not Forgotten tells the story of sixteen-year-old Jenny Kramer who was brutally raped in the woods whilst at a party. She was given PTSD as a treatment to erase the memory, in order for her to be able to move on with her life. However it means that she cannot give any new information about her rapist but it doesn’t change the fact that it still happened and that she remains haunted by the constant memory of not knowing.

Jenny’s father Tom Kramer is obsessed with finding his daughter’s rapist. He will not stop until the man who raped his daughter is caught and behind bars. Whilst Jenny’s mother, Charlotte Kramer, on the other hand just wants to forget it ever happened, is having an affair with Tom’s boss and has demons of her own past.

Book Review: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Edition: Paperback, 763 pages
Published by: Gollancz, 21st August 2007
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy
Completed: 9th June 2016

The impossible has happened. The Lord Ruler is dead has been vanquished. But so too is Kelsier the man who masterminded the triumph. The awesome task of rebuilding the world has been left to his protege Vin; a one-time street urchin, now the most powerful Mistborn in the land.

Worryingly for her Vin has become the focus of a new religion, a development that leaves her intensely uneasy. More worryingly still the mists have become unpredictable since the Lord Ruler died and a strage vaprous entity is stalking Vin.

As the siege of Luthadel intensifies the ancient legend of the Well of Ascension offers the only glimmer of hope. But no-one knows where it is or what it can do…

It’s going to be so hard to review this book without spoilers, as there is a hella lot to talk about! But I’m going to try and keep this spoiler free 🙂

In a nutshell, the plot is centred solely around three armies who want to take Luthadel because they want the atium; therefore Vin, Elend and the crew will to do whatever it takes to protect it. This book challenges Elend’s leadership skills, as he’s in a position where people will look up to him. As you can tell from the title, this book is also about the mystery of The Well of Ascension, especially with the prophesied ‘hero’ and the deepness.

Book Review: Mistborn, The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Edition: Paperback, 647 pages
Published by: Gollancz, 1st October 2009
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: 20th April 2016

For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed.

For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear while the Lord Ruler reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, a divinely invincible leader. Hope is long lost, until a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa in the depths of the most hellish prison and discovered he has the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, Kelsier will turn his talents to the ultimate caper: one with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
Only he’s not just planning the greatest heist in history, he’s plotting the overthrow of a divine despot.

Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks like a long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Mistborn is set in a world where ash constantly falls from the sky and this empire is ruled and controlled by a dark lord called the Lord Ruler and who is known as known as God of this world. There are two different classes – the lower class and the upper class. The lower class are called skaa – people who are enslaved. The upper class are called the nobles and they have access to this magic called allomancy, which involves swallowing and burning certain metals such as copper, zinc and pewter to enhance super strength and gain abilities. A normal allomancer can only use one power, but if they are able use up all metals, which is rare, then they are called a mistborn.