Book Reviews Archives - Page 78 of 114

Book Review: The Yearbook Committee by Sarah Ayoub

May 19, 2016

The Yearbook Committee by Sarah Ayoub

Pages: 304
Publish date: March 1st 2016
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 0732296854
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Five teenagers. Five lives. One final year.

The school captain: Ryan has it all … or at least he did, until an accident snatched his dreams away. How will he rebuild his life and what does the future hold for him now?

The newcomer: Charlie’s just moved interstate and she’s determined not to fit in. She’s just biding her time until Year 12 is over and she can head back to her real life and her real friends …

The loner: At school, nobody really notices Matty. But at home, Matty is everything. He’s been single-handedly holding things together since his mum’s breakdown, and he’s never felt so alone.

The popular girl: Well, the popular girl’s best friend … cool by association. Tammi’s always bowed to peer pressure, but when the expectations become too much to handle, will she finally stand up for herself?

The politician’s daughter: Gillian’s dad is one of the most recognisable people in the state and she’s learning the hard way that life in the spotlight comes at a very heavy price.

Five unlikely teammates thrust together against their will. Can they find a way to make their final year a memorable one or will their differences tear their world apart?

The Yearbook Committee:

I’ve wanted to read a Sarah Ayoub book for quite a while now, I had seen Hate is Such a Strong Word so many times, but just never bought it. But when I interviewed Sarah Ayoub for my #LoveOZYA feature, I knew I had to read at least 1 of her books. So I picked up The Yearbook Committee and let me tell you, I loved it.

The Yearbook Committee follows five very different students as they come together to complete the yearbook for the end of year 12. This book is full of friendships, breakdowns, romance, family and everything else. It is such an intense book, that I could not put it down.

Ryan was quite interesting – he is the guy that everyone knows, but isn’t a dickhead. I enjoyed when we were reading about him. He has this standard for himself and when everything falls apart – he just doesn’t know how to deal with it.

Charlie has just moved to the school, and just does not want to be there. Charlie was intriguing and I was always looking forward to reading her chapter.

Matty, just broke my heart. I want to be his best friend and hug him all the time. He holds all this stuff in and I wanted to scream at him to do what is right for him. Matty has such a kind heart.

Tammi is someone who’s perception on things, is manipulated because of who she is friends with. The way that she reacts to things, the way that she talks is all because she wants to stay friends with the popular girl. The peer pressure that she feels is intense and sometimes frightening.

Then we have Gillian, she is the politician’s daughter and always in the spotlight, but it’s not easy to be there, especially if you want to be your own person.

All these characters and the friendships they build and break is quite interesting. they are so different from each other, yet so alike. The dynamic between them all was fascinating and intriguing.

This book can get relatively intense at times, but I enjoyed, it shows that life isn’t all rainbows especially in your last year of school.

I loved that this book had so many different types of relationships. From family to friendships to romance, it was all there. Some were strong and some did just not work. There were friendship fall outs and new friendships and I loved it. Basically The Yearbook Committee was real and raw.

We are able to see in The Yearbook Committee that teens are flawed too, and everything doesn’t work out to how you planned it to be. We witness insecurities, heartbreak and everything that comes along with your final year of school, and being a teen in general.

It deals with teens and stereotyping. How we should not be defined by that stereotype and we can be anyone that we want. We are not just some label. I love this because anyone can connect to this, they can see themselves or how they treated others and fix it.

I loved the compelling writing of Sarah Ayoub, it captivating and you are drawn in from the start, you connect to each character one of or another and you want to know their story, you want them to get through the year and go out into the world.

Overall, The Yearbook Committee is enchanting, you will be torn apart and put together over and over again. You will be taken on a ride with 5 students in their class year of high school – so be prepared.

Have you read The Yearbook Committee? Did you love it as much as I did? Are you going to read it or any other Sarah Ayoub books? Let’s Chat.

Blog Tour – Book Review: Wicked Heart by Leisa Rayven

May 10, 2016

Wicked Heart by Leisa Raven

Pages: –
Publish date: May 3rd 2016
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN:
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Pan Macmillian

Liam Quinn is talented, gorgeous, and one of the biggest movie stars in the world.

He’s also only man Elissa Holt has ever truly loved.

After being out of her life for six years, he and his gorgeous fiancé are set to star in the new Broadway show Elissa is stage managing. Both Elissa and Liam try to ignore the connection they both still feel, but when late night rehearsals bring them together, the line between what is and what could have been get blurred.

Elissa knows that falling for Liam again would be a tragedy in the making, but as any good romantic will tell you, love doesn’t always follow the script.

Wicked Heart:

I received an e-arc of Wicked Heart by Leisa Raven via Pan Macmillan in conjunction with the Wicked Heart Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, some are bad and same are good, but overall I don’t really know how I feel about Wicked Heart. This is the third book by Leisa Rayven that I have read, I liked the previous two which are both from this series, but I did love them, the problems that I had with them, showed up again in this one.

Wicked Heart follows protagonist, Elissa 4 years after her heart was torn apart. She is a stage manager of a new show and, you guessed it, the person that broke her heart is playing the lead – with his fiancé playing the romantic interest. Elissa now has to deal with trying to be professional and keep her feelings at bay, but it’s just not that easy.

Wicked Heart like the others in the series includes flashbacks, and like her previous novels I wasn’t the biggest fan of them. I would have loved the flashbacks in Wicked Heart if the romance didn’t move like lightning.

Through the main part of the novel, the romance was good. It was steady and not bam; we are in love. However, when Elissa and Liam first meet, it was way too instalove for me.

If you have read Leisa Rayven’s other novels in this series, you would know that Elissa is Ethan’s sister and we kind of have an idea of who she is from the other books, but in Wicked Heart we really get who she is.

I actually quite liked Elissa as a protagonist, she was easy to get along with and wasn’t whiny however, I did want to knock her about at times regarding her feelings for Liam.

Now Liam, I wasn’t the biggest fan of his. For the most part, I was enjoying him, but then he did things and I just questioned why? Why would he do this? We do find out things throughout the novel to answer most of these, however the reasons behind some of the things weren’t an excuse. I also found that at times he was quite possessive and that just ticks me off.

I really enjoyed the setting of Wicked Heart. I really like the atmosphere of the book that was created because of it being set mainly in a theatre. It’s different from other books and its fun. We get to see more of what happens backstage in Wicked Heart and it was quite intriguing.

I loved the friendship between Elissa and Josh – like can I have this friendship. The banter, the teasing, the way they are always there for each other. It made my heart swell, it was beautiful to see a female/male friendship that wasn’t turned into a romance.

Another thing that I liked about Wicked Heart was the writing. It was easy to read, fun and kept me reading. However, sometimes I didn’t like all the pop cultural references, it just took away from the book.

Overall, I enjoyed Wicked Heart by Leisa Rayven. It was a fun, quick read that was full of romance, banter, laughs and more. Nevertheless, it did have its faults, the romance did move a little fast for me, Liam wasn’t by favourite and I just wanted more, but on a whole it was a fun book.

Have you read Wicked Heart? Have you read the others in the series? Have you liked them? Are you going to read the? Let’s Chat.

Book Review: Frankie by Shivaun Plozza

May 5, 2016

Frankie by Shivaun Plozza

Pages: 314
Publish date: March 23rd 2016
Publisher: Penguin Teen Australia
ISBN: 9780143573166
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Frankie Vega is angry. Just ask the guy whose nose she broke. Or the cop investigating the burglary she witnessed, or her cheating ex-boyfriend or her aunt who’s tired of giving second chances…
When a kid shows up claiming to be Frankie’s half brother, it opens the door to a past she doesn’t want to remember. And when that kid goes missing, the only person willing to help is a boy with stupidly blue eyes … and secrets of his own.
Frankie’s search for the truth might change her life, or cost her everything.

Frankie:

Frankie by Shivaun Plozza was one of my most anticipated books this year by an Australian author, it just sounded like my kind of book and it was. Frankie was a heartbreaking, heart-warming and absorbing contemporary that captures the reader from the first page.

Frankie follows protagonist Frankie Vega as she goes on a journey of self-discovery, more heartbreak and finding her place. Frankie is a usual protagonist, she is mean, rude, hard-headed and feisty, but not in the way that makes you want to put the book down and stop reading, no it is quite the opposite, her attitude makes you want to keep on reading.

When a kid shows up saying that he is Frankie’s half-brother, she doesn’t know what to do. Does she trust him and let him in her and let him break her like everyone else? Or she let him go now? But it’s Frankie we are talking about and she cannot let things, so when he goes missing, she does everything in her will power and power to find out where he is.

I adored Frankie, I would not want her to be my best friend because we would clash all the time, but she was such a fascinating protagonist. Frankie is fierce and strong and if I went missing, I would want her out there looking for me. She has had a tough life and she channels that and comes off as this ‘bad’ girl that is always getting into trouble.

She lives with her Aunt Vinne above her aunt’s Kebab shop, she has been kicked out of school and doesn’t want anyone to know and her supposed brother has just gone missing, oh and you know what this gorgeous boy with stupidly blue eyes comes into the mix. Lets’ just say that Frankie has a lot on her plate.

There were parts in the book where all I wanted to do was hug Frankie, but I feel that she might punch me in the face if I did that. There were parts that also made me cry, right near the end – arrg my heart.

I enjoyed the relationship between Frankie and her Aunt. Even thought at times it was a bit strained, it worked quite well for the situation that they were both in.

The romance was such a little piece of Frankie, but it was beautifully done. There wasn’t a need for a bubbling romance, but the way that Plozza handle it was perfect. Nate was intense and intriguing and capture Frankie in a way no way else had before. It was slightly there, but it did add to both the story and the characterisation of Frankie.

I adored that Frankie was set in Melbourne. It’s my home, and sometimes it does get boring when books are all set in the same place or places that I have no clue about. Even though I don’t live in Collingwood, I know how it looks and feels so it was truly interesting. Plozza has captured Melbourne perfectly.

Overall, Frankie by Shivaun Plozza is a brilliant debut novel that captured my heart. It’s a story of heartbreak, belonging, finding yourself and what it is to be a family. It captures Melbourne as Melbourne from the language to the setting, it brings to light that sometimes when you think that you are alone, you are not alone and all that you need to do is let them in. Frankie by Shivaun Plozza is a must read.

Have you read Frankie? Did you love it as much as me? Are you going to read it? Why not also check out my interview with Shivaun Plozza where we talk her writing journey, Frankie and more.