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Book Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Apr 28, 2016

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Pages: –
Publish date: March 23rd 2016 (First Published January 3rd 2012)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
ASIN: B01DE56OUW
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Once upon a time, Hudson Avery knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life and knocked her figure skating dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances, a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her skating dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet hockey player walks into her life—and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, this chance may very well be her last….

Bittersweet:

I received a copy of Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler for review, in celebration of all her books now being available in all English-speaking countries digitally, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This is the second Sarah Ockler book that I have read, I read The Book of Broken Hearts recently and truly enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to Bittersweet and you know what it had? Two of my favourite things books and cooking. I love to cook, and this book had baking everywhere, I was in love.

Hudson used to have everything that she wanted, and one moment turned it all upside down. Now Hudson has been living a life that isn’t what she wants and just goes along with it, she doesn’t believe in second chances. But when things start to change and look up for her, she is both hopeful and absolutely terrified.

I loved Hudson, she was such an interesting protagonist and I wanted to just keep reading about her. Her love for cooking and the way that she thinks, made me connect with her quite a lot.

Family played a big part of Bittersweet. It was heartbreaking at times to see how a betrayal can tear a family apart and never be put back together. Hudson tried to do so much, she gave up so much and still at times it wasn’t enough. Towards the end of the novel, I started to dislike her mother even more than I did to start off with. I understand that her mum has things to do and that she needed her help, however I felt that she asked too much of Hudson and just expected her to do it, without asking.

I adored Bug, Hudson’s little brother. I just wanted to squeeze him. He was adorable and I loved the relationship between him and Hudson.

The romance, it wasn’t my favourite part…for a short time there was a love triangle and you know that grinds my gears. However, the reader can tell from the start who she will end up with. Nevertheless, I also felt it was on the border of instalove. But then again then it wasn’t at the same time.

One of my favourite things of Bittersweet was Hudson’s character arc. We get to see her grow so much from the start, being able to stand up for herself and do what she believes in. She didn’t have people make those choices for her, they help, but only for her to see what the right thing is for her.

Like with The Book of Broken Hearts I enjoyed Sarah Ockler’s writing style, it was captivating and I wanted to keep on reading.

As I said before, I love cooking. So it was actually nice to see some cooking in there. I loved that before each chapter there was a type of cupcake, I was drooling and I need to make some– which I will do soon.

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler is a beautiful novel about family, heartbreak and triumph, it intertwines romance, humour and betrayal. You are taken on a journey with Hudson, your heart will break and slowly be put back together. Bittersweet is a beautiful contemporary that is a must read.

Have you read Bittersweet? Did you like it? Are you going to read it? Have you read any of her other books? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: The Things I Didn’t Say by Kylie Fornasier

Apr 24, 2016

The Thing’s I Didn’t Say by Kylie Fornasier

Pages: 320
Publish date: May 2nd 2016
Publisher: Penguin Teen Australia
ISBN: 9780143573630
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon US – Amazon AU

I hate the label Selective Mutism – as if I choose not to speak, like a child who refuses to eat broccoli. I’ve used up every dandelion wish since I was ten wishing for the power to speak whenever I want to. I’m starting to wonder if there are enough dandelions.

After losing her best friend that night, Piper Rhodes changes schools, determined that her final year will be different. She will be different. Then she meets West: school captain, star soccer player, the boy everyone talks about. Despite her fear of losing everything all over again, Piper falls in love – and West with her – without Piper ever speaking one word to him. But will it last?

The Things I Didn’t Say:

The Things I Didn’t Say by Kylie Fornasier was one of my most anticipated books for 2016. I adored her previous book Masquerade and when I heard Kylie was writing another book, I knew that I need to read it, and let me tell you it didn’t disappoint.

The Things I Didn’t Say is quite different from her first novel. Firstly it’s not historical fiction and it’s set here in Australia. It’s a contemporary novel that includes a protagonist with Selective Mutism.

The Things I Didn’t Say follows protagonist Piper as she starts at a new school after an event that made her lose her best friend. The thing is, Piper has Selective Mutism. Selective Mutism is a condition that causes someone not able to speak in certain situations or with certain people. For Piper, the only people that she speaks to is her family and people that she is really close to.

I really enjoyed Piper as a protagonist. Her growth throughout the book was really well done and we are able to see that she has changed from the start of the book. I also enjoyed her character arc.

Kylie Fornasier dealt with Selective Mutism exceptionally well. There is quite a lot of YA novels that deal with characters not speaking – but because of something that has happened to them. Selective Mutism doesn’t work like that and we are able to see that in The Things I Didn’t Say.

We also see how other characters deal with this and it’s interesting to see how her family, who have known her, her life think that it’s just a phase that she is going through. But someone who has just found out about the condition is totally accepting.

Nevertheless, we also get to see how people who don’t know Piper’s situation deal with her especially, teachers because of her move to a new school.

There was something very real about The Things I Didn’t Say. The conversations felt real, the events that happened felt real, the way that the characters deal with things, felt real.

The romance in The Things I Didn’t Say was adorable. I enjoyed West both as a character and as a love interest for Piper. It was so cute the way that West dealt with the knowledge when he found out about Selective Mutism. I wanted to squeeze him. I did feel at times that it moved along a little too quickly, but it was also slow burning – if that makes any sense at all.

However, I did have a problem with the pacing. The book spans over about a year and I felt that there was no real sense of time and the next thing I knew we were at the end of the school year. This did confuse me and I just wanted to be made aware of the jump lapse.

The Things I Didn’t Say packs a punch, there are things in the novel that will rip your heart apart and all you will want to do is hold Piper. Kylie Fornasier’s writing is beautiful and so easy to delve into and read.

Overall, The Things I Didn’t Say is a gorgeous novel that breaks you down. It pulls at your heart and slowly rips it. With beautiful writing and a slow burning romance that starts off quick, but takes it’s time.

Have you read The Things I Didn’t Say yet? What did you think of it? Are you going to read it? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Apr 18, 2016

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Pages: 496
Publish date: May 5th 2016
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471146146
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Andie has a plan. And she always sticks to her plan.

Future? A top-tier medical school.
Dad? Avoid him as much as possible (which isn’t that hard considering he’s a Congressman and he’s never around).
Friends? Palmer, Bri, and Toby—pretty much the most awesome people on the planet, who needs anyone else?
Relationships? No one’s worth more than three weeks.

So it’s no surprise that Andie’s got her summer all planned out too.

Until a political scandal costs Andie her summer pre-med internship, and lands both she and Dad back in the same house together for the first time in years. Suddenly she’s doing things that aren’t Andie at all—working as a dog walker, doing an epic scavenger hunt with her dad, and maybe, just maybe, letting the super cute Clark get closer than she expected. Palmer, Bri, and Toby tell her to embrace all the chaos, but can she really let go of her control?

The Unexpected Everything:

I received an arc of The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This was the first book that I read this year and silly me forgot to; 1. Take notes and 2. Write the review when I finished reading the book. So I had to re-read the book, so I don’t miss-lead anyone that is going to read the book.

The Unexpected Everything is the third Morgan Matson book that I’ve read and I am still surprised how she can interview so many different topics flawlessly. The Unexpected Everything deals with family, friendship, love and finding yourself.

The Unexpected Everything follows protagonist Andie Walker as her life turns into something that she cannot control. Andie likes to be in control and that has a lot to do with her father.

Andie is the daughter of a politician so her life has been filled with, do’s and don’ts, living by a timetable and being in the public eye and when this all nearly disappears; she is kind of left with nothing. She also likes to be in control of her relationships, she has never been a relationship for over 3 weeks. When he starts to want more from her, she runs.

She likes the idea of being free however, she is so used to having all these things that it is hard.

I like books about politicians’ children, I find them interesting. It gives something to the storyline that you don’t see often. Andie doesn’t have the best relationship with her father and that is mainly because of his job. We see at the start of the novel that their relationship is quite rocky, and the way that she speaks to him is quite…different and some people may not like it. However, I didn’t mind it given the circumstances.

I quite liked Andie as a protagonist. She has this innocence about her because of the way she grew up and now that a lot of that is gone, she needs to find herself and it was nice to see. At times I wanted to hit her on the head because of how closed off she was at times, but in true Morgan Matson style, it all worked out.

Even though she was hard headed at times, my heart did break for her.

Friendship was one of the major themes of The Unexpected Everything and it shone. The banter between Andie and her friends; Toby, Palmer and Bri was nice to see. They were a fun group and I giggled a lot when they were together. But, something The Unexpected Everything shows us that all friendships don’t work out and when you grow older, sometimes the person that you thought was your friend you don’t click with anymore.

The Unexpected Everything is full of fun moments, heartbreaking ones and overall very real, the problems that aroused in this book felt like they could very well happen and the way that Matson dealt with them felt real.

The romance was adorable and slow burning. It was enjoyable to see how they move forward in their relationship, from someone they bumped into, to friends and then into something more.

Clark is adorable, can he just be mine? What I loved about him is that he is an author and a pretty big one. It was truly nice to see an author writing a book, in a young adult novel. We do sometimes see it with protagonists, but I loved seeing it in a secondary character.

The only bad thing I would say about the book, is that I felt that it may have been too long for a contemporary. Some things did drag on and I felt that it could have been cut at parts.

Overall, I loved The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson. It is a tale of friendship, family, love and unexpected adventures that all feels real. The Unexpected Everything is for every author, book lover and reader alike. It’s a beautiful story of friendship, heartbreak and family. Morgan Matson brings together a beautiful contemporary novel that makes you smile, laugh and cry.