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Book Review: The Secrets Between You and Me by Shana Norris

Mar 24, 2015

The Secrets Between You and Me by Shana Norris

Pages:247 (ebook)
Publish date: Feburay 10th 2015
Publisher: The Studio, a Paper Lantern Lit imprint
ISBN: 9780988450936
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

4 wheels on a rusty truck * 2 gray eyes * 1 secret that could ruin everything…

All Hannah wanted was a summer break from being “perfect Hannah Cohen” and a chance to forget about the devastating family secret that could ruin her seemingly perfect life. So when she takes off for her eccentric aunt’s house in the mountains of North Carolina and everyone makes one big (wrong) assumption about her past, Hannah figures that it’s easier to live a lie than have to face the truth.

She never expected to make any real friends, like the hilarious and spontaneous Kate and Ashton, who drag her to late night bonfires and ice cream marathons. And she especially never counted on meeting Jude Westmore, the brooding bad boy next door with gray eyes and permanent oil smudges on his fingers, or that he would ever take an interest in her.

Between moonlit movie nights in the bed of Jude’s truck and nearly romantic Ferris Wheel rides, Hannah’s old life seems father away then ever, but can she keep her secret, or is the truth worth the risk of losing everything, including Jude?

The Secrets Between You and Me

I received a copy of The Secrets Between You and Me by Shana Norris through Net Galley, this has in no way influenced my opinion on the book.

I read this on a whim, I was going through Net Galley and The Secrets Between You and Me. I did not realise that it was a companion to another novel but it in no way hindered my thoughts or confused me in any way.

Hannah is the protagonist of The Secrets Between You and Me and sometimes in contemporary novels I don’t have a nice relationship with the female protagonist but Hannah, my heart broke for her.

She puts on this façade that protects her, but she doesn’t always want to be this ‘perfect’ human that everyone makes her out to me. She holds a devastating family secret that is haunting her. All she wants to do is forget all this.

So when she goes away to her aunts for the summer, where everyone makes an incorrect assumption about her past, she goes along with it.

Hannah never thought that she would make real friends and I think that is in most teen girl’s heads. They think that the will ‘fit in’ but like Hannah finds out that is not always the case. It’s nice sometimes to read contemporary, because it’s real.

Even though I liked the plot of The Secrets Between You and Me I didn’t love Shana Norris writing. It was good don’t get me wrong, but I was just waiting for more.

Kate and Ashton are two spontaneous and quite enjoyable characters that befriend Hannah on her summer journey. They added something to the story that put a big, fat smile on my face.

Then there is Jude and let me tell you, I want this man in my life, he is incredible. He has this tough exterior that masks his hurt, and that he does need someone to help him.

His and Hannah’s relationship is adorable and cute and heartbreaking, it’s real.

The Secrets Between You and Me is not just about love and friendship but about family and that sometimes families are not perfect like they are in movies, most are broken and Hannah’s is no different. They all old their secrets and it’s tearing the family into tiny specks of dust.

Even though I didn’t like Shana Norris’ writing all that much, she does know how to capture emotions. I felt everything that Hannah felt, everything that Jude felt. It was uplifting at times and tragic at others, but at a whole the emotions evoked by Norris are captivating.

Yes I may have not liked the writing style, but I did love the plot, characters and emotions of The Secrets Between You and Me. Yes the story line may be clique but it was done well in my opinion. But I won’t be reading the companion simply because the story lines makes me want to cry and not for a good reason.

To finish on a good note, The Secrets Between You and Me is an enjoyable read, that will hook you by the plot. It’s emotional from start to finish.

Have you read The Secrets Between You and Me? Are you going to read it?

Book Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

Mar 11, 2015

Confess by Colleen Hoover

Pages:306
Publish date:March 10th
Publisher:Simon and Schuster (ATRIA paperback)
ISBN: 9781476791456
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

Confess:

I received a copy of Confess from Simon and Schuster Aus for review. This has in no way influenced my review.

Firstly Colleen Hoover is simply incredible, Confess is magic. Everything about this book is beautiful: The storyline, the writing, how the book is laid out. I cannot seem to fault this book in any way possible.

Colleen Hoover is an extraordinary writer and Confess proves that in every way and form. It doesn’t only read well but just looks exquisite, the artwork throughout Confess that are painted or draw by ‘Owen’ are; I cannot even begin to explain it. It adds complexity and beauty to the story in a way that no one that I know of has done before.

Some secrets should never turn into confessions. I know that better than anyone – Owen

Confess follows Auburn and Owen two very different people but yet are so similar. The novel starts off with a prologue that had me bawling on the train, when Colleen Hoover makes you cry, she makes me cry a waterfall. It was gorgeous and set the mood of the novel that follows.

The novel officially starts with Auburn in a Lawyer’s office and from that instant on the reader is left in the dark about something that broke my heart when I found out, I didn’t even guess it at all. I loved that the reader is left questioning what is happening from the moment they open the book.

I loved both the main characters of Confess. Aubrun is a mystery that is broken. Owen can be said to be the same and together they are incredible.

Owen is my new book boyfriend, my heart just breaks for him. The whole concept of his art studio is just perfect. He paints confessions and some of these confessions are just mind-blowing.

I’m scared I’ll never stop comparing my life without him to how my life was when I was with him – Anonymous confession

The way that this book starts and right up until the last word of the book is read is beautiful. I cannot explain it in any other way. I started this book on the train about 1 in the afternoon and finished it by 9 at night, while having class and doing other things. If I had time to read it in one sitting it would have happened.

Once you start reading you simply won’t be able to put it down. From the art to the words, all is one. They flow with each other and bounce off each other, I don’t know if this review is giving this book justice, you just have to read and see the beauty yourself.

Furthermore Confess is beautiful, intriguing and pulling at every moment. You absorb the whole book with each word that you read. There are twists and turns, some will shock you to the core, but some that are so beautiful that you will cry. But there are moments when you smile and grin like the Cheshire cat. There are moments where you want to scream or laugh. The reader will feel so many emotions in Confess that you will be left with so much to say.

Therefore in saying that, I hope that maybe Hoover might write a sequel but I am not counting on it, it is beautiful on its own. I just want more of Auburn and Owen.

Have you read Confess yet? What do you think of it? Will you read it?

Book Review: A Small Madness by Dianne Touchell

Feb 17, 2015

A Small Madness by Dianne Touchell

Pages: 231
Publish date: February 1st 2015
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760110789
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Rose didn’t tell anyone about it. She wondered if it showed. She looked at herself in the mirror and turned this way and then that way. She stood as close to the mirror as she could, leaning over the bathroom basin, looking into her own eyes until they disappeared behind the fog of her breath. Looking for something. Some evidence that she was different now. Something had shifted inside her, a gear being ratcheted over a clunky cog, gaining torque, starting her up. But it didn’t show. How could all of these feelings not show? She was a woman now but it didn’t show and she couldn’t tell anyone.

A Small Madness:

I received A Small Madness by Dianne Touchell from Allen and Unwin in exchange for a review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

As soon as I saw A Small Madness, in the Allen and Unwin catalogue quite a couple of months ago, I knew I needed this book in my hands and boy I wasn’t disappointed.

The synopsis of A Small Madness doesn’t give too much away, but it gives the reader just enough so they are pulled right in.

I cannot explain how heartbreaking, enriching and beautiful this novel is. The way that A Small Madness is written is very unique. Rose the protagonist of A Small Madness is quite young, and you can hear it, in her voice. Normally I don’t like that in a young adult novel, but it just adds so much complexity and makes an impact like no other.

I try not to spoil books in my reviews, but with this book it’s really hard, I’m not spoiling the whole book so don’t get worried, I’m just giving away something to me, is common sense.

Rose didn’t immediately realise it but she was watching the calendar. She was watching the calendar the way you watch a spider in the corner of a room you can’t leave.

So Rose is going through a teenage pregnancy, but not in the archetypal way. Rose just doesn’t want to believe it, no matter, what and that is what makes the novel that much more emotional.

A Small Madness really captures the emotions of a pregnant teenager. It’s heartbreaking really. It really challenges the beliefs of the reader and how they perceive teenage pregnancy.

Michael, Roses boyfriend, friend, companion and father of her child, is very similar to Rose. They are both so ‘innocent’ and new to everything. But their love is simply beautiful and intimate. That even through hardship, they still love each other. It’s incredible because sometimes most adults can’t do that.

The title really does tell what is going on in Rose’s mind; a small madness. Rose just isn’t dealing with the pregnancy well, she is like a ticking time bomb. It’s eating her up and throughout the novel, we see her change and it’s heartbreaking. Her thoughts and feelings are turned and sometimes not for the better.

A Small Madness is very antagonizing. Let me tell you that right now. But it’s also a beautiful, powerful novel that challenges the reader, and it will bring you out of your comfort zone.

Somehow this small gesture had more significance than the usual body-slam hugging that had been their previous mid-hall greeting.

Furthermore, Touchell’s writing is incredible that just brings out all the emotions in the reader. But that is what makes the story that much more distressing and moving. Touchell also questions the reader. However, A Small Madness may be very confronting to some readers.

She asks the reader to be sympathetic to a dark deed and the flawed characters that committed it. She asks the readers to really question the idea that ‘being damaged is very, different to being evil’ – especially to be of that age.
A Small Madness is a beautiful, important novel that will challenge your beliefs and break your heart.