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Blog Tour: Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde | Review

May 31, 2017

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Pages: 288
Publish date: 26 April 2017
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781250111395
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

When BFFs Charlie, Taylor and Jamie go to SupaCon, they know it’s going to be a blast. What they don’t expect is for it to change their lives forever.

Charlie likes to stand out. SupaCon is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star, Reese Ryan. When Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought.

While Charlie dodges questions about her personal life, Taylor starts asking questions about her own.

Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about the Queen Firestone SupaFan Contest, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.

Queens of Geek:

I received an arc of Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde from Pan Macmillian in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this one, I knew needed to get my hands on it. Queens of Geek is right up my alley. It’s geeky, nerdy and pop cultural to the max. It incorporates so much that I love into one book – and it was pretty great.

Queens of Geek follows protagonists Charlie and Taylor along with Jamie as they explore SupaCon. Best friends that seem different, but just click so well.

Charlie stands out in the crowd, YouTuber turned movie star, she adores doing what she loves. And her mission for SupaCon – to show her fans that she is over her ex-Reese. Then Alyssa Huntington shows up and everything is thrown out the window.

Taylor likes to blend in, she likes to move with the crowd. But SupaCon is ready to bust the bubble that Taylor has built around her. With her feelings for Jamie coming to the surface and a contest that she desperately wants to enter – Taylor’s life is about to change.

I loved reading Queens of Geek. It hit all the right places; it was full of romance, friendship and believing in yourself. It’s diverse and puts a very normal pop cultural aspects into a book and it was great.

I really enjoyed Charlie overall as a protagonist. She was strong, but she had her flaws that made her such an easy character to get along with. I loved that she not only stood up for herself but her friends as well. Throughout Queens of Geek the reader is able to see Charlie grow as a person and believe in herself even more. We see her struggle with past relationships and the pressure of being in front of a camera, with your whole life on display.

I feel like Taylor. I could connect with her on so many different levels it was crazy, but I loved it so much. Her passion for everything that she loved, including her friends was so great to see. I adored that she wasn’t ashamed to share her love for books, TV shows, movies. She is that fandom queen and it worked so well.

Another thing that hit the right spot for me was the diversity elements in Queens of Geek. Espiecally with anxiety and panic attacks. I connected on so many levels with Taylor because of this. With my experience, the representation of anxiety and panic attacks was so well done. I also like how it was normalized and how everyone around them didn’t hate it, or put the characters down for it.

Now the romance elements. One of my favourite tropes is ‘Friends to Lovers’, so you have no idea how excited I was about Taylor and Jamie. They were adorable together. I was squealing and couldn’t keep myself contained. I loved how much Jamie understood Taylor and knew when to step back. But he also knew when to push her and try and get her out of her bubble.

Charlie and Alyssa, while I really did enjoy it, a lot. It felt to insta-lovey for me. I really wanted to love it so much, because they were very cute together. But, it was hard getting passed that it had only been a few days. In saying that, I did like how Jen Wilde did portray them and how they connected over things in such ways.

Overall, I loved Queens of Geek. It’s a fun but emotional read that is for every pop cultural fan. It explores the notion of friendship and relationships. It’s about falling in love and letting yourself love. It’s about stepping out of that bubble and letting yourself be free. With beautiful friendships and romance, this book is one for everyone.

Have you read Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

OZ YA Books I Read in 2016

Jan 8, 2017

Reading more Australian young adult books is something that I strived to do more of this year. And I think that I did pretty good. I wish I was able to read some more, but they will be getting added to next year’s list.

Along with the #LoveOZYA movement, I think that Aussie YA has been read more around the world this year. I’ve seen bloggers reading and loving books from Australia authors and wanting to read more.

This year I also did my #LoveOZYA Author Interview. Where I interviewed Australian young adult authors about their books, writing life and what it’s like to be an author from Australia.

I decided today I will talk about all the OZ YA books that I read that year. From the good to the bad. Most of these books were published in 2016, but there are some that are earlier.

Frankie by Shivaun Plozza: 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. Frankie brings to light that sometimes when you think that you are alone, you are not. And all that you need to do is let them in. Full Review

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman: Now I didn’t love this one as much as everyone else. But I did enjoy reading it. I struggle reading science fiction – so I was glad just to get through it.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley: A poignant, beautiful story. With fleshed out characters, gorgeous writing and a concept that is for every book lover. It’s about love, friendship, family and grief. You are taken on a journey through up’s and down’s and pulled into pieces. Full Review

Disruption by Jessica Shirvington: With enthralling characters, an engrossing world and a plot that just keeps you right there in the action. Disruption is a must read for everyone that loves YA and beyond.

Corruption by Jessica Shirvington: Just as enthralling as the first novel. Corruption keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The Industry by Rose Foster: The world was intriguing, protagonist interesting and the story pulled me right in. The Industry shows us that we need to try and be strong in hard times. Even when you think everything is impossible. Full Review

Breathing Under Water by Sophie Hardcastle: An emotional rollercoaster of a story. You are on a ride of grief and how it affects people differently, family and how at times you have to stick together, and friendship and how it can break when everything falls apart. | Full Review

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil: Ventures in friendship, first love, family and what it is like to keep everything bottled in. It shows that sometimes love needs to start off as a friendship and that the bonds of friends are not always broken – even if there is some turbulence on the way. Full Review

When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah: The younger generations need to know that sometimes the government and media lie and manipulate the sense of asylum seekers. They need to know that most of these people are not illegal or jumping the queue, they are just simply people looking for freedom, safety and peace. It’s an important story to write and share. Full Review

The Yearbook Committee by Sarah Ayoub: 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. Full Review

The Things I Didn’t Say by Kylie Fornasier: 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 | Full Review
The Protected by Claire Zorn: The Protected is a beautiful, heartbreaking novel that tales a story of a girl who not only has to deal with her sister dying. But memory lose, her family breaking down and the torment of school.

Lisette’s Paris Notebook by Catherine Bateson: I didn’t love this book. It had potential, but it just wasn’t for me |

Summer Skin by Kirsty Eager: Is not for the faint hearted, be prepared for a sexy, slow-burning love full of passion and secrets. Summer Skin deals not only with young men taking advantage of women but how women can act differently to it. It shows us that people hide behind fronts not only to keep themselves safe but others as well. Summer Skin is full of empowering young women that take a stand.

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier: Is a terrifying, fantastic read that will mess with your mind. Be prepared for a book that has many twists and turns that you have no idea what hit you, My Sister Rosa reminds us that sometimes a smile and looking pretty doesn’t mean that the person is not a psychopath. Nevertheless, Larbalestier also reminds us that you not always like your family.

What I Saw by Beck Nicholas: Shows us that sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest thing, that sometimes family isn’t everything and the importance of how a king hit can not only hurt the Victim but everyone else around them.

What OZ YA books did you read this year? Did are share any of the same? What was your favourite, less favourite? What are you looking forward to next year? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Lisette’s Paris Notebook by Catherine Bateson

Jan 6, 2017

Lisette’s Paris Notebook by Catherine Bateson

Pages: 304
Publish date: January 2017
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760293635
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

What do you wear to Paris? Ami and I discussed it for hours but I still couldn’t think of anything suitable. Ami said a trench coat with nothing underneath but your best underwear. That was only if some boy was meeting you at the airport, I said.

Eighteen-year-old Lisette has just arrived in Paris (France!) – the city of haute couture and all things stylish – to practise her French and see great works of art. Her clairvoyant landlady Madame Christophe forces her to attend language lessons with a bunch of international students but soon Lise discovers she’s more interested in studying boys than art or verbs …

When the undeniably hot Anders jogs into her life it feels too good to be true. Things get even more complicated when she is pursued by Hugo, a charming English antiques dealer.

Can she take a chance and follow her own dreams? How far into the future can Madame Christophe see? And could Lise really be falling in love – in Paris?

Lisette’s Paris Notebook:

I received a copy of Lisette’s Paris Notebook by Catherine Bateson from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

As soon as I started to read Lisette’s Paris Notebook I knew that I wasn’t going to love it. The writing style didn’t sing to, and the protagonist could not stop complaining.

Lisette’s Paris Notebook follows protagonist Lisette as she arrives in Paris where she will be living for the next couple of months. Lisette has just finished High School in Melbourne, Australia. And she decides that instead of going straight to university, she is going to take a gap year.

Lisette was a difficult protagonist to get along with. Throughout the whole book, she could never make up her mind of what she wanted to do. Lisette is only a couple of years younger than me, but she sounded like a fifth-teen year old. However, I did like seeing Lisette grow throughout the novel. At the start, she seems like she is confused about what is going on in her life, but then she starts to find herself and it was great to see.

When Lisette first arrives in France, she thinks that she has it all down pat. She thinks she knows the language, the cultural and what to expect – but some things take her by surprise. I loved this – no matter how much you watch, read and hear. Being and living in a different country can be very hard.

I also loved that Lisette was from Australia. It’s rare that readers see Australian as the protagonist in young adult. The influence of Lisette being Australian had on the book and the way that she interacted with people was interesting and I really enjoyed it.

I didn’t like most of the characters Lisette’s Paris Notebook. I don’t know if it was because they were unlikable or that we as the reader didn’t get to know them. It felt that the author focused too much on Lisette and not anyone else. It was like she had no real connections.

The romance…well. I normally don’t like more than one romance in the books that I read. But, I think the use of more than one romantic interest worked. Lisette’s first love interest is, trying to put it nicely, a dickhead. He’s the guy that you never want to get in a relationship with. Therefore, I was totally okay with Lisette moving on. Maybe not as quickly as she did. But I did enjoy the romance more the second time.

The writing style of Lisette’s Paris Notebook also wasn’t my favourite. I felt that at times I was being talked down upon. It was like the adults in the book were there to tell us the things that teens do are wrong. However, I did keep on reading. I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Another reason why I didn’t like Lisette’s Paris Notebook was that, I felt it was all stereotypes. If I had to read ‘Oh La La’ one more time I was going to lose it. It was like the author just plucked all these sayings and chucked them in. It didn’t feel authentic and I cringe so many time throughout the book. I also felt that some of the remarks about Australia were also stereotypical and the other didn’t say that they were not real.

Overall, Lisette’s Paris Notebook was not for me. It explores family, friendship and romance. It had a protagonist that felt too young to be eighteen and a plot that dragged on. I was expecting and wanting more from Lisette’s Paris Notebook. However, I did keep on reading.