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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.

Have you read Lisette’s Paris Notebook? Did you like it? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley – Blog Tour

Sep 11, 2016

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Pages: 352
Publish date: August 30th, 2016
Publisher: Pan Australia
ISBN: 1742612385
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

This is a love story.
It’s the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets.
It’s the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea.
Now, she’s back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal and looking for the future in the books people love, and the words they leave behind

Words in Deep Blue:

I received an ARC of Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley from Pan Macmillan Australia as part of the blog tour, in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

Words in Deep Blue is the first Cath Crowley book that I have read and I have no idea why I waited so long. I loved the writing, the plot and how Crowley can capture everything in a small amount of time.

Words in Deep Blue follows protagonist Rachel Sweetie as she returns home, is faced with her best friend, a secret crush and to a place where everything seemed to be better.

It’s about Henry, who doesn’t know what he wants, thinks that he loves his on and off girlfriend and wants things can go back to what they use to be.

It’s about Howling Books, where letters between lovers, friends and strangers are marked forever in the pages of the books that live on its shelves.

Words in Deep Blue is a heartbreaking novel; it’s full of grief, friendship, love, family and finding yourself when you don’t know what to think anymore. It captured me from the first moment, dropped into a world of beautiful words.

I truly enjoyed Rachel as a protagonist, she is one of those characters that I just got along with straight away. Rachel was full of grief and heartache, that she held in from everyone that made her character that more interesting. The grief that Rachel held punched me, and then kept on punching me. It was such a strong element of who she was but, done beautifully.

Henry, now he wasn’t my biggest fan – he could never make up his mind and kept on going back to the girl that didn’t really love him. However, he had this strong sense of family and the love for Howling Books. I always love it when I find a male character that loves books, and that was Henry. At times his attitude was hard to get around, he had this adoration for Amy – that made his life a whole lot worse.

But, one of the main reasons why I loved Words in Deep Blue was that it just wasn’t Rachel and Henry’s story, but a whole bookshop. A library of letters between lovers, friends, strangers, everyone’s stories intertwined into books that just had pen inscribed throughout.

Most of Words in Deep Blue is told through a normal novel structure. However, scattered throughout, there were these letters that have been left on the pages. It was such an interesting concept. I talked with Crowley about this in an interview I had with her in my #LoveOZYA series.

George’s story was one of my favourites – she is this strong girl, but deep down she’s broken and waiting for someone. My heart broke for her, and all I wanted to do was wrap her up in my arms.

Family played a somewhat big part of Words in Deep Blue, yet I wanted more. Henry and George’s family had some substance, but I felt quite disconnected from Rachel and her mother. I wanted to be hit with grief over and over again. I wanted it from the family interactions, but it fell a little flat for more.

The writing, though, is poignant and beautiful. I was gripped from the first page and swept up in this contemporary world where nothing much is different, but I felt that I was somewhere else. Cath Crowley is able to capture the reader with beautiful words, I loved being immersed in a story.

Overall, Words in Deep Blue is 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.

Have you read Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley? What did you think of it? Are you going to read it? Have you read other Crowley books? Let’s Chat! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the blog tour.

Book Review: Disruption by Jessica Shirvington

Sep 4, 2016

Disruption by Jessica Shirvington

Pages: 400
Publish date: April 1st 2014
Publisher: Harper Collins Australia
ISBN: 0732296285
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

What if a microchip could identify your perfect match?
What if it could be used against you and the ones you love?Eight years ago, Mercer Corporation’s M-Bands became mandatory. An evolution of the smartphone, the bracelets promised an easier life. Instead, they have come to control it.Two years ago, Maggie Stevens watched helplessly as one of the people she loves most was taken from her, shattering her world as she knew it.

Now, Maggie is ready. And Quentin Mercer – heir to the M-Corp empire – has become key to Maggie’s plan. But as the pieces of her dangerous design fall into place, could Quentin’s involvement destroy everything she’s fought for?

In a world full of broken promises, the ones Maggie must keep could be the most heartbreaking.

Disruption:

I received a copy of Disruption by Jessica Shirvington from Harper Collins YA Australia in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I do not know why I put off reading Disruption for such a long time – I read Between the Lives and loved it and I haven’t heard anything horrible about it, so when I had the chance to review it – I said yes.

Disruption follows protagonist Maggie Stevens in a world where a microchip could identify your perfect match. Where bracelets, that were created to make life easier control not only your life, but the decisions that you make. When Maggie loses something that she holds dear, she wants revenge and the perfect place to start is with the heir to the M-Corp Empire; Quentin Mercer.

I cannot explain how much I loved Disruption, it’s one of those books that always keeps you on your feet. You have no idea what is going to happen next, what the author is going to throw at you. It’s captivating, enthralling and you are wrapped up in the world from the get go.

I adored Maggie as a protagonist, she was fierce and strong, but she is also breakable. On the outside, she has this persona, however, as the book goes on you find out that she needs someone, that this closed off person needs people in her life that want to be there for her. She feels deeply, but hides it all. She has spent two years creating her plan and she doesn’t want anyone to demolish it. At the start there are times that Maggie is unlikable, yet she fits perfectly into the world.

Quentin – I cannot say anything bad about him. He was charming, sweet and hella adorable. There was this force about him that she hit the book in all the right places. It seems like he can be walked all over, but he’s not. Quentin is just as strong and Maggie.

Gus is brilliant and I am not just talking about his mind. He’s like the comic relief, yet so much more. He adds another dimension to Disruption and makes it even more interesting. He isn’t the love interest, but has this bond with Maggie that is bang on. I loved the friendship that these two build over the course of the book.

The romance – it was beautiful and my heart as breaking the whole way through. I was just waiting for the moment for Quentin was going go find out that Maggie was using him, at first. I was like ‘no, no please don’t happen.’ Yes, Maggie was lying and manipulated him most of the book, but they still gave me heaps of feels and all I wanted was for them to be together.

The world that Jessica Shirvington built for Disruption was fascinating and riveting. You would think that it’s like other dystopian worlds – however it’s far from it. The world that she shaped was complex and enthralling. It’s unique and you never know what is around the corner.

One of the main reasons why I loved Disruption as much as I did was that it didn’t have perfect people, even though that was one of the things the world was trying to achieve. From the protagonist, to the families, no one is perfect. It was such a fresh look on what YA dystopian is. There are things that Maggie does that are not right, and it highlights that not one of us will ever be perfect.

Overall, Disruption made me laugh, nearly cry and had me squealing for more. It’s a fantastic book that you will not stop reading from the first page. With enthralling characters, an engrossing world and a plot that keeps you right there in the action, Disruption is a must read for everyone that loves YA and beyond. And just a quick little hint – there is a MAJOR cliff-hanger so make sure you have Corruption by your side.

Have you read Disruption by Jessica Shirvington? Did you love it as much as I did? Have you read any of here other books. Do you know that I have an interview with her, from my #LoveOZYA series? Why not check it and let’s chat!