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Book Review

REVIEW: Sealed With a Kiss by Rachael Lucas

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Sealed with a Kiss, so called because it is set on an island where there are many cute seals, is the perfect summer contemporary to take with you on holiday whilst you’re lying by the pool, or sunbathing in your garden (that’s if Britain ever sees sunshine!). Lucas is a name you definitely need to watch out for in adult contemporary.

Hooked from the first page, the novel tells the story of Kate who has just separated from her long-term boyfriend and is looking for a job. When she sees a job for a Girl Friday on a remote island called Auchenmor in Scotland, she doesn’t realise just what she’s taken on. Kate then has to deal with the fact that on such a small island there are no secrets, scheming ex-girlfriends and an injured seal. What more could you wish for in a book?!

As you know, I primarily read YA, so Sealed with a Kiss was a really nice change because it’s an adult novel. I think there’s a lot of YA crossover potential and I’d have no trouble handing it to a YA. It’s by far one of the best adult contemporaries I’ve read, up there with the likes of Katie Fforde.

The main character, Kate, charmed me right from the start. She’s clumsy, falling at her boss’ feet the first time she meets him, but she’s also devoted and caring. Kate is the kind of person you’d love to be friends with.

There were also such brilliant secondary characters that all had their own pasts that added a familiarity to the story, like Susan and Jean.

Sealed with a Kiss is definitely a book that will stay with you long after you put it down. I’m looking forward to re-reading it again sometime in the near future!

 

Book in a Tweet: Cute, romantic, and a must-read for any contemporary fan! You won’t want to miss out on this book!

Book Review

REVIEW: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Lately I’ve been going through an unconscious phase. For some reason I’ve been reading a lot of music related books and This Song Will Save Your Life was one of those books. I don’t think I have an expert ear when it comes to music but I have some knowledge and one of the things I loved about this novel was that it was so informative without you realising until afterwards. It’s a book that definitely deserves the hype it’s getting.

Elise Dembowski is one of those people who have never fitted in. She sets out, over the summer, to ‘popularise’ herself, but when she turns up at school for the new year nothing has changed. She’s still the social outcast and she realises she’ll always be the same. So she makes a big decision and walks the many miles home and plans to take her own life. Skip forward a few months and Elise is walking at night when she stumbles across two girls who lead her to a nightclub. It’s only there for one night a week and it could offer her the chance to finally be accepted.

I really liked Elise and grew to like her even more as the book progressed. She was quite a complex character but it was easy to slip into her head and understand her. Sales has written her in such a way that you feel as if you are her and I enjoyed it more because of that.

Vicky was by far my favourite character. I just wanted to give her a massive hug and she was so accepting of Elise. Do you know how sometimes you crave a companion novel to a book? I would love to read a book entirely about Vicky. She was so awesome!

One of the main things I loved about This Song Will Save Your Life was its originality. I don’t think I’ve ever read a similar book before that contained so many different elements. Although music is a large theme, there was so much more going on in the background.

The musical element felt so natural and to hear that Sales is not a DJ herself really surprised me. For someone like myself who knows nothing about it, I was eased right into DJ’ing and didn’t struggle to understand it at all.

I really think you should all pick up a copy of This Song Will Save Your Life because you won’t regret it. It’s a truly beautiful book that will blow you away.