Browsing Tag

anthology

Book Review

REVIEW: Love Hurts, edited by Malorie Blackman

Posted on 9 February, 2015

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Recently I’ve loved reading anthologies, such as My True Love Gave To Me, edited by Stephanie Perkins, so when I came across Love Hurts I knew I wanted to read it.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Here are just a few reasons why:

The majority of the book was made up of extracts from already existing books, and not new short stories.

I had read lots of the books already so there was no need to read the extracts for many of them, and I also had no interest in reading the extracts of the other books. So, really, I found the majority of the book seemed pretty useless to me.

The short stories didn’t stand out.

There was nothing about the short stories that made me want to read them. I couldn’t connect with them at all, and I was left feeling frustrated by the end. They felt so forced and there was no way to connect with them with only a few pages for it to reach its potential.

However, I do think Love Hurts will appeal to readers who are new to contemporary YA and want to explore the genre further. I’m also a big fan of many of the authors’ books, so my review does not mean any harm to them. It just wasn’t my thing, and so I was left feeling dissatisfied with it.

REVIEW: My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins

Posted on 24 November, 2014

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I was incredibly excited when a copy of My True Love Gave to Me popped through my door. Firstly because the cover that greets you is beautiful and secondly due to the amazing authors whose short stories are included.

Edited by Stephanie Perkins (author of Anna and the French Kiss), My True Love Gave to Me is a festive-themed anthology, featuring short stories written by authors such as Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor and David Levithan. Each story is uniquely tailored to the author’s individual style so whilst they may not be writing in their usual style, their original stamp is still evident.

The stories all fit well together and stood out on their own. I think there’s a distinct lack of Christmas novels, and what sets My True Love Gave to Me apart is that it is a combination of lots of different traditions and customs. I loved reading about each one because each story offered something different.

My favourite story by far was Stephanie Perkins’, which I will be reading over and over again. It touched my heart! Other notable favourites include Jenny Han’s, Kelly Link’s and Ally Carter’s.

I think, though, that the story that wowed me the most was the one written by Laini Taylor because it was so different to everything else in the anthology. Taylor created a whole new world in just under 50 pages, which is an incredible talented thing to be able to do. I want more and more of her story!

I have no doubt that many people will buy My True Love Gave to Me solely based on the design. It has a cover I could marry, a beautiful built-in bookmark, and the most gorgeous endpapers I’ve ever seen. Each chapter header also has a different graphic – a brilliant inclusion!

My True Love Gave to Me really got me in the holiday spirit, and I especially loved the sharing of different customs – pagan, Jewish and Christian, to name a few. There’s something for everyone to enjoy!

Blog Tour Book Review

Daughters of Time Blog Tour: REVIEW:

Posted on 21 March, 2014

Daughters of Time is an anthology written by a group of the most talented UK historical YA writers and it’s a real treat to read.

One of the things I love most about anthologies, and Daughters of Time in particular, is that you can dip in and out of it whenever you so choose. For this review, I will be focusing on one of the stories, written about the Greenham Common Women.

At the end of each short story, the author talks about their inspiration behind writing it and Leslie Wilson talks about how she was involved with campaigning in the 1980’s. It was nice to hear how each person came to write about their event and characters.

It surprised me how easy it was to get to know a character within a limited amount of pages. In this story, we get to know the main character quickly and I loved how realistically she was portrayed – her emotions and feelings. It was one of the things I loved most about the story.

The stories included in the anthology are things I believe should be taught more often in schools and given a wider recognition. I’ll definitely be delving into Daughters of Time again because it’s filled with knowledge and facts. It’s perfect for those people who adore history, and even those who don’t because of the way it is taught.

You should definitely pick up Daughters of Time, whether you like reading about history or not. You’ll come out with a greater knowledge than when you went in, and you’ll enjoy it at the same time.