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A Life Update | Writing, travelling, baby guinea pigs

Posted on 25 February, 2017

Hi, everyone! It seems like it’s been a very long time since I last sat down to write an update post or something a bit more informal and chatty. I thought I should probably catch you up on everything that’s been going on, especially as I have lots of blog posts planned for the next few months.

The blog has been a bit quiet for the past few months. In fact, that’s an optimistic look because it’s been very quiet for the past year. Since finishing my GCSE’s in the summer, I’m now doing my A Levels at college – English Literature, Creative Writing and Sociology. I love college more than I ever expected; it’s completely changed my life.

The other draining thing that’s been taking up lots of my time is the novel I’m working on. I started my second draft in January and am currently 15,000 words in. I’ve set a self-imposed deadline of finishing this draft by the end of May, but with my AS exams I don’t know if that will be entirely possible. I’m going to try and get as close as possible though!

Here’s a sneak peek at a scene from the first chapter for you:

I adore my characters – they feel like my best friends and are so much fun to write. For those of you who don’t know, the book is a YA contemporary road-trip novel about friendship, books and figuring out who you are when your entire life has been thrown upside down. It is my favourite thing ever.

Another very good thing to happen is this little ball of joy who was born last week. I LOVE HIM. His name is Engelbert because we have a theme of ‘bert’ names going on – his grandfather is called Bertie and his father is called Gumbert (don’t ask). As you can probably guess, baby guinea pigs are extremely distracting when they look that cute.

I also went up to Waterstones Birmingham recently to see the Love and Fandom panel with Lauren James, Maggie Harcourt and Miranda Dickinson. I had such a lovely time and got to spend time with my amazing friend Lauren before the event. It was so nice to sit down and chat about writing, books and, of course, guinea pigs.

It was my first time travelling alone to a place I hardly know at all, so I was extremely proud afterwards. It shows how far I’ve come with my mental health and I still can’t quite believe I did it. It’s definitely given me the confidence to travel more in the future!

Current favourites:

 

  • Running #ukyachat every Friday at 8pm! I sit down every Friday evening to meet up with my amazing online friends, who always amaze me with their sensitivity, insight and opinions on a range of different subjects. Getting to host the chat every week is one of the greatest pleasures, and I love it!
  • I’m loving the new series of Call the Midwife at the moment. It’s so obvious that the writers and producers are women – they create beautiful stories that are at the heart of women’s lives, and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Seriously, you need to watch this if you haven’t already!
  • Netgalley. For those of you who don’t know, Netgalley is a sight where bloggers and book industry people can request to review books and I am OBSESSED. I check it every day without fail and can’t help but click the ‘request’ button when I see something I like the look of. I really do need to have a big marathon read soon of all the books I’ve been accepted to review! It’s also a habit I need to break… I can’t keep requesting all of these books!!

What have you been up to lately, bookish or otherwise? What are your current favourites?

 

 

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.

Book Review

REVIEW: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Posted on 14 November, 2014

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I’ve only ever read one other novel by Forman before – Just One Day – and I really enjoyed that. I didn’t have any expectations going into I Was Here because it sounded a lot grittier than your typical contemporary, so I was very pleasantly surprised.

Following the suicide of her best friend, Meg, Cody realises that something is a little bit suspicious. Meg never showed any outward signs that she was unhappy, but Cody feels guilty for not being there for her friend. Starting to investigate, she realises there was a side to Meg that she knew nothing about.

Forman has written an interesting and gripping start, with a distinct character voice. It felt as if I was Cody and experiencing the events through her eyes but with enough detachment to make it an intimate but comfortable reading experience.

Cody was such a whole character. By that I mean that we got to see every side of her. Her doubt at times was brilliant to see because it’s not often that we get to see such a mentality in characters.

I Was Here isn’t your conventional suicide contemporary novel and that was so, so refreshing. It also didn’t feel as if it was a book just there to fulfil a trend – it was completely genuine.

The romance was everything I look for in a brilliant contemporary book. It was slow burning and realistic. I can tell a good romance when I feel like I’m rooting for the characters and that is exactly what happened.

I really enjoyed I Was Here and will be seeking out more of Forman’s books that I haven’t yet read very soon. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good, mysterious contemporary novel that can be read very quickly. It kept me on the edge of my seat and was unputdownable!

Book Review

REVIEW: Sealed With a Kiss by Rachael Lucas

Posted on 11 May, 2014

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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 UKYA Uncategorized

REVIEW: The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss

Posted on 27 April, 2014

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The Year of the Rat is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that discusses themes of grief and dealing with the death of a parent and how one goes about leading a normal life after that.

After hearing Furniss talk at an event, and hearing part of The Year of the Rat being read, I couldn’t wait to start it. I didn’t know an awful lot about it, but I had an inkling that I would love it, and I really did.

Losing somebody close to you must be one of the worst feelings in the world. For Pearl there is the added factor of a baby sister to look after, a sister who reminds her of her mother who died in pregnancy with ‘The Rat.’

The Year of the Rat is going to be a book I recommend to a lot of people because of it’s emotional depth and ability to hook the reader into Pearl’s story. There are psychological themes within The Year of the Rat – the reader unsure whether Pearl is actually seeing her mother’s ghost or if she is fabricating her to deal with the grief she is going through. The emotional depth really makes the novel stand out because it all felt so real; it was as if Pearl was living inside me and voicing the thoughts I’ve had in the past.

I feel as if there isn’t anything quite like The Year of the Rat released at the moment so if you’re looking for originality this is definitely for you.

Pearl isn’t always a likeable character and I often found myself questioning why she did particular things, but this is what makes the book so magic and, if this even makes sense, makes Pearl even easier to like.

The Year of the Rat is such a good book, and Furniss an author you really need to watch out for. If her debut is this stunning, I can’t wait to read her future novels.

Book Review UKYA

7 Reasons to read Keep the Faith by Candy Harper

Posted on 18 April, 2014

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I read Have a Little Faith last month and craved a sequel so badly so I was mega excited when I received Keep the Faith to review. It saved me from a lot of pain!Keep the Faith carries on where Have a Little Faith left off and, let me tell you, it was even better.

  1. Keep the Faith is even funnier than Have a Little Faith, the first book. You may even wet yourself reading it, or cry with tears of laughter. You have been warned (but it’s totally worth it).
  1. Faith. Do I need to say anymore? Faith is possibly one of my favourite characters ever – can we please be best friends?
  1. Keep the Faith is incredibly easy to slip into. It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember much of what went down in Have a Little Faith, you will remember once you pick Keep the Faith back up.
  1. Keep the Faith is very true to UK teenage life. I can connect with Faith and her friends because they are so realistic and Harper has managed to capture all the aspects of being a teenager perfectly and write them into Keep the Faith.
  1. It’s a relatively short book, but a lot is packed in. I read it within an evening, and it was definitely an evening well spent!
  1. This is the perfect book to pick up if you want to escape your normal life and be transported somewhere else. You’ll forget all about your actual life!
  1. ETHAN. Finn. ETHAN!!! (Did I mention Ethan?)

I definitely think you should go out and buy Keep the Faith as soon as it’s released. If you haven’t read Have a Little Faith yet, I think you need to read it right away. The books are now right up there on my favourites list and I can’t help but shove them at everyone I see. They’re perfect for everyone!

Book Review

REVIEW: The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick

Posted on 7 April, 2014

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I have very mixed feelings on this novel – parts I loved, other parts I thought were good but they just didn’t enthral me as much as I hoped. Nevertheless, The Good Luck of Right Now is a brilliant novel from the equally brilliant Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook.

Bartholomew Neil is middle-aged and has spent the past years looking after his sick mother. The novel starts after her death and we find Bartholomew writing letters to actor Richard Gere after finding a form letter from him in his mother’s underwear drawer.

Quick’s novels never fail to make me think – I can’t help but sit back in awe and think, ‘Wow!’ This book really is an emotional rollercoaster – I laughed, I smiled, I was sad alongside the characters: I felt like I really lived this story.

The main character, Bartholomew, had my complete affection throughout. He was grieving and so much was going on in his life; he was suddenly thrust into this big, uncomfortable world and that can be scary. I just wanted to give him a big hug!

The secondary characters, although not many of them, became very familiar and really helped the story along. I loved Max and ‘the Girlbrarian’ and Wendy too, and how they were with Bartholomew. There were such a variety of different characters – it was hard not to feel invested in the story.

I feel like there wasn’t so much a plot as a journey. From start to finish, we see Bartholomew travel, metaphorically, and his character develop. It was a very special journey to be a part of.

I did, however, find some parts quite predictable, which lowered the rating for me. Maybe that’s just me, and this shouldn’t deter you from reading it. I think because there is so little plot, this wasn’t such a big thing as it could have been, but the predictability did spoil the reading experience for me a bit.

I put down The Good Luck of Right Now feeling satisfied with the story and where it went, and all its different components. If you’re looking to read something a bit different, this is the book for you.

Book Review

REVIEW: The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

Posted on 28 March, 2014

The Break-Up Artist immediately attracted me when I heard about it because I don’t think I’ve read a novel with the same concept before, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was original, and lots of fun.

The Break-Up Artist, written in first person, is centred on the life of Becca, an American student who, anonymously, gets contracted to break up couples. Becca is a sceptic and knows the damage love can do: her own sister was jilted at the altar and now lives in a constant dejected state. When Becca is asked to break up the school’s power couple, Huxley and Steve, she knows it won’t be easy, but these things come at a price…

The novel started out good, but then it got even better. Siegel has crafted Becca’s voice so well and made it both realistic and believable. Let me tell you, it isn’t easy to write a teenage girl’s voice, but Siegel pulled it off flawlessly. Becca could be viewed as an unlikable character because of what she does, but instead I found myself sympathising with her and it was obvious to see why she was the way she was.

I really liked the contrast between Becca and her friend Val, who was desperate for a boyfriend. Their different emotions were really nice to see and how they treated one another because of them. I also really liked how all of the girls felt as if one of the most important things was to get a boyfriend because I know many people who feel the same way and I think it was good to address the fact that, actually, it’s not important at all.

The Break-Up Artist is a great example of a contemporary novel pulled off really well. It conjured up vivid images and it was easy to imagine yourself in Becca’s shoes.

Diane, Becca’s sister, also had a clear character arc that ran alongside the main plot. Siegel slowly fed us information about her past and it came together nicely at the end.

If you’re a fan of contemporary fiction, you should definitely read The Break-Up Artist. You’re in for a treat!