Hey Bibliophiles!!
Hope everyone is safe and keeping healthy. So I know it's been a while since I've posted, but let's admit it- 2020 was all about crushed expectations...though let's not forget the bright side! This pandemic has given a lot of time to re-discover myself and actually devote some hard core time to hone my craft. And the best part? I am basking in my new-found love of poetry...When to the sweet sessions of silent thought...and have been reading some amazing books recently! Which, ultimately brings me to the main point of this post- to share some incredible books I've read over the summer. So let's get into it!!
1) Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer:
Goodreads description: Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.
Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.
When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.
You could easily just classify this book as just another sob-story of a socially awkward girl in high school, but then you'd be wrong. The extrenous depths and layers in the characters gave the story unimaginable dimensions. I fell immediately fell in love with the characters.
The writing was flawless. I especially love it when the writer really delves into the character's emotions and inner turmoil, and it really helps me connect to the protagonist.There were no 'extra' scenes that I wanted to skim through. The writing wasn't pretentious. It didn't feel like she was trying too hard to sound "young" and "teenage".
It talks about handling grief and encompasses all sorts of themes like family, loss, friendship and depression. And the best thing about this book is that it doesn't just drag you through the dirt of life, showing all the crooked ways this world is wrong, but it gives you hope. There are always people who support you, who listen to you...people you can count on. People are way more than what they seem on the surface. What you see is just the tip of the iceberg.
The plot is really enticing to anyone who loves a good teen romance, but the characters are not your typical cliché bad boy and good girl of high school. Their personalities go much deeper than that, and both of them are battling demons of their own. They find solace in talking to each other and as strangers, not knowing the person behind the words. The veil of anonymity helps them in opening up to each other with raw honesty that is so chilling that it sent shivers down my back. Beware, the truth in here stings.
My Rating- 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
2) Radio Silence by Alice Oseman:
Goodreads description- What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?
Frances has always been a study machine with one goal, elite university. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret – not even the person she is on the inside.
But when Frances meets Aled, the shy genius behind her favourite podcast, she discovers a new freedom. He unlocks the door to Real Frances and for the first time she experiences true friendship, unafraid to be herself. Then the podcast goes viral and the fragile trust between them is broken.
Caught between who she was and who she longs to be, Frances’ dreams come crashing down. Suffocating with guilt, she knows that she has to confront her past…
The story is supposed to be fiction, but the harsh reality of the books throws you off-guard. Every character is so well-fleshed out and relatable that it makes them really easy to connect with.
It tackles some extremely tough topics like sexuality, abuse, parental pressure and our very flawed education system. It shows the view of the society where your marks and your grades seem to dictate your whole future.
Reading this just made me feel so insightful about myself, as if I was rediscovering myself from an angle which said that whatever we think is weird and eccentric about us is not just okay, but totally cool. We need to be confident and comfortable in our skin and be ourselves.
There is also something so eerie and ethereal about the content of Universe City itself that it leaves you wishing that it was real. It gives you these strong Night Vale vibes, and Alice Oseman herself says that Nightvale is the podcast that inspired Universe City.
The only slight problem I had with this book was that halfway through it, I realised that the writing was very dramatic and juvenile. The continous stilted dialogue and actual teenage-speak got really annoying for me. There were some mistakes with the sentence structure, like to many dashes and ellipses and times where the characters said 'haha' instead of just simply writing 'she laughed'.
My Rating- 🌟🌟🌟⭐ (3 1/2 stars)
3) Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:
Goodreads description- A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan..
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
This was the book that got me hooked on Rainbow Rowell and made her one of my favourite authors of all time, even though I had already read her first book, Eleanor and Park (which is awesome too, so check that out as well).
Our protagonist, Cather “Cath” Avery is an introvert, a book nerd and a very popular fan-fiction writer for the Simon Snow books. So the Simon Snow books are basically the fictional version of (which means they do not really exist, no matter how real they seem) our beloved Harry Potter series, but with some very drastic changes, and Cath has been obsessed with them since she was a kid. Now she is in college and still writing her own extremely popular version of the last Simon Snow book, "Carry On" before the real one comes out.
This is the story of Cath and how she comes out of her shell, how she moves on (or doesn't?) move on from Simon Snow as the only stories she's able to write. It is a truly funny, heart- touching story that felt so relatable to me because I could identify so well with Cath's character and her struggles. She's a true fangirl, and quite a lot like me, though I'm not as socially awkward.
So go ahead and read this, and then read all of Rainbow Rowell's other books too because she's just that good!
My Rating- 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟🌟
4) One of Us is Lying by Karen M.Mc Manus:
Goodreads description- Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
AndSimon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.
This book had me hooked from the beginning, and the well-built characters laid the groundwork for the main plot. It’s a classic who dun-it story and might be a little less action-filled for some readers, but the the secrets revealed in every page and one nagging question throughout the book were enough to keep me turning the pages. The unending is definitely unexpected, and all the build up really pays off. So I definitely recommend picking this one up with you’re looking for a cozy mystery to dive into.
My Rating- 🌟 🌟 🌟 ⭐️ (3 1/2 stars)
5) The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon: Goodreads description- Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
I have a full in-depth review for this book, so if you want you can check it out here)
But right now I'll just give you a brief review. This was a truly beautiful, beautiful book with every small chapter holding so much depth and meaning...and not in the boring, theoretical or philosophical way. We get the POV's of both Natasha and Daniel and how both their oaths interine. This story takes place all in the span of one day but it still has such a lasting impact on you.
It talks about immigration, race, discrimination and so much more that is not so explicitly discussed in YA novels.
Many of its chapters are in the form of information-entries and even scenes from the perspective of random side-characters in a scene that might seem insignificant but take the story telling to a whole new level.
My Rating- 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
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