Category: Reviews

Reread: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

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I first read this book when I was around 16. I actually made a blog post about it at the time on an older blog. I decided to read it again after watching the Netflix series and seeing how it compared to the book.

Everything is pretty much the same, except that Clay listens to the tapes in one night in the book and in the TV series he takes FOREVER to get through the tapes. They also play out the Hannah/Clay romance way more on the TV show as well as Clay having more interaction with Tony.

Aside from that, going back and reading the book was interesting. I got through it probably a lot faster than I did the first time reading it, apparently when I first read it I got confused about when Clay was listening to the tape and when he was not, I didn’t have trouble with that this time haha.

I also think the second time reading it was a bit boring, I guess because I knew what happened and so nothing was really new.

So it’s not worth a re-read. And also I guess since it’s so close to the TV series if you’ve watched that you don’t need to read the book. That being said, if you want to know what happens in a less graphic way, definitely side with the book. In the book, Hannah swallows pills and does not slit her wrists open. That actually traumatized me watching it…and the book also does not depict graphic scenes of rape like the TV show does either.

And of course, the book does not have a sequel, which means all the stuff that happens in season 2 doesn’t happen in the book world. It just ends with Clay sending on the tapes and reaching out to Skye. And in my opinion, I think the show should’ve stuck with the one season, I wasn’t the biggest fan of season 2 and if the graphic scenes are going to continue I think I’ll be okay with not watching it.

Anyway, I rated the book 3/5 on Goodreads. I think it’s good for what it is but I do think I prefer the TV series. And of course, it carries an important message about how you never really know how you can affect someone’s life. So it is important to be kind and treat others well.

The next book I have decided to read is China Rich Girlfriend, it is the second book in the Crazy Rich Asians series and I’m excited to find out what happens next 🙂

~ Courtney x

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I watched the movie when it came out in the cinema years ago and decided to give the book a go. I don’t really remember the movie but I remembered enough to know how the story goes.

The first thing I was not expecting when I read the book was that it switches point of view a lot. I have not read anything that switches character point of view that much since I read fanfiction. It was kind of hard to follow along at first.

The book switches between the point of view of Anna, her parents Brian and Sara, her brother Jesse, and also her lawyer Campbell and her appointed guardian ad-Litem Julia. That is a lot of people to cycle through. And it’s a lot to take in for the first couple of chapters. I guess you get the hang of it but it, but I was definitely confused the first time I read from Julia’s point of view because I was like “who is this?”, I thought it was a completely different story and I had missed something at first.

I also feel the Julia/Campbell side story isn’t really needed and is kind of annoying. I mean they cut it out of the movie entirely so I didn’t know it was a thing until I read the book. But probably wouldn’t have missed it if it wasn’t there.

One thing I thought was interesting was that a lot of Sara’s point of view parts of the story were set in the past. Telling the story of the family’s struggle throughout the years as they dealt with Kate’s health issues. I suppose this is to give some context to how they ended up where they are today.

But if anything it annoyed me. The way that the parents were so focused on one child that they neglected their other two. I mean Jesse is basically abandoned and left to fend for himself and Anna is only important because she serves a purpose for Kate. Like it’s crazy.

I suppose I would understand if I was in that situation, I mean you can understand people’s actions to a degree but it made me so angry when reading.

Then there was Brian who, kind of just took himself out of the equation sometimes by working to ignore his problems. Again, not a fan.

Overall I guess the book did make the points it wanted to, about how parents aren’t always suited to make the right decisions for their children when one of them is sick. And how family life is anything but simple.

I think it is an interesting story and a good read if you’re into that kind of thing. Everyone’s point of view is written well and you can see the different personalities come through.

Though I did find Jesse’s additions to the story kind of random – another thing you wouldn’t have missed if it wasn’t there. It was just him off on his own setting fires about the place because he felt like he had no control over anything else. Kind of seemed like it was meant to be a bigger moment than it was when Brian found out it was Jesse starting all the fires.

Aside from all that I think the thing that upset me the most was the ending. A different ending than the one the movie had. It kind of just all happened at once and it almost felt like was all the drama that happened really worth it? I mean I was so done with the book by then…it just made me sad. I guess that was the point…

I felt it was disappointing though, but still overall a good read. Even though I felt like I came out of it having more negatives than positives I still enjoyed it for what it was. Though if I had to choose between the book or the movie I would probably choose the movie.

I wonder if I would have liked the book a bit more if it was written in only Anna’s point of view. Though I suppose to really understand everything fully you needed the perspectives of the others. Because obviously, Anna’s view of what was going on was going to be different from her parents’. So maybe it was good to have the insight from her parent’s compared to what Anna wanted. But they still had a few perspectives too many in my opinion.

Apart from that, the book was still interesting, something very different than any of the other books I’ve read this year. So I will give it that. The rating I have given it on Goodreads is 3/5 stars. Because I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. It fell somewhere in the middle for me, though probably a bit more on the negative side than positive.

And now that I have finished this book, I have officially completed my goal of reading 12 books in 2018! It’s been a journey and I feel really accomplished to have stuck with it. Of course, now that the goal is complete I know I must strive for more next year. But until then, I’m sure I can fit one more book in before the year is out…stay tuned to find out what it is!

~ Courtney x

Grey by EL James Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I avoided this for a while. Mostly just because I had seen bits and pieces online from it and I was thinking “EL didn’t actually write that did she?” Well turns out she did.

So this book is just Fifty Shades of Grey in Christian’s point of view. Nothing too exciting or great though.

I mean the dialogue between Ana and Christian is the exact same and the events are the same so to me there isn’t much of a reason to read it. It’s the same story. Just with words changed.

I know I said that about Life and Death by Stephanie Meyer but instead with Twilight. But the changes between the original and the new story were more significant.

This one is the same. And if anything I think it’s worse than Fifty Shades of Grey. Sure, in the original, Ana goes on and on about her Inner Goddess which was kind of weird but Christian likes to refer to his ‘manhood’ just as much. It’s not great.

Aside from that, you might think it would be interesting to know what Christian was thinking sometimes in the story while only ever reading from Ana’s point of view. But the way this is written? It’s not giving you much. He’s always hiding his past from Ana and himself it seems, the only real insight you’re given are things from Christian’s dreams which aren’t descriptive as it’s from his point of view as a child.

I wanted to know more about Christian’s relationship with Elena and his past but we don’t get much of that. When he brings Elena up he often shuts her down despite her being his close friend, he doesn’t really want to talk to her about Ana or anything it seems. I suppose he’s a closed-off person but it bothered me we didn’t get more interactions with them.

It’s just all about how Christian is distracted by Ana and is trying to “woo” her. Which you get from the first book anyway.

So I feel like you could give this book a miss if you’ve already read the original book series. I don’t think I would have missed anything by not reading this one.

And now that I have read this one, I can say with certainty I won’t be picking up Darker to read either. Which is Fifty Shades Darker, once again in Christian’s point of view.

I know everyone says this is the Midnight Sun we never got (Stephanie Meyer did start writing Twilight in Edward’s point of view but never finished) but I don’t think it is. I feel like I would have much rather read Midnight Sun to this.

Overall I thought the book was okay. But I didn’t think it added anything more to the original story for me. I rated it 2/5 stars on Goodreads.

I have now read 11 out of 12 books for my reading goal this year and I’m so glad I have been able to stick to my goal! The last book I have chosen to read is My Sister’s Keeper. Very different from the last book I have just read. I did hope to exceed my reading goal this year but with how busy I will be coming up to the new year with university I will be happy enough to just complete the goal. But I am looking forward to challenging myself to read more in the new year!

~ Courtney x

Solitaire by Alice Oseman Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ 1 Comment

I picked this book up a few years ago when I was out with friends because I read the blurb and thought “hey that sounds like me”. Nothing draws you into a book more than it being relatable to you.

This book definitely brought back memories of school. And with the writing style and the short chapters, it made for an easy read.

It was something very different to other books I normally go for, but I enjoyed it all the same. I think the characters were interesting and I was constantly wanting to know more about Michael Holden, the mysterious new guy at school.

I rolled my eyes when I saw the cover of the book though and it was all “this is not a love story“. But it’s not, I think they made that very clear when one of the characters starts this blog and all these pranks just because he thinks he’s in love with someone. It’s just a bit much, and Tori definitely does not swoon and fall into his arms and think he’s the love of her life.

So it’s not a love story.

But that doesn’t mean that love did not come out of this story. As in, Tori and Michael. I kind of called it as soon as I started reading the book because I still believed somewhere in there, there was a love story. So of course, two people who seem like outcasts find their way to each other. I didn’t want it if I’m honest. I just wanted them to be friends.

Aside from that, I did like it. It’s relatable and it’s got some mystery to it. This whole idea of a mysterious blog pulling pranks on the school… It makes me think of other dramas that I like with anonymous characters. Though I gotta say the reveal wasn’t too shocking, I also think it was kind of insane. Especially to think that doing something like that would make someone fall in love with you…but sure that happens in books like this. The person that does the damage always has some motive that sounds crazy.

I also think I was more interested in Tori’s brother and his issues than most others. I think the way it was described was well done and I just wanted to know more.

Then to end it all there was the lesson of the book. The idea that instead of waiting for change to happen you need to get out there and do something about yourself. This comes through Tori’s own realisation of the lesson as she tries to stop Solitaire’s actions. It was fine, I mean I guess it is something you learn when you are around that age, at school and everything is shit and you blame everything in the universe except yourself. Obviously, you can’t control everything in your life that is horrible but there are some things you can change and take action on.

And so, overall I think it was a good read. Something very different to what I’m used to but I liked the writing style. I felt like it was relatable, and will be relatable to a lot of young people who are in secondary school, though that might have something to do with the author being 18/19 when she wrote it. Still, that doesn’t take away from the fact it’s a good story with developed characters.

I give this book 4/5 stars. If you want to know what I’m reading next be sure to follow me on Goodreads! I gave myself the challenge of reading 12 books in 2018 and I’ve just finished book 10/12! Now there’s no time to waste, onto book 11/12.

~ Courtney x

Life And Death Twilight Reimagined by Stephanie Meyer Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

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I picked up this book a few years ago when I was in Eason’s and have finally gotten around to reading it now!

As someone who used to fangirl about Twilight, basically non-stop I felt like I had to get this. The 10th-anniversary edition of Twilight with Life and Death, Twilight reimagined.

Originally I was not sold on the idea of gender-swapped Twilight, what was the point when it was basically the same story over. But I did want to give it a go. So I decided to reread Twilight before reading the new story to compare.

Truth be told, I did find Life and Death interesting, it has the same basic core story but I was interested to see how things would be changed to fit the new gender roles. How Beau would end up stranded in Port Angeles for Edythe to come and rescue him, how they ended up at the ballet studio because Beau didn’t take ballet lessons…

The swaps were interesting, and I actually found myself enjoying the story of Beau and Edythe more. I don’t really know why that was, I guess it was because it was new, I know the Edward and Bella story like the back of my hand but changing some of the details made me want to read more.

The biggest change in Life And Death is the ending. I don’t know if I liked the ending so much.

I think it’s because by this time I knew what happened, I’d read it before and having it reiterated differently was just boring. In this version, Beau ends up becoming a vampire, and then there’s pages and pages of him explaining the agony of his transformation while Edythe and her family tell him about their pasts, which we already know about from the previous books.

The last chapter and the epilogue of the book were boring for me, I just think because it was like when Bella became a vampire except much later, they had a run in with the wolves because they thought the Cullens had killed Beau, and learning about the Volturi and everything.

I feel like maybe Stephanie just wanted to add some more information about these things because she felt she didn’t have them in the original series but I felt it wasn’t needed. I guess I just wanted the exact same Twilight story but with the names changed, which is what it is for 90%.

Overall I did enjoy it, I think it’s something people should read if they are interested in Twilight and liked the original books. I can’t say I would want more of the gender-swapped world, I prefer the original but I think it was a nice read and it was pretty great to revisit the Twilight world after being away from it for so long.

I give this book 4/5 stars and am eagerly looking forward to my next read! For all updates on my books and what I’m reading feel free to follow me on Goodreads.

~ Courtney x

 

Fangirl Book Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I bought this book a few years ago because I knew I was going to relate to it. The title, the blurb, the whole thing. And finally I got around to reading it and you know what? I was right.
This book was totally relatable. An introverted girl who liked to be locked in her room all day writing fanfiction? That was literally me from about 2010-2014. I used to eat, sleep and breathe fanfiction.
So yes, this book I did enjoy because I connected a lot with the main character Cath.
At first, I thought the book was a bit hard to get into, mainly because of how it was written in the third person, I haven’t read many books written in the third person so it was a change. It also took me a while to get to grips with what was happening because it just starts there’s not really introductions or anything you’re just kind of expected to know who certain characters are. Like I honestly spent the first few pages thinking Wren was a boy…So yeah it took a while to get into it.
The story follows Cath through her first year of university where she’s thrust into a new world full of social interaction, tough classes but also keeping up with her fanfiction. Again, I can relate a lot. It is very tempting to just hole up in your room and write all day or hide from the world, and the worst thing about uni is, is that you can get away with it. No one questions it and that can be dangerous.
Luckily for Cath, she has an assertive roommate who forces her out of the room because she can’t even go out to eat by herself because she didn’t know where the dining hall was.
I really liked Reagan’s character – Cath’s roommate – she was so mysterious and I wanted to know more about her. But we don’t really get to know her besides her little interaction with Cath.
That’s something that I wasn’t a fan of in the book. I feel like I didn’t get to know a lot about most of the characters. Even Cath’s twin sister Wren I feel like I don’t know that well. The story was mainly focused on Cath and Levi. Oh and Cath’s love for Simon and Baz.
So here’s the thing, while I initially liked the story, the one thing I didn’t like was the long passages of Simon and Baz fanfiction thrown in. Like, props to the author for creating a whole story within a story because that takes a lot of time. But at the same time, I didn’t come to read fanfiction about a fictional book series. I came for the actual story of the book I bought. The world of Simon and Baz did not fascinate me like it did Cath.
I imagine it like me being a Twilight fangirl and talking about it all the time to people – which I did – and no one wanted to hear about it. It’s not what I signed up for when I started reading this book.
That being said, I know that Simon Snow is important to Cath and the story to some degree so I don’t mind them referencing it or talking about it but the actual fanfiction parts I feel like I didn’t need. It seemed to take away from the actual story. The passages at the end of chapters weren’t so bad but the other passages I felt weren’t needed.
I guess I could have just not read those parts but then I would feel I was missing out on the story which…I wasn’t.
If anything I wanted to know what was going in Carry On, Simon which was the big fanfiction that Cath was working on throughout the book. Carry On, Simon was Cath’s version of the last book of Simon Snow, and she was racing against the author to release it before the final book was really released.
And I was very disappointed at the end when we didn’t even get to find out if she finished it or not. I needed to know because Cath basically threw away her fiction writing class to finish the fanfiction and it bothered me not knowing. So there was that.
Aside from the fanfiction the rest of the story was kind of cute. I got about halfway and did wonder how this book was going to end or when because it’s the kind of story you write and could probably write forever.
I actually feel like there was a lot that was left unfinished in the book, such as what happened with Nick, Cath’s writing partner – I mean okay there was some kind of ending scene but I feel like I needed more closure after he used her like he did.
And then there was the whole thing with Cath’s mom and their relationship, and Wren’s relationship with her. It just seemed like Cath didn’t want to acknowledge her mother existed and that was fine. The end…
And even with the scene where they went to the release of the final Simon Snow book, I felt like there was gonna be more. Mainly because this was a moment Cath and Wren had been waiting for forever and it was a big deal so I felt like maybe there should have been more. But there wasn’t much.
I did enjoy Cath’s relationship with Reagan and how things sort of grew with Levi. It was obvious from the start those two were going to end up together. Levi and Cath.
I also liked learning bits and pieces about Cath’s relationship with Wren because I think that’s interesting. I wish there had been more of that. I know the point of the story was that Wren was trying to be her own person away from Cath but at the same time I wanted to know her. I also wanted to know what happened between Wren and her roommate because they weren’t talking by the end of the book…
So overall, the theme here is that I feel like there was a lot left out. I did like the story on a level because I did relate to Cath but on a whole, the story was…okay. Nothing super exciting or even really interesting. At first, I did think that Cath writing with Nick was going to be something interesting as well as Cath and Professor Piper’s deal but those didn’t really become anything.
So that’s kind of where I’m at. It did feel like the story was going somewhere in the beginning but then towards the end, it got very Levi central. As in Cath being obsessed with Levi and being with him. Which I understand to a point. I just felt like it needed to go somewhere.
But I think I’m going to leave this blog post here before I go on and keep repeating myself. I think if anything I’m just sad I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I was going to. But it’s not the end of the world, there are other books out there to be read.
Speaking of which, I need to find a new one to read. I don’t know what it’ll be yet, but as always you can find out by looking at my Goodreads page. Or just wait for the next book review which will hopefully be very soon.
~ Courtney x

Ready Player One Book Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I’ve read something that wasn’t written by a YouTuber. I feel like it was a nice break.
I decided to read Ready Player One after my boyfriend recommended it, and he also suggested I read it soon because the movie is coming out later this month. I thought I would give it a go because it sounded interesting and I had remembered that Joey Graceffa mentioned it ages ago and I wanted to see what it was about.
Ready Player One follows the story of Wade as he explores a virtual reality world called the OASIS in search of an Easter Egg that was hidden there by its creator, James Halliday. And whoever found this Easter Egg first would be the winner of the fortune and the virtual world created by Halliday.
When I first started reading the book I knew right away that there was a lot of it I was not going to understand. Because the book is filled to the brim with 80’s references and I wasn’t even born until the 90’s so I basically didn’t get any of the references made in the book. And essentially that was 99% of the content in the book. So right away I decided not to get too hung up on the fact I didn’t get any of the references. The gist is that Halliday was really into 80’s culture and so the challenges he put in place on the way to find the Easter Egg were all 80’s related.
So I guess if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the 80’s pop culture then this is the book for you.
It’s kind of weird to imagine a virtual universe where a lot of the worlds in it were based on ideas of the past but at the same time, it’s not so crazy. Trends from the past make come-backs all the time, and I guess the author just really wanted the 80’s to come back in a big way.
I also thought when I first read the book that the pace of it was going to be faster than it was. Which I’m glad it wasn’t so fast. I did think that once Wade had found the first challenge and succeeded that the second challenge and third wouldn’t be that difficult for them to find and so the search for the Egg would have ended halfway through the book.
The book starts with Wade logging into the OASIS and telling the story of how he found the first Gate – there were three gates to clear in order to find the Easter Egg and gain access to Halliday’s fortune. And Wade was the first person to find the first gate.
Naturally, after he found the first gate and everyone found out about it he became instantly famous and people were trying to find out from him where the gate was and how to clear it.
As the book goes on, it’s clear that the OASIS is not just a virtual world, but it has become everyone’s reality. And that some people’s threats were more than just virtual ones.
I think the one thing that kept me reading was the idea of the OASIS itself. I wanted to know more about this world where possibilities were ended and I found it fascinating. Virtual Reality is something that has recently come up more in the tech world so to read about a world where VR has become everyone’s entire lives is very interesting. And it’s also scary how you could see it becoming a reality.
Though I think one of the main points of the book is that while you can experience amazing things in video games and through VR it will never compare to experiencing it in the real life. Several times in the book it does describe Wade logging out of the OASIS and taking in his real-world surroundings and it’s not great. I guess it makes me appreciate that we are not at that point yet. And I hope we don’t get to it.
Anyway, didn’t expect to get serious about that but back to the book.
I enjoyed the story, I also liked that there was a little bit of a romance in the book but that it wasn’t the main focus of the book. I think it would have been weird to have an all-out romance in the middle of this book. Even if the story seemed to veer in that direction for a bit.
I do think the biggest plot twist for everyone was the identity of Aech, Wade’s best friend in the OASIS but at the same time shouldn’t we have expected it? I think so but I ain’t mad about still being surprised at the reveal.
I was super excited for Wade to finally meet the people he had been talking to in the OASIS, I guess because I know what it’s like to meet someone you’ve only talked to online. It’s scary and it’s a risk but it can also be a great thing. Sure, there are dangers, just like everything but it’s still cool that the internet connects people in lots of positive ways.
As for the ending, well it was kind of expected. In fact, seemed kind of boring towards the very end but that was okay. I feel like everything leading up to the final gate was good and I think the movie will do really well in capturing the end. But I guess we will have to see.
And so, to sum up – I enjoyed this book. Thought it was a fun read. A nice break from what I have been reading recently. And of course, I am excited for the movie. Although that being said when I watched the trailer, the OASIS didn’t look how I imagined it would – but that’s the risk you take when you read the book before you see the movie.
Now moving onto my next read… I have decided it will be Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, especially because I have been calling myself a fangirl since 2009 so I feel like this is something I can relate to. So, look out for that review (hopefully) soon! Can’t make any promises though, sometimes you read something and don’t have a lot of thoughts on it but, I will still leave a rating on Goodreads, so follow me there if you wanna know more about my reading ventures. (And please don’t judge me for how slow it seems I read)
~ Courtney x

Girl Online: Going Solo Book Review!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment



Remember when I read the first Girl Online book and I said that the series wasn’t for me? Well, that was a lie.

Maybe not a complete one but still a lie. Especially since I have just finished reading the third book of the series.
Somehow Zoe managed to completely change her writing from the first book to the second and then kept up the momentum in the third book. Part of me likes to think it’s because she decided to ditch the ghostwriter.
So yes, here I am reviewing the third and final(?) instalment of the Girl Online series.
This story follows Penny Porter trying to get her life back to normal after breaking up with Noah and leaving his tour. She begins focusing on her photography and helping a new friend overcome stage fright.
Honestly, the story is nothing spectacular. I found the second book more gripping but it’s not like this one lacked any action.
I think it’s important to enjoy the “fluffy” stories like this one. And by that I mean no one dies (spoiler alert) and it’s got an overall upbeat tone. All my TV shows are very serious and full of mystery so I think it’s nice that the books I read don’t also have the same tone. It’s a nice break.
But even though no one died and there weren’t huge mysteries to be solved the book still had a lot going on.
It took me a while to come back to the world of Girl Online though because I couldn’t remember anything that happened in the first or second books. So the beginning of the book for me was kind of slow mainly because I was taking time to piece together what had even happened in the past to lead up to the current situation in the book.
But it didn’t take long for me to be sucked in. I guess it helped that I took some time off work and wanted to read something. So I got through very quickly. One thing that helped was that once the ball started rolling and action was happening it kept going. It made me want to read more. I wanted to know what was gonna happen with Penny and her potential new love interest. I was freaking out when I found out Noah came back. I needed to know who leaked Leah’s song.
And like I said, none of these things are actually that shocking or even big mysteries. It’s the writing that kept me coming back.
With the first book, I felt like the series was aimed at a younger audience because the language was very basic and not very interesting from what I remember. Since then Zoe has definitely stepped it up with the writing. So I’m a fan. I even got emotional towards the end when Penny finally got to meet the mysterious Pegasus Girl.
I think overall it’s a good read. Something kind of fun and lighthearted but also opening up about anxiety which is a thing we know Zoe suffers with on a daily basis. I liked that this time it wasn’t about Penny’s anxiety and it was about someone else’s. It’s important to show that anxiety can be triggered by lots of things and affect people’s lives in many different ways on different things.
I don’t think I have anything negative to say about the book other than maybe that I’m not a fan of Penny and Noah getting back together again. At least I felt like it shouldn’t have been right away after he disappeared and everything. But it is just a fictional story so I’m not too bothered by it. Of course, they were gonna get back together again. Gotta have that happy ending. I just think if you call the book Girl Online: Going Solo you assume Penny is gonna continue on with no man by her side. And she did for the most part.
So those were all my thoughts on Girl Online: Going Solo! Would I hope for another book in the series? I don’t think so. I feel like this was a good ending for Penny and her adventures. And I don’t think Zoe has hinted about there being another one. So I’m happy to leave this series as it is.
Now the only question is what will my next book be? I’m definitely enjoying reading again so now I’ve picked up momentum I’m definitely not stopping.
So follow me on Goodreads if you wanna know what I’m gonna be making my way through next. And let me know if you’ve got any recommendations for me because I’d love to hear them!
~ Courtney x

Wilde Like Me Book Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment
 
 
I picked up Louise’s book one day at Tesco after I had just moved house. I thought I should get back into reading and so if I bought a book then it would encourage me to read. That was a lie.
It sat on my bedside table for months. And finally, at the start of the year, I picked it up to read.
For my first book of the year, I would say it was a good one. I enjoyed it. I think it’s great when a YouTuber decides to write fiction rather than a memoir. Mainly because a lot of them are still young and maybe don’t have a lot of stories/experiences to share that they haven’t already shared online. And I usually prefer fiction to reading about people’s real lives.
This book is about Robin Wilde, a single mum struggling with depression and also trying to be the best mum possible. Very different from my normal reads that consist of teenager/high school drama. But also a welcome change.
I enjoyed the story a lot. I think it was interesting to learn about the struggles of being a single mum. Obviously, I can’t relate because I haven’t had a child but I can imagine it’s not an easy thing. That being said I did find Robin very relatable and I think that’s due to Louise’s writing style. It’s very casual and conversational like most other YouTuber books.
That being said that’s not always a good thing. Because of the style of writing and the way Robin acted it was hard to picture Robin as her own character. Throughout the book, I was constantly imagining Louise. The storyline is very similar to things that Louise has been through in her life. And I know people say it’s better to write what you know but I feel like I was expecting something more.
I kind of felt similar vibes in Girl Online when I read it. Zoe does pull on her own experiences with anxiety for that book but at the same time, it’s very much more fiction than based on her life.
But aside from picturing Louise instead of Robin, I enjoyed reading the book. I thought it was fun to learn about Robin’s first experience with online dating and also found the way she talked about depression interesting. I think she described it well in terms of it being “the Emptiness”.
Though I do feel that things happened to turn around very quickly in the book. For the longest time, we saw Robin struggling with everything, parenting, depression, dating, her job and then all of a sudden everything just turns out all right at the end. I guess it’s not a bad thing to want a happy ending I just felt it came on very fast.
I do like that Robin is surrounded by a lot of positive and strong women in her life though. That’s something I can always appreciate. I’m all for girl power and this book has a lot of that.
As for the age group for this book, I wanna say young adults. I don’t think younger viewers of Louise’s channel would be interested in it and as for older people, I don’t quite know. I guess it depends on what kind of writing you like. But it is one of those books that you can read at any age. (Possibly not children as I just remembered they do talk about sex…)
And how it compares to other YouTuber books I think it’s somewhere in the middle. I think it’s a nice read, and in a way, you get to know a version of Louise. Though as most YouTuber books aren’t fiction it is hard to do a real comparison.
Overall I did enjoy the book for what it was. Didn’t know what to expect when I jumped into it but I am glad I took a chance on it. Will I read a sequel if one arises? I don’t know. I might give it a go – it could be like Girl Online where I end up loving it. But I guess we shall see what the future holds.
But until then I am on to my next book which, funny enough happens to be the third book in the Girl Online series. I think it’s about time I got around to it, the book has been sitting on my bookshelf for over a year now. So hopefully I will have another book review for you soon.

 

~ Courtney x

Grace & Style: The Art of Pretending You Have It Book Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

It has been a while since my last book review. I have been really bad at reading lately but I want to get back to it.
So Grace & Style. I was really happy to find out Grace was writing a second book. I really enjoyed her first one. And after she gave us such great advice on how to be an adult I was super excited to see what style tips Grace would have for us.

Truth be told I did not buy this for the style advice. Although that being said Grace does give some great advice within the book. She shares helpful tips about what to do on bad hair days, how to cover up fashion faux pas and how to make plain t shirts more fashionable. And if that wasn’t enough there are also some great DIYs on her YouTube channel.
But anyway, I bought this book to see how it would compare with her first book. And also because I knew I was going to get some great stories in this book. It helped me learn more about Grace and how her own personal style came to be.
I thought it was really interesting for her to open up with something super personal from the get go. I had no idea Grace went through such a hard time growing up. Although I really admire YouTubers who are able to share their stories like that in order to help others. I also think it allows people to connect to YouTubers on a more personal level. Especially since some of them are not very open and personal online.
Aside from her personal introduction to the book the rest of it is a lot of light and fun. I enjoyed reading about Grace’s take on style advice. She definitely took her advice to the next level in this book. Even creating some very interesting scenarios for her Miss Mess column. She even gives us a flowchart to help us decide if we should really buy an item of clothing. The book came with everything.

One thing I didn’t expect in this book were the Sweatpants diaries. I honestly didn’t enjoy this part of the book as much as the rest of it. At the beginning I found it hard to follow and was just confused. As I read more throughout the book I began to understand a bit more. Long story short it is about a pair of sweatpants who attends school in the Mall of America and is about to bring back the Black Friday revolution. It’s insane. But very Grace.
If anything I think if Grace really wanted to, she really could release a fictional book series called the Sweatpants diaries. I feel like that could be something a lot of people could be into. I unfortunately am not a big fan. Although it definitely added something different to the book.

While I didn’t enjoy this part of the book I did like the rest of it. As I said before I really enjoyed learning about how Grace’s own style came to be through her stories and past experiences. I also enjoyed how she took famous quotes about style and made them her own. I feel like I related a lot more to Grace’s quotes than the others. I think celebrities/designers/models have a different view of fashion because they can 1. afford couture and 2. are around it all the time. The rest of us are trying to afford cute everyday fashion.
Another thing I enjoyed in Grace’s book were the photos. Just like her previous book this book was beautifully illustrated with photos of Grace rocking some interesting styles. Here are some of my favourites:

Overall I think this book was a really fun read. Although I think I preferred Grace’s first book over this one. Especially on the advice front. I feel like I need advice on how to be an adult more than I need style advice haha. I don’t regret buying this book though as it did allow me to learn more things about Grace. It also gave me a really helpful flowchart on how to decide how to clean out my closet. I wish I had seen that a few weeks ago when I was cleaning out my room.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this book review. I don’t even know if these book reviews are that helpful or useful haha. I just like sharing my thoughts on some YouTuber books. I promise I will have some reviews of some non-YouTuber books sometime soon but for right now, this is what I’m into. I have some more YouTuber books preordered for later in the year so I am excited to get them. But for right now, the next book on my list is It Gets Worse by Shane Dawson and I can’t wait to get into that. Look out for that book review (hopefully) coming soon!
~ Courtney x