Tag: TV/Movie Book

You’re The One That I Want by Cecily Von Ziegesar Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Another Gossip Girl novel down, another blog post where I have to double-check I spelt the author’s name right haha.

This one…I kind of didn’t like.

I mean so far the series has just been okay, none of the books have stood out to be better than the others. But I do like reading about the book version of Gossip Girl so I’m sticking with it ’til the end.

But this one I just wasn’t enjoying the storylines.

So here we are FINALLY going to see where everyone is going to uni and it’s kind of unbelievable.

First of all, Serena getting into all the colleges she applied to – lol okay. I mean sure, it goes along with this whole idea that she is perfect and everything just magically works out for her. But it was kind of dull, I’m guessing in the books Serena doesn’t have any kind of growth like she does in the TV show. I’m not saying she grows a lot on the show, but at least there’s some dimension to her character? In the book, she’s very one-note, happy go lucky and her life is perfect. It gets dull after a while.

Not to mention her college visits. Honestly the worst. Of course there’s a guy at every college that she falls in love with, and of course, they all come to New York just to win her over. Like I was rolling my eyes every time we talked about S this time around.

I wonder if she will go to college or decide to do her own thing like on the TV show. I honestly can’t imagine her actually going to Yale or anything, or if she does she will be like “this is too hard” and drop out.

Meanwhile, we have Blair over here who is like so not having a good time because it seems everyone got into Yale except for her, she got wait-listed. I mean to be expected, it also happens on the TV show but there are more dramatic reasons as to why on the TV show. Still, even though she got wait-listed, she was surprisingly calm in this book, which seemed unnatural for her.

I was not expecting Blair to be so welcoming to her new baby sister either. But there we go.

On the bright side, she finally lost her virginity to Nate! Woo! Nothing else to report though.

Then there was Nate who actually decided to just be a jerk to the Brown rep to get her off his back and he was gonna throw off Yale too but then decided against it. Wild. Also unnatural to see Nate act like a jerk but he did it.

Not sure what more I am expecting from stoner Nate tbh. He’s kind of just there doing his own thing, occasionally thinking about Blair. I wonder if college is going to be good for him.

Moving on down to Brooklyn. Ugh.

Dan was annoying and Vanessa was even worse. I mean I think it’s clear I don’t like them at all in the books but this time they were more insufferable than usual.

So Dan gets into all his colleges too, he isn’t poor in the books so he doesn’t need financial aid or anything so he can totally go anywhere he wants. But he decides it’s a good idea to try and move in with Vanessa while her sister is on tour. That lasts about five minutes because this other girl shows up and says Vanessa’s sister said she could crash.

So Vanessa becomes a completely different person because she really likes this girl who is staying with them and Dan hates it. So he’s being moodier than ever, meanwhile, Vanessa is just being straight up the worst pretending to be like this new girl.

It’s safe to say all this doesn’t last long as Vanessa’s sister calls to say this girl is actually crazy and Vanessa should kick her out. Vanessa goes back to herself, Dan kind of just moves out without saying much and I guess once more they are broken up? I never know.

And then finally, Jenny decides to become a model and it backfires when she is featured in this article about breast size. So once again her breasts are a part of her storyline. Eh. It kind of works out for her though because she ends up doing another photo shoot with Serena and I guess they had fun. No idea what it was for but I’m sure w will find out soon.

But yeah, overall kind of a meh one. Nothing overly interesting happened and everyone annoyed me in some way or another lol. I can’t tell if it’s because I’ve been super emotional lately or what but this just wasn’t the one for me. Anyway, I’m off to read what happens next and see if everyone finally decides on a college. Plus, we gotta see if Blair makes it off the wait-list, and with it being B, you know she’ll find a way.

~ Courtney x

I Like It Like That by Cecily von Ziegesar Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Another GG book down! I am surprised I finished this one so quickly but I think it’s because it took me a long time to read the last one because I was busy and didn’t have as much time to read last week.

Anyway yeah, this time we are on spring break! And we STILL don’t know if Blair has gotten into Yale yet. I mean we don’t know if anyone else has gotten into uni either, except for Vanessa but B is the only one we care about ya know.

Speaking of B looks like she has the hots for Serena’s brother Erik. This is super unexpected and kind of weird, considering on the TV show Erik is Serena’s younger gay brother. In the book, Erik is older, in uni and definitely straight. I was actually kind of hoping that they did become a thing because I would love to see Serena be uncomfortable with that for longer.

Sadly though Blair did not give it up to Erik and realised she still loves Nate. Which I guess I should have seen coming but hey, it’s cool. I just hope that Blair finally loses her virginity soon because this storyline is getting kind of old. I mean how many times can B almost lose her virginity to the first guy she sees in the book?

Also, I like how they threw in that non-fight between Serena and Blair at the end. Like I know Serena was annoyed at Blair for getting with her brother etc but I didn’t see it as a fight. Then S was all like “I don’t wanna fight anymore” and I was really confused. At least it was resolved quickly.

As for Serena, I think she was annoyed that all the attention wasn’t on her this time so she was all for being wild and crazy with Georgina. That was until she ended up abandoned, strapped to a ski toboggan in a ditch lol. I want to say I feel bad for her but I just found it funny. At least Nate saved the day.

Speaking of, Nate and Serena? I think it’s cute they tried to hook up again but I am ultimately glad it didn’t work out. It’s good for them to be friends I think.

I also believe it’s safe to say Nate is over Georgina. I never pictured them staying together long when she was a major druggie and Nate had quit smoking weed and wasn’t up for her craziness. So I predict in the next book Nate and Blair get back together, how long it lasts again I can’t say for sure.

Also, Georgina and Serena know each other from boarding school! Are they going to elaborate on this? I know what happened between them in the TV show so I wonder if the same drama will apply here. That being said, Georgina didn’t seem to be that interested in spending time with Serena, she was just glad she had someone to party with.

It also seems Chuck and Georgina are friendly too as he was along for the ride on spring break. I don’t know what’s going on with Chuck in the books but I guess he just likes to party and is bisexual. Oh, and he now has a monkey lol. This was probably the book that has mentioned him the most since the Kiss on the Lips party and I guess it was nice he was part of the story.

Meanwhile back in Manhattan, Dan is once again being the most annoying artist on the planet. He got some internship and immediately hated it and didn’t even do the job. He tried to write poems and failed. He also thought it was a good idea to maybe get with Elise, Jenny’s friend, and that lasted for like a second. Basically a lot of failure on Dan’s part this time around. Eh. Not fussed.

I was kind of surprised when Elise decided to flirt with him though, just because in the last book she seemed to be having a good time making out with Jenny and then suddenly was interested in her brother – make up your mind woman.

Then there is Jenny who spends this book stalking her new boyfriend trying to figure out why he is being so mysterious about his home life. Turns out he’s just kind of average and Jenny is not a fan. So I guess that is over.

As for Vanessa, her parents were in town and she hated it because they didn’t understand her so she decided to date some guy because she knew her parents would not be a fan. Boring. In the end though she realised she still loved Dan – so those two are bound to get together again soon.

And finally, we come back to Gossip Girl, this time she arranges a get together in the park and invites all the guys to see who she really is. And this proves to me that this whole time everyone has been reading Gossip Girl and knows about her, but it still bothers me that Blair didn’t know before about Jenny and Nate from reading Gossip Girl. I suppose they don’t know who the people she writes about are but it’s pretty obvious ya know. Like if you’re reading about yourself you kind of know.

Anyway…she arranges this thing in the park, all the guys show up but of course, Gossip Girl isn’t there. However, Blair and Serena are, sitting on a red blanket like Gossip Girl said she would be, but not only that Vanessa is also there at the park on a red blanket too. What a coincidence. It makes me think we might possibly get a reveal but I don’t wanna get my hopes up.

So that brings us to the end of another Gossip Girl book. I think I might take a break now and read something else, but that being said I do like reading about my fave Upper East Siders. So I imagine I’ll be back on the Gossip Girl train before you know it.

~ Courtney x

Because I’m Worth It by Cecily von Ziegesar Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Another Gossip Girl novel down.

Honestly, this series is taking interesting turns. Definitely nothing like the TV show which I guess is a good thing because if it was exactly like the TV show why would I want to read it? (Although let’s be real I probably still would have because I love Gossip Girl).

So first off, Blair Waldorf. She’s been through a lot, I mean first she screws up her Yale interview, Nate and her breakup and now she has decided to chop off her hair.

I can’t imagine Blair without her hair but I’m sure she rocked it. I did think maybe it was going to end up a disaster and she was going to have to go into hiding but it was fine. She ended up using her hairstyle to look more like her idol Audrey.

To go along with her new ‘do, B also got another chance at Yale. Her dad pulled some strings and she got to meet with one of his friends to have another entrance interview.

Luckily, things went well for her there, although almost too well as she kind of had an affair with her interviewer. Scandalous I know, plus so unlike Blair. Though I suppose nothing really happened with him, she just kissed him and she even left the hotel room when he was asleep. No funny business.

So this kind of leaves her Yale admission still kind of up in the air…I mean who knows what this new Yale guy will tell the admission board after she blew him off. Although to be fair the guy was married and had a child who was almost Blair’s age so like does he really have a leg to stand on? I guess we wait and see.

Side note: it was kind of funny how in Blair’s little spiral she thought the way to repair her image and life was to check herself into rehab – it didn’t last long and I didn’t expect it to but it was still interesting.

Next there is Serena who honestly is too perfect that nothing bad ever actually happens to her. I mean she starts of fully in love with Aaron in an annoying way.

Then somehow she manages to get a job modelling in a fashion show because she’s Serena – so she decides to rock the runway in a t shirt that says “I LOVE AARON” and obviously Aaron isn’t too thrilled so they break up.

And that concludes the Serena portion of this blog post. She didn’t have much going on to be fair. Sure she is heartbroken because of Aaron but I imagine it won’t take long for her to get over it. I hope something more interesting happens with her because so far it’s just S gliding through life getting everything she wants.

This happens on the TV show too but like she does suffer on the TV show I mean for almost two seasons she thought she killed a guy… No such thing seems to be happening for her in the books though lol. She’s still gliding right through life all chill and perfect.

Meanwhile Nate is getting busted for buying pot in the park lol. So he has to go to rehab which is shocking because he is so clean cut in the TV show. I think they mention him smoking weed once in the entire of the series in the pilot and then it’s hardly mentioned ever again.

But in the book he goes to rehab where he meets Georgina Spark. And I just wanna say it bothers me that she’s not Sparks like in the TV show with an ‘s’ at the end. It sounds better.

Anyway yeah, I love Georgina in the TV show she is actually such a great character so I wonder what she is like in the books.

So far she comes across in kind of a similar way, drug addicted and clingy. Her and Nate start dating and I am shocked because I never pictured that being a thing. Excited to see where it goes though. Especially since Nate has stopped smoking weed for her which I am all for because his stoner story line was getting boring.

As for Little J, well, she has gotten into some fun things too. She has made a new friend and I think her friend wants them to be a little bit more than friends haha.

I was not expecting this from Jenny, but I think out of all the characters she is the one that is the most different from the TV show. So I’m just taking it as it goes with her.

It seems like at the end of the book she found a new boyfriend though so I wonder what this will do to her friendship with Elise. I mean Elise was definitely the one who wanted to experiment more than Jenny and you can tell she enjoyed it while Jenny did not. So I guess we see what happens with them, and also find out more about this mysterious guy who Jenny is dating.

After that we have Dan and Vanessa who both are “making it” in their respective careers. So yay? Except not completely…

So Dan forgave Vanessa for publishing his poem after he realised how awesome it is to be a published writer so they got back together and Dan finally lost his virginity after making such a big deal about it for artistic reasons lol.

But then he got an agent and he met another girl and he slept with her. Gosh darn it Dan. I really dislike Dan in the books so am I really surprised this is the kind of thing his scummy character would do? Not really. I mean he did feel bad when he kissed Mystery (because of course that’s the other girl’s name) but that definitely didn’t stop him from cheating. He did want to tell Vanessa and he thought he had in his obscure poem but she didn’t get that message from it.

Basically their relationship is a hot mess and I guess over? Because Vanessa went to Dan’s poetry reading and basically saw Dan and Mystery getting on on stage. But she filmed it anyway because ya know, art haha.

And finally the last thing I’ll talk about is Gossip Girl herself, she was planning a birthday party and everyone was invited. Chuck even handed out flyers for the party which is interesting because I mentioned in one of my other Gossip Girl posts that it was weird none of the characters actually talked about her. But this time they were.

Which means S, B and everyone else must know she is posting about them? Unless they’re too posh to even think about reading Gossip Girl lol. I kind of liked how they used it in the TV show though and sent in their own tips. It was super scandalous.

Anyway, four novels down I think there’s maybe 13 in the series? So I still have a while to go, the timeline of the books seems to be pretty slow moving, each book only spanning a couple of months so I can’t imagine where this actually ends. I do kind of hope we get a clue as to who Gossip Girl is. I mean, it’s definitely not Dan Humphrey this time and I am so glad haha.

Now time to get back to reading and see if the next novel is where Blair finally finds out if she gets into Yale.

~ Courtney x

All I Want is Everything by Cecily von Ziegesar Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey people!

So here we are finished with another Gossip Girl novel.

Well I am surprised.

First off, Aaron in love with Blair?! Ew. I mean I guess they were friendly when they first met and everything but like he’s her stepbrother and that’s weird.

I hope this doesn’t become a thing.

On the bright side though, it looks like Serena is distracting him quite well. But we see how long that lasts. If we are going by the TV show standards it definitely doesn’t last long.

Then there is Blair and this Miles guy. In my head, I was picturing him like Carter Baizen from the TV show. But ultimately things don’t work out with them. Not that there even was a “them”. Definitely thought Blair was just gonna get it over with and do the deed with him though.

Also, I wonder if Blair will get into Yale. She’s been working hard on her admission so I wonder how it will go for her. I guess I’ll find out soon enough. Plus her Audrey Hepburn obsession is next level in the books lol.

Moving onto Nate – man idk. I just have accepted I don’t really like book Nate very much. Surprisingly though he was okay in this book. Probably because he wasn’t as high as he was in the others.

It’s understandable why things did not go well with Jenny. But the fact he suddenly decided to go back to Blair? Meh. Surprised Blair didn’t take him back though because she definitely did on the TV show….unless she just wants to make him squirm more but we will see.

Speaking of Jenny, the girl is obsessed. Like those creepy portraits of Nate might have seemed cute but like it’s the kind of thing you keep to yourself and don’t show the guy you like. It’s weird.

No idea what will happen with her next. Also kind of hate that they always bring up her boobs. Like I get it they are giant and get in the way but hey why is that like her only defining character trait? Lol.

As for Dan and Vanessa…ick.

Dan is honestly the worst. In the TV show, they try to make him more likeable but in the books there’s no denying he is awful. Like automatically labelling his sister and girlfriend as sluts? Calm down, man.

I also hate how he tries to be the tormented artist. It’s painful to read.

Plus how he gets mad at Vanessa for going behind his back and publishing his poem but ends up forgiving her anyway lol okay then.

Was surprised that he was so against sex though especially for “artistic” reasons. Ugh. Nah. Get out.

Meanwhile, Vanessa just wanted to do it. Totally opposite and surprising for her. Not sure why she felt the need to pressure Dan and all but sure.

I mean now that we are 3 books in, I have definitely stopped comparing the TV show as much to the book. I’m taking it as a separate thing and just seeing where it goes.

Plus Eleanor and Cyrus are pregnant? Crazy. Didn’t think that would happen but okay, they wasting no time now they married. Also, I can’t believe I never mentioned it before but I was surprised when Eleanor took Cyrus’s last name. On the TV show, she is a strong businesswoman who didn’t change her name but in the book, she’s kind of a ditz which I’m sad about.

Then of course there was that one mention of Chuck Bass. I actually thought maybe this is where Blair was gonna throw caution to the wind and get with him. They had that moment at New Year’s Eve but no such luck. I know for sure they don’t have the epic TV show romance but that doesn’t mean they don’t potentially hook up in the books.

Overall I liked this book. I’m not ever gonna say these were like the best books I’ve ever read because they aren’t really. I just like living in the Gossip Girl world a little longer. It’s fun. So on we go to the next one!

~ Courtney x

You Know You Love Me By Cecily von Ziegesar Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hello we are back with another Gossip Girl book review.

So this time, people headed out to college for some interviews and Blair’s mom got married to Cyrus!

First off, the wedding came real quick. I wasn’t expecting it. But that’s because on the show Elenor didn’t get with Cyrus until at least season 2/3 and I swear they didn’t marry ’til like season 5 haha.

Anyway yeah so introducing: Aaron Rose! Man he is not the cute, mysterious artist who Serena decides to date and knows from summer camp. He is a guy who smokes herbal cigarettes and has dreadlocks. Ew.

Surprisingly though Blair actually had a nice time with him. Despite her not saying more than two words to him on the TV show. I wonder if he has more of a presence in the books because in the TV show he left after Serena was done with him lol.

Also the college visits! Everyone going to Brown but Blair going to Yale. Well we all knew Blair was a Yale girl. It was surprising her interview went so terribly. I could have never imagined that for her but I suppose she was frazzled from the night before. Poor girl.

I wonder if they all end up going to NYU like on the TV show.

I mean from the way Serena, Dan and Nate’s interviews went I could see it happening. Though Nate’s interview actually seemed to go well so yay for him.

Oh. By the way. I HATE stoner Nate. I prefer TV Nate. Like it’s honestly so boring to hear every time he’s around he’s baked. Please get a new description for him please.

Plus him and Jenny? Didn’t expect it to happen so fast. Or for Nate to just kind of dump Blair. I suppose I am still holding out for cute Nate from the TV show. But I guess we are just stuck with stoner Nate. Though he doesn’t smoke around Jenny? Interesting. Wonder how long it lasts. Side note: when are we gonna drop the Jennifer thing as well haha, she can try to seem more sophisticated but she will always be Little J.

Also like zero mention of Chuck Bass. I read he was a much minor character in the books which is fine I suppose I don’t really miss him but it’s kind of weird at the same time not to have him hanging with the gang. In the books, he is just the creepy guy everyone tolerates because their family is rich and they’re part of the inner circle.

Another thing that’s kind of weird is that Erik is the older, cooler brother of Serena wherein the TV show he is her younger brother and kind of shy and also gay lol what a transformation they made for him.

Moving on to Dan. Ugh. Honestly he is really pathetic in the books. All moody and shit writing poetry. I can’t say I like him on the TV show but this is like an even worse version of him. Its kind of depressing.

And then I’m still trying to figure out Vanessa too. Shes’s also annoying though in a different way than on the TV show. Don’t know what it is about her I just don’t like her.

Anyway yeah another book is done and dusted, overall this one was okay. I did kind of like Blair’s spiral into stealing and breaking down etc. Part of me expected her to be more dramatic about her mom deciding to get married on her birthday but it’s chill.

Also, I’m surprised Blair managed to freeze Serena out for so long too. But I’m also proud of her because that takes a lot of effort haha.

Other random things to note are:

I’m still not over everyone smoking

OMG also I forgot hello Dan and Jenny living on the Upper West Side so they aren’t even as poor as they were made ou to be on TV, plus their dad is gross in the books at least he was likeable on TV.

Also not used to Blair having a younger brother still it was weird to read about him.

Not 100% sure how to feel about Gossip Girl posts in the series, I guess I expected them more frequently but also expect the characters to mention them and react to them like on TV – like shouldn’t Blair have known what Nate was up to if she was reading Gossip Girl?

And I guess Serena and Dan do not have their romance quite yet since Serena is creeped out by Dan and Dan is too obsessive which is totally fair. We see how Dan and Vanessa go…if she breaks up with her boyfriend

And so that brings us to the end of this Gossip Girl blog post. Last week while I was at the library I ended up checking out a new book so I will read that before going back into the upper east side.

I’m wondering what will happen next. I’m trying to avoid reading what happens in the books so it doesn’t give it away but sometimes it’s hard to resist…

~ Courtney x

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey Upper East Siders,

I just finished the Gossip Girl book and I thought I would share my thoughts with you.

So I’ve actually read this book before. I planned to read the whole series after I finished the TV show but never got around to getting the rest of the books because I was a poor secondary school student. And then, earlier this year when I got a library card I discovered they had the series on their ebook app. So now I can read them all!

Anyway yes, I wanna say beforehand that I love the TV show Gossip Girl. The drama was everything, the cast was everything. I love it a lot.

Will I love the books though? I guess we see.

So I know the show is loosely based off of the books so I’m not expecting anything to be exactly the same. I would say the first few episodes of season 1 are similar to the events in the first book.

So here’s my list of similarities:

  • Serena back from boarding school
  • Nate slept with Serena
  • Chuck tries to force himself on Jenny at the Kiss on the Lips party
  • Blair wanting to have sex with Nate but finding out about Serena and Nate

So not many things. But they don’t all happen in the same way they did on the show. To be expected.

Now onto things that were different because this stuff was interesting.

First thing is that everyone’s parents are around. Yeah it’s weird. Because in the show Serena has her daddy issues and Lily remarries several times and then also on the show Chuck never knew his mother. But in the book world of the Upper East Side both their families are in tact. Not only that, all the families have more siblings than the show had you believe.

I can’t imagine Blair or Chuck having siblings it doesn’t seem right. But there ya go.

Also Gossip Girl is a .co.uk site? This is weird to me only because the book is based in America so why would the website have a UK domain? I don’t think this is a thing most people care about but I do.

Plus, Gossip Girl always refers to everyone only by their first initial on the website. Unlike on the show when sometimes Gossip Girl would use their actual name. Which I’m glad they did on the show just because only referring to someone by a letter doesn’t sound good when you’re talking about them lol.

Another thing they play up in the book is that Nate is a major stoner. Which we never really got in the TV show. Not to mention that everyone smokes. Though I suppose that wouldn’t have been a good look on TV. Especially since at the time of the TV show I feel like you couldn’t smoke everywhere like you could early 2000s when the book was set.

But yeah, other things that happen in the first book did happen in the TV show just later on like Blair’s mom getting with Cyrus and the introduction of Vanessa.

Oh! That’s another thing Vanessa goes to Constance in the book! Which I can’t even imagine but yeah that’s a thing.

I can see that the TV show definitely changed a lot but it’s understandable. With TV shows they need to amp the drama up and cut minor characters because it’s a money thing. But in books you don’t need as much drama. Which is fine. I mean I’m not expecting anything major from the first book.

I am interested to see where it goes though. I mean right now there’s the familiarity of everything that happens but I have no idea where we go from here.

If I had to say anything it’s that I am sad we won’t have Dorota in the books. Dorota is Blair’s maid and she honestly makes the show so much better haha.

Also, do they reveal who Gossip Girl is in the books?! Because the TV show reveal was weak and I think it would be better maybe if there wasn’t a reveal but at the same time I would love to know who Gossip Girl was actually meant to be. Kind of like how in Pretty Little liars, A is actually not who they made it out to be on the TV show. (I haven’t read PLL but it’s on my list even though I know who A is in the books).

But yeah, overall I liked it. Like I said I am interested to see where we go from here.

Don’t have much else to say. I mean this was just me breaking down the similarities and differences from the TV show but I promise to talk more about the books as we go on. But I can’t say I won’t bring up the TV show again. But yeah, more focus on the books from now on.

So until next time,

You know you love me,

xo xo

~ Courtney

(P.S I’m glad they add the ‘xo xo’ part on the TV show I don’t know why but it just sounds good)

You By Caroline Kepnes Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

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I watched the Netflix adaptation of this book at the start of the year and it definitely made me want to read the book.

You is about a guy called Joe and Joe falls in love with Guinevere Beck but his love is just a little bit too much to handle. Basically, he’s an obsessed stalker who would do anything to get with Beck.

Now I gotta say the TV show definitely changed some of the storylines and I think it was to make it even more dramatic which is fine it makes sense. Also in the book they didn’t have a neighbour for Joe like Paco on the TV show. He was a good egg. Miss him.

I really enjoyed reading the book, it was really addictive and I think I liked it more than the TV show just a little bit. I think sometimes the TV show dragged a little. But the book did not.

It’s so interesting to see things from Joe’s point of view. He never has a doubt in his mind about what he is doing, he does everything for her and to protect her. And it’s wild.

Also thank you book for explaining that Beck actually emails people so that’s how he can follow her, rather than the TV show saying that Joe can read her text messages even though they showed her using iMessage but she had an Android phone and those things just don’t work together…

Anyway, I am super excited to read the sequel if I can get my hands on it, plus I hear a third book is on the way. I’m kind of obsessed with seeing where things with Joe will go. It’s just so different from other things I’ve read yet still in the realm of things I enjoy haha. Gotta have a bit of thriller and mystery in there.

So basically overall loved the book – though sometimes it was a bit hard to read because I got confused at who was talking sometimes. And the whole thing about how he only talks about Beck like “you are doing this, you see me, you act like…” etc. Some of those paragraphs were long and it took a while to process but nothing too terrible. Still easy to read and very addicting.

Now excuse me while I go out of my way to find the sequel – I read this book as an ebook borrowed from the library but they don’t have the second one as an ebook which is annoying…but I’ll find a way to get it.

~ Courtney x

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

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