[Ramblings] Fifty Shades of Grey (#1) by E.L. James

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 25/01/2015

Publisher: Vintage
Pages: 356

Source: Kindle
Genre: Adult - Erotica (18+)

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Ariana Grande - Love Me Harder ♪

My Rating: 

Meh.

My thoughts

OKAY. I'M DONE! NO MORE, I CANNOT DEAL... No more My Fifty Shades, no more "Oh My!", no more "inner goddess" and "my subconscious" and Mrs Robinson and Jose and...

The reason I am not giving this book 1 star is simply because I finished it, therefore it is, to some degree, "readable". I will not be reviewing this book properly because I will not really be able to analyse it objectively... so here's just a jumbled mess of my thoughts towards this book.

[Giveaway] 5 Year Blogoversary // Post-night shift rant

Warning:
I've just come from a night shift, so things are going to get rambly and emotional and maybe a bit personal. If you're only here for the giveaway, scroll down until you hit gold! Don't worry, no hard feelings. I probably wouldn't read this either because, come on, who cares?

Gah! I made this graphic for my first blogoversary, and as much as that cut-off 'y' is bugging me, I'm not going to change it or fix it or make a new graphic. Because I'm kind of fond of it. Because in the past I'm sure I was very proud of my efforts. (Okay, I'm also a tiny bit lazy too.)

I've been horribly, despicably, inexcusably MIA--hang on, life just got in the way. A lot, a lot, a lot of life. Full-time work. Family stuff. Friends stuff. Relationship stuff. Basically everything in my life has been a constant whirlwind of change and uncertainty and confusion and emotions have been blaring every which way that I just didn't have the mental capacity to even open up Blogger most days. There were many many times I contemplated, "I really should write this review today," and then almost instantaneously turned my mind to other matters.

But. I think I'm finally at a place where my mind has cleared a bit. I have a tendency to over-think things and let it all get the best of me, and all the while my lovely blog has been patiently waiting for me, waiting for me to give it the attention, love and *ahem* traffic it so rightly deserves. *gets out the feather duster* I've sorely neglected it for way too long, and I don't even know if I can truly keep this up (I have a bad track record with consistency here--but hey! I always seem to come back, don't I?) but I'm going to try my hardest.

[Review] Poppy in the Field (#2) by Mary Hooper

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(#2, Poppy in the Field)

Poppy | Poppy in the Field

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 07/05/2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 288

Source: Review
Genre: YA (14+) - Historical fiction

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Rachel Platten - Fight Song ♪

My Rating: 

Awe-inspiring

My thoughts

Poppy in the Field is a continuation of Poppy by Mary Hooper. As the title suggests, we, once again, follow the hopeful young VAD Poppy who decides to apply for a position at a base hospital in France in the wake of turbulent heartbreak that has come with the recent news of her love Freddie's marriage to a sophisticated debutante.

Hooper has evidently done extensive research and in amongst the pages there is ample amount of descriptive detail that places you right in the time period. From the character portrayals to the world building to the language used, Hooper excels at creating the right environment in her writing.

[Review] Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 10/03/2015

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 368

Source: For review
Genre: YA (16+) - Contemporary

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Mr Probz - Waves ♪

My Rating: 

Intense, captivating

My thoughts

I can say with absolute certainty that I have said this in the past but I have no reservations against repeatedly saying it for ever-- Lauren Oliver can do no wrong. I went into this book expecting something akin to a Gone Girl for teen readers/audience, and in a way I was sort of right. Reading this new book that had been written by one of my more favoured contemporary authors I was struck with something like déjà vu--of the best kind. Because, like Gone Girl, Vanishing Girls surprised me, captivated me, provoked me to think about issues and topics that hadn't previously been on my mind. It is bold. It is a lyrical masterpiece in the young adult genre (as are all of her other novels). It is relateable and remarkably human and beautifully disastrous and just a book of the best kind.

In Vanishing Girls, sisters Dara and Nick were inseparable until the accident that tore them apart. Now Dara has a permanent reminder by the scars on her face, thus ending her popularity. Then, on her birthday, she disappears. Around the same time another young girl, Madeline Snow, has been reported missing and it is all over the news. Nick believes that there may be a connection between the two disappearances and she is going to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of it, no matter what.

[Review] I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 16/09/2014

Publisher: Dial (Penguin)
Pages: 371

Source: Bought
Genre: YA (14+) - Contemporary

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Jessie J - Sweet Talker ♪

My Rating: 

A masterpiece

My thoughts

Jandy Nelson's debut novel, The Sky is Everywhere, was one of my absolute favourite debut novels of 2010. Its strong depiction of the ailing effect of music and love in the midst of a grieving period in a young teen's life quickly landed the author a place on my list of authors I will follow no matter what. In that book she showed a unique sensitivity and delivered a beautifully-woven story that I could not forget.

Her sophomore title, I'll Give You the Sun, surpassed her debut by far. I cannot even begin to describe how invested I had become with the story and the characters; everything was so powerful, so emotional, so beautiful. Contemporary YA will always be my home genre and I think I'll Give You the Sun just confirms to me that Jandy Nelson can do no wrong.