[Review] Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology

Add to Goodreads

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 24/04/2017

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 336

Source: Library

Genre: YA - Anthology (12+)

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

My Rating: 

Solid collection of #LoveYA short stories 

My thoughts

This anthology makes me proud to be Australian. What a great collection of short stories full of lively and diverse characters and worlds! I had a hard time pulling away from some of these stories, and this was overall just a really great way of showcasing all the awesomeness that some current Aussie authors have to offer!

[Review] All In Pieces by Suzanne Young

Add to Goodreads

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 01/12/2016

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 259

Source: Library

Genre: YA - Contemporary (14+)

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down ♪
♪ Avril Lavigne - I'm With You ♪

My Rating: 

Heartrending and tragically beautiful realistic fiction 

My thoughts

Wow. This was hard to write. 

Reasons:

1. Because this will be the first review that I have written in a long time with the intention of posting on my book blog so I'm a little bit rusty, and
2. Because this is the kind of book that is difficult to talk about. Yes, partially due to the heavy subject content, but also due to the intense need I have bouncing within me to get this right. I want to do justice by this book. I hadn't expected to love this book quite as much as I did.

I'm aliiiiiiiiveeeeeeee.......

It's me!

Honestly, I don't even know if there's a place left for me on the blogosphere but I want to try this thing again, I really do miss blogging. I have been low-key Tweeting for the past week or two, and recent bookish events have reignited my passion for book blogging. While it has been wonderful to be free from the clutches of blogging during this crazy busy last almost-year I really want to fall back into a routine with book blogging. Despite all the tedious editing, hours spent writing reviews and fine-tuning typos and weird HTML glitches (courtesy of Blogger >_>), it was really fun being part of a larger bookish community.

For those who don't know me yet, I'm a now 24 year old paediatric nurse living in Sydney, Australia. I am an ABC (Aussie Born Chinese) and still really don't care for eating rice, serve me pies and burgers over rice any day! I love honest and realistic contemporary YA more than any other genre, though I also adore historical fiction, high fantasy and basically anything that pulls me in with an engaging plot and/or sympathetic characters with whom I can feel a strong connection. I would also love to one day finish writing a novel.

Since my last blog post in August 2016, I have travelled to New Zealand with my boyfriend, travelled to Japan by myself and started a new job (another paeds nurse gig). I'm currently between semesters for my grad cert in Paediatric Nursing. Of course, I have done more, but those are the big things.

I have still been reading during my time away from the blog and maybe I will post reviews of some of them sometime in the future -- we'll see how this goes. I'm not expecting too much. All I wanted out of this blog from the beginning was to get my voice out there, in my own little space. So be it if my words reverberate and bounce off these walls, echoes reaching out to deaf ears (or in this case, unseeing eyes).

If you have managed to make it here, then welcome! Please comment - I promise I'm friendly! I might even follow you back. :)

[Review] My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 26/01/2016

Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Pages: 398

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

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Arctic Monkeys - One For the Road ♪

My Rating: 

Intense, thought-provoking

My thoughts

5/5

HOLY SHIT. I have not been so hideously disturbed since Gone Girl. If this is the kind of writing that Justine Larbalestier is capable of, I'm certain that her other novels, particularly Razorhurst, will not disappoint. If you're looking for quality Aussie YA fiction sure to keep you up at night, look no further!

[Review] Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall

Add to Goodreads

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 20/10/2015

Publisher: Swoon Reads
Pages: 613

Source: For review
Genre: YA - Contemporary (12+)

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Carly Rae Jepson - I Really Like You ♪

My Rating: 

Fluffy and light read

My thoughts

(It's actually 2 stars but I don't actually have a graphic for it and I'm too lazy to make one just for this book. If ever I come across another 2 star book maybe then I'll make one.)

I should have run the other way as soon as I saw the cover and read the description, but it's been such a long time since I actually reviewed a book that I'd been sent for review (unsolicited) and I was in the mood for a light and fluffy read . . . Well, that's exactly what this book is: fluff. I felt like I was actually using less brain cells to read this book than I would have had I been watching an episode of The Bachelor. For some people that's not such a bad thing at all. After all, reading is a portal to another life, an escape from reality. But. I just could not connect at all. I'm only disappointed in myself because I knew exactly what I was walking into. One look at the cover and you should know what's in store for you. Now that that's out of the way, let's go a bit deeper.