Waiting on Wednesday (56)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

[Review] The Whole Stupid Way We Are by N. Griffin

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 04/02/2014
Publisher: Atheneum Books

Pages: 368

Source: Library

Genre: YA {Contemporary}

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ Ed Sheeran - The A Team ♪
♪ Pink - I'm Not Dead ♪

My Rating

2/5

My thoughts

Oh dear. I had to force myself to finish reading this one, and I only wanted to push through so that I could dust off my hands and start on something that might be more palatable. Since this one was borrowed from the library, and not a book that I feel I need to do justice by my review, I'm just going to rant and talk about it informally.

The Whole Stupid Way We Are follows two teenagers, Dinah and Skint. They have been friends for as long as anyone can remember, and they are inseparable. There's a barely-there plot, focusing more on the day-to-day lives and happenings of the two and some other characters. Determined to help the needy, they plot and scheme ways to help help help. Meanwhile, Skint's family is crumbling apart: Mr Gilbert, Skint's dad's dementia is getting worse and worse.

Waiting on Wednesday (55)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Top Ten Tuesday: Required Reading for High School

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week a new topic is chosen, and I love answering questions so I'm going to try and post regularly. :)

[Review] Ballad for a Mad Girl by Vikki Wakefield

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Publication: 29/05/2017
Publisher: Text Publishing

Pages: 368

Source: Library

Genre: YA {Contemporary}

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ BANKS - Beggin For Thread ♪

#LoveOzYA

My Rating

3/5

My thoughts

I read Vikki Wakefield's debut novel and really enjoyed it, and found myself connecting with the characters and story, it was lovely. This one? Not quite as much. In fact, I'm still so confused as to what actually happened that I fear my review will just be a completely incomprehensible mess. 

Ballad for a Mad Girl involves grief, death, fear, prank wars and rivalry between schools in a small Aussie town, a dog that won't go upstairs, pizza, friendship amongst misfits, and the voices and visions that may be all in Grace's head. Is she losing her mind or is there really a ghost, come with messages and secrets that can help solve a 20-year-old unsolved murder mystery?

[Review] Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel

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Publication: 30/05/2017
Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 308

Source: Giveaway

Genre: YA {Contemporary}

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ Michelle Branch - All You Wanted ♪
♪ Delta Goodrem - Wish You Were Here ♪

My Rating

3.5/5

My thoughts

US Cover

Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index came highly anticipated for me. I love books that explore the grieving process after someone has lost a loved one. I also saw the US cover appear everywhere around release day, which only boosted my excitement for it. I'm still not all that fond of the US cover, and while the UK cover gives nothing away I prefer it for the pretty colour palette used. :) This book is just gorgeous! Now enjoy my ramblings, because my feelings for this one are a tad mixed.

Waiting on Wednesday (54)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Recommendations for the Verse Novel-Averse

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week a new topic is chosen, and I love answering questions so I'm going to try and post regularly. :)

[Review] Laurinda by Alice Pung

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 22/10/2014
Publisher: Black Inc. Books

Pages: 352

Source: Library

Genre: YA {Contemporary}

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

#LoveOzYA

Book Tunes

♪ Joan Jett - Bad Reputation ♪

My Rating

4/5

My thoughts

I understand now. I understand why Laurinda is so well-known in Aussie YA, why it has been mentioned time and again as one of the most prolific high school novels. After having read Alice Pung's short story In A Heartbeat in the #LoveOzYA anthology Begin, End, Begin, and revelling in the unique format in which it was written, I knew with absolute certainty that it was finally time for me to read this book. And I enjoyed liked it, but it was a bit tough at times to stomach.

Laurinda follows Lucy Lam, who has earned a scholarship to prestigious Laurinda, an elite private girl's high school in Melbourne, and all the struggles that come with adapting to a new school. Not only does she struggle with keeping on top of the more demanding workload - she is also subject and witness to bullying at the hands of the Cabinet, a powerful trio of girls who run the school.

[Review] The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

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Publication: 21/07/2017
Publisher: Stories Untold

Pages: 310 (ARC)

Source: For review

Genre: Middle Grade {Fantasy}

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ Taylor Swift - Enchanted ♪

My Rating

3.5/5

My thoughts

I want to preface this by expressing deep gratitude to D.E. Night for kindly sending me a physical ARC, in a special box of Croswald-related goodies, all the way across the ocean for me to read and review. The experience was positively lovely, but I must admit that The Crowns of Croswald did have me scratching my head in confusion at times.

The Crowns of Croswald follows 16-year-old scaldrony maid, Ivy Lovely, who resides at the Plum Castle by the Slurry fields, her only friend a dwarf. After an unfortunate accident at the kitchen she is thrown out of the castle and stripped of her position, left to wander the fields aimlessly with only a rejected scaldron (dragon) as company . . . until she is discovered: she harnesses great magic within her and has been invited to study at the prestigious boarding school for Royals and Sqwinches--The Halls of Ivy! Swept away from the only 'home' she has ever known, she learns more and more about magic, the world of Croswald, why strange things seem to happen to her, and most importantly who she really is.

Waiting on Wednesday (53)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

[Review] The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 18/07/2016

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 288

Source: Library

Genre: YA {Contemporary}

#LoveOzYA

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ Rachel Platten - Fight Song ♪
♪ Thirsty Merc - Someday, Someday ♪

My Rating

4/5

My thoughts

AU edition

I love contemporary YA fiction that unrelentingly and unabashedly shouts. Reading should first and foremost be entertaining, but it should also enrich the mind and open you up: to more perspective, more knowledge, more understanding, less ignorance. You can't read The Lines We Cross/When Michael Met Mina and not feel a little bit shaken up - it is not everyday that we read fiction targeting relevant political issues surrounding refugees. Considering the tough subject content, I was glad that this book was packed with many light and happy moments to balance it all out.

Down the TBR Hole #8

Source: ♥

Down the TBR Hole is a meme/feature hosted by Lia (Lost in a Story). Hopefully this will remind me to read some of these long-lost, woeful books that have been sitting untouched, forgotten on these bookshelves of mine.

Rules

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

* I'm not offering actively "giveaways" anymore - but if you're an Aussie resident and interested in any of the books I'm giving away, feel free to ask about them! I'm happy to give them away, just that there hasn't been that much reception in the past. Otherwise I'll be trying to sell the books through Carousell. ;)

Let's get started!

Current TBR count: 422

[Review] Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 09/11/2009

Publisher: Penguin Australia

Pages: 291

Source: Library

Genre: YA {Contemporary}

#LoveOzYA

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand ♪

My Rating

5/5

My thoughts

I always have the hardest time talking about books that I absolutely adore. Gabrielle Williams is quickly shaping up to be one of my favourite Aussie authors at this rate, after having relishing in her latest novel, My Life as a Hashtag. I was surprised when Beatle Meets Destiny managed to far surpass any prior expectations I may have had (yes, I would pick this book over Hashtag!), and it may yet have landed on my top 5 for the year! One thing that I feel gives this book the upper hand is the timeless feel to it - even though it was written back in 2009 I felt like my reading experience of it would have been exactly the same back then: no social media stuff or technology that could date it.

Beatle Meets Destiny is a delectable conglomeration of fate and happenstance, superstition, astrology, twins, friends, love, skateboarding, stalkers, Year 12 life, and perfectly captured Melbourne-ness! I am so glad that I am reading more Aussie books so that I can stumble upon masterpieces crafted by the likes of Gabrielle Williams. If you have not read anything by her yet, seriously I implore you to rectify that post-haste!

Waiting on Wednesday (52)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.