Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything is Nicola Yoon's debut novel and also the first book I've read by her. Before I picked it up, I knew I would love it. When I started reading, I had a feeling that I might end up crying but ended up smiling instead.

The Blurb:

Live life in a bubble?

Or risk everything for love?

Maddy is allergic to the world.

She hasn't left her house in seventeen years.

Olly is the boy next door.

He's determined to find a way to reach her.

Everything, Everything is about  the crazy risks we take for love.

My Thoughts:

Like I said in the beginning of this post; I knew I would love it and I did. I was not disappointed at all with this book, even though it surprised me with a big twist in the end that I did not see coming.

I liked Maddy a lot and Olly sounded like a really sweet guy (and funny). Seriously.. He made me laugh and smile from the beginning.

So, what's this book about? It's about a girl who is diagnosed with SCID which means that she can't go outside without getting very sick. Olly is the new neighbor guy with problems of his own. They start talking with each other (thanks to his creative (and funny) way to get her to talk to him even though she won't out of fear of feelings). One thing leads to another and Maddy finds out that she's starting to like Olly more and more and the desire of going outside to see the world is getting stronger...

Will she be able to see the world? Will she die if she goes outside and breathe in the air of a world she have only seen through her window? Or will she be able to leave the house even for a few minutes and still be alive and well without any harm?

I laughed and smiled while reading Everything, Everything and I could barely put it down. I was hooked straight away and didn't want to leave Maddy's world at all. I wanted to stay in this world even when the clock showed 3 am and knew I actually had to get some sleep. 

If you want to know how this ends, I suggest that you should read the book because this is a sweet story about hope and love between two characters you will adore from the beginning.

I'm so gonna to see the movie adaption, that's for sure! Hope they don't ruin this book! Fingers x🙊

Bye! x

4/5

Next book to read: The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey
Currently reading (Kindle): The Ninth Grave by Stefan Ahnhem
Currently listening to: Equal Rites (Discworld #3) by Terry Pratchett

Can You Keep a Secret? - Sophie Kinsella

This book has been standing on my shelf for a while but now I finally got around to sit down and read it. And here I am, writing my review😊  I adore her books so I knew I would love Can You Keep a Secret? as much as the others I've read from her😊

The Blurb:
Emma is like every girl in the world. She has a few little secrets.

Secrets from her mother:
1. I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom to Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben Hur.

...From her boyfriend:
2. Im a size twelve. Not a size eight, like Connor thinks.
3. I've always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

...From her colleagues:
4. When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day)
5. It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

...Secrets she wouldn't share with anyone in the world:
6. My G string is hurting med.
7. I faked my Maths GCSE grade on my CV.
8. I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is...

...until she spills them all to a stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger...

My Thoughts:
Ah! I love Sophie Kinsella. As with the other books, this was a light and sweet novel with awkward, funny moments and romance (as usual).

Can You Keep a Secret? is about a girl called Emma, and, while on the plane thinking they were all about to die, she spills out all of her secrets to a stranger. No harm in that, is it? Think again.

Turns out this stranger is not really a complete stranger after all and now she have to deal with it as best as she can. Because he remembers everything that she told him. And not only that, he's also there, at her job and is not going to leave any time soon. So you can see now that things might get awkward here. And also understand where this is all going...

And with that I must stop before I start spoiling... And also because I read this book i February (?). I started on this review after I finished this book so pretty much all of this was written that day. And now I have no idea what else to write so I'm just gonna leave this here😛

Bye x

4/5

Insomnia - Stephen King

I have always thought that Stephen King's books have been all about horror stories and that's the reason why I have never read any of his books. I'm not a fan of the horror genre and never have been. I know that he also writes other non-horror novels such as Insomnia (hence the reason why I decided to read it.) And here I am, just finished my first Stephen King novel (though an old one), and I'm sad to say goodbye to Ralph and Lois.

The Blurb:
You loose a lot of sleep.

Ralph does. At first he starts waking up earlier. And earlier. Then the hallucinations start - the colours, shapes and strange auras. Not to mention the bald doctors who always turn up at the scene of a death.

That's when Ralph begins to lose a lot more sleep. When he begins to understand why his hitherto mild-mannered friend, Ed, is getting out of control - dangerously so. And why his home town is about to become the new Armageddon...

My Thoughts:
Although it took me a while to finish it, I quite enjoyed it. I'm glad I started with Insomnia when I decided to check out Stephen King's books once and for all and I'm looking forward to continue to read them (not the horror ones though... I won't be able to sleep if I did).

I won't go into to much detail, although this is an old book and most people have probably read it 100 times by now, I don't want to spoil the whole book so I will say this:

The story is about a 70 year old man called Ralph who, after his wife dies, starts to loose more and more sleep. When the insomnia really kicks in, he starts to hallucinate. First colours or, auras, more like and then the bald doctors appears outside his neighbor's door. Which sounds bit creepy, but it's not when you get to know about them more 😛  After seeing those bald doctors, things starts to happen. Ed is turning from a lovely person to a crazy person. Ralph (and also we) start to understand why he's able to see the colours and the bald doctors and why he must stop Ed from doing something that will ruin so many lives.

I laughed (lots of funny dialogue between the characters) and I cried (or had tears in my eyes more like when sad things happened). I picked up the book night after night and read till I almost fell asleep.

I don't know why but.. I think it's funny that the book was about an old man with insomnia. When I started reading it, I did not see that coming from the 'King of horror'. In my head it's was all about carrie, the shining and other horror novels, so reading about a 70 year old man called Ralph was quite a surprise.

All in all, I really enjoyed Insomnia and I'm looking forward to read more of his books😊

(Oh, and also, I now see why he's one of the bestselling author of all times😉 )

Bye x

4/5

Next book to read: Can You Keep a Secret - Sophie Kinsella 
(completely different genre...oh well..😂)

The Sunrise - Victoria Hislop

The Sunrise is the first book I have read by Victoria Hislop so I didn't know what to expect from her. I got this book as a present from my parents few years ago and if it wasn't for them I don't think I would have had bought this for myself. The blurb sounds great, but not really my kind of book. After diving into it, I got surprised. I actually liked it! I think want to check out more of her books tbh :)

The Blurb:
Cyprus, 1972.
Famagusta is the Mediterranean's most desirable resort, a city bathed in the glow of good fortune. An ambitious couple open the island's most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony.

Two neighbouring families, the Georgious and the Özkans, are among many who moved to Famagusta to escape years of unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. But beneath the city's façade of glamour and success, tensions is building.

When a Greek coup plunges the island into chaos, Cyprus faces a disastrous conflict. Turkey invades to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority, and Famagusta is shelled. Forty thousand people seize their most precious possessions and flee from the advancing soldiers.

In the deserted city, just two families remain.
This is their story.

My Thoughts:
I started writing this review early December last year and I think it's time to maybe finish it? Yup..

I don't remember much since I finished reading it over a month ago so this might be a short review. My apologies.

When I jumped into this book I immediately found out that this was not my type of book. Not much happened and it was all about this hotel called The Sunrise and all that rich interior that was in it and in the end I was like: yeah.. I get that now.. it's a wonderful (and really expensive) hotel! And the characters... I like books with main characters from the start, but this one started with how glorious this hotel was and didn't really know who the characters were. But! After some chapters, when things actually started to happen and the characters became more "present", I actually started to enjoy this book very much. There was lots of drama, tragedies, loss, betrayal.. you name it. Talking about the lack of characters in the beginning, there turned out to be a quite few of those after a few chapters, so you had to remember which character belonged to whom. It got bit confusing, but still managed somehow to connect them to "their right family" 😛

After Turkey invades Famagusta, two families decides to stay behind because of their sons who's been gone/missing right before the whole invading started. It's not only those to families you get to read about. There's also a couple - the couple who owns The Sunrise - that is a part of this story as well. Their escape from Famagusta and how they survive the travel and stuff. Not going to reveal to much! It was a thrill read (in the end) and you do get a little bit attached to some of the characters.

All in all, I'm glad that I didn't give up reading The Sunrise to be honest. Because it was so, so much better than I thought it would be.

And that's it. That's the only things I remember at the moment.

Bye!

3/5

Daughter - Jane Shemilt

I actually started on this review almost two weeks ago, but haven't had the time nor energy to finish it (been in a zombie mode this passed week so all the energy I have had, I used on my daily drawings..)😴

Anyway... back to the review!😉

Daughter was the first book I've read by Jane Shemilt. I didn't know that much about this book before I started, but I was not that disappointed 😊 

The Blurb:

The night of the disappearance

She used to tell me everything.

They have a picture. It'll help.

But it doesn't show the way her hair shines so brightly it looks like sheets of gold.

She smells very faintly of lemons.

She bites her nails.

She never cries.

She loves autumn, I wanted to tell them. She collects leaves, like a child does. She is just a child.

FIND HER

One year later

Naomi is still missing. Jenny is a mother in the brink of obsession. The Malcolm family is in pieces.

Is finding the truth about Naomi the only way to put them back together?

Or is the truth the thing that will finally tear them apart?

My Thoughts:

Like I said in the beginning of this review, I started writing this review almost two weeks ago which means that it's been around two weeks since I read this book. So.. I might have forgotten some of the things that happened in this story, but I will try my best!🙊

So this is one of the typical disappearance stories about someone who's missing and the mother (or another family member or someone else) who wants to find the truth of what happened that horrible night. And it also got this mysteriousness to it that keeps people like me wanting to find out more and ends up reading the whole book 😛  There's also a twist in the end as it usually is with these kind of stories.

The story changed between the past (the days before the disappearance and after) and present (round a year later). I know I've said something like this before, but the way the chapters changed between then and now was not as confusing as it can be when it comes to these kind of stories. I did go back once to almost at the beginning to check something out that turned up at the near of the book, but that was it 😛

I can say that the ending was quite a surprise. I did not see that coming at all! I had some suspicions in my head, but this ending was not one of them. I was not that disappointed either about the end. I actually want to know what happens next, but I know I will never find out. I think. 

All in all, this was a nice and suspenseful thriller with a huge twist at the end and (like I said) I was not disappointed! I will definitely check out more of her books one day😊 

And that's the end of this review! Can't think of anything else to say so this is it. 

Bye! x

(I'm going to upload a new blog entry pretty soon that was also supposed to be up a while ago.. whoopsie!)

(Also..just discovered the emojis that's been added recently as you probably have noticed by now 😛)

Currently reading - The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop

On the Other Side - Carrie Hope Fletcher

On the Other Side is Carrie Fletcher's debut novel (apart from her biography called All I Know Now). I found out about her through her brother, Tom (from McFly, my all time favourite band) some years ago and been watching her yt channel and stuff since then. When she announced that she was writing a book, I was excited to see how it would turn out! And here I am, writing my review on her book :)

The Blurb:
Your soul is too heavy to pass through this door: Leave the weight of the world in the world from before.

Evie Snow is eighty-two when she quietly passes away in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. It's the way most people wish to leave the world, but when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she's become her twenty-seven-year-old self and the door won't open.

Evie's soul must be light enough to pass through so she needs to get rid of whatever is making her soul heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets which have weighed her down for over fifty years, so she must find a way to reveal them before it's too late. As Evie begins the journey of a lifetime, she learns more about life and love than she ever though possible, and somehow, some way she may also find her way back to the only man she ever truly loved...

Powerful, magical and utterly romantic, On the Other Side will transport you to a world that is impossible to forget. This is a love story like no other which will have you weeping because of the sheer joy and beauty of it all.

My Thoughts:
This was such a lovely novel! I got sad, angry (at her mother in particular and the tradition the family had.. grrr! What a cold mother she was!) and happy reading about Evie and the other characters in this story. I also had tears in my eyes at one point! The story between Evie and this guy called Vincent (you get to know him after few chapters so no spoilers there) was so sweet, and romantic and also sad. The things she had to let go because of reasons I'm not going to say was devastating.

I liked the way the chapters were divided into different sections between the three secrets she had to let go of. The chapters were divided between Evie's "afterlife" (how she ended up there, what she had to do to reach these people to get to the other side), the past (were we find out what happened when she was young and in love) and the present (the people she have to tell her secrets to). It sounds like it could be bit difficult to follow because of the timelines, but it wasn't. She did a great job with that :) There were also chapters were you first read about one person and in the middle of the page, you end up reading from another character's perspective, which also sound confusing, but wasn't :P (this whole explanations of the chapters sounds confusing to understand....oh well)

There were also moments when I had to read the same things over and over again to figure out wether some of the things that happened was a metaphor or if it literally happened. Like, for example:"my face turned into stone", is it just a metaphor or did my face literally got turned into stone?... (weird example, but you know..) So there were few times were I just sat there and didn't know if there was some magic involved or not :P Other than that, I really liked the way this story turned out. It had some disney-ish about it (like the surnames of the characters and some things that happened) and there was also a Once Upon a Time reference in there as well. I liked that :P

After finishing this, I'm pretty sure there was some real magic going on in there because of the things that happened :P

The ending was amazing and I had a huge grin on my face at the end of it (and maybe some happy tears). All in all, this is truly a wonderful "girlie book" were magic things happens and hearts gets broken. All in true disney style (that sounded weird but I wanted to write something like that so there it was). And maybe, just maybe, there's chance of a happy ending for Evie after all..? Who knows?

Guess you have to find out for yourself! ;)

I know this review sounds confusing and stuff, but I have a reason for that (for once)... I've been really tired today and my head has been a derpiederp all day (even at work I felt like I was a "walking dead"...you know.. the zombies, not the main characters) but I wanted to write this review today anyway so here it is :P

And here I am, signing off.

Bye! xxx

4/5
Next book to read: Daughter by Jane Shemilt

The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton

The Secret Keeper is the second book I've ever read by Kate Morton. I read The House At Riverton a while back ago and feel completely in love with that book. I'm glad my grandmother told me that I should read this right away. If she hadn't borrowed it from me few month ago, then it might have taken some time before I would pick it up (got lots of other books to read so..). But here we are and I was not disappointed at all!

The Blurb:
1961: On a sweltering summer's day, while her family picnics by the stream on their Suffolk farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel hides out in her childhood tree house dreaming of the bright future she can't wait to seize. But before the idyllic afternoon is over, Laurel will have witnessed a shocking crime that changes everything.

2011: Now a much-loved actress, Laurel finds herself overwhelmed by shades of the past. Haunted by memories, and the mystery of what she saw that day, she returns to her family home and begins to piece together a secret history: a tale of three strangers from vastly different world - Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy - who are brought together by chance in wartime London and whose lives become fiercely and fatefully entwined.

Shifting between the 1930s, the 1960s and the present, The Secret Keeper is a spellbinding story of mysteries and secrets, murder and enduring love.

My Thoughts:
One thing..: How am I going to review this without any spoilers?! This is not going to be easy, mind you but I will try my very best to not spoil anything important!

Ok, first of all, what a book! After finishing the first chapter, I was hooked! Unfortunately my eyes thought otherwise.. which was frustrating. The reason why it took me so, so long to finish this book was because my eyes got tired pretty much in the middle of every single chapters. No matter how thrilling that chapter was, my eyes could barely keep themselves up. Argh! Maybe because the text was small or something.. I don't know.

Despite my tired eyes, I loved this book as much as I loved The House at Riverton. It was suspenseful, thrilling and all in all a great book to curl up with on a rainy day (or weeks in my case).

The characters had their own personalities and you felt like you got to know them well. The shifting from past and present, and between the characters was well written and didn't feel "messy". I liked the way the stories from the past kind of blended with the things Laurel found in present time. I didn't have to wait long for the meaning behind those findings and it still made me wanting to find out more about the life of her mother and also the other people that was part of her life one way or another.

And that ending. That was a huge twist right there! I literally had tears in my eyes reading the last page. I really, really want to spoil it all but I won't do it. You just have to read it yourself!

That's all I'm going to say. If you want to know more then.. well.. read it! (You can also ask me or look up more reviews online :P )

Bye! xx

5/5

Next book to read: On the Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Paris For One - Jojo Moyes

Here we are again.. I told you I would write another review soon so here I am again! It's bit late but anyways! So, Paris For One by Jojo Moyes is part of a quick read thingy so it didn't take me that long to finish it. Since it was a short story, it also means that this review might be short since there's not much to discuss. So here we go!

The Blurb:
Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris.
She has never even been on a weekend away with her boyfriend.
Everyone knows she is just not the adventurous type.

But, when her boyfriend doesn't show up for their romantic mini-break, Nell has the chance to prove everyone wrong.

Alone in Paris, Nell meets the mysterious moped-riding Fabien and his group of carefree friends.

Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life?

My Thoughts:
After this book got released here in Norway (the translated version) last week, I've heard the reviews haven't been that great. No real bad reviews, but not that great either. I haven't read any of the reviews and am not going to either because I like Jojo Moyes' books and knew that I would adore this story as much as the others. And I was right. For being a quick read, I really enjoyed reading this one. It was sweet, funny and overall adorable and lovely.

A girl called Nell finds herself alone in Paris and trying to make the best of it without her boyfriend (which sounded like a lazy guy who didn't care about anything more or less). And, as always with these kind of stories, she meets a guy called Fabien (who's nice and lovely.. as usual) and they are having a great time. Nothing more, nothing less... Just another sweet little love story you should read once in a while :)

I liked the ending, but tbh, I also wants to know what happens next! I know that I will never know and just have to imagine how this whole thing works out. I can live with that.. for now. But, if Jojo Moyes finds out she wants to write more about Nell then I won't hesitate to buy that book!

Like I said, this would be a short review, because I don't have anything else to say without spoiling.

And there's that. My second review in under 24 hours!

Bye x

4/5

Next book to read: The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

The Girl On The Train - Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train is Paula Hawkins' first thriller novel. Before I bought a copy, I debated whether to buy it or not. I was unsure of getting it because I felt that this book wasn't really my type. But after a few customers at work asked me if I had read it, I decided to give it a go. Just a research so I would be prepared next time someone ask me. So here I am, done reading it and writing my review.

The Blurb:
Every day the same. Until today.
Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens.

She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

And then she sees something shocking, and in one moment everything changes.

Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she's only watched from afar.

Now they'll see: she's much more than just the girl on the train...

My Thoughts:
Wow... what a ride...(no pun intended). That was a lot of drama going on between the characters. While reading this book, I started to think, How am I going to write this review without giving anything away? So here I sit, bit clueless on how to do this, but luckily the ending gave me something to write about. Because, as always, there's usually a twist when it comes to thrillers and (luckily for me) this was no exception.

This is going to be a completely different kind of review from me, because this is just how I have to to it. I will try my best to not spoil anything. I will not tell what happened, just about the characters you're going to meet in this book. So I guess I'm going to give you "information" on what to expect from this book.

The story is about three women's point of view. Rachel - The "main character", Megan - The missing person and Anna - Rachel's ex-husband's wife.

The majority of the story is surrounded round Rachel's life as an alcoholic who lives with a "friend" in an apartment. She takes the train back and forth from London almost every day. While on the train, she's seated near the windows and likes to make up stories about the life of the couple living in one of the houses near the railway whenever it pulls to a stop near their home. She calls them Jess and Jason. A perfect couple with a perfect life. So when Megan goes missing, she wants to know what happened. Rachel was near their street that night Megan disappeared and can't remember anything because of the blackout from too much alcohol. She feels she's a part of their life after watching them from the train almost every day for over a year. She also saw something the day before Megan went missing and wants to tell Scott about it and try to help him.

Unfortunately, Rachel's ex-husband, Tom, and his new wife, Anna, lives on the same street as Megan and Scott. Anna is terrified of Rachel because of all the bad things she's done to Anna and her new family. She wants Tom to get rid of Rachel, but he tells her over and over again that he's going to talk with her, which he does every time. So when Rachel's starts to show up on their street more frequently, Anna gets scared, thinking she's there only to cause trouble for them. So Anna's entries are more or less surrounded round Rachel and the hate towards her. When things starts to uncover about Megan's past, Anna becomes uneasy and scared because Megan has been in their house few times in the beginning. So there's a lot of drama surrounding the characters...

Megan's entries is surrounded about her life from few years earlier and up to the day she disappears. She is completely different from what Rachel imagines to say the least. She's seeing a therapist about her trouble sleeping and other problems that she's been through. Learning what she's been going through is sad. I also got frustrated about the things she did (the same with Anna). Seriously! But, you know, it's not easy to love just one person sometimes when another one shows up I guess. Like I said.. a lot of drama.

Back to Rachel before I starts spoiling the whole thing!

I know it's not easy to be an alcoholic, but sometimes.. just sometimes... I was like, Mate... you know you get blackouts and do bad things when you're drunk...WHY ARE YOU STILL DRINKING?? Seriously! If I was you, I would have stopped ages ago! I know it's bad thinking this, but sometimes...When you're not dealing with this yourself it's difficult to look at it from their perspective. It's like telling someone with anxiety to get over it. It doesn't work that way. Trust me, I know! I know so perfectly well, dealing with anxiety myself. I'm better now though, finally. Still got some degree of Socially Anxiety, but I manage thanks to my job for making me socialize even when my heart beats faster, my face turns slightly red and feeling bit shaky.
So, Rachel and her drinking problem. Poor girl. I do feel bad for her, because she too went through not so good things. I think she was strong when she decided to try and drink less (and maybe stop drinking altogether) when the whole Megan thing started. Of course, it wasn't easy for her but she tried.

All in all. It was bit of a slow start. I didn't know what to expect from this book, but when I started reading, I felt that nothing bad would really happen but I wanted to continue just to see where this whole plot were going. And I also continued because this was a "research" for work. Not that I wanted to stop reading after a few chapters! When things started to happen, I wanted to know more. I got more or less hocked because I had questions and wanted the answers. The ending was a huge twist, that's for sure. I wasn't sure who had done this and had a few suspects in mind, but none of them were this person. It's like the Strike series by "Robert Galbraith" were you have no idea who the killer is. Or, you think you know, but the ending blows your mind. Same thing here.

I think The Girl on the Train was a great book. Thrilling and suspenseful and, also, drama (maybe a tad much but still good). I also found out today that this book is turning into a movie! I watched the trailer before writing and I'm glad I read the book first. It looks interesting and I will see it when it comes out, but there where few things that annoyed me about the trailer. First of all, the story in the book takes place in England, but in the movie, it somehow takes place in America. Second, some (or most) of the scenes they showed on the trailer could more or less be a part of a fifty shades trailer. Like I wrote further up, majority of the plot is surrounded around Rachel and her drinking problems, harassing Tom and Anna by turning up drunk on their doorstep and calling Tom in the middle of the night. And the last thing that annoyed me was that they didn't show that much of what was actually the story in this book. Which, more or less it Rachel and the other things I wrote about further up.

At least now I might know some of the reasons why this book is popular here in Norway. One, the book has finally been translated to Norwegian (started selling the Norwegian copies few month ago) and there's a movie adaption coming up next year.

Phew... that was a long review. I hope I didn't give that much away. You will find out about the things I wrote about almost from the beginning so don't worry about that :P

There's a lot more to the story so if you want to read it but not sure, then I hope I helped you with your decision. It is a great book. Well, at least I thought it was great :P

And that's all for now! I might do another review pretty soon, because I'm going to read Paris For One after this and it got round 100 pages so I think I will finish fast.

Bye x

4/5

Next book to read: Paris For One - Jojo Moyes

Sand - Hugh Howey

Finally finished Sand by Hugh Howey! Took me some time but here we are :) This is the same author who wrote the Wool trilogy (got the reviews on my blog in case you want to read them :) ) and I loved those books which is why I just had to read Sand too.

The Blurb:
The old world is buried.
A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes.
Here in this scorched desert, four siblings find themselves scattered and lost.
Deep within the sand lies the key to bringing their family together.
And the secret that could tear their world apart.

My Thoughts:
I have no idea how to do this review because my head is not with me today (got so much to do before work.. eep!), so be nice to me :P Gonna try my best (as I always do)!

One thing first; there was a lot of sand.. a lot... that's all I can say. Of course there was a lot of sand in this book.. I mean.. it is called Sand and they were in a desert so... anyway. Jokes aside. I liked this book :) Not as much as Wool but I really did like this one. I thought this would be kind of a part of the trilogy, but I was wrong. Yes, the characters lived in a post apocalyptic world but everything was different. It was a whole different world.

Was bit of a slow start but at the same time, things already started to happen from the beginning. Just after few chapters something real bad had already happened. So there was always something. And I also learned loads of different names for sand too. It was nice of Howey to make footnotes under the pages for the different kind of sand the characters felt in their boots, mouth and so on. Like I said, a lot of sand which also means lots of different types of sand. Oh, and also, they dive through the sand like it's water! Which sounds awesome, but at the same time scary cause everything depends on their diving suits. Yes... diving suits! Was lot of technology going on in this book as well like power to the suits so they could go through the sand and visors to see through the sand and lots of things they needed for the diving.

While reading this book, I struggled a bit to understand some of the words he used like ker (kind of a scarf in front of your face to shield from the sand) and other words I can't remember right now. But after reading those words in different settings, I started to understand more and it got easier for me to continue. And the diving part, I actually tried to figure out how it would look like if they make a movie out of this, like, how would they manage to make it look like they're actually diving through the sand? And how would the suits and stuff look like? So there was a lot of thinking while reading this time :P

It did take me some time to finish Sand, but it wasn't because I got bored. Life just happened :P (And, also, another book happened (Norwegian - originally Swedish - book so no review from that).)  When I started to read Sand again after finishing the Norwegian one, I got hooked and couldn't put it down because more and more things started to happen and you also get to know more about the siblings past and why they do the things they do.

All in all, I liked the story. It got more and more suspenseful the more I read and there were anger (always a bad guy in his books) and smiles (when good things happened), surprise (when unexpected things popped up) and also sadness (people die in this book as well).

Got no idea what else to write so I hope this review helps you a bit and also that I haven't spoiled a lot of things for you (you get to know all about the diving and stuff from the start so..)

That was all for now! Sorry for the bad review, but like I said; My head doesn't work right now :P

Bye x

4/5

Next book to read: Behind Closed Doors - B. A. Paris

Dust - Hugh Howey (#3, Silo Trilogy) Review

Click here to read the last review on this trilogy.
For the ones who hasn't finished Shift or wants to read this trilogy: Don't read this review as it contains spoilers for you guys!


The end of a great trilogy is here and I have to say it's sad to leave Jules and the rest of the characters. I will miss them all!

If you haven't read any of the books, then...why haven't you?? It's great, it's awesome, it's dystopia, it's sci-fi, it's...I could go on and on! If you're still not sure if you want to read the Silo trilogy then fear not. I did a review of the first one right here. I know it's kinda bad review as all the other ones that I have written, but I hope it will help you. If you're still unsure then I suggest that you look it up on goodreads to read more reviews (that's probably better than mine) and make your decision then.

Let's just say that if you like the Hunger Games trilogy or the Divergent trilogy and all the other books that's in that category, then I know you will like this one as well!

Ok.. it's getting late and I want to start on another book by Hugh Howey called Sand which is kind of a part of the Silo trilogy I think... My coworker told me that I shouldn't read Sand before I finished Dust because it would be some spoilers. Will know more about it when I dive into the book pretty soon!

Bye xx

Before I Go To Sleep - S. J. Watson

Before I go to sleep is S. J. Watson's debut novel and the second book I've read from this author. Second life was the other one which I've also written a review on. I'm glad I read this as well, because I could not simply put it down without having a reason...

The Blurb:
Memories define us.

So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?
Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight.
And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

Welcome to Christine's life.

My Thoughts:
Wow...what a novel! I was hooked from the start! Last night I even ended up reading till 4.30 in the morning because there was a lot of things that suddenly happened. After I noticed light coming through the window I knew I had to stop and try to sleep :P So yeah... this was a book that I just couldn't put down without having a reason.

I'm gonna try and not spoil the whole book, but I think I can say a few things that is not really spoilers. Christine got amnesia. She only remember the things that has happened during the day, but when she falls asleep she forgets everything. So when she wakes up, she doesn't remember anything that have happened the day before or her past. Even her husband, who lies right next to her in bed every morning when she wakes up. The same questions every day, forgotten the next morning, until a doctor gives her a journal. She starts to write down most of the things that has happened during the day, so she can read it when she wakes up. The memories that comes and goes, the feelings of something bad that has happened. And that's what this whole book is about. Her journal, the things she has written, things that she has started to remember but fades as quick as they have come and occasionally comes back. And I can say that some things might not be true.

I liked the ending, although I wish the author had written some more! It was a thrill read and I'm glad that Second life made me wanting to read more from S. J Watson! There's also a film version of it that came out in 2014 if you don't want to read it :P I think I might gonna watch it one day and see if it is as good as the book ;)

5/5

Next book to read: Wool by Hugh Howey

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

I've finally finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman! There's been loads of new authors that I've been checking out lately (I've noticed) and Neverwhere is one of them. I liked it and I think I will continue to check out more of his books :)

The Blurb:
Under the streets of London...

It's a place most people could never even dream of.
A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.

Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizzare.
And strange destiny awaits him down here,
beneath his native city: neverwhere.

My Thoughts:
Even though I used so many weeks to read this book, I really enjoyed it. Like I said in one of the other blog post; it was a nice change from The Twistrose Key because it was kinda the same but completely different all the same. In this book, they're under London in the sewers and walking around old places that used to be a part of London but are no longer there. That have fallen between the cracks. And there was no animals in this apart from rats. But some of the people in this book was described like different kinds of animals. Such as wolves and foxes and so on...

I'm not sure what to say about this book since it took me so long to finish it. And I also don't want to spoil anything either. But I can say that I liked the characters and got shocked when some (not so good) truths came out :P And when it comes to the ending, I kinda knew or had the feeling that Richard was going to do the thing he did... if that makes any sense... oh well. And that's unfortunately all I can say about Neverwhere. I know it's not much, but this is not supposed to be me summarizing the whole book. These are just my thoughts and that's what I've been doing all along :P

One of the reasons it took me this long is because 1) There's been stuff to do lately and I haven't had the time to read other than late at night, 2) I haven't felt relaxed enough to read during the day and 3) I started to feel tired after few pages in most of the time so I ended up almost falling asleep while reading it (I did also manage to fall asleep while reading). Which sounds bad but I did... Doesn't mean it was boring! I did enjoy Neverwhere! You know... sometimes there are books that you just can't put down and you end up staying up all night just to finish it. And then there are books that you enjoy, but after a few pages you struggle to stay awake and you try your best to continue but fails. And the latter was this book. I still enjoyed it though even though it made me sleepy!!!

That's all folks! A weird review, but hey! Can't be perfect all the time, ey? ;)

3/5

*Next book to read: Before I Go To Sleep, S. J. Watson

The Twistrose Key - Tone Almhjell

The Twistrose Key is Tone Almhjell's debut novel. It can remind you of books like Alice in Wonderland and Narnia. If you like stories about children discovering new worlds and talking animals then this is the book for you! I'm 23 years old and I enjoyed this even though it's meant to be for a younger audience. If I had been a kid now and found The Twistrose Key in the store I would have read it and kept it for the rest of my life.

The Blurb:
Something is wrong in the house that Lin's family has rented - Lin is sure of it.

The clocks tick too slowly. Frost covers the flower bed, even in a rain storm. And when a secret key marked 'Twistrose' arrives for her, Lin finds a crack in the cellar: a gate to the world of Sylver.

This frozen realm is the home of every dead animal who ever loved a child. Lis is overjoyed to be reunited with Rufus, the pet she buried under the rosebush. Together they must face danger and adventure to find the missing Winter Prince and save Sylver from destruction.

They are not the only ones hunting for the boy. In the dark hides a shadow lipped man, waiting for this last Winter Prince to be delivered into his hands.

Exhilarating suspense and unforgettable characters await the readers of this magical adventure, destined to become a classic.

My Thoughts:
Oh my gosh! I really enjoyed this book! It's been sitting in my bookshelf for a few years and now I regret for waiting so long to read it!
You got magic, mystery, talking animals, evil animals, nightmares and all the things that makes a book like this so special! The sweet chemistry between Lin and Rufus and all the creatures they meet that's got their own special personality. I could go on and on about all the things you will expect from this but I don't wanna do that in case you want to read it yourself!

Like I said earlier on this post: If I had been a kid, I would have bought it and read it (or made my dad read it to me like he did with Harry Potter) and kept if for the rest of my life. So thank you mum and dad for giving this sweet and magical novel to me for christmas a few years ago!

And that is all I wanted to say about this book without spoiling everything!

5/5

Don't You Forget About Me - Alexandra Potter

I told you I would write a review today and here it is! Managed to finished it late last night zZz...
Anyway! So this is the first book I've read by Alexandra Potter and I'm pretty sure I will read more of her books! If you like girly books and also into Ali McNamara, Sophie Kinsella and so on, you might like this one too :)

The Blurb:
After a bad break up, doesn't every girl want the same things?

• For her ex-boyfriend to stay single forever...
• Or maybe emigrate, to a remote, uninhabited island?
• Better still, that she'd never met him in the first place!

But what if one of those wishes came true?

Tess is heartbroken when Seb breaks up with her and can't help blaming herself. If only she'd done things differently. If only she could make right all her regrets... But she can't. It's over. She has to forget about him. Drunk and upset on New Year's Eve, she wishes she'd never met him.

But when she wakes up to discover this dream has come true, she realises she has a chance. To do it all over again. And, this time, to get it right...

From the bestselling author of Me and Mr. Darcy, this funny, magical love story is for every girl who has loved, lost and dreamt of getting her man back.

My Thoughts:
After reading so many not-so-romantic books, it was nice to dive into this one. I wanted to read a funny, romantic book and couldn't have asked for a better one. I really enjoy reading these kind of books that's romantic, but also got a lot of funny moments so I knew I would like this one. I do read Ali McNamara, Sophie Kinsella, Paige Toon and so on, and this is in the same category as those! Yey!

I did get a bit frustrated (not in a bad way though :P ) about Tess sometimes. If I was her, I would have known that this won't work at all. But of course, when you're in love with someone, it's not that easy to let go and you want to try everything to make things right. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. I mean, look at me, I'm back with my boyfriend again around two years after we broke up! So yeah, things can work out in the end! :P

Anyway, even though I got a bit frustrated, I also thought it was funny to read all the stuff she did just to make him like her. Every time she lied about liking something, even though she really hated it, I knew that these things won't end very well. And of course I was right. But she did try her best though! I really try not to spoil anything in case you want to read this but it's so hard!

I can say this: There was this guy I really wanted her to fall in love with, because he sounded so much better and she did not have to pretend around him.
So many sweet things happened during the last few chapters and this book left me smiling and laughing till the end!

4/5

Second Life - S. J. Watson

Second Life is the first book I've read from S.J. Watson. It took me a while to finish it because I ended up watching every single episode from season 1-6 of The Walking Dead during Easter :P Wanted to check it out and ended up binge-watching it... oh well... But now I'm finished and here's my review!

The Blurb:
She loves her husband.
She's obsessed with a stranger.

She's a devoted mother.
She's prepared to lose everything.

She knows what she's doing.
She's out of control.

She's innocent.
She's guilty as sin.

She's living two lives.
She might lose both.

My Thoughts:
Like I wrote on the blog last time, I mentioned that this book was slow in the beginning and that things might speed up a bit after some chapters. I was right. But it took some time to get to the part where things did actually happen. I think one of the reasons that it took me so long to finish this was because there wasn't that much things that happened in the beginning and I also got a bit annoyed at the character. The way she thought about this stranger and that she continued to do things even though she knew it was a bad thing to do. Of course, it can be difficult to get away if you really like someone. I get that, but it was just annoying that she came back to this person again and again while I sat there thinking: No! Don't! Please get away!God you're stupid.... -.-'
When things really started to happen (over halfway through), I could barely put it down. It was a huge twist in the end of the book and I wanted to know what happened after the last page.

I bought the debut novel Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson today so if that's not proof enough that I ended up liking this book then I don't know ;)

3/5

Variant - Robison Wells

Variant by Robison Wells is the first book I've read from him. There's also a sequel to this book called Feedback. If you liked the Maze Runner, I'm pretty sure you will like this one as well! It's similar, but with a twist. And by a twist, I mean things turned out to be completely different from what I imagined.

The Blurb:
Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong.

Now he's trapped in a school that's surrounded by a razor-wire fence, where video cameras monitor his every move - and where breaking the rules equals death.
All Benson wants is to find a way out. But when he stumbles upon the real secret the school has been hiding, he realizes that escape may be impossible.

My Thoughts:
When I started reading this, it wasn't like I could barely put it down like other books that's been so good that I can't leave it, but I wanted to see if Benson made it out in the end. It wasn't boring or anything because stuff happened all the time and the way the school was run by teens, I wanted to know what this was all about. Same as Benson.

And then, after halfway through the book when he finds the truth about this place, I couldn't put it down! Seriously, I finished this book around 4 this morning. I couldn't stop reading and when I finished it, I jumped out of the bed and got the sequel out of the bookshelf and continued. When the clock turned almost 5 a.m, I told myself that I had to put it down and go to sleep :P Everything changed and trust me, I did not see this coming, at all! At one minute, things felt a bit strange about this place, but nothing really happen and then everything changed when he found out what was really going on. Usually, you have an idea about how a book might end, but this was something else.

It went from ok, this reminds me of Maze Runner..they're stuck in this school and Benson's the only one in this place who actually wants to escape to What is happening?? What is this place? Omg! I did not see this coming!! You can't trust anyone here! What's going to happen now? and so on.. It ended up becoming a thriller more or less.

Of course, this is my thoughts about this book and I thought this turned out to be one awesome story. Some people might not think that this was any good at all or maybe thought the twist sounded weird or something :P But, if you like the Maze Runner (and I don't mean the movie version) then I'm pretty sure you will like this one too.

4/5

Wake - Lisa McMann

Wake by Lisa McMann is the first book in the Wake/Dream Catcher Trilogy. This is also the first book I've ever read from her. Before I read this, I thought that this was going to be a bit creepy and stuff. Some dangerous dreams or something. I don't know :P But this was something completely else! And in a good way too! Well, at least I think it was good tho..

The Blurb
Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can't tell anybody about what she does - they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant...

My Thoughts:
Like I said in the beginning, I did not expect this. Anyway. This is one of the books you read, but at the same time it doesn't feel like it at all. (If that made any sense? )I started reading this before I went to bed and suddenly it was time for me to put it down and sleep. You know those kind of movies/episodes/youtube vids that is so great that, when it's over, you feel like no time has passed and you look at the time and it's suddenly much later than you'd thought? That's the feeling I got from this book. Probably a bad example but you get the idea.. I hope? It's difficult to describe.

The way this story has been written is so different and peculiar from the others that I've read (apart from a few) with a date and time. There are chapters, but it's split up by day to day and time of day "entries" in Janie's life. I think that this was also one of the reason why it felt like I read it the way I did because the chapters was split up the way they had and the "entries" were short so it wasn't so "heavy" to read.

Seriously... especially this book! Ahh..

From trying to describe the feeling of reading this to how I thought about this book. I really enjoyed reading this and it was surprisingly great. Like I said earlier: I thought this was another creepy book that I would read this week (thanks to the blurb) but nooo. This was a lovely book and with a complete different plot than I thought. Instead of creepy psycho killers with horrible dreams, there was a guy with bad dreams and Janie and him becomes close. The only "creepy"dreams was his and her friend's. Other than that there was some weird dreams and a few sweet dreams. And that was it. No scary stuff at all :P And I'm looking forward to begin on the next book in this trilogy tonight! :)

This must be one of the worst reviews I made, but hey! At least I'm trying to describe my thoughts the best way a Norwegian can to describe things in English!
(Yes...that's my best excuse for writing bad! Ha!)



4/5

Finding Audrey - Sophie Kinsella

Finding Audrey is one of many books by Sophie Kinsella. I have read some of her books (not the Shopaholic series..yet) and I'm in love with her stories. When I found this book, I knew I had to read this because of reasons (that you can read about under My Thoughts :) ).

The Blurb:
Audrey can't leave the house. She can't even take off her dark glasses inside the house.

Then her brother's friend Linus stumbles in to her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile, and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again - well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do things she'd thought were too scary.

Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.

Be prepared to laugh, dream and hope with Audrey as she learns that even when you think you have lost yourself, love can still find you...

My Thoughts:
I loved this novel and for the first time (I guess) I could actually relate to a character. I know I say that about pretty much most of the books I've been reading. I guess I'm good at picking books that I actually enjoy! Anyway...so this book is about Audrey (obviously) and she got few types of anxiety disorders. And this is the reason why I wanted to read this because I got anxiety too. And weirdly enough, we both got generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. When I read about the things she felt when she was faced with something, I knew what she meant. Of course, I got a 'lighter' version of it than her, but at the same time there was things I could relate to. The way the body tense up, the heart beating faster, the feeling that  your whole body is shaking and all don't forget all the things that goes through your head. The only difference was how it all started. She, because of some girls in her class and me, because I felt like a failure at school (if I was lucky I got a 2 + (E+) on most things, maybe a 3(D) on few) and had to take 5 exams after finishing high school because I had failed them. I just isolated myself from everything and everyone, including my bf (we broke up, but are now together again after 2 years :* ).

Ok..so that was a little story about me. I'm not gonna bore you with more of that. If you want to know more or want to talk about things, then we can do that :). Back to the book!

Most of the story is about her brother (the story's from Audreys p.o.v), Frank, who's a gamer and her mother is all over the place and things that games destroys his brain and stuff.. poor woman. And especially poor Frank! Even I got annoyed at their mother! But it was fun though and the ending was priceless. Seriously, I had no idea that would happen at all! I'm going to try and not spoil so much, but there's one thing that I thought was really sweet and that was Frank's friend, Linus. The way he treated Audrey and how he tried to help her. Like I said in an earlier post, I'm a softy when it comes to people helping and caring about others even though they don't have to. And that's what Linus did. Of course, there was a tiny part where he says something and I couldn't help but to think, Oh no, do NOT say that! It's not that easy!! If it was that easy, don't you think she would have done that already??? Trust me, I know... It's not that easy when your whole body tell you to run, and you try and try and try to calm down but your head won't listen... It just get too much. I was really proud of her too when she tried to do things that she thought she would never do again. Even though it was just small steps. But that's all it takes.

I enjoyed reading this novel, and the explanations around the way she felt was pretty accurate. Apart from the anxiety, I laughed, and cheered, and got annoyed (the mother and that little sentence that came from Linus), and laughed some more.

Yes, this might be about anxiety, but trust me. It's funny, with her mother all over the place getting comically angry at Frank because of a game and just...the whole story. It's great, it's lovely, charming...you name it. If you've read any of Sophia Kinsella's book you know you're in for a great treat!


4/5

The Accident - C. L. Taylor

The Accident is the debut novel by C. L. Taylor and the second book I've read from her. After reading The Lie last week, which is the second novel from her, I wanted to read this right away because The Lie (in my opinion) was creepy, but at the same time a thrill read.
Here's what I think about her debut novel. (Contains spoilers)

The Blurb:
You took my child. Now I'll take yours...

Sue Jackson has the perfect family but when her teenage daughter Charlotte deliberately steps in front of a bus and ends up in a coma she has to face a very dark reality.

Retracing her daughter's steps she finds a horrifying entry in Charlotte's diary and is forced to head deep into her daughter's private world. In her hunt to discover the truth, Sue begins to mistrust everyone close to her and is compelled do delve into the murky depths of her own past.

Sue will do anything to protect her daughter.
But what if she is the real reason that Charlotte is in danger?

Fast-paced, suspenseful, this is a book with more twists than a helter-skelter. Prefect for fans of Before I Go To Sleep and Gone Girl.

My Thoughts:
It started a bit slow, but after some chapters it started to pick up. It wasn't like The Lie were I wanted to continue to read right after I'd put it down, but it got better after round 100 pages in. After I had finished her previous novel, I had some expectations with this story. Of course, this was her debut novel I started to like it more and more in the end. So much that I ended up finishing it round 4 o'clock this morning. Long night, but it was worth it. Lot of things happened in the last few chapters that I couldn't just put it away and sleep. I needed to know what happened and was not disappointed at all. In one of the last chapters I thought that maybe Sue had been so delusional that none of the things that had happen in the present time was real. But she was right all along and am glad that she trusted her instincts when no one else did. Finding the true reason why her daughter had walked in front of the bus was scary. I understand why she wanted to find out the truth because her past had caught up with her (literally). And not in a good way.
The way the chapters went back and forth with present day and diary entries from the 90's made it better than if there only was about the present day, because so many things happened in the 90's and reading the entries, I got to know more about the reasons why she acted the way she did and why she was so caught up with finding the truth. And that's all I want to tell you about this novel without spoiling that much (although there are spoilers at the end of this post)

This book started slow but ended up being one suspenseful read. I'm glad I continued to read this and I'm looking forward to read more from her. After reading The Lie and The Accident I know that the novels will be better and better. The Lie was so good that I couldn't put it down and The Accident might have been slow in the beginning but all in all, I can't wait to read more from C. L. Taylor!


4/5





SPOILERS:
There was also entries from her diary from the 90's about her psycho ex-boyfriend. In the beginning I got a bit annoyed because obviously he was manipulating her and she made excuses for not leaving him. And then I started to think from her p.o.v and understood that it's difficult to just up and leave when someone manipulate you the way he did. One second he was nice and all, and then out of nowhere he accused her of cheating and couldn't bare the thoughts of her having dated guys before him and wanted her to throw away her bed (because other guys had slept in it), her presents from previous boyfriends (because he thought she kept them 'cause she missed them or something) and so on. Even I got scared of the way he treated her! And got so, so angry at him! I mean, he even locked her up in his mum's house where they both lived so she couldn't leave! He treated her like garbage and called her things and he also made her stand naked in front of the window so everyone could see how ugly her body was and that no one could believe how anyone would touch a fat girl like her. That was the kind of creepy messed up guy he was. I completely understood why she was so scared when she found out that he had found her again after all these years and was after her daughter. I'm not going to say anything else because you just have to read it yourself.