It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover | Book Review

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It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 3/5

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Publication date: 2nd August 2016

Blurb:

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

Review: 

I jumped on the bandwagon with this book because I had a touch of FOMO. I thought it was a standard romance novel but, massive trigger warning for domestic abuse.

It Ends With Us tells the story of Lily who moves from Maine to Boston and sets up her own flower shop. She meets neurosurgeon Ryle on the rooftop of an apartment building following her father's funeral. Six months later, their paths cross again as Ryle is the brother of Alyssa, the flower shop's newest member of staff. Even though Ryle has issues from his past, he and Lily embark on a relationship.

Whilst their story develops, we hear about Lily's first love when she was a teenager, Atlas, through journal entries. 

It took until about two-thirds into this book before I really started to enjoy it. I found it hard to like the characters. I know we were meant to like Ryle at the beginning until...we weren't, but I also didn't care too much for Atlas either. I did find the journal entries being written to Ellen DeGeneres a bit strange too! 

The saving grace for this book was the wonderful job it did on the subject of domestic abuse. It was so well-explored and really pointed out why it's not so easy for women to leave but the cycle must be broken somewhere. Great character development for Lily.

Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew | Book Review

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Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew

My rating: 4/5

Publisher: Walker Books 

Publication date: 2nd July 2020

Blurb:

During Frankie’s first sexual experience, she gets her period. It’s only blood, they agree. No shame.

Then a graphic meme goes viral, turning a fun, intimate afternoon into something mortifying and damaging. And Frankie begins to wonder: is she disgusting?

As the online shaming takes on a horrifying life of its own, Frankie's universe implodes. But can laughter, bravery and the fiercest of friendships help Frankie find her way out of the darkness?

Review: 

I don't tend to read lot of YA because at thirty years old I feel like I am a bit too old but I heard a lot about Blood Moon and wanted to give it a go. I thought a YA would be an easier read in between heavier books.

Blood Moon follows teenage astronomy lover Frankie. When she has her first sexual encounter with Benjamin, a boy she likes from school, she gets her period. Word spreads around the school, she becomes an internet meme, other schools hear about it and it even infiltrates her personal life.

It doesn't help that she has fallen out with best friend Harriet and Frankie believes she has been betrayed by her.

This story really brings you back into high school and just how cruel and starved for gossip teenagers can be. Cuthew writes so well and really helps to shut down period taboo, tackles toxic masculinity and goes on to show empowerment and standing together. I really enjoyed this!

Bad Fruit by Ella King | Book Review

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Bad Fruit by Ella King

Star rating: 4/5

Publisher: HarperCollins 

Publication date: 18th August 2022

Blurb:

LILY IS A GOOD DAUGHTER

Every evening she pours Mama a glass of perfectly spoilt orange juice. She arranges the teddy bears on Mama’s quilt, she puts on her matching pink clothes. Anything to help put out the fire of Mama’s rage.

MAMA IS A GOOD LIAR

But Mama is becoming unpredictable, dangerous. And as she starts to unravel, so do the memories that Lily has kept locked away for so long.

She only wanted to be good, to help piece Mama back together. But as home truths creep out of the shadows, Lily must recast everything: what if her house isn’t a home – but a prison? What if Mama isn’t a protector – but a monster...

Review: 

This is probably one of the toughest books I've read yet. 

Bad Fruit is the story of Lily, daughter to a Singaporean mother and English father, and the abuse she and her siblings suffer at the hands of their parents. 

Lily thinks of herself as the favourite child. She knows how to placate her mother. She serves her, and pre-tastes, the slightly spoiled juice that her mother loves, dyes her hair, wears contacts and the wrong shade of foundation to be more like her mother. But when she starts having flashbacks and hallucinations the summer before she is due to study law at Oxford, more about her mother's life and her own life are revealed. How the trauma spans generations and how her siblings tried to save her from remembering.

This is written beautifully. It is so dark and disturbing that I did have trouble reading it because I felt so sad. I don't want to go into too much detail about the actual story but it is a mix of domestic thriller and psychological thriller. Very well done.

Maybe Not by Colleen Hoover | Book Review

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Maybe Not by Colleen Hoover

Star rating: ⭐⭐

Publication date: 22nd December 2015

Blurb:

When Warren has the opportunity to live with a female roommate, he instantly agrees. It could be an exciting change.

Or maybe not.

Especially when that roommate is the cold and seemingly calculating Bridgette. Tensions run high and tempers flare as the two can hardly stand to be in the same room together. But Warren has a theory about Bridgette: anyone who can hate with that much passion should also have the capability to love with that much passion. And he wants to be the one to test this theory.

Will Bridgette find it in herself to warm her heart to Warren and finally learn to love?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Review:

After the massive hype surrounding Colleen Hoover's novels over Instagram and Tiktok, I thought, "Okay, I must give her books a go". I spotted this little novella as an audiobook on Scribd and because it was short, I thought it would be a great first foray into the Hoover-verse. Unfortunately I feel like it fell a bit short.

Our main character Warren lives with his best friends Bennett and Ridge. When Bridgette moves in, Warren is automatically drawn to her and well, I think you know what comes next.

For me, this read a bit too much like a teenage Wattpad book and perhaps this is a personal thing and I'm just too old for that kind of thing now. It was just sex, sex and more sex. I am no prude, I don't mind that but I just want a bit more storyline too to bulk it up a bit. I didn't really care about the characters or care for how it was written.

I will however say that I loved the addition of a deaf character. I actually think this is the first time I've read a book with a deaf character. This hasn't put me off reading Colleen Hoover books in the future. I will definitely pick up some of the other more hyped-up ones!

'90s Nostalgia by Krista Brea | Book Review

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90's Nostalgia: Influential Moments, Music, Movies and More from One of the Greatest Childhood Decades by Krista Brea

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publication date: 15th October 2022

Blurb:

If you grew up in the ’90s, this book is an excellent throwback. The 1990s was a decade of change and growth. This was also a time of significant technological advances, with the internet and cell phones becoming commonplace. But what truly made the 90s special was the culture.

This was the era of grunge, girl power, and hip-hop.♥

From Clueless to The Matrix, there were plenty of iconic films that defined the decade. And who could forget the music? The 90s saw the rise of Nirvana, Spice Girls, and Britney Spears. In many ways, the 90s was a golden age of pop culture. It was a time of fun and exploration, and we continue to love it today.

Review:

This book was super fun and felt like a warm hug. I was born in 1992 and always wish I'd been born a tiny bit earlier so I could experience the '90s when I was a little older. I am however very proud of being born in the '90s so I was really excited to go back in time with this book.

This book talks about how amazing the 1990's really was with developments in technology, movies and TV shows that became classics and are still watched today and even fashion trends that have made a comeback.

The TV chapter started and I heard

"Home Improvement" and "everyone had a crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas." Absolutely YES. He was my first ever crush.

Although this book is fun, reminding us of things that were popular in the '90s, it is also educational and I felt like I learned a lot especially in the gaming consoles chapter about how exciting these were and how they paved the future for gaming.

It has also reminded me of some amazing cartoons that I need to introduce to my own children! If you want to throw it back, this book is for you. I also think it would be really interesting for teenagers of today to read too.