Skip to main content

Mini Book Reviews #2: Songs About A Girl by Chris Russell, Forever by Judy Blume and Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

*I have received these books from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own *

Title: Songs About A Girl 
Author: Chris Russell  
Publisher: Bkmrk
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4/5 stars


(Goodreads|Amazon)











Book Review:

Songs About A Girl was one of the books that I read and love from last year and was one that I would recommend to anyone who listens.

Songs About A Girl follows Charlie who is a photographer but accidentally gets to photograph the popular band, Fire and Lights, a massive boyband with one of the members, Olly going to her school. This was something that I loved reading about as it was interesting especially seeing the relationship between Charlie and her friend as she was a massive fan of the band in question.

The novel itself is quite topical and relevant dealing with a popular boy band as well as online bullying and trolling which occur online today. It is often rare that you see this done in a book so seeing this in books, in general, is great but seeing it done well is a bonus. 

The band itself is great and I love all of their personalities in the book as they do bounce off each other but I do kind of prefer Yuki and I can't see where they go in the second book. 

The Verdict:

Songs About A Girl is a great read that deals with band culture and online bullying and is a must read for anyone who loves a popular boy band. 

Title: Our Chemical Hearts 
Author: Krystal Sutherland 
Publisher: HotKey Books
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 stars


(Goodreads|Amazon)











Book Review: 

When I heard the premise of Our Chemical Hearts I was really excited as it sounded like something right up my street and would be something that I love, however, this was not the case. Our Chemical Hearts is a well-written book but is quite familiar with the sea of YA.

Our Chemical Hearts is a difficult book to review because although I enjoyed much of this book it was quite familiar especially the ending of the book which was similar to something that I have already read so this let the book down for me. 

Saying this, however, I really remember enjoying the characters for the majority of the book although I do tend to dislike the manic pixie dream girl trope which this book does have, the relationship between the main protagonist and his friends were nice. I also really did enjoy the writing of the book and I am a sucker for any contemporary book that puts pop culture references in it which is one does have.

The Verdict:


Our Chemical Hearts is a YA contemporary that might capture your hearts but didn't win mine. 

Title: Forever
Author: Judy Blume 
Publisher: MyKindaBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 stars


(Goodreads|Amazon)











Book Review:

Forever is a book well-known by many people as it is an honest look at sex in YA something that still does not happen today and was taboo and banned when published in the 1970s. It is this that is quite shocking as Forever is a short book but has an honest message that shines through.

In a time when YA offer still glosses over this topic, this book was a shock for me because it is real and does depict sex in this honest way. It is, therefore, an honest and short book that everyone should read once. I did have some problems with it in terms of characters and such but this does not take away from how important this is. 

The Verdict:


Forever is a YA novel that is completely honest and stands the test of time, being as relevant today as it was in the 1970s.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The Great Godden by Meg Rossoff

   * I am reviewing this book which I was gifted for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. * Title: The Great Godden  Author: Meg Rossoff Publisher: Bloomsbury  Source: NetGalley ( Bookshop UK |  Hive |  Goodreads  |  Storygraph ) Book Summary: Everyone talks about falling in love like it’s the most miraculous, life-changing thing in the world. Something happens, they say, and you know … That’s what happened when I met Kit Godden. I looked into his eyes and I knew. Only everyone else knew too. Everyone else felt exactly the same way. This is the story of one family, one dreamy summer – the summer when everything changes. In a holiday house by the sea, our watchful narrator sees everything, including many things they shouldn’t, as their brother and sisters, parents and older cousins fill hot days with wine and games and planning a wedding. Enter two brothers – irresistible, charming, languidly sexy Kit a...

Reviewing All Of The Books

Earlier this year, I decided that I would review all of the books that I read. For the most part, I definitely have but over the last couple of months it has definitely gone to the wayside but that is because I have been so busy. I wanted to do it because I annoyed myself that I reviewed books years after I read them and I often couldn't remember the plot. Trust me this is still the case, but I have kind of run out of books that I need to review this year which is weird for me. My backlog is getting lower and as I am not reading as much, I genuinely think I might run out. This has never happened before. This is of course quite nice because I think that it creates feelings that are much better than remembering a book from two years ago. Thinking about it at the moment does definitely make it easier as it goes into my head on a computer screen and less memory space is always a good idea. I also do think that sometimes it does take the fun out of it though but there are a lot of benef...

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2021 Wrap Up

Every year since 2015, I have had the Popsugar Reading Challenge to diversify my reading. Over the course of the last year, I would like to think that I have done this and looking at did a good job considering I have been so busy over the last year. Even though I did actually have a plan of a book to read for almost all of the prompts, I did just wing it for the latter half of the year. This was because I was just reading what I wanted to and because I was not really reading at all.  So let's see what I read this year... A book that’s published in 2021    Book I Want To Read: Gut Feelings by C. G. Moore Book I Actually Read: Gut Feelings by C.G. Moore An Afrofuturist book Book I Want To Read: The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin  Book I Actually Read:  The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover  Book I Want To Read: Heartbreak Boys by Simon James Green Book I Actually Read: Ace of Spades by Faridah À...