Category: Book Review

My Top 11 Books of 2015

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At the time of writing this I’ve read 77 books this year, which is less than I wanted to read this year! Boo! Although there is still time…I might get to 80. So for today’s review I thought I’d tell you the 11 best books I’ve read this year, because I couldn’t get rid of one.

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How to Build a Woman– Caitlin Moran

This is definitely the most influential book I read this year. I tried reading Caitlin’s book when I was younger and hated it, but I decided to try again for my Writing Women class this year. I laughed so hard reading it and just felt I could say I’m a feminist without seeming crazy or arrogant. I’ve not religiously watched all of Caitlins talks on YouTube and read How to Build a Girl and a good chunk of Moranthology. Read my review here.

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Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig

Haig has written a phenomenal book. I’m usually sceptical of books related to mental health, because it’s so hard to put into words but somehow Haig has put in exactly how I’ve felt. It’s also great if you’re living with someone with depression too. Read my review here.

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Beautiful & Beautiful Ever After – Katie Piper

I have been a fan of Katie Piper for years. Getting to meet her and get my own message and autograph was a huge highlight of my year. Both of these books are incredibly honest, Katie has the ‘just getting on with it’ attitude a lot of us with physical and mental disabilities have. Her two autobiographies are a brilliant read and full of heartbreak but also full of hope. Review to come in 2016 but you can read about when I met Katie here.

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Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee

I rushed home from work to buy this the day it came out. There was a lot of divided opinion but I for one thought it was an incredible book. There is a completely different message than there was in To Kill a Mockingbird, but I think that it is just as important. Read my review here.

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Am I Normal Yet? – Holly Bourne

I have a book crush on Holly Bourne. Am I Normal Yet? is a fantastic piece of YA literature. Bourne always manages to create a magnificent story and this one is no different. Considering mental health, young people and what ‘normal’ is, she created an instant favourite once again. Read my review here.

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This Book is Gay – James Dawson

I picked up this book a long time ago and decided to finally read it (before James announced he was transgender, he is still using male pronouns for now) because I was curious. I felt like I could know more about the LGBTQ community and I’m so glad I did. I honestly think this book should be given out in schools during sex education! Review to come in 2016.

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The Art of Being Normal – Lisa Williamson

This was the first book I read in 2015 and I absolutely loved it. It’s a great addition to YA literature and has the power to open up conversations about the Trans community. I completely forgot to review it so I’m afraid it will be a 2016 review!

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Orange is the New Black – Piper Kerman

Unlike most of the people I know I wasn’t addicted to the TV show. I didn’t mind it but I just didn’t find it as engaging. Instead I saw a Ted Talk by the real Piper Kerman and decided I want to read her book. I didn’t regret it. This is so interesting it looks not only at Piper but at the women around her and casts a critical eye on the prison system. I really recommend this as something to pick up in the new year.

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Extraordinary Means – Robyn Schneider

I was recommended this book by a friend of mine, I’d been curious about it for a while but also sceptical of the blurb. I was totally wrong, if you are a fan of John Green then this is definitely a novel to pick up. It’s funny, heartbreaking and I’m not ashamed to say I cried at one point. The review for this is coming up in February and I can promise you will love the main character as much as I did, so keep your eyes peeled!

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Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls – Lynn Weingarten

I can easily declare that this was the most amazing book that I read and that was released in 2015. I have told everyone to buy this because Weingarten has an incredible talents for writing that will keep you up until the early hours. I said ‘oh my god’ multiple times while reading and still think the twist is genius. Read this but make sure you don’t have to be up early the next day as you’ll devour it in one sitting. Read my review here.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the support I’ve received about my book reviews. I’m so grateful for all the feedback and love I’ve received. There are going to be reviews throughout 2016 and I have some great books coming up!!

Book Review: STAR WARS SPECIAL

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Tomorrow I will finally be able to see Star Wars after picking up these amazing books and devouring them in the last month they were a great build up. Each novel follows one of the trio on a different adventure set between movies. Smuggler’s Run follow’s Han on a rescue mission across the galaxy, The Weapons of a Jedi shows Luke on his training to become a Jedi and in Moving Target, Leia continues to try and thwart the Empire.

As much as I’m excited to see the new movies and get to know Rey, Fin and Poe the original heroes will always have a place in my heart and so following them on these new adventures (which apparently also have hints in about the new movies) was brilliant. It also takes you right back into the world and the ways of the characters. I will say that each of the characters has been incredibly well written to match the movies.

While the books are marketed at children and young adults there is absolutely no reason that an adult wouldn’t enjoy these. They’re fast paced, exciting and can also leave you guessing while enjoying some of the traits of your favourite characters. That said, I felt like the Leia book especially showed a side to her which didn’t come across in the movies.

All of these got 4-5* reviews on my Goodreads account they’ve been very well written and more than anything got me so excited for the new movies. If you like these there are also more tie-ins being released over the next year, including one that will be released tomorrow about Rey, Finn and Poe (find it here).

Remember to check back in tomorrow to see what I thought of The Force Awakens!!!

Book Review:My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

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“Depression is like a heaviness that you can’t ever escape. It crushes down on you, making even the smallest things like tying your shoes or chewing on toast seem like a twenty-mile hike uphill. Depression is a part of you; it’s in your bones and your blood.”

Because it’s Mental Health Awareness week I wanted to carry on the theme on my blog by writing a review of a book about what it’s like to live with depression. I’ve read a lot of these but there was something about Warga’s novel that really got to me, so much so I’ve recommended it to a lot of friends of mine.

Aysel isn’t a typical teenage girl, nor does she have a normal past. After her father committed a truly violent act that send shockwaves through her town she pulled away, her mother can barely look at her without being reminded of her father, the town stares and so Aysel finds comfort in the only thing can can, physics, but soon even that isn’t enough. She soon decides that this is where it all ends but she can’t do it alone. After searching for someone who won’t flake on a suicide pact she finds Roman, whose perfect life isn’t all it seems.

What I liked about this book is that suicide is not romanticised at all. Both characters really are at a point where they can’t see a way out of the misery of their situations and they don’t instantly like each other either. The thing with depression is when you meet someone else who is living through it there is a sense of understanding and that really comes through between the characters. They have nothing in common apart from their depression and that they want to die. It sounds incredibly sad, and it is, but there is also something incredible in the way they progress as friends.

I also found the situations that Warga put the characters in really interesting. Aysel’s father has committed a terrible crime and when we hear about such events in real life we instantly think of the victim and their family (and rightly so), but this made me wonder about the children of criminals. How the actions of their parents influences their lives. It’s not something I’ve encountered in YA literature before and I’d definitely love to read more on it.

This would be perfect for fans of John Green, those who liked All the Bright Places (I liked this more) and It’s Kind of a Funny Story it is a sad book but I think it’s a really important one in understanding why people want to commit suicide as I mentioned yesterday.

I gave this book four stars ****. This is an incredibly well written YA novel and deals with some incredibly tough issues in an amazing way. Warga has a true talent for YA literature and I can’t wait to read and review her next novel which according to Goodreads will be released next year!

Review by Chloe Metzger

Book Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

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In the horror of war, it’s the innocence of children that breaks your heart.

I honestly felt the horror of what it is for a child to suffer through every single page of the book, I already knew the ending so I didn’t cry but oh my, this book is a beauty. The novel centres around nine year old Bruno, a normal young boy from Berlin with big dreams of becoming an explorer. All is going well for Bruno apart from his ‘Hopeless Case’ of a sister irritating him until one day he is told he will be moving away from his beloved Berlin. After moving to ‘Out-With’ Bruno is beside himself with no exploring to do, no friend to play with and the only mystery being the odd fence beyond the garden…who are the people beyond the fence. As time goes on there is a lot Bruno does not understand, even more so when he meets Shmuel, the boy on the other side of the fence. Why can’t they play together?

The magic of this novel is that we truly see the Holocaust through a German child’s eyes. Bruno does not understand the things that are going on around him. He does not understand what The Fury is or who the rude man who came to tea was that made them move to Out-With (you guessed it, Hitler himself) . Although at time as an adult reader I could pick out little holes in the plot such as wouldn’t Bruno be enrolled in Hitler youth seeing as his father is a high ranking officer? Wouldn’t he have been brainwasher to some extent into having a hatred for Jews? It is possible that he is simply too young to understand or even that his parents have tried in some ways to keep him out of political matters. On the other hand however we do see Bruno’s sister Gretel who is a few years older getting more and more interested in the war as she gets older, so I cannot hold it against Boyne at all.  Despite any flaws I have to admit that the friendship between the boys is rather remarkable and do hold that brutal childhood excitement and honesty. It is obvious that Shmuel is rather anxious and less likely to speak his mind than Bruno, however, there is still the energy of having a childhood friendship between them despite the terrible circumstances they face.

As a novel about the Holocaust I do feel that this is a great novel for children more than for adults. In the novel you do see the effects of war, the treatment of all those who suffered but in a way that doesn’t give children nightmares. I believe that this is the type of novel that should be introduced in schools and then read again in later life, as the novel will go on to touch the hearts of both adults and children alike.  I have read novels like this before and although this is fictional it is remarkable just how well Boyne has created this horrific world through the eyes of an innocent boy. What I also found within the novel was realism based on human relationships, there were political disagreements that caused the break-down of a family, lying and cruelty but amongst all this there was the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel. It was interesting that despite their circumstances they could still have a quite normal friendship, they dream together, makes plans and talk about the homes they miss so much. It is the friendship and bond that reinforces the message throughout the book that people are all the same. In the same way other modern classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird, Boyne has magnified the flaws of a specific time period and it’s ideals through the simplicity of a child’s point of view and it works remarkably well. Once you reach the ending (if you don’t know it already) you will understand the bittersweet heartbreak that this novel causes to all who read it.

Overall I give this novel 4 stars ****. I think that it was incredibly well written and gets into the mind-set of a child perfectly making you truly realise the horrors of war. I am only not giving this 5 stars as I felt that the introduction of Shmuel took a little too long in my opinion, that said however I do understand that the novel is for children and gives them the background needed. I would recommend this book to you all. Truly heart-breaking and beautiful.

The Boy in Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne

Review by Chloe Metzger

Book Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

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20517739“Bad ideas are sometimes necessary.” It sounds so much like an excuse, it’s such an addict thing to say, that it makes my skin crawl.”

Sophie counts the days, the weeks, the months that she’s been drug free. Not your average image of a drug addict Sophie is a young woman who fell into an addiction for painkillers. Four months ago her best friend Mina was murdered, they say by a drug deal gone wrong but Sophie knows the truth. There was no drug deal and there was no accident, Mina was murdered and she has to get people to believe her before the killer comes for her next.

All hail Tess Sharpe. I have to say that after reading this novel I was absolutely hooked, I wanted to read it about five times over because it had just been so magnificently written. Who can be believed, who can be trusted? No one knows in this gritty thriller novel if you loved Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls then you’ll adore Far From You. I’ve been thrusting copies into my friends hands since I read it because each chapter takes you somewhere you didn’t think it would.

Sophie and Mina are really interesting characters and the meaning of best friends. When Mina is murdered and Sophie wakes up next to her body, only knowing this is where Mina needed to be she knows that she’s in trouble. After she passes out again the police find drugs in her pocket. No one will listen to her not her parents, not the police, not anyone and if no one is going to help she’s going to have to follow Mina’s clues herself and hopefully Mina’s killer.

I love a thriller with decent twists and turns that no one can see coming, I cannot ruin it but the ending is something else that, out of everyone I’ve spoken to, no one can see coming. I did have some small worries about getting stuck into this book and the character of Sophie mainly because I didn’t want her portrayed badly because in the first few pages I really did fall in love with her and completely understand what she was going through.

There are also some very interesting relationships as you go through the novel, there are very little clues that I can give without unravelling the plot but just as you think, ok I know what’s going on here Sharpe throws another curveball and you’re back where you started and eager for more. I stayed up a lot later than I should have reading this book and can 100% say that I didn’t regret it.

It’s no surprise that I’m giving Far From You 5 stars *****. Tess Sharpe is a fantastic writer and after finding out that this is also a debut I was even more excited to see what she has coming next. A breathtaking and fast paced read that any thriller fan will love, although one word of advice don’t start reading it when you have something important to do the next day because staying up all night reading is highly likely.

Review by Chloe Metzger

 

Book Review: Travelling to Infinity – Jane Hawking

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“I say to you what I always say when things cannot be altered: count your blessings.”

While many have often worshiped and stared in awe of Stephen Hawking, there is one person who many do not even consider. For Stephen to overcome his disability and become the man he is today he needed love and support that wasn’t freely available when he was diagnosed. Let me introduce you to Jane Hawking, who fell in love with Stephen as a young girl at university and grew into a woman with an incredible sense of determination.

Through Jane Hawkings eyes we are shown her life with Stephen, from the beginning when she met him at a party, through his diagnoses, the fights with the university in the face of eviction, raising children and putting her own dreams aside. Jane Hawking has an incredible sense of resilience through everything. What many don’t know is that Jane is also a professor and incredible academic, although at a time she was surrounded by men and having to fully support Stephen, she thought that it would never happen.

“That single afternoon completely destroyed whatever illusions I might have held about combining motherhood with some sort of intellectual occupation.”

It would be wrong not to mention the Oscar winning movie, The Theory of Everything, which I didn’t know when watching had come from this book. It is one of my all time favourite movies and so of course I had to read the book. I was pleasantly surprised but at the same time my eyes were opened, obviously a lot was missed out. The focus has always been on Stephen and he’s incredible and deserves his credit, but after reading this I’m pleased that Jane also got her own moment.

I will say that this is a memoir that you have to stick with, but won’t regret. By the end I was emotionally connected to it and had a new hero in not Stephen, but Jane. She was everything that I aspired to be a wife, a mother and in the end an Academic. I also felt angry for her, upset for her at the end when Stephen left her for another woman, causing their divorce. I couldn’t comprehend it after all she had done, but again it didn’t stop her, she still achieved her dreams.

I’m going to give this four stars ****. It is a brilliant book, strong and interesting. We get an insight into the life of Stephen Hawking that we’ve never had before and we get a new hero too. If I can grow to be anything like Jane Hawking I’ve done something great. The reason I didn’t give it five stars is because there is some challenging language in the book as well as it being rather long. For the first time I feel like if I hadn’t seen the film I might not have finished the book because it does take some time to get through. That doesn’t mean that it’s not addictive, Jane’s way of telling her story is incredible and if you’re up to the challenge put it on your to read list.

Book Review: Am I Normal Yet – Holly Bourne

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All Evie wants is to be normal. She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy.

Evie’s been the ‘crazy girl’ throughout school when her OCD took hold of her and everyone viewed as that and that alone. Now she has a fresh start she’s under control, apart from her annoying therapist, no one knows about her past so now she wants to be normal. The thing is normal isn’t as easy as it looks she needs to find some friends, find a boyfriend and have absolutely no one find out. Oh and getting rid of the medication is a good deal too.

This is the second of Holly’s novels that I’ve ready and she solidified her place in my top 5 authors of all time. There is no doubt that Holly can write but the most amazing thing is that she can make the mind of a teenager come alive on the pages. Am I Normal Yet is different though because it also raises awareness of what it’s really like to live with a mental health condition as a young person right now.

Speaking as someone who has been through mental health and is still going through it now I think that Evie’s fears and anxieties are real. I don’t have OCD but there are a lot of overlapping fears, especially when you start somewhere new. Do I tell my new friends? How will they react? Why am I on these meds? I hate my meds. What’s the point of all this? Am I crazy? Am I doing enough normal things? The list goes on and on. Bourne captures this perfectly. She also makes it clear

The medication debate is a big one too and I’m really pleased at it is finally in literature for young adults. Medication is a strongly debated subject specifically in regards to young people, it seems that everyone has an opinion on this and they don’t really understand. Medication is a very personal choice for some people it works, for some people it doesn’t I’ve met people on both sides. It’s sad that people are made to feel like they are somehow ‘fake’ if they take medication to help stabilize their illness, you wouldn’t ask a diabetic to stop taking their insulin.

There was also something unexpected in the novel too, it talks about feminism in a totally unapologetic way the girls aren’t just going out of their way to meet boys or talk about boys. In fact that’s even a point in the novel they swear to have conversations that don’t even mention boys. It’s actually pretty refreshing, of course relationships feature but they’re not the absolute only thing.

Of course I’m giving this novel five stars *****. Bourne is one of my favourite authors for a reason and I think I love Am I Normal Yet more than I did The Manifesto on how to be Interesting (check out that review too if you like the sound of Holly, she won’t dissapoint). Holly has a third book that I am yet to read which was her debut called Soulmates, so I’ll be reading and reviewing that soon too. As always well done Holly another fantastic novel.

The Skeleton Cupboard – Tanya Byron

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‘I first became fascinated by the frontal lobes of the human brain when I saw my grandmother’s sprayed across the skirting board of her dark and cluttered house. I was fifteen’ 

Professor Tanya Byron is a well known clinical psychologist, but before she made her name she started just like anyone else new to the job and trying to learn the ropes. The book follows the twists and turns that Tanya faces as she tries to navigate not only her professional life but also her personal reactions.

The best part about this book, for me, is the fact that Byron shows herself as human here. She’s young and trying to muddle her way through and break into a career, becoming a clinical psychologist is not an easy thing to do especially as you need to partition your emotions and focus on the person you are helping without getting too tied up emotionally and being able to switch off at night, while still showing that you care in appointments. There is no coldness in this book.

I’m always slightly hesitant to read books from mental health professionals, because some are totally unsympathetic to what it feels to be on the other side of the chair. I can confirm that Byron is incredibly thoughtful, sympathetic and caring towards not only her patients but also to people with mental health conditions in general. There are far too many professionals who write books and treat people with merely clinical association.

I will warn you that this is not an easy book to read. I was scared, I laughed and I cried throughout because the people that Byron meets become incredibly real to you. There are topics that aren’t easy to read about, eating disorders, abuse victims, drug addiction, violence, self harm, dementia just to name a few but in these you really get a grasp of how vital psychologists are as well as the work they do.

I give this 5 stars *****. This is a well written, thought provoking and educational piece of literature that I feel almost anyone would connect with. Byron is unflinchingly honest about what it is like to train in this field making her thoughts, feelings, mistakes and successes known. I feel like anyone who has an interest in psychology, social work or merely people could learn a lot from this book, especially as it doesn’t throw in jargon that only academics will understand, Byron has truly made this available for all. I highly recommend this book.

As always I’d love to hear your thoughts, have you read it or do you want to? Do you have any ideas for me? Let me know!

Review by Chloe Metzger

Book Review: Only Ever Yours – Louise O’Neill

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‘I’m a good girl. I am pretty. I am always happy-go-lucky.’

freida and isabel (intentionally lowercase)are finally in their final year at the school, all of their training will finally come in use as they fight to become companions for the wealthy young men who will come to choose them. The girls are high in ranking and expected to breeze into their lives as companions, that is until isabel does the unthinkable, she starts to gain weight. Can freida save them both in time?

I want to start this review by saying that I was surprised by this novel, it’s not something that I would usually pick up but the blurb was intriguing and the cover was more than a little creepy. I don’t think I was fully prepared for the novel and the social implications that it covers, because they’re not explicitly advertised. I’d have to say that there are some strong crossovers with that I know about The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s definitely different to novels that I normally read and it’s made me a lot more interested in dystopian fiction, so we’re on a good start!

So, a little background information, the novel is set in a world far into the future. Children are now created and only boys are brought up and given opportunities, girls are sent to the school to learn the ways of a perfect woman, be judged, ranked and immaculately dressed. They are told the importance of breeding healthy sons until they are deemed no longer useful. For those who are not chosen to live as Companions, live the lives of the Courtesans whose ambition is to sexually please the men of the world.

As I previously mentioned, the eves as they are named, all have lower case letters, they are not deemed important enough for a capital letter in their name. O’Neill makes a strong case for examining how we look at beauty and how we judge young women, yes we are not in the state that plays out in the book but how do we look at beauty and young women? There is an incredibly strong and well thought out message of feminism and the whole modern concept of a woman, we focus so much on our looks and being ‘ranked’ by other people on social media, it’s a scary glimpse into a terrifying world.

This is generally a fast paced and eerie novel, I loved the ideas and especially the relationship between freida and isabel. The girls aren’t given love or anything in terms of a motherly relationship so the relationship they share is even more incredible. Some people have argued that parts have a mean girls type feel and I can see where their coming from but I feel like it’s a lot deeper.

I’m giving this novel four stars ****! While I think it was very well done, cleverly put together and seeing as this is a debut novel (!!) we can expect great things from Louise O’Neill, she’s not afraid to tackle unpleasantness and things that we would rather not think about. The only thing I wasn’t that keen on was the ending of the novel, it wasn’t that it was bad, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. I’d love to hear what all of you think of the ending, so give me a comment below! Now, excuse me while I try and find a copy of O’Neill’s latest novel ‘Asking For It’, what seems like it’s going to be another unflinching novel.

Next Week’s Review: The Skeleton Cupboard

All reviews by Chloe Metzger and are not sponsored.

Book Review: All My Secrets- Sophie McKenzie

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‘There’s a terrible secret. Mr Treeves shuffles from side to side, but I’m frozen to the spot.’ 

Let’s start by saying I read this in four hours. I hope this gives a good indication of how this review is going to go. Evie Brown is a normal teenager at the start of a long and boring summer waiting for her birthday. She doesn’t know that the next knock on the door is going to change her life. She is told that she has inherited £10 million, but at what cost? Soon Evie finds herself shipped off to Lightsea, an institute for troubled teens by those who love her most. Who can Evie turn to now?

I’m a big fan of Sophie McKenzie, after reading her adult thriller Close My Eyes last year, it was one of the best twists I’d read in a while and so when I heard that All My Secrets was for YA I was instantly drawn to it. As I said earlier I read this in a matter of hours  and as with her earlier novel McKenzie allows you to think you have it all worked out before throwing a spanner into the works. The novel really waves in and out giving the reader clues throughout making you question yourself at the end as to why you didn’t figure it out.

I really liked the character of Evie and the journey she goes on through the novel, I didn’t see the first twist and now I find it brilliant. It is something that completely changes her world and how she see’s the people in it. While many would think, I’d take £10 million no matter what, I can assure you that this would make you think twice about it. As Evie delves more and more into the mysteries of Lightsea she has to consider who to trust or risk losing her life. I feel like Evie is very realistic in the way she handles the situation she is left in, she has her flaws and is not a seemingly perfect character.

One of the few things that I got bored of quickly in the novel is the love interest that Evie has during her time at Lightsea, I understand teenagers will be teenagers but I really wanted to know more about the other young people. There are such interesting and vibrant characters created by McKenzie and I really wanted to know more about them as well as the island itself, which has been well described throughout.

I’m going to give this 4 stars ****. This is the first of McKenzie’s YA novels that I’ve read and it was a great start. I love the fact that she has been able to seamlessly branch across genres. The reason I didn’t give this novel 5 stars is simply because I wanted to get to know the other characters better and see more of who they are and why they are also at Lightsea, their reasons are mentioned but quite quickly but not in detail.