Contemporary-A-Thon ROUND THREE

This September, Chelsea, Julie and Natasha host the Contemporary-A-Thon. I thought I'd spend the week reading along because it happened 17-23rd September - the week leading to my birthday. However, the only book I read was Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. I didn't even read it because it was an Audiobook but I listened and loved it. 4/5 stars. Full review here

As I didn't vlog or blog my experience I am going to recommend some contemporaries that I love and you should read too.

1. SUMMER OF SALT BY KATRINA LENO!!! (Mine and Chelsea's favourite!)
2. All of This is True by Lygia Day (Full cast Audiobook coming soon and already available in US!)
3. Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
4. Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone
5. Like Water by Rebecca Podos

I'm also going to link you to my Goodreads challenge - I finished all 50 books so any more that I read this year count as bonus reads! 

Kazia x

PS. I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22! Happy birthday to me!

Taking a Break from Blogging...and my great return!

Helloooo!

I have finally returned to my blog after a break over the summer. I thought I would be posting more often during the summer but it turns out, I'd rather blog when I have a million and one other things/projects to work on...

I took a break during the summer, however, I didn't stop reading. I plan for those reviews to go up on Fridays at 6pm. (BST) In between reviews, I will also be posting:

• Book Box Club - Monthly Reviews
• Study tips and advice for university and other levels
• General life updates

I am going to be planning posts for the rest of the week and then celebrating my 22nd birthday on Sunday! Hopefully that means the new posts will start appearing in the first week of October.

Kazia x

June Wrap Up!

I read seven books in June. All book reviews will be linked!

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Book Review
2. Big Bones - Book Review
3. Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index - Book Review
4. The Forseeable Future - Book Review
5. The earth, my butt and other big round things - Book Review
6. The universe is expanding and so am I - Book Review
7. What I leave behind - Book Review

I read one book that was 3 stars, three books that were 4 stars and three books that were 5 stars. This is kind of an average month, I know what style and genres I like so I don't usually have ratings less than 3 stars.

Book Review: The Universe is Expanding and So Am I

4/5 stars!

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD! This is the sequel to The earth, my butt and other big round things which I reviewed here. Carolyn has hinted that there will be a third book and I'm VERY excited.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Sexual violence, eating disorder, negative body image

We continue to follow Virginia, five months after the events, as she struggles internally with her body image and externally with "the ordeal" involving her brother. We know going into this book that Byron raped a girl when he was at college.

Virginia's parents are still the most frustrating people! They are sexist, pressurising, supporting their rapist son!! etc. However, I do like the fact that they are actually present in the main plot line because this doesn't happen all the time in YA.

Virginia meets a significant person who is connected to the plot and I didn't see the link coming. It is a forbidden romance because of the connection, however, we know Virginia is quite stubborn. Once she has set her mind on something, it's hard to change her. This is also true for her entire family. Also I didn't predict the ending and it definitely keeps it open for a third book!

I love the book references that Virginia shares with Sebastian. "I love the way the words complement the illustrations and the illustrations complement the words." (p.169)

Book Review: The earth, my butt and other big round things!

4/5 stars!

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Eating disorder, sexual violence, suicidal thoughts, self harm

The plot really started after the first 100 pages.

This book has been updated since it was first published in 2003, little details like the characters texting now rather than emailing. I love that these changes have been made because this story is a very important one.

We follow Virginia as she comes to terms with something happening in her family that flips everything on its head. It's not fully detailed because we are seeing life from Virginia's perspective and she doesn't know all of the details. The event is horrendous but the victim has hope and seems to rather be a survivor. She represents the readers who have also been through a traumatic event but have come through it. This book also shows that both families involved are still very human.

I do wonder though, whether it's only American students that eat their lunch alone in a bathroom stall. I have never experienced this happening before - let me know in the comments if you did this and aren't from America.

The food police are the worst!

I disliked Virginia's friendship with Shannon. She always seemed to have an excuse for not calling or texting V. I also disliked the school bully, obviously, Brie. However, there is something going on with her and V doesn't support her even though she is probably the only person questioning it.

V's Mum can't use the word 'fat' and I wonder if this has anything to do with her childhood that was hinted at. Anais could be a great sister but she is in Africa throughout the entire book so she doesn't have a big role to play. Maybe she will be more present in the second. I hope.

I loved Alyssa. She is going to be a great friend for V and this feels like a great set up for the second book. I also loved Mrs Crowley who was the only supportive adult that V interacted with. Dr Love seemed to point her in the right direction.

Book Review: Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index

5/5 stars

One of my favourite books of the year so far!

Trigger warning: sucidal thoughts

p. 254 'Our kisses still spin fireworks and raging snow'

We follow Juniper, 65 painful days after her sister, Camilla's death. Juniper finds an unsent letter from Cam to You on the first day back to school and this sets off a snowball effect throughout the school year. We see Juniper as she makes new friends, rekindles old friendships and stands up to the school bully. She always has the right intentions but sometimes she doesn't take the easiest path to get there which causes conflict between the characters.

I love Juniper's friendship group, each have secrets of their own that connects them. Kody, Angela, Nate, Sponge (Lawrence) and Brand. Each character was well thought out and it was easy to tell them apart. I didn't support Juniper's relationship the whole time because it was toxic in parts, however, the love interest redeemed themselves in the end.

This book was beautifully written and I couldn't read it quick enough!

Book Review: Big Bones

3/5 stars

I had an E-Arc of this book but didn't get to read it before publication.

We follow Bluebelle A.K.A BB A.K.A Big Bones. A body-confident, plus-sized sixteen year old who wants to leave school and get an apprenticeship at the coffee shop Planet Coffee. She has a younger sister, Dove, and parents that are on the brink of an on-off relationship.

Bluebelle is an unlikable character because she is constantly judging other people that are smaller than her while complaining that everyone judges fat people. The only thing that changes her attitude, slightly, is her sister's accident in the second half of the book. After that, she realises she should go to the gym (even though she's completely happy with her body image).

The book is written a food diary and the chapters are titled with each food that she is eating or has a memory attached to.

I annotated a few pages while reading including:

p. 101 BB is making a Shepherd's pie and has written out the recipe (which I want to follow!)

p. 106 Another recipe - this time for egg-fried rice

p. 174 - I feel like this quite often.

Is it just me or does it feel like every girl is secretly on a diet?

I thought we were all in this 'eating what we want when we want' revolution together but I've got a sneaky fear that I'm the only one taking it seriously.

Or maybe even doing it at all.

p. 188 BB gets the bus home from work and I just kind of laughed-out-loud because she was complaining about her thighs chafing. I thought 'You should get some chub rub shorts!' (It's an inside joke, if you follow Louise Pentland!)

p. 349 BB kisses the love interest (spoilers!) and says she feels 'truly beautiful'. I feel like contradicts everything about her self-confidence. She said to begin with that she felt beautiful in her own skin no matter what other people thought... You shouldn't suddenly feel beautiful only because someone has an interest in you. 

p. 367 'if you ever want to get a girlfriend maybe stop being such a sexist pervert?' 

YOU GO, BB!

p. 390 First lines are usually the most important but I loved the last line 'You're a girl. And you can do whatever you want. The whole world belongs to you.'

Many people enjoyed this book for its body positivity and I can see a few things scattered throughout but not 100%. This book wasn't one of my favourites and I was going to DNF it after 100 pages. I'm glad I didn't because the second half improved the whole book. This book won't be at the top of my recommendations list.