29 April 2018

Book Review: If I Was Your Girl



4/5 stars!


This book was included in the Zoella Book Club 2016 and I rated it 4/5 stars!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Suicide, bullying, sexual assault/harrassment

We follow a transgender main character who has transitioned from male to female before the story starts. This is such an important topic for more readers to be exposed to and aware of. It is an own voices novel as author Meredith Russo is a transwoman, however, she states in the Author's Note that some situations have been exaggerated for the book to be fictionalised. I feel that this disclaimer is not necessary for those of us readers that understand fiction is not the complete truth - it IS, in fact, fiction!

Andrew/Amanda has a lot of depth. Virginia as a character is great and really believable. There are lots of flashbacks which I loved. Chloe, Bee and Layla are good friends. The parents in this book were...frustrating at best!

I didn't like the male characters at the end. I'm still unsure about Grant. In my opinion, Bee did what she did (spoilers) because she was frustrated and didn't know how to show her emotions.

Kazia

25 April 2018

Book Unhaul #2!

I have a few more books to share that I'd like to send away to people who will enjoy them more than me. 

Book Unhaul #1

These are ones that have sat on my TBR for over 6 months:


  • Heaven by Christoph Marzi
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
  • Playlist for the dead by Michelle Falkoff
  • The trouble with goats and sheep by Joanna Cannon
  • Tape by Steven Camden

Message me through Instagram, Twitter or comment on this post.

G I V E A W A Y #1: Children of Blood and Bone!

The winner is...

Diana Pixie!

Congratulations.

I also have a book unhaul post which you can comment on if you'd like any of those books!

19 April 2018

#WarmestDayOfTheYear Recommendations

The hashtag is trending on Twitter so I thought it would be fun to recommend a few books to read on the hottest day of the year!

What are you reading this summer?



Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity he can keep one step ahead of his past - and stay alive. The only thing he must not do is fall in love . . .
Maddy is allergic to the world; stepping outside the sterile sanctuary of her home could kill her. But then Olly moves in next door. And just like that, Maddy realises there's more to life than just being alive. You only get one chance at first love. And Maddy is ready to risk everything, everything to see where it leads.

Meet Dimple.
Her main aim in life is to escape her traditional parents, get to university and begin her plan for tech world domination.
Meet Rishi.
He's rich, good-looking and a hopeless romantic. His parents think Dimple is the perfect match for him, but she's got other plans...
Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works even harder to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

Maya Aziz dreams of being a film maker in New York. Her family have other ideas. They want her to be a dutiful daughter who wears gold jewellery and high heels and trains to be a doctor. But jewellery and heels are so uncomfortable . . . 

She's also caught between the guy she SHOULD like and the guy she DOES like. But she doesn't want to let Kareem down and things with Phil would never work out anyway. Would they? 

Then a suicide bomber who shares her last name strikes in a city hundreds of miles away and everything changes . . .

Two teens find their way back to each other in a bookstore full of secrets and crushes, grief and hope - and letters hidden between the pages.
Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favourite book in his family's bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came.
Now Rachel has returned to the city - and to the bookshop - to work alongside the boy she'd rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can't feel anything anymore.
As Henry and Rachel work side by side - surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages - they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it's possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.


Kazia

16 April 2018

Spring Must Reads!


Here's my list of must reads for Spring!


  1. The Start of Me and You - Paige is dealing with the loss of her first boyfriend, the power of female friendships and her relationship with her grandmother. This is a really sweet story that will have you turning pages at the speed of light. 
  2. Anna and the French Kiss - Anna is sent to a boarding school in Paris where she immediately befriends Meredith, Josh, Rashmi and St Clair. This book is full of cheesy romance that you'd expect from a YA contemporary, however, every character is fully fleshed out. Anna finds herself falling for the off-limits St Clair, not only does he have a girlfriend but also Meredith has had a long-term crush on him too.
  3. To All The Boys I've Loved Before - We follow Lara Jean who writes love letters to the five boys she's loved. She has never sent these letters, they're for herself. However, one day the letters are sent off and Lara Jean's love life starts to crumble. The relationship between the three sisters feels authentic. I love the interaction between Lara and each of the boys.
  4. Billy and Me - Sophie May's day to day life is mostly uneventful as she works in a little tea shop with her best friend Molly. Then an actor comes to town and sweeps Sophie May off her feet. This adorable story is also heartbreaking and emotional as Sophie May comes under constant criticism. A real page-turner and I have also love Giovanna Fletcher's newer books, with Eve of Man being published in May. (co-written with her husband Tom)
  5. Moxie - Trigger warning for sexual harassment, rape/sexual assault. This is a book with a strong and powerful message of feminism and speaking up for your opinion no matter how many people are against you. Viv is an inspirational main character that all girls/women should stand beside. The love interest, Seth, is unlike other male characters in that he listens to Viv's opinions and learns from his mistakes. He takes her seriously and their romance doesn't outweigh the feminist message.
These must reads are not newly released books but books that I love for Spring, have strong messages and I could read over and over again.

What books are you reading this Spring?

Kazia

5 April 2018

Book Review: The Truth About Alice

I was kindly sent an ebook copy of this book, published in 2014, in exchange for my honest review. This book is written by the author of Moxie which is one of the reasons that I was excited to read it.


4/5 Stars
Trigger warning: mature content, abortion, underage drinking, death

This book is described as a startling book about stereotypes, slut shaming and the battle for popularity and I feel that is a very fitting statement. 

We follow the perspectives of Kelsie, Elaine, Josh, Alice and Kurt.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as Moxie because it didn't seem to have a moral. It is quite difficult to describe without spoiling the mystery of who is telling the truth.

I felt that each main character was fleshed out in depth but their parents and siblings were non-existence. A few characters described "My little sister did this" but never told the reader anything about their sister, even her name.

It felt like the characters were talking directly to the reader or maybe someone that had asked them what really happened. This made the book easier to immerse myself in and it was a fast-paced, page turner.

Kazia x

3 April 2018

Book Unhaul #1!




  • Shiver series by Maggie Steifvater
  • Morganville Vampires (Books 1 - 11) by Rachel Caine
  • Gallagher Girls (Book 1) by Ally Carter
  • Gone by Michael Grant
  • Dark Secrets (Books 1 - 3) by Elizabeth Chandler
  • Fallen (Sampler) by Lauren Kate
  • The Maze Runner by James Dashner
  • The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer
  • The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
  • Embrace by Jessica Shirvington
  • Night World (Books 1 - 3) by L.J. Smith
  • The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith
  • Night World Fan Guide by L.J. Smith
  • The Blessed by Tonya Hurley
  • Notes from the Teenage Underground by Simone Howell (15+)
  • Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
  • Love Hurts by Malorie Blackman
  • To All The Boys I've Loved Before (Books 1 - 2) by Jenny Han
  • After the Fire by Will Hill
  • Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
  • Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I am unhauling these books because I enjoyed them but I need space for more books, especially new releases that I am excited for. DM me on Twitter if you are interested in any of these titles, I will be crossing through when they become unavailable. You will only pay for postage. Open internationally.

Kazia

1 April 2018

Winter Book Haul: January, February and March

This list contains all the books that I have bought through Amazon in January, February and March. I use Smile.Amazon which is a system that donates a percentage of your order to a chosen charity. I chose Cancer Research UK. These are not affiliate links.

I have also included links to the reviews that I have already written for some of these books. I might update the list as I tick them off my TBR if this would be useful.


  1. Wuthering Heights - Review
  2. The Hazel Wood - Review
  3. The Things That You Can See Only When You Slow Down - Review
  4. Lost Boy - Review
  5. Alice - Review
  6. Red Queen - Review
  7. Made You Up - Review
  8. It Only Happens In The Movies - Review
  9. A Quiet Kind of Thunder - Review
  10. Goodbye, Perfect - Review
  11. Children of Blood and Bone - Review
  12. The Keeper of Lost Things - Review
  13. Alone on a Wide Wide Sea - Review
  14. The F Word - Review
  15. The Astonishing Colour of After - Review
  16. The Wicked Deep - Review
  17. The Manifesto on How To Be Interesting - Review
  18. The Chaos of Standing Still - Review
  19. All We Shall Know - Review
  20. From A Low and Quiet Sea - Review
  21. Beautiful Broken Things - Review
  22. Eliza and Her Monsters - Review
  23. The Smell of Other People's Houses - Review
  24. Salt To The Sea - Review
  25. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Review
  26. All About Mia - Review
  27. Once Upon a Dream - Review
  28. A Whole New World - Review
  29. As Old As Time - Review
  30. How To Be Happy - Review
  31. The Upside of Unrequited - Review
  32. Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Review
  33. Broken Tomorrows - Review