We are golden!

   My books came today! I'm so happy! I wasn't expecting them until at least tomorrow, so I am so very happy with Amazon right now. Look at them! I mean, I know it's not the best photo, but they're still beautiful. 

And I'm guessing you understand the title now? Or just in case you don't, I'll give you a clue: it has something to do with my beautiful, 10th Anniversary Edition of Looking for Alaska by the amazing John Green, not the song by Mika. (Although, I would be lying if I'm saying I didn't sing it like that in my head.)

   Now I, as you may know, started reading More than this by Patrick Ness a few days ago. The plan was that, that book could tide me over until these beauties arrived. But as you can see, they have arrived earlier than expected. And so, I couldn't stop myself from picking up Holly Black's 'The Darkest Part of the Forest' and immediately starting it. Everything else is being put on hold until I have devoured these books, and read Every Single Word that they contain.

But I've got something to admit right now. Something that I'm really not proud of. 

I guessed what happened in Looking For Alaska and Beth confirmed my suspicions and I don't know what to do.

  

   I mean, of course I'm going to read the book. And I have no doubt in my mind that I'm going to enjoy it. But I know what happens. It's just going to be nagging at me now, and the whole time I read it. And who's fault is that? Mine. 

Yet saying that, I'm still as equally as excited to read it as I was before the guess. 

   Moving onto the last book, the one that's sitting on the top of the stack: Paper Towns by the legend himself, Mr John Green. You may have noticed my love for John Green by now. He is just an amazing author and human being in general. 

   Anyway, moving on... I almost can't resist the idea of holing up in my bedroom for a day, and powering through Paper Towns until I know it like the back of my hand. I also feel similarly towards Looking for Alaska and The Darkest Part of the Forest. I love Holly Black as well, in case you were wondering.

   I cannot explain to you how I feel about having these books sitting on my desk next to me right now. I just... I need to...

I need to read.

So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Thanks!

- Emma

Happy Reading!❤

Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green

Looking For Alaska is a book by John Green, first published in 2005 by Dutton Juvenile, and republished in 2015 by Harper Collins.

 This review will differ from others, but I will start with a 'factual, normal' explanation about the book and its content. 

Pudge wants to find the Great Perhaps. And how he will find it, is for you to find out. He spends his teenage years at Culver Creek boarding school, and here he will find many things. One of these, is Alaska Young. And with Alaska, comes many things. What things? That is also for you to find out.

I will continue with three, very different extracts from the book, so if you don't want spoilers, skip the words in purple!

♥

 

"As the door shut behind me, I felt a tap on my left shoulder. I turned, but there was no one there. Then I turned the other way, and Alaska was smiling at me, the skin between her eyes and temple crinkled into a starburst. "The oldest trick in the book," She said, "but everybody falls for it."

♥

"It's not because I want to make out with her"

"Hold on." He grabbed a pencil and scrawled excitedly at the paper as if he'd just made a mathematical breakthrough and then looked back at me. "I just did some calculations, and I've been able to determine that you're full of shit." 

 ♥

We got off at the next exit, quietly, and switching drivers, we walked in front of the car. We met and I held him, my hands balled into tight fists around his shoulders, and he wrapped his short arms around me and squeezed tight, so that I felt the heaves of his chest as we realized over and over again that we were still alive. I realized it in waves and we held on to each other crying and I thought, God, we must look so lame, but it doesn't matter when you have just now realized, all the time later, that you are still alive.

♥

                   

This part of the review is going to be long and rambling, and more personal and less factual than others. Because, this book for me was not just a beautiful story, it was a lesson. And, here is what I learned.

In short, this book taught me that suffering is not just pain, it is other things in other ways, many different ways. Suffering is beautiful. Not joyus, but beautiful. 

I didn't cry while reading Looking For Alaska, but it left me choked up and wide-eyed. I am not going to lie, it was extremely sad and painful. But not the normal kind of pain everyone is used to experiencing. 

This book shows everyone how lucky we are, to have what we have. We will always have those dark, depressing days, but we have so much. All of us. We all care for each other, we are all here together. You may think, we all care for each other in different ways, with different levels of love. But in some ways, you would be false. No matter what, we are all human, all the same, but different. I love my boyfriend, I love Emma, I love my friends, my family. But above all, I love humanity, all of us. Together. 

And right now, I love John Green, for the person he is and for the things he has done for us, and writes for us. And to have him, to be able to read his thoughts, we are all goddam lucky. 

My last words, for this review at least, will be this: 

Everything that falls together will fall apart. And although we will die we will never die. We are all a tiny blot in this landscape, this universe, individually and together. One day, we will be forgotten. Each and every one of us, and the human race. But we will have always been here, the land we live on will have just been reformed, never created and never dying. And that, is how we will survive in the labyrinth.

'This one's for Alaska Young.'

-Beth

Happy Reading!♥

Order! Order!

Gods, I so hope you guys read that like how they say it in court, otherwise it just looks a little weird. Although this post has absolutely nothing to do with court. I just thought it sounded pretty cool... *cue awkward laughing*

   Anyway, what I am actually blogging about is, surprise surprise, books! Or to be more specific, books I ordered a few days ago off of Amazon. (See? Ordered? No? Okay...) Sorry if I've got your hopes up. Nothing exciting going on here. 

However, around the 10th my books will be arriving, and that my friends, is exciting. Gah. I don't think I can survive that long without these books. 

   You might be wondering what these patience-testing books are. When they arrive, I will be blogging about them so I'm not going to tell you about them twice! You're just going to have to wait impatiently like me. 

Really. I need them. I fear the evil bookworm side of me will be rearing its ugly head soon. 

   I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not as if I haven't got anything to read. I'm currently reading 'More than this' by Patrick Ness. And yes, you can be expecting a review on it. But, as I'm sure all the bibliophiles reading this understand, (I love that word, bibliophiles. You might have noticed how much I use it) when you see a book you like, you need it right then. Not in a weeks time. Not even in a couple of days time. You need it as soon as you lay eyes on it.

*let's out one huge, almighty sigh* ☹

   Moving on: I'll be posting soon! Whether it be a review, or something random, I'll be back. (Terminator alert!)

Sorry. I'm being a little weird today, I know. Brackets galore!

Thanks!

- Emma

Happy Reading!❤

Review: Cracked by Eliza Crewe

Meet Meda. She eats people.

   And that right there is what made me pick up this book. Who doesn't want to read a book about a cannibalistic supernatural? Joking! I'm only joking!

But while Meda doesn't eat people per se, she does eat their soul. She tends to stick to the baddies though; I mean she didn't choose to be a bad guy herself. She can't help the fact that she's hungry for souls. 

   She knows she's different, but with the only person who could have explained the whole 'soul-eating' thing dead, she's left to her own devices to try and figure out what she is. And it's just her luck when the three men in suits show up, able to do what she can, they try to kill her. 

And just when she thought she could finally get some answers. 

   Before her fellow 'soul-eaters' munch on her though, Meda is rescued by Crusaders: an elite group dedicated to ridding the world of her kind. This is her chance! All she has to do now is play along with the good guys, and she'll discover what, exactly, she is. 

   Yet the more she learns, the more her 'true nature' calls to her. And when Meda uncovers a shocking secret about her mother, she may finally give in to it.

♡

   If I told you I didn't immensely enjoy this book, I'd be lying. It was full to the brim with sarcastic quips, and our narrator, the main character Meda, kept me entertained with all of her wit and sarky inputs. 

I loved this book, though I will warn you I did end up shedding a few tears. Happy and sad tears. 

   For those of you who like the comedic supernatural/paranormal side of YA books, I would definitely recommend this book to you.

Thanks!

- Emma

Happy Reading!❤ 

Review: Ticket To Love by Dawn Porter

 

Ticket To Love is a book by Dawn Porter, first published in 2012 by Hodder Children's Books.

Ticket To Love is an exciting, adventurous and romantic novel, about 4 friends enjoying the mini-break of a lifetime!

But, this lighthearted read will teach the girls (and the readers) a few life lessons on the way. 

Jen loves celebrities, and stalking them! Their hotel is amazing, and a perfect haven for celebrities! But what will Jen discover when she finally meets her idol? 

Serena is shy, and loves museums. But when she gets to see a real life opera for the first time, who knows what could happen! 

Megan is in heaven. Manhattan has all the shops she could ever dream of, and more! But when a disaster occurs...could Megan find out shopping isn't all there is to life? 

 Erica thinks the long weekend is a dream come true. How could it not be, when her perfect online-boyfriend lives close to their hotel? But will Danny live up to Erica's expectations? 

I thoroughly enjoyed Ticket To Love, and the way Dawn Porter explores how 4 completely different girls cope with and enjoy a long weekend in NYC! The book is very well written, and I'm sure everyone could relate to one of the characters in some way. 

To fly across the Atlantic without even leaving your chair, pick Ticket To Love as your next novel!

-Beth

Happy Reading!♥