Author: fionareads

Book Review – Always With Love by Giovanna Fletcher

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ALways with love

four stars

Sophie’s got used to being the girlfriend of Billy Buskin, the biggest movie star in the world. Sort of.

But when she and Billy take a trip to visit his family in Los Angeles, she quickly discovers she’s totally unprepared for the chaos of Hollywood, the paparazzi and Billy’s controlling mother. And when Billy extends his stay in LA, leaving Sophie to fly home to Rosefont Hill alone, it seems there’s more than just miles between them.

Now Sophie must decide if they can overcome their differences for good. Because not every love story lasts the distance . . .

I received this book for free from the publisher via Netgalley. Thanks to Penguin and Michael Joseph for allowing me to review this title!

Always With Love is Giovanna Fletcher’s fourth novel, and like all her others, it was heartwarming, light and lovely. It was delightful to hear more about Sophie and Billy, but I believe it would have been just as good a read even if I hadn’t read her first book, Billy and Me.

Sophie is a great protagonist, with real life vulnerabilities and worries, and this really helps the reader to relate to her. I love the fact that she is so down to earth, and that she helps Billy to stay grounded. The contrasts between his life in LA and her life in the picturesque and homely Rosefont Hill, was a wonderful addition to the story, and I was never quite sure whether he would choose to lose himself to that lifestyle, or return home to Sophie. The conflict and questions that this created was what kept me reading to the end. I found myself really rooting for their relationship from the very beginning! At one point, I wasn’t sure if they would make it, and Giovanna cleverly keeps up this guessing game until the last chapter.

My favourite aspect of the story was Rosefont Hill. The imagery was idyllic and the setting just perfect – I would love to live in a village like this. Reading about Sophie’s life in Rosefont Hill, and her contentment to settle for a humble and un-glamourous living was so relatable for me; I really warmed to her, much more so than in the first book. I feel like her characterisation was well thought out and she developed into a more independent woman as the story progressed. Her situation of struggling in a long-distance relationship struck a chord with me and I feel that Giovanna was extremely successful in portraying the realistic ups and downs of this kind of relationship.

The only thing that brought this book down to four stars, for me, was the awful cliché that men and woman can’t be just friends. I didn’t understand what this added to the story. It was unneeded and the book would have been so much better without it. I felt that it was added in superficially to make it more interesting, but it didn’t really work. Luckily, it didn’t really take up too much of the plot and I was still able to really appreciate the novel as a whole.

Giovanna injects pure warmth and love into her writing, you can literally feel it pouring out of the pages as you read. Her stories make you warm and fuzzy inside – especially the descriptions of Rosefont Hill with it’s gorgeous little tea shop and small-town lifestyle. Sophie’s romance with Billy is also super sweet and spine-tingling. He has definitely become one of my favourite fictional heart throbs!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Always With Love. It was heartwarming, funny and sweet. It was a charming story about real life relationships, the struggles of love, and the very important fact that home really is where the heart is.

Book Review – Uprooted by Naomi Novik

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uprooted

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‘Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travellers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years.’

I was unsure about starting this, due to it receiving such mixed reviews; people seemed to either love it or hate it. Luckily, I absolutely loved it. It has to be the most beautiful book I have read this year.

Uprooted tells the tale of a clumsy, plain girl named Angieszka (pronounced Ag-Nyesh-Ka), who lives in a small village on the outskirts of a dark and dangerous wood. The village is protected by a wizard who goes by the name the Dragon. The Dragon lives in a tower close by and protects the village and surrounding areas from the evil, corrupted wood. Once every ten years, he comes to the village and picks one girl to live with him in his tower for ten years. Nobody knows what happens to them whilst they are there, but it ultimately changes them, and they often decide not to return to their families.

Agnieszka worries for her best friend, Kasia, who is the most beautiful girl in the village. Talented, clever and attractive, she has been trained her whole life to expect this moment. She is expected by everyone in the village to be chosen next by the Dragon. Everybody is therefore astonished when clumsy, plain Agnieszka is picked instead.

‘You intolerable lunatic,’ he snarled at me, and then he caught my face between his hands and kissed me.’

Agnieszka is an incredible protagonist – relatable, funny, good natured, kind and strong. Her relationship with the Dragon; their disagreements, stubborn compromises and the journey they travel together are what make this story so special. Their gradual development into something more than friends is very slow going, but in a good way. Novik writes excellent love scenes that literally take your breath away. Their feelings for one another were portrayed subtly, understatedly, yet perfectly seductive, proving just how a good the writing is.

The writing style is magical. The main aspect of the story obviously being, well, magic, I was delighted to find that the prose reflected that in its entirety – it was whimsical, lyrical, unique, and the imagery created was absolutely beautiful.

‘There was a song in this forest, too, but it was a savage song, whispering of madness and tearing and rage.’

The Wood is fantastically nightmarish and creepy, and it plays its part well as the villain of the story. It stands as an ever-present, silent threat, occasionally swallowing villagers, driving people mad, or sending terrible monsters to destroy neighbouring villages. I don’t want to go into this too much as I don’t want to spoil anything. But, this book is so, so worth reading if you love fantasy, fairy tales and stories about magic.

I love fantasy that is based on folklore, and Novik cleverly roots her novel in the mythology of Eastern Europe; the story feels ancient and enticing. Just like reading an old fairy tale, this novel effortlessly recreates the familiar magic of all my childhood favourites – I felt wonderfully at home whilst reading this. You get the magic, the monsters, the wizards and the princes, but never in the way you might quite expect. Novik goes against all expectations, and nothing is as it seems.

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Book Review – The One We Fell in Love With

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Phoebe is caught between a rock and a hard place. Settle down and get married, or return to the French Alps to pursue her passion?

Eliza is in love with someone who is no longer hers. In fact, he probably never was… And her dream of becoming a musician seems to be spiralling down the drain.

Rose is out of a job and out of a boyfriend. To make matters worse, she’s been forced to move back in with her mother…

But these very different girls have one thing in common. Angus. The one they fell in love with…

I am a huge Paige Toon fan, and have been ever since reading her first release, Lucy in the Sky, back in 2007. Her books are often heart-warming, tear-jerking and poignant, and full of lovable and relatable characters. The One We Fell in Love With is no different – it might just be her best book yet.

Gosh, this book was just lovely, lovely, lovely. The story was addictive and easy to read, and I devoured it in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down for anything – I stayed in the same armchair all day, my eyes glued to the pages!

The story arc was perfectly choreographed. In my eyes, it was the most original novel Paige has written so far. It was so intriguing to read about triplets, and I was fascinated from the very first page. It was the first time that Paige has written from multiple viewpoints, and it worked amazingly. Each triplet had very unique personalities and their individual characterisation was extremely well distinguished.

I felt fully invested in the characters – especially Rose. I related to her so much. She is smart, sensible and wary and so much like me, I loved reading about her! Eliza and Phoebe were great too and the way their relationship dynamics were portrayed was clever and thought-provoking.

As usual, some of our favourite Paige Toon characters made an appearance, and it was lovely to have the inclusion of Lucy and Nathan in the end scene! Lucy in the Sky has always been my favourite – and Paige’s scene setting of Australia is always spot-on. She makes you long for the beautiful beaches and balmy weather. I also loved the descriptions of the French Alps and especially Jennifer’s Bakery that Rose works in – Paige never fails in her ability to vividly depict a scene!

This book had me thinking long after I’d turned the last page. I felt it was more emotionally mature than her previous novels, and I loved the family values that are built up and become prominent in the end chapter. The events throughout were emotional, and provoked many tears! I feel that Rose, Eliza and Phoebe’s lives were illustrated perfectly through Paige’s genius writing lens.

The One We Fell in Love With was heart-warming, uplifting, bittersweet, but charmingly happy too. I finished the book, and closed my eyes, just savouring that precious feeling you get after spending several hours lost in the midst of a story. Warmth spread through me as I read it – it was a beautiful story about subtle tragedy, love, and the strength of family.

My 3 Favourite Books About Feminism

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A Room of One's OwnA Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

‘When, however, one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs, or even of a very remarkable man who had a mother, then I think we are on the track of a lost novelist, a suppressed poet, of some mute and inglorious Jane Austen, some Emily Bronte who dashed her brains out on the moor or mopped and mowed about the highways crazed with the torture that her gift had put her to. Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.’

Every single woman should read this. I originally read it whilst studying for my Literature degree, and as a writer myself, it struck a chord and her words have stayed with me, always. It is the essence of Virginia Woolf herself, and I turn to it when I feel rejected, downtrodden, or if I begin to doubt that my work is good enough. This is Woolf’s homage to the spirit of heroines in history who may have written poems, novels, plays, stories, songs and ballads but were forced to remain anonymous as it was unacceptable for women to write. What if Shakespeare had an equally talented sister, but she could never have been as successful as Shakespeare himself because she was a woman, and woman were not allowed to write? She ends the essay by urging women and men to pick up their pen and write, and to banish the limits of gender identity and write with an androgynous mind instead.

the equality illusionThe Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard

Women have made huge strides in equality over the last century. And feminism is now generally considered irrelevant, or old-fashioned, or even embarrassing. But what about the fact that today women working full-time in the UK are paid on average 17% less an hour than men? That one in three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused because of her gender?

This book is a few years old now, but is still one of the best books I’ve read about feminism today and the history of. The statistics and research are solid, and it explores the position of women in the UK in areas such as education, work, domestic violence, body image, sex and abortion rights. It’s entirely relevant and written concisely, cleverly and clearly. It’s a really good read, especially if you’re new to identifying as a feminist. It’s a great starter book and Banyard explains everything from grassroots feminism to current day, and how basically every single area of women’s lives are still affected by casual, deep-seated sexism. It’s the perfect book to get you really thinking about modern day feminism, and makes you realise that sexism is not dead. Banyard describes this idea that sexism no longer exists in our society as the ‘Equality Illusion’. This book is an invaluable feminist manifesto for the women of today.

SIsterhood InterruptedSisterhood Interrupted by Deborah Siegel

Contrary to clichés about the end of feminism, Deborah Siegel argues that younger women are reliving the battles of its past, and reinventing it–with a vengeance. From feminist blogging to the popularity of the WNBA, girl culture is on the rise. A lively and compelling look back at the framing of one of the most contentious social movements of our time, Sisterhood, Interrupted exposes the key issues still at stake, outlining how a twenty-first century feminist can reconcile the personal with the political and combat long-standing inequalities that continue today.

I found this book hugely helpful in sorting out all the confused and conflicting stereotypes I may have absorbed about feminism. It’s a great summary of second and third wave feminism and it gave me the knowledge to confidently explain the history of feminism to those who question the word and what it means. It lays out the history of the movement, covering the important events of the 60’s and 70’s, and continuing to present day. The most important thing I learned from this book is that feminism has never been a single, united force as some believe. It explains the entirety of the issues that have existed within feminism itself – the internal conflict over which fights are worth fighting, the best methods to coerce change, and what feminism actually means. There is no one type of feminism, and it isn’t about one single point of view all women who claim the label ‘feminist’ share. This book really teaches you that there are many different kinds of feminism, and that it’s okay to find your own place within the movement.

Book Review – A Court of Mist and Fury

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‘The power did not belong to the High Lords. Not any longer. It belonged to me – as I belonged only to me, as my future was mine to decide, to forge.’

It’s taken me a few days to think of the right words to describe this book. This enthralling, exciting, enraging and unexpected book with wonderfully authentic character development.

Firstly, I just want to say that a Court of Mist and Fury is SO MUCH BETTER than it’s predecessor. Mostly because Feyre’s characterisation is so outstanding, but also because the story is no longer just about love.

This novel is about self-discovery. It is about Feyre discovering who she is and what she wants. It is about the intrinsic ability that your experiences and adventures have to heal your heart. Through her adventures, she learns to embrace past pain, and learns to become a new, stronger person. She is not the stagnant character that so many similar lovesick heroines are. This time around, her characterisation is stunningly crafted. It makes the first book pale in comparison – it is worth reading if only to get to this stunning sequel.

In a Court of Mist and Fury, Feyre becomes more of the feminist heroine that I love to read. She grows up and realises that she is becoming a different person. And how could she not? I am so happy that Maas stayed true to Feyre’s character. How could she have gone through the events of the previous book and not have changed? And more importantly, how could she ever had stayed in love with Tamlin after the way he treated her? She might have needed him in the first book, when she was indeed a much weaker character who craved any kind of protection he could offer her. But at the beginning of the story, whilst trying to deal with what transpired Under the Mountain, she is emotionally unstable. Rather than helping her to heal, Tamlin ignores her pain like she is a silly little girl who will get over it eventually.

I hated Tamlin almost immediately at the start, which is a surprise since I had liked him in the first book, although his flaws never enabled me to love him. He was too weak, too controlling, and too much of a damn coward all the way through a Court of Thorns and Roses. This only gets worse in the sequel – Tamlin suffocates Feyre. Worse, he ignores her emotional wellbeing like it is something she is just going to snap out of. After reading this, and getting to know Rhysand and all the intricacies of his character, it makes me feel slightly sick to think that I ever liked Tamlin’s character. His and Feyre’s relationship dynamic was extremely shallow, weak and reminded me way too much of Twilight.

I absolutely adore Rhysand’s character. Oh my God, he’s so starry and dark and GLORIOUS. He lets Feyre be who she is meant to be. He sees value in strong women. He never once tries to stifle Feyre’s strength. Rhysand does everything in his power to help her, to heal her, to be her equal, most of which she is oblivious to until close to the end of the book. He keeps the truth of his feelings from her purely so she would be free to make up her own mind; decide the fate of her own heart. Most importantly, Rhysand never ever dismisses Feyre’s emotions to be unimportant.

Can we all just take a minute to appreciate that he made her a High Lady of the Night Court? Equality. That is what I love about Feyre and Rhysand’s relationship. He makes her his equal. He doesn’t lock her away like a delicate doll.

I feel like this stark contrast between the two male characters, and the substantiality of Rhysand’s characterisation when compared to Tamlin’s, is very deliberate. Throughout the entire first book we are never given even a tiny bit as much character building and background to Tamlin as we are for Rhysand. Overall, he is written so much more carefully, solidly and truthfully. You get to know him almost as much as you know Feyre. You learn his fears, his loves, his pain, and you feel them too. In comparison, Tamlin is completely two-dimensional.

Yes Rhysand is out-of-this-world starry, dark, strong, fearless and dangerous, but he is also incredibly selfless, thoughtful and… soft. Not only towards Feyre, but towards everyone he cares for. He sacrifices his entire reputation for his court. He values LOVE above all else, which is intrinsically feminist in my mind.

The slow-building, flirtatious sex that oozes through the book is so much better than the attempted (but not quite there) lust of the first one. It makes your heart stop a beat, your stomach erupt into butterflies, and your mouth drop open. It is cleverly interlaced into the plot, and Maas has learnt to make it more subtle than the shallow and unbelievable desire of the first book.

The romance is perfect because the story no longer revolves purely around it. It is built up by the events that transpire, and develops authentically as Feyre and Rhysand struggle through their own battles, together. It adds an extra dynamic to the story, but overall, they fall in love around everything else that is going on. Perhaps due to everything that is going on. They are common ground. They are one another. There is beautiful, solid substance to their feelings for one another, and you believe it totally.

The new characters are also amazing. They add depth to the story in a way that I don’t feel Lucian, as a secondary character, ever did. They are all extremely memorable and Maas definitely didn’t scrounge on their personal histories, making sure they were extremely interesting in their own right.

Her world-building is another aspect of the story that had me going weak at the knees. As you see the world through Feyre’s eyes, as she discovers her own power, her own importance, and her own place in the world now that Tamlin is no longer locking her away. The imagery of the Night Court and the hidden city within it is so spectacular, and definitely my favourite out of all the Faerie realms. The story arc surrounding Rhysand’s deep love for the court and his desperation to keep it from Amarantha’s destruction is clever, and unexpected. The twist that reveals him as Feyre’s mate is even better, and I loved his retelling of the events of the first book so much that I’ve read them over and over again!

To summarise, I feel that a Court of Mist and Fury was fantastical, seductive, enthralling, beautiful, heart-wrenching and empowering. I devoured it in one sitting, and I can forgive Sarah J Maas for the weak, male-dominated story that made up the first book, if only because it enabled this!

Vintage Charm… The Miniaturist, The Confectioner’s Tale and The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp

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I don’t believe there is any greater joy in the world than reading a book that makes you feel like you have stepped back in time. I love being swept up into the pages of a book that spills with authentic and imaginative vintage charm. The following books all depict different time periods, but they will always be my must-read texts when I want to escape to a world now gone by.

the misinterpretation

The sort-of-sequel to The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (a book pushed upon me perhaps ten years ago by my mum, urging me to read it), The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp is a warm, nostalgic period novel set in the 1960’s. I don’t remember much of The Lost Art, except for the fact that I enjoyed it in the way that you enjoy a hot cup of tea and a couple of digestive biscuits. It warmed you from the inside, and you felt as though you were experiencing the events first hand, wishing desperately that you lived in that time period and were friends with these fantastic characters. In the Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp, Rice excels in her natural ability to set a scene both magically and realistically. The story starts in the rural West Country and follows Tara as she begins a singing career, moving to London, falling in love with a photographer, being shown off at Chelsea parties, even dancing on tables at the Marquee Club on the night of the Stones’ debut… Rice perfectly captures that feeling of being seventeen and having the whole world on your doorstep. She has a real gift for evoking a nostalgia-tinged rural childhood, the quaintness of the first and last county in England in the fifties, and the excitement and pure rock-n-roll lifestyle of London in the swinging sixties.

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This book is so spectacularly vivid and deliciously detailed. Romance laces every word in a way that makes your heart skip a beat, and the imagery just makes you want to run straight off to Paris, visit a Patisserie and eat every single beautiful creation described. The Confectioner’s Tale tells a love story of two kinds. Set at the famous Patisserie Clermont in Paris, 1909, but told eighty years later through the eyes of Padra Stevenson, researching a photograph she found of her grandfather, the words ‘Forgive me’ written on the back. Her discovery leads her to reveal a mysterious, bittersweet and evocative story about two star-crossed lovers. The writing is what makes this book so infinitely special. It is mouth-watering, literally. The romance of the Parisian setting makes your heart burst.

The Miniaturist

The Miniaturist is set in seventeenth century Amsterdam, and tells the story of eighteen year old Nella Oortman who, after an arranged marriage to an illustrious and mysterious merchant trader, comes to the bustling city to begin a new life. Her loneliness and desolation is what struck me hardest, as she is left in the home with her husband’s cold and enigmatic sister. Her life changes when her husband arrives home with a gift – a beautiful cabinet dolls house. She is offended, seeing it as a toy for a child, but resentfully orders custom-made pieces to fill it. Amongst the objects that arrive from the elusive Miniaturist are items such as a tiny scrap of marzipan that makes people sick to the soul, and the miniature betrothal cup that was missing from her wedding. More things begin to arrive for the cabinet house, eerily life-like, and ominously attuned to the things that happen under her roof. This story is all at once horrible, and lonely, but beautiful too. Perfectly polished and mysteriously compelling, The Miniaturist is definitely a tale that takes you out of your own era and right into the heart of a city of hidden opulence and devastating secrets…

Book Review – Dream a Little Dream…

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Dream a little dreamDream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher
Published: June 18th 2015 by Penguin
Genres: Women’s Fiction, ChickLit, Romance, Contemporary
Pages: 400
Source: Goodreads

four stars

Sarah is doing just fine. Sure she’s been single for the last five years, and has to spend an uncomfortable amount of time around her ex-boyfriend, his perfect new girlfriend and all their mutual friends. And yes, her job as a PA to one of the most disgusting men in London is mind-numbingly tedious and her career is a constant disappointment to her mother. But it’s really okay. She’s happy (ish).

But it’s not surprising that when Sarah starts dreaming about a handsome stranger, she begins to look forward to falling asleep every night. Reality isn’t nearly as exciting. That is until her dream-stranger makes an unexpected real-life appearance, leaving Sarah questioning everything she thought she wanted. Because no one ever really finds the person of their dreams… do they?

I LOVED this book! I’ll start by saying that I wasn’t expecting it to be this good. Actually, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be much at all. I really disliked Giovanna’s previous two books, so I was so pleasantly surprised by Dream a Little Dream!

The characters are likeable, relatable, and the whole story was charming, addictive and lovely. The writing style was slightly too long-winded and babbling than I usually enjoy, but it was of a better quality than I expected, and I found that it really didn’t bother me like I thought it would. My love for the protagonist, Sarah, and her story, kept me going and I was so disappointed when it ended. The only negative thing about good books is that they end, hey?

Sarah was a loveable and fantastic protagonist who I warmed to straight away – she was the kind of person I wanted to be friends with! She really grew in strength as the book progressed, and their was a great amount of depth to her character.

I adored the fact that Sarah’s dream man suddenly came into her life. I found myself rooting for her and Real Brett from the get-go! I completely fell in love with him and would love to read anything else Giovanna writes about them as a couple.

Book Review – Grey

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Books-Fifty Shades of Grey

Grey by E. L. James
Published: June 18th 2015 by Vintage
Genres: Romance, Erotica, Adult Fiction
Pages: 576
Source: Goodreads

two stars

In Christian’s own words, and through his thoughts, reflections, and dreams, E L James offers a fresh perspective on the love story that has enthralled millions of readers around the world.

Christian Grey exercises control in all things; his world is neat, disciplined, and utterly empty—until the day that Anastasia Steele falls into his office, in a tangle of shapely limbs and tumbling brown hair. He tries to forget her, but instead is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot comprehend and cannot resist. Unlike any woman he has known before, shy, unworldly Ana seems to see right through him—past the business prodigy and the penthouse lifestyle to Christian’s cold, wounded heart.  

Will being with Ana dispel the horrors of his childhood that haunt Christian every night? Or will his dark sexual desires, his compulsion to control, and the self-loathing that fills his soul drive this girl away and destroy the fragile hope she offers him?

Now, I think we can all agree that as far as novels go, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is extremely poorly written, repetitive, and predictable. However, there is also something about it that has resulted in it being the fastest selling book of all time. (I know, I know, what the hell is wrong with the world?)

Aptly named ‘Mummy porn’ by many, the sex scenes, for a BDSM erotic novel, are extremely dull and don’t actually add anything whatsoever to the story. I think, like a lot of people, I read the books purely to see what all the fuss was about. It wasn’t the sex scenes that made it popular, it was the love story, and mainly, Christian Grey himself.

For some reason, a highly damaged and controlling man (think Edward Cullen et al) is what makes female readers in the dozens tick. I definitely admit that it was the intrigue and the attraction to Christian that kept me reading the trilogy till the end. I don’t always love re-tellings of the same story from a different point of view. But this is Christian Grey.

So, as I said, although I don’t believe the books were well written or original in the slightest, I looked forward to reading the story from Christian’s point of view, because, to me, he was the only character who made the love story slightly interesting. I also held onto some hope that this might add some missing depth to the tale.

The retelling was marginally better than the original, because it delved a little deeper and you got to read about what Christian was doing whilst he was away from Anna. You got to see his love for her developing in a way you didn’t get to in the first novel. You also found a little more out about his past and how it troubles him. The sex scenes were just as boring. They contributed slightly more to the story as you learnt more about how Christian felt about being touched, and you saw a more vulnerable side to him than in Anna’s telling.

I also thought that E. L. James’ writing had improved, if only slightly. It was less repetitive than the original, except for stating that Christian felt ‘ten feet tall’ every several pages. Strange really, because there a millions of other ways I can think of describing that feeling of being, say, on top of the world, even just off the top of my head. I was glad that the phrase ‘my sex’ was only written once, as it seemed to be the only way Anna could describe her vagina in the entire trilogy. It used to make me want to throw the book at the wall.

The Fifty Shades trilogy is an odd phenomena. It definitely earned it’s name of Mummy Porn as it’s entire fanbase seems to be made up of middle-aged women with bored sex lives who have fallen head over heels in love with Christian Grey. His lifestyle is obviously desirable, and I doubt the books would have been successful at all if they hadn’t been set in a multi million dollar penthouse suite in Seattle, with a hero who just wants to spend all his money on timid, undeserving, innocent Anna. Who obviously, is so humble that she won’t accept a single gift. Her life is changed forever through meeting Christian. Helicopter rides, a whole new designer wardrobe, a brand new car, and the chance to be the one woman who can actually fix the damaged man. A lot of women are extremely drawn into that fantasy. I can definitely understand the pull.

However, it is a shame because I feel that James could have used this chance to retell the story as a way of improving the Fifty Shades trilogy. Considering it was from Christian’s point of view, it could have gone much, much deeper than it did. She obviously just does not have the writing talent or ability to do that. I felt that most of the book was very lazily written, and almost identical to the original. Obviously it’s expected that the scenes shared between Christian and Anna would be the same, but it definitely had the potential to be more intricate and detailed than it was. I was naively expecting a much more thorough insight into Christian’s thoughts and emotions than we were given.

So overall, if you can appreciate the Fifty Shades trilogy for what it is: a mediocre, poorly written and repetitive franchise, then I imagine you will adore this novel. If however, you were expecting something far better than the original, or you hated the trilogy to begin with, then do not waste your time with this book.

Book Review – Love Notes For Freddie

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Love Notes For Freddie by Eva Rice
Published: June 4th 2015 by Heron Books
Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 385
Source: Goodreads

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Marnie FitzPatrick is a reclusive sixth-former from Hertfordshire with a dysfunctional family, a penchant for Pythagoras’ Theorem and an addiction to doughnuts and gin. Julie Crewe is a disillusioned maths teacher who lives vicariously through the girls she teaches, yet who once danced barefoot through Central Park with a man called Jo she has never been able to forget.

This is the story of what happened in the summer of 1967, when the sun burned down on the roof of the Shredded Wheat factory, and a boy called Freddie Friday danced to the records he had stolen. This is about first love, and last love, and all the strange stuff in between. This is what happens when three people are bound together by something that can’t be calculated or explained by any equation.

I have read both The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp and absolutely fell in love with Eva Rice’s writing style. Her books are engaging, eccentric, fantastically vintage and spilling with original characters.

As expected, I adored Love Notes For Freddie. It was an engrossing, rich and heart-warming story about new love, the ghost of love, new dreams, and shattered dreams.

The chapters alternated between Marnie’s and Miss Crewe’s point of views. I loved the parallels between the two characters, and the fact that they both loved Freddie, but for different reasons, added an intriguing dynamic to the story. I was glad that we didn’t get to read Freddie’s point of view, as I feel he was essential only as a catalyst for Marnie’s and Miss Crewe’s personal development. Miss Crewe’s fascination with him particularly was magically progressive for the story, as you got to see into her past and how it shaped her into the person she is now.

Eva Rice has a unique narrative style that is gloriously detailed and almost filmic in its vivid description of emotions, people and places. She has the ability to write about a particular era with originality and authenticity, and she makes every moment of her novels feel entirely real. You fall head over heels in love with the characters she creates and are immediately drawn into the world that they live in.

I loved Marnie just as much as Tara and Penelope, but for different reasons. The author writes with an empathy that enables you to understand the character’s feelings and actions, and fill their shoes entirely, even if you do not agree with their decisions. I love how real the story felt. There are too many novels that end with ridiculously predictable endings, and happy endings for the sake of a happy ending, even if the story has to forsake its natural direction.

Eva Rice is not scared to write a story that does not end exactly the way the reader would like it to. Her stories are unpredictable, and this is an amazing thing. She writes books that you wish you could have written yourself. Love Notes For Freddie, I believe, teaches you to make the most of the present, and to not dwell on the past. The ending was important as it let you know that love, however heart-breaking and life-changing it might feel at the time, can end, and you can live past it; that sometimes, you have to let things go, in order for them to blossom.

I absolutely adored this book, just as much as the previous two novels, if not more. Love Notes For Freddie is fantastically vivid, heart-warming, rich and truthful. I loved every second of it, and the only thing I hated about it was that it ended. I can’t wait to see what Eva Rice will write next, because I know it will surpass all my expectations and be just as loveable and brilliantly written as this novel is.

When I Was Nine…

~ fionareads ~ Leave a comment

The year was 2001. I was nine years old, a very shy little girl, and a ridiculously big bookworm. These were just a few of my favourite books that I read and reread to my heart’s content.

Ally's WorldThe Past, The Present, and The Loud, Loud Girl

Meet the Love children: oh-so-perfect Linn, airy-fairy Rowan, animal-obsessed Tor – and Ally, trying to have a normal life somewhere in the middle of it all. Which isn’t easy when you live in a house that’s a cross between an animal hospital and something out of ‘Changing Rooms’. And then there’s school and the small matter of the forgotten history project and the obnoxious new girl that – oh joy! – Ally’s been nominated to look after. It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks…

This is the first in the wildly successful, utterly loveable “Ally’s World” series.

I remember reading the Ally’s World series when I was around nine years old and they were hilarious. A really quick, funny and easy read for young readers! I remember McCombie using a lot of colloquial language which only made it funnier and more realistic. I absolutely loved the whole series, and read it over and over again. It was so relatable and laugh out loud hilarious. Ally’s family are quirky, troubled and eccentric and just suck you in. I would definitely recommend it to any pre-teens that enjoy a good read. The protagonist Ally is an awkward teenager, trying to find where she fits in with her family and the world,and to deal with the ups and downs of growing up. I would love to read it again now to see whether it is as perfect as I remember!

Bad GirlsBad Girls

Shy, mild Mandy has been bullied at school for as long as she can remember. That’s why she is delighted when cheeky, daring, full-of-fun Tanya picks her as a friend.

Mum isn’t happy – she thinks Tanya’s a BAD GIRL and a bad influence on her daughter. But Mandy loves spending time with her brilliant new friend, and is sure Tanya can only get her out of trouble, not into it . . . or could she? 

 Now I still own my original copy of this book, and it is falling away from the spine it has been read so much. I remember literally just finishing it and starting over again from the beginning, straight away! It was my favourite Jacqueline Wilson book for many, many years. I remember identifying with Mandy hugely, as I was always the shy, timid and sensible one in every situation. I think there are lots of valuable lessons to be learnt from it with regards to growing up, finding yourself, and how to deal with bullies and the feeling of isolation that many young people can face.

Danny Champion of the WorldDanny Champion of the World

Danny’s life seems perfect: his home is a gypsy caravan, he’s the youngest car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. And when Danny discovers his father’s secret, he’s off on the adventure of a lifetime. Here’s Roald Dahl’s famous story about a 9-year-old boy, his dad, and a daring and hilarious pheasant-snatching expedition. Just as important, it’s the story of the love between a boy and his father who, in Danny’s own words, is “the most marvelous and exciting father a boy ever had.”

This was a family bedtime favourite! My mum used to read this to me and my brothers every single night before bed, and we even had it on a tape that we used to listen to as we were drifting off to sleep. Remembering the story gives me such fond memories. It has a humour and lightness of spirit to it, like Roald Dahl’s other books, but it is also more serious, and has a very nostalgic, homely feel. Danny’s father is a fantastic, fantastic character and when Danny calls him the best father in the world, you  agree with him. It is a very heartwarming story that I think any child would love, and it remains my favourite Roald Dahl book to this day.

HeidiHeidi

What happens when a little orphan girl is forced to live with her cold and frightening grandfather? The heartwarming answer has engaged children for more than a century, both on the page and on the screen. Johanna Spyri’s beloved story offers youngsters an endearing and intelligent heroine, a cast of unique and memorable characters, and a fascinating portrait of a small Alpine village.

My Nanny gave me a copy of this book at Christmas, 1999. She wrote in the inside cover: ‘I hope you have as many hours of enjoyment from reading Heidi as I did when I was young. I read it at least ten times!’ I then proceeded to read it at least ten times! It is my ultimate favourite childhood book and I seem to love it more and more every time I read it. Even now, as an adult, I can appreciate how lovely it is. It transports me to a world of purple mountains peaks, jumping goats, a bed made of hay, and windows that pile up with snow during the winter. It is so precious. The scenery is vivid, the story full of truth, and Heidi herself is a feisty, strong and independent spirit who I remember completely idolizing as a little girl.

Prisoner of AzkabanHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter, along with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry can’t wait to get back to school after the summer holidays. (Who wouldn’t if they lived with the horrible Dursleys?) But when Harry gets to Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There’s an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school…

This is an obvious one. I read Harry Potter from the age of seven, all through my childhood years, and now, as an adult, I continue to read it just as much. I still find new things in it that I missed the first ten times round! Prisoner of Azkaban has always, always been my favourite Potter. In 2001, Goblet of Fire had just been released the previous year, but I still reread this particular book like it was about to disappear. I actually visibly remember reading it whilst walking, maybe through a park or down the street, and my mum telling me off because it was a hazard! I think that tells you how much I adored it. I can quote whole passages off by heart. It was, and remains to be, my favourite out of the whole series, although even now, I couldn’t really tell you why.

As J.K. Rowling said, ‘I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.’

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