Mini Book Reviews #2: Songs About A Girl by Chris Russell, Forever by Judy Blume and Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
*I have received these books from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own *
Title: Songs About A Girl
Author: Chris Russell
Publisher: Bkmrk
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
(Goodreads|Amazon)
Book Review:
Songs About A Girl was one of the books that I read and love from last year and was one that I would recommend to anyone who listens.
Songs About A Girl follows Charlie who is a photographer but accidentally gets to photograph the popular band, Fire and Lights, a massive boyband with one of the members, Olly going to her school. This was something that I loved reading about as it was interesting especially seeing the relationship between Charlie and her friend as she was a massive fan of the band in question.
The novel itself is quite topical and relevant dealing with a popular boy band as well as online bullying and trolling which occur online today. It is often rare that you see this done in a book so seeing this in books, in general, is great but seeing it done well is a bonus.
The band itself is great and I love all of their personalities in the book as they do bounce off each other but I do kind of prefer Yuki and I can't see where they go in the second book.
The Verdict:
Songs About A Girl is a great read that deals with band culture and online bullying and is a must read for anyone who loves a popular boy band.
Title: Our Chemical Hearts
Author: Krystal Sutherland
Publisher: HotKey Books
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
(Goodreads|Amazon)
Book Review:
When I heard the premise of Our Chemical Hearts I was really excited as it sounded like something right up my street and would be something that I love, however, this was not the case. Our Chemical Hearts is a well-written book but is quite familiar with the sea of YA.
Our Chemical Hearts is a difficult book to review because although I enjoyed much of this book it was quite familiar especially the ending of the book which was similar to something that I have already read so this let the book down for me.
Saying this, however, I really remember enjoying the characters for the majority of the book although I do tend to dislike the manic pixie dream girl trope which this book does have, the relationship between the main protagonist and his friends were nice. I also really did enjoy the writing of the book and I am a sucker for any contemporary book that puts pop culture references in it which is one does have.
The Verdict:
Our Chemical Hearts is a YA contemporary that might capture your hearts but didn't win mine.
Title: Forever
Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: MyKindaBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
(Goodreads|Amazon)
Book Review:
Forever is a book well-known by many people as it is an honest look at sex in YA something that still does not happen today and was taboo and banned when published in the 1970s. It is this that is quite shocking as Forever is a short book but has an honest message that shines through.
In a time when YA offer still glosses over this topic, this book was a shock for me because it is real and does depict sex in this honest way. It is, therefore, an honest and short book that everyone should read once. I did have some problems with it in terms of characters and such but this does not take away from how important this is.
The Verdict:
Forever is a YA novel that is completely honest and stands the test of time, being as relevant today as it was in the 1970s.
Author: Chris Russell
Publisher: Bkmrk
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
(Goodreads|Amazon)
Book Review:
Songs About A Girl was one of the books that I read and love from last year and was one that I would recommend to anyone who listens.
Songs About A Girl follows Charlie who is a photographer but accidentally gets to photograph the popular band, Fire and Lights, a massive boyband with one of the members, Olly going to her school. This was something that I loved reading about as it was interesting especially seeing the relationship between Charlie and her friend as she was a massive fan of the band in question.
The novel itself is quite topical and relevant dealing with a popular boy band as well as online bullying and trolling which occur online today. It is often rare that you see this done in a book so seeing this in books, in general, is great but seeing it done well is a bonus.
The band itself is great and I love all of their personalities in the book as they do bounce off each other but I do kind of prefer Yuki and I can't see where they go in the second book.
The Verdict:
Songs About A Girl is a great read that deals with band culture and online bullying and is a must read for anyone who loves a popular boy band.
Author: Krystal Sutherland
Publisher: HotKey Books
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
(Goodreads|Amazon)
Book Review:
When I heard the premise of Our Chemical Hearts I was really excited as it sounded like something right up my street and would be something that I love, however, this was not the case. Our Chemical Hearts is a well-written book but is quite familiar with the sea of YA.
Our Chemical Hearts is a difficult book to review because although I enjoyed much of this book it was quite familiar especially the ending of the book which was similar to something that I have already read so this let the book down for me.
Saying this, however, I really remember enjoying the characters for the majority of the book although I do tend to dislike the manic pixie dream girl trope which this book does have, the relationship between the main protagonist and his friends were nice. I also really did enjoy the writing of the book and I am a sucker for any contemporary book that puts pop culture references in it which is one does have.
The Verdict:
Our Chemical Hearts is a YA contemporary that might capture your hearts but didn't win mine.
Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: MyKindaBook
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
(Goodreads|Amazon)
Book Review:
Forever is a book well-known by many people as it is an honest look at sex in YA something that still does not happen today and was taboo and banned when published in the 1970s. It is this that is quite shocking as Forever is a short book but has an honest message that shines through.
In a time when YA offer still glosses over this topic, this book was a shock for me because it is real and does depict sex in this honest way. It is, therefore, an honest and short book that everyone should read once. I did have some problems with it in terms of characters and such but this does not take away from how important this is.
The Verdict:
Forever is a YA novel that is completely honest and stands the test of time, being as relevant today as it was in the 1970s.
Comments