Fault in Our Stars by John Green

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book."

Warning: You will cry when you read this book.

Hazel is a sixteen year old terminally ill cancer suffer, who has to carry an oxygen tank everywhere she goes, she is depressed, she is dying. Hazel meets Augustus Walters at her cancer support group, he is charming, handsome and has lost his leg due to cancer. Augustus or 'Gus' wants to make a lasting impression in life, he wants to be heroic. 

This is not a book about cancer, the fact that these characters have cancer is just a small part of who they are, its a book about life shown with brutal honesty that only those that know how precious time is can give.

I absolutely loved this book even if it made me an emotional wreck, I cried continuously through the final few chapters and longer after it finished.

Hazel and Gus relationship is played out beautifully, she is scared of getting to close to him because she doesn't want to leave any more casualties behind after she dies. Hazel was my favourite character from this book, she was realistic about her life, she'd come close to dying before and she knew that she wouldn't get a miracle, nothing was going to save her from the cancer that was ravaging her body. She was strong and funny and above all else she was relatable. Even though at the beginning Gus seemed arrogant and head-strong he was far from it, his favourite book was a retelling of his favourite video game, he was funny and smart and would move heaven and hell just to make Hazel smile. 

I don't want to talk about how amazing John Greens writing is, you'll know that yourself from the first chapter. He sucks you in and doesn't let go. He creates a world that should be dark and depressing but instead is filled with laughter and happiness. Its a beautiful story that's both heart-warming and heartbreaking and the characters will stay with you long after you finish reading.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and The Bookish.

Today's topic is Top Ten Romantic couples, with valentines just around the corner, what a perfect topic for this weeks discussion. I've never really considered myself a reader of Romance novels until I realised how many of the books I read have a romance plot withing them, whether that be a subplot or the main story line. I enjoyed looking back over all the books I've read and reliving those romantic experiences, I've laughed and cried with these realtionships and had my heartbroken many a time.

1. Romeo and Juliet 

2. Shane and Claire from the Morganville vampires

3. Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Predjuice

4. Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter

5. Gus and Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars

6. Jane and Rochester from Jane Eyre

7. Daniel and Luce from Fallen

8. Elena and Clay from The Woman of the Otherworld Series

9. Clary and Jace from the Mortal Instruments series

10. Will and Tessa from The Infernal Devices

The Mage in Black by Jaye Wells

“Wait,” he said, pulling me to a stop when I tried to march off toward my destiny. “Is there something you want to tell me?” I looked at him, trying to think of anything I’d done recently that I needed to admit to. When nothing came to mind other than the usual, I shook my head. “Not really. Why?” He reached out and touched my leather jacket. “Is that a bullet hole?” Freaking great.” 

The second book in the Sabina Kane series, after Sabina was betrayed by her Grandmother, she left LA and headed to New York to meet her sister, who has been bought up by the mages.

I love this series, its entertaining and funny, Sabina may not be your typical heroine, she is stubborn and has one hell of an attitude problem but I think that's what makes me like her even more. 

Its packed full of action, laugh out load moments but not a whole lot of romance. It was nice to see Sabina get to know her sister a little bit more and towards the end even her hard vampire exterior was softening and her relationship with her mage mentor was fun, Rhea definitely doesn't go easy on her, Sabina has a lot to catch up on and a destiny to fulfil and not a lot of time to do it.

Adam isn't in this book too much and so we don't get to see their relationship deepen but I liked this, I think it allowed Sabina's character to develop, which she needed to do, she had a massive bomb dropped on her in the last book and we needed to see her deal with that.

It ended on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to start the next one. If you like your heroines strong and feisty  than this series is definitely for you.

Top Ten Tuesday

I've seen the Top Ten Tuesday meme ran by the Broke and the Bookish but I've never had the courage to do it until this week.

This weeks is Top Ten Best Bookish Memories (waiting in line for a new release, meeting an author, or some sort of great experience with a particular book that was unlike others).

Finding Harry Potter. My grandparents had bought my brother Harry Potter for Christmas, not long after it came out and considering he wasn't really into reading I took them and decided to read them for myself. It was the first time a book had truly transported me into another world, I was addicted to these characters and they became the defining point of my childhood. I remember waiting each year until the next one would come out and devouring the second I got it. I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermoine. Rowling ignited my passion for reading supernatural and paranormal books and I'm so glad she did.

Sylvia Plath. The first time I was introduced to Sylvia Plath was when I was studying for my A-levels, I had to write an essay comparing her poetry to her novel The Bell Jar. From the first page I fell in love with her, her writing spoke to me in a way no one else had before, I was suffering badly with depression at the time and reading the Bell Jar really helped me understand what it was and why I felt the way I did. I make sure I re-read this every year and it will allows hold a special place in my heart.

Getting my job, let me explain, I work in a bookstore, I spend my days talking about books and being able to recommend books to people. I especially love recommending things people wouldn't normally have thought to pick up. Also its been a great place to meet some amazing people who also share my passion for reading and are constantly giving me new books to read that are out of my comfort zone.

Sharing books with my mum. The first books I remember reading by myself were Enid Blyton's famous five and secret seven and the Nancy Drew series, these were books my mum had given me to read as she had read them herself when she was younger, I absolutely loved them, they made me want to be a detective and solve crimes (I quickly grew out of that).

Finding those books that change your life. The moment you're reading a book and you realise you are falling in love with it, the characters, the setting, everything just seems perfect to you, you realise that the book is life changing and can't stop telling everyone you know that they "just have to read it". This recently happened to me when I read John Green's Fault in our Stars, I laughed, I cried and I still find myself thinking about the characters from time to time and have basically forced everyone I know to read it.

Finding Alice in Wonderland. When I was younger I had a book of poetry, that had a short excerpt from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this was my first introduction to the wonderful world of Alice and has had me captivated ever since, I'm obsessed with anything Alice and every time I see a new edition I need to have it.

Starting my blog. I've only had my blog for two months now but I love it, sharing my thoughts and feeling about books is what I love to do and its great having a place I can do that.

Connecting with people over books. I remember when the twilight books had come out and me and my friend in work were both reading them, everyday we worked together we would get so excited over what was happening we had many "oh my god, I can't believe that happened moments" and in-depth discussions over Edward and Jacob, even though I'm not a massive fan of the twilight books any more, those memories will always stick with me.

January Round-up

I didn't really get the chance to review everthing I read in January but still here is a round-up of what I did manage:

• Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
• The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Jurassic Park by Michael Critchon
• Red-headed step child by Jaye Wells
• Stray by Rachel Vincent
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
• Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill
• Friday Nights Bite by Chloe Neill
• The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
• Slaughterhouse five by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Reckoning by Kelley Armtrong

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

“You were just worried about me." 
An exhale, relieved that I had understood. "Yeah"
I turned. "Because you think I'm worth it"
He put his fingers under my chin. "I absolutely think your worth it."
"But you don't think you are."
His mouth opened. Shut.
"That's what this is about, Derek. You won't let us worry about you because you don't think you're worth it. But I do. I absolutely do.” 


The third and final instalment of the darkest powers series picks up exactly where the second book left off, Chloe and the gang have arrived at the safe house and are planning how they can rescue the people that the Edison group still hold captive.

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Armstrong makes books that are easy to read and plots that you just get lost in. With many twists and turns and not knowing who you can trust, Chloe once again learns the hard way that not everyone is who they seem.

Chloe has really grown on me during the course of these books, at first she was a little too moany and too trusting of everyone she met (the problems of a sheltered upbringing) but now she doesn't run to the nearest adult for help, she learns to trust her own instincts. She also isn't the typical heroine we see so much of, she didn't wake up one day and have automatic control over her powers, even at the end of the book she is still struggling to come to terms with how strong she is, she doesn't run head first into every situation and knows that sometimes other people are better at handling them and maybe she is better just stepping aside.

I don't want to spoil the actual plot of the books, just that you'll find a lot more run/chase/fight/hide sequences in this book, but isn't that why we love reading them, Armstrong makes sure they are full of action and suspense that their is never a dull moment.

One little spoiler but I'm sure you all saw it coming a mile off, I know I did but Chloe and Derek finally admit they have feelings for each other. I love the dynamics of their relationship they both are able to call each other out when one makes a mistake and they've both grown and evolved as characters as a result.

Once again Armstrong creates a book with wonderful characters and an elaborate 'who done it' plot. I'm glad she left the ending open and I hope we get a chance to revisit these characters soon.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt"

"And so it goes...."

I've been sitting here for a while now trying to figure out why I loved this book so much. Its one that has been sitting on my shelf for a while now and I've been told by countless people that "I just had to read it". Now while I don't have the same finesse with words that Vonnegut does I'm going to try and put in to words why you should read this book.

Slaughterhouse Five is the story of Billy Pilgrim who survived the bombing in Dresden and then went on to survive a plane crash but non of this was new to Billy, he knows how his life will turn out due to the fact that he can time travel and so the book jumps through different parts of Billy's life as he time travels. Oh and he also gets kidnapped by some Aliens, who show him that there is no free-will. Your life is already planned out for who, as they say it is only us 'earthlings' who believe in free-will.

Now I know from that brief description it sounds like a science fiction novel, but its far from that, an anti-war novel that contains fiction mixed with fact. Vonnegut's writing is witty and sarcastic and had me laughing out load at moments that shouldn't be funny. He treads a fine line between disgustingly horrific (having to burn the bodies of the dead because the smell is so bad) and humorously entertaining. The scenes in Dresden where breathtakingly sad, as was Billy's life, he marries a woman he doesn't really like, Billy isn't a strong character, he is weak and unable to stand up for himself and he ends up walking through life never really striving to be more because he knows how it all ends.

I suppose one thing we can learn from Billy is not to wish that we knew how everything will turn out and to never become complacent with our lives. Things may not go as planned but we should enjoy the many ups and downs that life brings.

My review has definitely not done this book justice, its easy to read but hard to understand. It will probably take me a few reads of this to make sure I get everything from it. So it goes.