Recent Reads // Mini Reviews

I've read a few books recently but upon finishing them I've found that I haven't really known what to make of them or how to articulate my jumbled thoughts. It's not that I didn't like them (I read each in a single sitting), but I was left not really having any residual feelings that I could put into a full review. So instead, I've written up a few comments about each.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Release Date: 6 January 2015

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Goodreads Link

Comments:

What can I say about Violet and Finch? Their story was lovely but oh-so heartbreaking.

I like that mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, is written with such honesty because I get so frustrated when mental illness is not seen as legitimate – just because they doesn’t manifest physically does not mean they are not real or any less deadly than those that you can see. But my god, All the Bright Places reached into my chest, squeezed my heart and wrenched it out.

I loved Violet's creativity and her online magazine ideas (which can now actually be found online) and I loved that Finch's character wasn’t a cliché. His zest for life was so catchy and joyful but seriously heartbreaking when you think of how low he must go to be the total opposite of it with his bipolar.

WARNING: You will need tissues. Lots of them.

"The problem with people is they forget that most of the time, it's the small things that count" 

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Release Date: 16th September 2015

My Rating: - 

Blurb: Goodreads Link

Comments:

I don’t really know what to say about Dumplin’. Maybe it’s a little too close for comfort with my own insecurities but really, for me, it just didn’t hit the mark.

I agree that Willowdean's appearance is no one’s business but her own and that no one has a right to judge her on her looks. However, for all her outspoken rants and not caring what anyone else thinks, she herself isn’t actually happy or comfortable in her own skin. So the way I viewed the story was that all the focus on being body-positive throughout the book was totally undone at the end.

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Release Date: 4th August 2015

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Goodreads Link

Comments:

Never Always Sometimes was a light, fun read which I’m sure many people will be able to relate to – I’m pretty sure everyone has fallen for a friend at one point or another!

It’s a lesson in life, love and friendship, and learning some things are meant to be and others are not. There are different kinds of love in this world, none more or less valid than the other.

I really enjoyed reading what Dave and Julia got up to each time they crossed something off their list and seeing how they evolved as they stepped outside their comfort zones. In particular I loved Julia’s erotic math’s poem and the absolutely amazing tree house.

Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

Release Date: 26th May 2015

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Goodreads Link

Comments:

Nowhere But Here is a quick, easy read. It didn’t bowl me over like Pushing the Limits but I still really enjoyed it. It fulfilled all my guilty pleasure expectations and there is nothing wrong with liking those!

I was satisfied to know I was correct at guessing the twist/secret quite early on and even though it wasn’t revealed until the end, it didn’t ruin my reading experience as I was occupied with everything else going on with Oz and Emily. I liked the importance placed on family and loyalty in all it’s forms, and that Emily learnt to understand what it meant to her extended family as she got to know them.

I loved the relationship between Oz and Emily. Both characters were on an even playing field, each bringing something different to the dynamic between them. And they had some seriously steamy make-out scenes between them - Katie McGarry sure knows how to write those! Everyone loves a bad-boy with a motorbike, especially one who recognises he’s fallen for a girl and proves that just because he looks rough and dangerous, doesn’t mean that’s all there is to him.

Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

Title: Wild Awake

Author: Hilary T. Smith

Release Date: 1st October 2013

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:

1. You will remember to water the azaleas.
2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.
3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong.
4. You and your best friend/bandmate Lukas will win Battle of the Bands.
5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams.

Things that actually happen:

1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.
2. He says he has her stuff.
3. What stuff? Her stuff.
4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—
5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—
6. You pick up a pen.
7. You scribble down the address.
8. You get on your bike and go.
9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that.*
*also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas.

Both exhilarating and wrenching, Hilary T. Smith’s debut novel captures the messy glory of being alive, as seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd discovers love, loss, chaos, and murder woven into a summer of music, madness, piercing heartbreak, and intoxicating joy.

In A Nutshell:
Intense, chaotic, messy and impulsive. For the most part, I loved Wild Awake. However I did have a couple of issues with it.

My Review:

I’m not quite sure how to review Wild Awake. It’s intense and chaotic, messy and impulsive, which is generally how you could describe ‘life’. For the most part, I adored Wild Awake, but it is also because of these things that I have issues with it.

Kiri and Skunk are both looking for answers in their own way. Both are trying to stay afloat in a world that likes labels and hiding truths. It’s a story about love, about trying to find beauty and purpose in life, and opening your eyes to experience everything that it has to offer.

Usually an exceptionally responsible seventeen year-old, Kiri’s parents have decided to leave her home alone while they celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on a cruise. Kiri plans to spend her time practising piano, all day, every day. However, her plans go a little array when she receives a phone call from a strange man claiming to have some of her dead sister’s things. On a mission to reclaim these items, Kiri discovers that the ‘truth’ her parents told her about Sukey’s death, is actually a lie. And so begins Kiri’s search for answers.

What Kiri learns is something she struggles to comprehend and match with the memories she has of Sukey. Kiri goes more than a little ‘off the rails’ and it is here that my love for the novel lessens a bit. Kiri’s behaviour becomes quite drastic and she starts obsessing over everything, doing nothing in moderation and everything in excess. From her piano practice to her drug taking, everything is enhanced and done to within an inch of her life, literally. This is where I find it difficult to really accept the novel. In real life, Kiri would be dead from what she puts her body through. And while I love Kiri’s relationship with Skunk and how his mental illness is handled throughout the book, at the same time, Kiri’s erratic behaviour continues to get worse but she doesn’t really face any of the consequences of what could happen from putting herself in certain situations. I’m not fond of putting age recommendations on books but in this case I would recommend it for older readers (15+) purely for the maturity levels needed to process some of the dangerous situations Kiri puts herself in.

So, like I said, I have mixed feelings. While I love what the novel is about, and the beautiful relationship between Kiri and Skunk, I really wish there was a wake-up call or something for Kiri’s behaviour, at least more than the little we are offered in the second last chapter.

I’d like to leave you now with a link to Reynje’s review over at Wordchasing because I think it beautifully sums up Wild Awake, far better than I ever could, but I also think it is one of the best reviews I have ever read, for anything. 

"There are no mistakes, I realize – just detours whose significance only become clear when you see the whole picture at once."