Recently Read #5

So this year I set myself the target of reading thirty five books. While only five more than last year and a tiny number compared to a lot of people I follow, I thought this would be a little bit out of my range. However it's currently the first of February and I've read six out of thirty five already! Of course when I go back to University it'll be harder to keep up, and a few of these are rereads of my favourite children's books, but I still have full confidence so far that I'll reach my target.

Love Lessons by Jacqueline Wilson
"Fourteen-year-old Prue and her sister Grace have been educated at home by their controlling, super-strict father all their lives. Forced to wear Mum's odd hand-made garments and forbidden from reading teenage magazines, they know they're very different to 'normal' girls"
I used to love this book, it was my second favourite Jacqueline Wilson book as a child but rereading it now my gosh it's annoying as hell. This fourteen year old is trying to get it on with her twenty eight year old teacher, this isn't entertainment, it's so wrong. I guess as a kid I didn't really think too much about the ages just 'awh cute the socially awkward kid found love!' Some books aren't meant for rereading, it's kind of ruined my perception and love for the book...
3/10

It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
"Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life - which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself."
Similar to All The Bright Places this one was a crowd favourite, literally all the book blogger/vlogger people were talking about how great it was and I just wasn't really feeling it. I enjoyed it but again not as much as I thought I would with all the raving. I did prefer it over All The Bright Places and once I got past the start I really did enjoy it. For a start Craig has a much broader personality, not a personalised problem, he was much more of a relatable character. Even though I'm not one to smoke weed all the time (or at all) I totally related to his goal to get into this fancy school and worked super hard only once achieved he didn't know what to do with his life and spare time. If you can't get into it just give it chance I bet once you hit about part three you'll race through it!
7/10

The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares
"During their first summer apart, four teenage girls, best friends since earliest childhood, stay in touch through a pair of secondhand jeans that magically adapts to each of their figures and affects their attitudes to their different summer experiences."
This was another one of my childhood book rereads, well what I thought was a reread. I'm sure most girls have read this at one point in their childhood and I thought I was one of them but turns out I wasn't. This was actually the first time I'd read this book before even though the movie was one of my favourites for years and I actually prefer the movie so much more. Maybe reading this as a child it would've been so much better but I just felt the book characters had such dominant bad characteristics and nothing else whereas the movie characters were much more well rounded and relatable. Might just be me, still enjoyed it though, just wouldn't reread.
6/10

A Darker Shade Of Magic by V.E. Schwab
"Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit. Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne."
This was seriously a fantastic book! It's one of those few books where I feel like it definitely needs a movie and I don't think it would turn out rubbish. I won't lie I love magic but most adult magic books seem to have too much fighting in them for me, like I don't mind the amount in Harry Potter for example, but this one was actually nice to read. I cant really say too much without giving a lot of spoilers but I loved the whole idea of the three Londons, once I got my head around how they worked that was. I feel like I'd be living in grey London unfortunately, if you've read it how do you feel you'd fit in? Really excited for the sequel out this month, totally recommend this if you haven't already read it!
9.5/10

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
"I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe."
I'm so excited for the TV series of this to come out on Netflix this year! I was really disappointed they never made another movie so the news of a TV series just excites me so much. I thought in preparation for the series to come out I'd relive the stories of the Baudelaire children, the depressing annoying lives of the Baudelaire children. I remember reading these for the first time when I was around nine or ten, I'd borrow one after the other from my best friend who owned them all. I probably won't finish them all as the stories are quite similar but who knows, I never managed to read numbers 11 and 12 as a kid so I may try and read them this time. They're easy books to read so if you haven't read any before I recommend reading the first couple or all of them if you have time.
5/10

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure *
"Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love."
The blurby description is all wrong, it focuses more on the crush on her best friends brother and less on the actual story and the actual story is so much better. You could cut out the lovey dovey stuff and the story would pretty much be the same and just as good. This book is totally different to all those on the market at the moment, see above, and I enjoyed it so much I finished it in a day. Lucille's parents have gone and until she turns 18 at the end of the year she needs to secretly keep the household going without social services get involved, as an unemployed teen that's pretty hard. It's pretty easy to guess the storyline apart from one big twist near the end which surprised the hell out of me, I had to go back and reread it to check I read it right. I wouldn't say it was a life changing book but for one of those young adult books it's worth reading.
8/10

* I received this book for reviewing purposes, however, all views are my own.