December 2015 Wrap Up

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's time for my last wrap up of the year!!! Where has this year gone? It's flown by. But it's been a fabulous year for reading that's for sure. Anyway, it's time for my December Wrap Up. Lets get started!!!

The first book I read in December was:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I've enjoyed reading more classics this year however this one was super confusing. The family tree published in this edition helped a lot though and a really liked Nelly Dean, the housekeeper. I gave this book 3* on Goodreads.

The next book I read was:

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

This was a reread for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it all over again. It is the novella to Giovanna's debut novel, Billy and Me. I love all of the characters and with all of the Christmassy elements, its the perfect book to read in December. I gave this book 5* on Goodreads.

The third book I read this month was:

Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

This is the novella to Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher and I really enjoyed this story as well. I love the characters in this book just like in Billy and Me and Christmas With Billy and Me. However I found that there wasn't as many Christmassy elements in this book other than it being set around Christmas time. I loved everything else about the book though and gave it 4* on Goodreads.

The next book I read was:

Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams

This was the 3rd volume in the Fairest graphic novel series and once again I really enjoyed this instalment. It was action packed and I never got bored. There was elements of a few different fairytale characters including Aladdin and Jasmine which was fantastic as I love everything Fairytale. I gave this book 4* on Goodreads.

The fifth book I read this month was:

Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko

This was the 4th instalment in the Fairest graphic novel series and was based around Cinderella and the fact she is a secret agent. I love this twist to Cinderella and the characters she meets along the way including Snow White are great. Again this volume was action packed and I'm looking forward to reading the next volume. I gave this 4* on Goodreads.

And the final book I read in the month of December was:

Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

This was the tales of Roald Dahl's childhood and what he got up to in his school days. We also find out little bits about his family and the adventures they all went on. I really enjoyed reading this and if you enjoy Roald Dahl's fiction books then I'm sure you would enjoy this as well. I gave this book 4* on Goodreads.

So that is it for my December Wrap Up and the last wrap up of the year!!! But it's time to announce my Favourite December Read. And the winner is.....

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher!!!

This book just gave me all of the Christmassy feels and this is a book I could read every Christmas.

So that is it for this year!!! Feel free to leave in the comments the books you've been loving this month and I'll speak to you all in 2016!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished my final book of the year!!! I can tell you I have read 60 books this year!!! That's including graphic novels and novellas. I'm so happy with that number and I plan on at least matching that next year. But for now, it's time for me to tell you about Boy. Tale of Childhood by Roald Dahl.

This book tells us lots of stories from Roald Dahl's childhood, from his school days and about his family and friends, as well as the mischief he got up to. Some of these stories include his prank on the sweet shop lady, his holiday's to Norway to see the rest of his family, and his time spent at boarding school and his stories from his time there.

This book made me laugh so much. Roald Dahl never fails to make you smile in his fiction books and he certainly hasn't failed in this book either. I really enjoyed finding out about what he got up to and what his school day were like.

I loved finding out about some of the people he met during his childhood, some funny, some nasty, some hilarious!!! Some of his teachers sound terrifying!!! I wouldn't have liked to be in school in those day that's for sure!!!

I also really loved the way Roald Dahl introduced his family, even before he was born. We found out about how his mother and father met and how his father had to get his arm amputated after a doctor turned up drunk and thought his injury was something it wasn't and made it ten times worse.

The different places we learn about and Roald Dahl's experiences after his school days are very interesting and it was nice at the end of the book to see what he got up to after his school days including a lot of travelling.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves reading Roald Dahl fiction as he has has such a fantastic childhood with so many stories to tell. This book is suitable for any age to read and will not fail to make you laugh and smile.

Rating /5

4

If you've read this book then let me know in the comments what you thought about it and if you have any recommendations then feel free to leave those in the comments as well.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I haven't had chance to update you on what I'm currently reading and that is Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. I started this yesterday on the train to my boyfriends and then read a little more this morning. I don't have much left to read so I will definitely finish it today and update you later with my review.

This book tells lots of stories about Roald Dahl's childhood during his school years and about his family. That's all I'm going to say for now and I'll give you lots more info in my review.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko and I really enjoyed although the ending confused me so I had to find out more about that online. But more about that later!!!

In the novel we follow the story of Cinderella. She is a secret agent and called back to solve the mystery of the attacks on Snow White by human-rodent hybrids. She finds that some of the reasons as to why they are attacking relate back to the night of the ball her Fairy Godmother sent her to.

Cinderella goes on a mission to find out why they are attacking and who is behind the whole assassination attempts on Snow White. As the mystery begins to come to a close, Cinderella thinks she has worked out who the main villain causing these attacks is. But has she got the right person?

This was a super good read all the way through, with fantastic action scenes and a great set of characters. I loved Cinderella and I think the whole characterisation of her being a secret agent is just fantastic. I loved that straight away in the Fairest stand alone graphic novel, Fairest in all the Land.

I also quite liked Snow White's character which surprised me a bit as Snow White is my least favourite princess. However, I thought she was a good character and worked well alongside Cinderella.

The artwork throughout this book was stunning. I had a quick look through before I started reading and it looked fabulous then. But when I got a proper look at it all as I was reading through it, I fell in love with it even more. I think this has to be one of my favourite graphic novels in this series for the artwork as I found it so fantastic.

The only thing I found a little annoying is that at the end of the novel, I was unsure of who the character was that was meant to be the main villain causing the attacks. I haven't read the Fables series yet but from reading all of the previous novels in the Fairest series, there doesn't seem to be any reason as to why you can't read the Fairest graphic novels first. However, I had to search who this character was as nothing was mentioned about her until right at the end but she was obviously introduced in the Fables series. Now knowing who she is, I'm not sure I like that she was the main villain in this story. But that could just be because I don't feel like I know enough about her yet.

Rating/5

4

If you've read any of the Fairest graphic novels, let me know in the comments what you thought of them and I'll speak to you all very soon!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've decided to carry one with the Fairest graffic novel series as I have the next one on my shelf and it's called Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko. I'm super excited to read this one as Cinderella is the main character and we first met her in the stand alone Fairest graffic novel, Fairest in all the Land where we find out she is a secret agent.

From what I gather from the synopsis of this story, Cinderella is on a mission to find and destroy a group of rodent hybrid. Yes, even Cinderella can be against mice when absolutely necessary!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just loved how action packed the story was. And the characters were just fantastic!!!

In this volume we meet Nalayani who is the sole defender of her village. When her village is attacked by the Dhole (a pack of wolf like creatures), Nalayani makes it her task to save her village. She goes to meet the Maharaja (leader/king etc.), Charming, and himself and Nalayani set out to save her village and many others also under attack.

On their journey they face the Dhole on a few different occasions as well as getting injured to the extent of Charming's fingers falling off due to a curse set upon anyone who gets hurts by any of the Dhole.

Back in Nalayani's village, the group work together to survive by finding any food they can get their hands on. They start to lose hope that Nalayani will return after she has been gone a long while.

But will Nalayani and Charming save the village and get rid of the Dhole once and for all? And why were the Dhole attacking in the first place?

I really enjoyed the story in this volume as it never got boring and the action was constant. There was never a moment when I felt there could have been more happening. I also really loved the little snippets of other fairytale characters mentioned in the story including Mowgli and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.

There was also an Aladdin kind of setting and the two main characters seemed to be different versions of Aladdin and Jasmine. I really loved this about the premise as it constantly had a fairytale feel about it even if it wasn't in the 'happily ever after' sense.

I also loved all of the characters whether they were bad or good and I don't usually say that. Nalayani was one of the most bad ass characters I've ever read about and I would love to read more about her. Charming was cheeky but also had this kind, caring vibe about him that made it seem he would never let any harm come of Nalayani. The friendship these two built throughout the story was truly beautiful and I really think the two of them would make a fabulous couple.

The ending came together perfectly, however I would have loved to see more of what happened after the attacks but I think I'm now just asking for a longer story!!!

Rating /5

4

If you've read any of the Fairest graffic novels, let me know in the comments what you thought of them as I would love to know, and if you have any other graffic novel recommendations for me then feel free to leave those in the comment section as well :)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx 

Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's time to read the next instalment in the Fairest graffic novel series!!! Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja, is volume 3 in the series and I can't wait to get my nose stuck into it. I don't know too much about this volume but by the sounds of the synopsis, it's going to be pretty bas ass!!!

The cover of this volume is probably my favourite cover so far. I love the dip dye look and the power the two characters seem to have. I just think it look fabulous!!!

If you've read this graffic novel or any of the other Fairest graffic novels, then let me know in the comments below what you thought of them :)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just read the whole of Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher in one sitting. It is super short at 85 pages so I thought I would just fly through it. I really enjoyed it like I hoped and I love the characters just as much as I did when reading Dream a Little Dream.

We revisit the life of Sarah who in Dream a Little Dream, got together with a boy called Brett. Sarah is looking forward to her Christmas with her housemate Carly and Brett and is finally feeling that her life is on the up.

But when Carly breaks the news that she is moving in with her boyfriend Josh, Sarah tries to act happy for her but inside she is rather upset. As well as that, Brett begins to act a little strange.

Sarah begins to dream scenarios including Brett leaving her and this sends her mind into overdrive. She begins to panic and wonders why Brett is being really distant and not spending a lot of time with her any more. Brett is constantly coming up with excuses as to why he can't come round to see Sarah and she starts to think that maybe he's up to something that she's unaware of.

The group of friends meet for the final pub quiz of the year. They have been doing the quiz together all year and this final quiz will conclude who has won overall. But the usual quiz master can't be there and so Brett steps in for him. Little does Sarah know that Brett has a little something up his sleeve.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story and I think it shows how friendship should always be treasured. You could really see how close this group of friends were and when any of them had news, they would always be so happy and supportive of them.

I also really loved how Brett wasn't always present, but we were always thinking about what he was up to and where the story was going to take us in terms of Sarah and Brett's relationship.

As well as that, Giovanna Fletcher's writing is always so amusing and even when something more serious is happening, she doesn't fail to add a bit of comedy. I've loved Giovanna's writing style in everything she has written and I can't wait for her to release another book.

The ending of the story was perfect and it made me think more about how guy's minds usually work. I definitely don't think male and female minds are too much alike. Us girls have ways of doing things, and the boys have their ways. And that's just the way humans seem to work.

The only thing I think I would have liked to see more of is Christmas content. Although of course the story was set around Christmas time, there wasn't a lot of Christmassy elements such as descriptive locations, Christmas events etc. and that is something I loved so much about Christmas With Billy and Me. However, that is the only criticism as I loved the rest.

Rating /5

4

If you've read any of the books I've mentioned then let me know what you thought of them in the comments below and lets see if any of our opinions match. 

Speak to you all soon.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx 

Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's time for another Christmas novella!!! I know that Christmas is over but it's not time to come out of the festive spirit just yet. Dream a Little Christmas Dream is a novella of the book Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher. This is brand new out this year so this will be my first time reading this story. I read Dream a Little Dream earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it so I'm hoping that I will enjoy Dream a Little Christmas Dream just as much.

All I can gather from the synopsis is the main character Sarah is looking forward to spending Christmas with her housemate and her boyfriend Brett. But when her housemate announces she's moving out and Brett starts to act strange, Sarah starts to worry.

It sounds pretty exciting so I'm looking forward to seeing what the characters get up to and where their lives are after Dream a Little Dream.

Let me know what you thought of this little novella if you've read it and if you've read Dream a Little Dream then also let me know what you thought of that :)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher - Review

Hello Again Book Lovers!!!

As I hoped, I've just sat for the last hour or so reading Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher. It is the perfect book for this time of year and I've loved rereading it so much.

We revisit the life of Sophie May and Billy Buskin (from the novel Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher), where they spend most of their time on Rosefont Hill in Sophie's little coffee shop, Molly's-on-the-Hill. 

One day while Sophie is checking her emails, she comes across one from an email address, proposingonthehill@yahoo.co.uk. This intrigues her as she can clearly see that this somehow involves her little coffee shop. She opens the email and reads it discovering that a secret someone would like to propose to their girlfriend at no other than Molly's-on-the-Hill!!!

Sophie gets so excited that she begins planning the perfect proposal in her little coffee shop straight away. She starts thinking about the decorations and the food she would like to provide as well as going through the list that the mystery person has provided her with requirements about the proposal.

Between herself, Billy, her Mum, Colin (her Mum's boyfriend), and Colin's two children Aaron and Charlotte, the family try to create the perfect atmosphere for the perfect proposal. But who is this mystery person and who is the lucky girl that is going to get proposed to?

This is such a beautiful read, especially at this time of year. I just love all of the characters and I love that Molly is still present in the story even though she isn't physically there. (If you've read Billy and Me then you'll know who Molly is and why she isn't physically there in this novella).

I also love the imagery I can create in my head as the writing is so beautiful and descriptive. It makes me want to go to Rosefont Hill and visit Molly's-on-the-Hill. (Somebody create it quick!!!). The way in which Giovanna Fletcher describes every little detail down to the angel that Charlotte makes for the top of the tree is just stunning and of course her descriptions about the food are just perfect and makes me super hungry!!!

Another thing I love about this book is that is doesn't fail to get you completely in the Christmas spirit. If you don't feel very festive yet this year but would like to, then this would be the perfect book for you to read, sitting next to the Christmas tree, burning Christmas scented candles (I'm speaking from experience, trust me!!!).

Rating /5

5

I am well and truly ready for Christmas now but my festive reading doesn't stop there!!! I have another festive novella for you to see very soon!!!

If you've read Christmas With Billy and Me, or even just Billy and Me, then leave you opinions in the comments below as I would love to read what you thought of them.

For now that's it and I will be speaking to you very soon with another festive read!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Today I've decided to get my head stuck into my first Christmas read of this year. It's way later than I expected to but it's not passed Christmas day yet therefore I don't feel like I'm too late :) Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher is the Christmas novella to her debut novel Billy and Me which I read a couple of years ago and loved. I have also read Christmas with Billy and Me last year I think it was but I'm super excited to read it again as I love the characters and it's the perfect book to read at this time of year.

The book is super short at just over 50 pages but the content is fantastic but more on that in my review. As it's so short I'm planning on reading it all in one sitting today and then read another Christmas novella either today or tomorrow but more on that when we get round to it :)

If you've read Billy and Me or Christmas With Billy and Me then let me know in the comments what you thought of them and whether you enjoyed them just like I did.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finally finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and my word wasn't it a brain mash!!! I did have to keep referring back to the family tree and the summary online as I kept getting lost but more on that later. I'm going to now give you a summary of Wuthering Heights so hopefully you can understand it but there will be lots of spoilers so if you don't want spoilers then you can go straight down to my opinions on the novel.

At the beginning of the story we meet Lockwood who rents a manor house called Thrushcross Grange. He meets the landlord Heathcliff and Lockwood asks his Housekeeper Nelly Dean to tell him about Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights.

Nelly begins her story back in her childhood where she worked as a servant at Wuthering Heights for the owner Mr Earnshaw. Mr Earnshaw goes to Liverpool one day and returns with an orphan boy called Heathcliff and begins to prefer Heathcliff over his own son Hindley. This obviously doesn't set well with Hindley and he begins to detest Heathcliff. Catherine, Hindley's sister, also doesn't like Heathcliff to begin with but begins to love him very quickly. Mr Earnshaw decides to send Hindley to college and keep Heathcliff nearby.

Once Mr Earnshaw dies, Hindley inherits Wuthering Heights and returns with his wife Frances. Once he has arrived, he begins being horrible to Heathcliff and Heathcliff very quickly becomes a common labourer and is forced to work in the fields.

Heathcliff and Catherine are still very close however and they go to annoy Edgar and Isabella Linton, the children who live at Thrushcross Grange. While there however, Catherine is bitten by a dog and forced to stay there to recover but by the time Catherine returns, she has fallen in love with Edgar.

Once Hindley's wife Frances dies, Hindley becomes more horrible to Heathcliff. As well as this, Catherine also becomes engaged to Edgar even though she still loves Heathcliff and Healthcliff leaves Wuthering Heights for three years.

When Heathcliff returns he tries to get revenge on everyone that have hurt him and when Hindley dies, he then inherits Wuthering Heights and also tries to inherit Thrushcross Grange by marrying Isabella Linton.

Catherine unfortunately becomes very ill and dies but gives birth to a baby girl just before. Isabella also flees to London and gives birth to Heathcliff's son Linton and keeps him there.

Thirteen years go by and Nelly Dean becomes young Catherine's nursemaid and Thrushcross Grange but Catherine has no knowledge of Wuthering Heights and one day she discovers a manor and meets Hareton.

Isabella dies and Linton comes to live with Heathcliff but Heathcliff treats him very badly. Three years later however, Catherine meets Heathcliff and visits Wuthering Heights to meet Linton. Herself and Linton fall in love but keep it secret by sending letters to each other instead of actually spending time together. Nelly however destroys these letters when she finds them and so Catherine sneaks out to meet Linton.

Before long, Catherine realises that Linton is being forced to like her by Heathcliff who is wanting them to get married and kidnaps them and keeps them at Wuthering Heights until Catherine agrees to marry Linton. Soon after the wedding, both Linton and Edgar die and now Heathcliff owns both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. He forces Catherine to stay at Wuthering Heights and rents Thrushcross Grange to Lockwood.

Although I found this story confusing, I did like some of the characters including Nelly and young Catherine. However I really hated Heathcliff (as you're meant to). He was a powerful character and I wanted to see him pay for the misery he has entailed on others.

I liked the writing style although I did find it rather confusing at times when Emily Bronte wrote in a very broad Yorkshire accent. These times were mostly where I got a bit lost and had to refer back to the summary.

I loved the locations that were described and I could get a clear image in my head of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. I would love to think that these places are real as I would have loved to have been able to visit them.

This is the first book I've read by Emily Bronte and I do think that I will try out some of her other work at some point, but I think for now I need to give my brain a rest. Because of a lot of the characters having the same name as they often got passed down through the family, this also made things rather confusing, but the family tree that was printed in this addition of the book made it easier for me to follow.

Rating /5

3

If you've read Wuthering Heights, then let me know in the comments below what you thought of it, and did you get confused just like me? Also if you have any recommendations by Emily Bronte then also leave those in the comments too.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Hello Book Lovers!!!

The first book this month I'll be reading is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I was planning on reading this last month but never got round to it so I've made it a priority this month to read. I really don't know much about this book at all but I've heard it can get a bit confusing so hopefully I won't get too lost. And there's also a family tree in my copy so hopefully that will help.

If you have any recommendations in the classic genre then feel free to comment below as I would love to have more recommendations for classics to read next year.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

November Wrap Up 2015

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's this time again. It's Wrap Up time!!! I have to say it's not a very big wrap up as I've not read too much this month. I just feel like it's gone so quickly and I've had no time to just sit down for a few hours and read. But here we go anyway!!!

The first book I read this month was:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

This is a story about a girl who is a hunter and shoots a wolf not realising that this wolf is actually a faerie and when you kill a faerie there is going to be trouble. I really enjoyed this book and being introduced to the fae world was just fantastic. I gave this book 4* on Goodreads.

The next book I read in the month of November was:

Winnie the Pooh: The Complete Collection of Stories and Poems by A.A.Milne

It was great to be back in the Hundred Acre Wood with Winnie the Pooh and his friends. I also haven't read a children's book like this in a while so it was super fun getting back into children's literature. I gave this 4* on Goodreads.

And the final book I read this month was:

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

I've seen the film of The Borrowers but up until now, not read the book. Although it wasn't completely like the film, it still has the same basic storyline and the characters were all fantastic to read about. We meet Pod who 'borrows' off the humans in the house they live underneath but when his daughter becomes friends with one of the humans, The Borrowers find themselves in a lot of trouble. I gave this 4* on Goodreads.

As you can see I haven't gave any books 5* this month but there is still one book I feel that has stood out and so the book that wins the award for my Favourite November Read is:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I found this book thoroughly enjoyable and as it is based a little bit around Beauty and the Beast which is my favourite film, it was a great read for me and I thought the writing style was great and the characters were all very well developed.

As always, my full reviews of all of these books are also on my blog so you can go check those out. That's it for now and I'll speak to you all again in December!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The Borrowers by Mary Norton - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished The Borrowers by Mary Norton and I really enjoyed it. I've been so busy over the last week or so that I've had hardly any time to read so apologies for the lack of posts over this month.

In this story we meet Pod who is a very talented Borrower. A Borrower is a very little person who 'borrowers' belongings off other people. Pod and his family live underneath the house of some 'Giants' (humans) and each day Pod sneaks into the house and 'borrowers' some of the Giants' belongings.

No girl Borrower has ever been allowed to go 'borrowing' however, so when Pod's daughter Arrietty goes into the Giants' house to explore and becomes friends with the boy who lives there, the Borrowers find themselves in a lot of trouble.

I found this book so lovely to read and the characters were all so likeable. I loved the relationship the Borrowers all had with each other and how much of a strong family unit they had. I also loved the writing style and how easy to follow it was.

Another thing I liked was how the Borrowers and the Giants were described. Using language like 'the big people' and 'the little people', it just gave the book a really lovely vibe.

I also loved how the Borrowers used different everyday items for things that humans would never be able to do. For example, using a tea towel as a table cloth.

During the story it is made clear that Giants and Borrowers can't mix and if it happens, the Borrowers will end up in a lot of danger. However when Arrietty makes friends with the boy from the house, we begin to realise that maybe Giants and Borrowers can mix. I really liked the friendship that built between Arrietty and the boy and how they proved that anybody can be friends no matter how a person is.

Overall I thought this was an enjoyable read and great for people of all ages. The writing style is easy enough for children and the story is great for everyone.

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Hello Book Lovers!!!

The next book I've decided to read is a nice easy book as I feel like I'm in a bit of a reading slump at the minute. The book is The Borrowers by Mary Norton.

I've seen the film of The Borrowers but never read the book so I'm excited to see how it differs from the film (if it does at all). I remember when I read Annie by Thomas Meehan and that differed so much from the film so I wonder whether this will be the same situation or whether the film adaptation has kept with the story more.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Winnie the Pooh: The Complete Collection of Stories and Poems by A.A.Milne - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished Winnie the Pooh: The Complete Collection of Stories and Poems by A.A.Milne and it was just so lovely :) I haven't read any Winnie the Pooh stories or poems in such a long time so it was nice to recapture A.A.Milne's work again.

Throughout the book we go on different adventures with Winnie the Pooh and his friends. We see Eeyore lose his tail, we see Christopher Robin lead an 'expotition' to the North Pole, and we see Piglet completely surrounded by water when the rain floods the forest.

We also get introduced to Tigger in the second section of the book and his friends try to make him calm down by losing his bounce. We also see Piglet nearly meet a Heffalump, and of course we read about Pooh's game he has created and is still loved my many today, Poohsticks.

The third section of this book is all of the poems A.A.Milne has written and I don't think I've read many of his poems before so this was a new experience for me. I also don't read much poetry in general but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading through them all. Some of the poems were aimed at younger readers and some adults could enjoy just as much.

That brings me onto my first point about why I love A.A.Milne's writing style so much. He writes children's literature but adults could read it and enjoy it just as much as the children, maybe even more. He has a way with words which makes his writing not only enjoyable but so funny at times as well. I also find his writing interactive at times. It almost felt like you were in the stories with the characters experiencing everything they were going through.

I love all of the characters in The Hundred Acre Wood. Piglet has always been my favourite though and stays my favourite but I love how silly Pooh is and how excitable Tigger is and how stubborn Rabbit is. They all have such contrasting personalities that have all be developed so well in the stories and although their personalities are all so different, they may have one or two disagreements at times, but they stay such good friends throughout.

I think this is a great book to teach children just how important friendship could be and how if you are feeling down at all, your friends will be there to help you through the hard times.

Another element of this book which is just stunning is E.H. Shepard's illustrations. They are just fantastic and so traditional. I loved looking at all the pictures as I was reading and I loved how they all brought the stories to life even more.

As the stories are all nice and short, they would be great stories to read to your child before bed so any of you who have children I definitely recommend this to you. But I also recommend this for all of you like me who love The Hundred Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh and his friends. A.A.Milne's stories and characters will never get old and they will still be with us in years to come.

Rating /5

4

(If I was a child it would be a 5 but as I'm meant to be a grown up now, I thought I would rate it from a grown ups point of view)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Winnie the Pooh: The Complete Collection of Stories and Poems by A.A.Milne

Hello Everyone!!!

I've decided, as I don't feel in the mood to read a book that I have to think too hard on, I'm going to read Winnie the Pooh: The Complete Collection of Stories and Poems by A.A.Milne. I haven't read young children's literature in a very long time and since I bought this a few months ago at a book fair (and it only cost me £3!!!) I thought it would be the perfect time to give it a read.

I've loved Winnie the Pooh and his friends for as long as I can remember and I loved reading the stories and watching the films when I was younger. I have wanted to read more Winnie the Pooh stories as an adult for a while now to see what I think of A.A.Milne's writing style as I obviously didn't think of that aspect when I was younger.

This book consists of a collection of stories where we are introduced to all of the characters and taken on many adventures through the Hundred Acre Woods. A collection of poems are also printed in this edition which I'm really interested in as I don't remember ever reading any of the poems A.A.Milne has written. I also don't read much poetry at all so this will hopefully be a nice little insight into some poetry for me.

Can I also just say how beautiful this book is. I love the illustrations and there are also many throughout so I'm excited to see all of them as I read through all of the adventures!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finally finished A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't know why this book took me such a long time to read as it isn't too big and I was immersed in the story throughout. But at least I can finally say I've read it anyway!!!

In this story we are introduced to Feyre, a huntress from the human world. Feyre has to hunt to provide food for her siblings and father but she certainly wouldn't do it if they could survive without it.

One day Feyre goes out hunting and comes across a wolf and wonders whether this wolf is from the Fae world. As she doesn't like the Fae world she shoots it anyway. But little does she know that this has just caused her her freedom.

Not too long after that, a Fae wolf comes to Feyre's home and demands she comes with him to the Fae world as she has killed one of their own. A life for a life. It's either that or she is killed. She willingly goes with him to Prythian (the Fae world), and there finds out that the wolf faerie, Tamlin, lives in a beautiful manor house where she will also be staying. She also meets Lucian, another resident of the manor. Feyre is surprised that she hasn't been locked up or harmed and instead is told to do what she likes.

Feyre soon learns about the masks that they all wear and is informed that there is a plight that is effecting magic and this could eventually spread to the human world. She starts to panic about her family but Tamlin ensures her that they are safe and well looked after.

Tamlin and Feyre soon become friends instead of enemies which initially surprises Feyre but makes her feel more comfortable. But Feyre soon realises that Tamlin and Lucien aren't telling her the full story about the plight and asks a Suriel (a Low Fae) for the answers as they are unable to lie. She finds out about Hybern, a kingdom ruled by a High Fae King and who also resents humans.

Tamlin then brings back a faerie that has been injured and had it's wings taken. When Feyre hears the faerie say 'she's taken my wings', she starts to wonder who this 'she' is. She soon finds out that this 'she' is Amarantha, the queen of Prythian.

At a solstice celebration, Tamlin and Feyre kiss and soon a suspicious character turns up who goes by the name of Rhysand. He is known to have close connections to the queen and Tamlin begs him not to tell Amarantha of Feyre's presence. That night Tamlin and Feyre have an intimate night together but then Tamlin drops the bombshell that he will be sending her back to the human world in the morning.

Back home Feyre discovers that her family now have plenty of money and own a huge house. But after another manor house is burnt down she goes back to Prythian as she suspects there is something seriously wrong.

There she finds out that Tamlin has been taken by Amarantha and also finds out about the curse that was put onto Tamlin many years ago after he refused to become Amarantha's lover. The curse was that if Tamlin can get a human girl to fall in love with him that has killed Fae before, the curse will be broken. As Feyre never told Tamlin that she loves him, Amarantha has now taken him captive.

She goes to find him and when comes face to face with Amarantha, is given some tasks to complete in order to win hers and Tamlin's freedom. Little does she know that these tasks are just about impossible.

I found this book intense and exciting and I began to love Tamlin very quickly. I did think that Feyre would be a little more 'bad ass', but by the end when she was with Amarantha, she developed a lot more strength and determination.

I also loved being introduced to the Fae world and I'm looking forward to reading more stories that contain the Fae world. I liked that although the Faeries were made out to be bad, they weren't all bad and they could all love just like humans can.

Another character I actually really liked was Rhysand. He comes across as a bad character as he is close to Amarantha, but by the end we realise that he isn't actually too bad and that maybe somewhere in him, he has feelings just like the humans.

I thought Amarantha was a fantastic villain and has now become one of my favourite villains of all time. She was truly awful and I would love to read more of a back story about her.

I definitely wanted to hear more about Feyre's family back in the human world so I hope that they are more involved in the next book in the series as in this book, they didn't have major story lines and I think they could definitely be a part of a bigger story line.

As I said earlier, this book also took me so long to read and I'm not entirely sure why. I love becoming so immersed into a story that I read it within a few days, but for some reason this book took me over a week to read.

However, I did still really enjoy this book and would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a high fantasy read within the Fae world.

Rating /5

4

If you've read this book then let me know in the comments what you thought about it as I would love to know, and if you have any other recommendations of books that contain the Fae world then by all means leave those in the comments as well.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx