The Mason Jar by James Russell Lingerfelt Review | BookTube

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just posted a written review of The Mason Jar by James Russell Lingerfelt however I've also done a video review so here is that if you'd prefer to watch the video review instead! Enjoy!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The Mason Jar by James Russell Lingerfelt - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I’ve just finished a book I was sent for review a few months ago and I just fell in love with it! It’s called The Mason Jar and it’s by James Russell Lingerfelt.

The Mason Jar is about two young people, Finn and Eden. Finn now lives with his Grandad as he has lost both of his parents but has a very strong bond with his Grandad. Finn’s Grandad leaves letters for Finn in a Mason Jar full of advice and hope for his future.

While in his college years he meets Eden, a girl that stole his heart. He couldn’t imagine life without her and the two of them are inseparable! But one day Eden leaves without any clue of where she has gone or whether she will ever return.

Finn writes a book about his life with Eden and what he got up to after she left like going to Africa to work. A friend of Eden’s finds out about the book, reads it and tells Eden she needs to read it, so full of curiosity that is exactly what Eden does.

Years later Finn and Eden find themselves at a homecoming and the truth of why Eden left so suddenly starts to spill out.

I really enjoyed the warm feeling and atmosphere this story had. The writing was beautiful and gave off such a romantic vibe I couldn’t help fall in love with the characters very quickly. For me one of the elements I really enjoyed was the relationship between Finn and his Grandad. The had such a strong bond and that made me instantly engaged in their parts of the story. I would have definitely loved to have seen more of Grandad throughout the story however as I think some of the time that part of the story was overlooked slightly.

I really loved how Finn’s story was told and we really got to know Finn very quickly which helped my enjoyment to the story as I quickly became very attached to him. I would have loved to have read more about Eden’s life with Victor and find out more about what happened from when they were originally together as that wasn’t discussed as much however that would have probably made the story way to long so I do see why that maybe wasn’t touched upon as much.

As soon as we found out about the homecoming and that both Finn and Eden were going to attend, I couldn’t wait to read about how the characters would react when seeing each other. I was so excited to find out whether they would end up together or go their separate ways and it definitely made me never want to put the book down.

Because of the beautiful writing style and the instant connection I had to the characters I really enjoyed this book and would love to read more about these characters and how their lives progressed after the events in this book. Overall I’d definitely recommend it if you like romantic stories with beautifully written characters that will make you feel ever emotion under the sun.

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

All The Books I've Read So Far | 2018

Hello Book Lovers!!!

As I haven't posted a video in a while I thought I'd just update you on all of the books I've read this year so far as I haven't done any wrap ups this year yet. So here is the video and I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Boy by Roald Dahl - Review

                                             

(Image from Google)

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's been a while since I've posted anything and that's really just because I've been so busy I haven't really been reading anything, until now! I've just finished Boy by Roald Dahl which was a reread for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it again.

If you don't know what Boy is about, it is about Roald Dahl's childhood from when he was a baby up until he left his final school. We get to learn about his family and all the mischief he got up to with his friends and we also get to learn about the schools he went to and some of the awful teachers he had to face during his time there.

Roald Dahl was brought up in a time where the cane was still around and some schools were terrifyingly strict so although some schools are still strict now, it was interesting to see the change in which schools are run now compared to when Roald Dahl was in his school years.

This was definitely and interesting and insightful read and it is very clear from reading this that there is a very big generation change now to back then. (And some of the things from back then I'd say I'd prefer to some of the things now, lets just say I'm a one for tradition!).

I thought that the writing in this book although it is none fiction is still very child friendly and sometimes I'd forget that this is actually true stories about the authors life. This is a great book for all ages as it has the humour for the younger readers but also the history and facts and figures for older readers.

I have to say I did find myself laughing quite a lot and one chapter that stuck out for me was the chapter where the children play a prank on the sweet shop owner. You can picture the mischief like you were there with them and being part of the prank yourself.

Overall I think this is a great read for everyone and if you'd like to find out more about Roald Dahl's life throughout childhood I'd definitely read this. He also wrote another book after this called Going Solo which I will hopefully be reading very soon. This is about his adult years after where Boy left off.

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Bout of Books 22 ReadAThon Vlog 2018 | BookTube

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finally managed to upload my Bout of Books 22 ReadAThon Vlog from a couple of weeks ago! I'm happy with the amount of reading I did even though I didn't get everything read I'd planned to so here's my vlog of the week and I hope you enjoy it!

If you joined in with the ReadAThon let me know how you did as I'd love to know and I'll speak to you all very soon!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

All That She Can See by Carrie Hope Fletcher - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

A few days ago I finished All The She Can See by Carrie Hope Fletcher, my third and final book of the Bout of Books 22 ReadAThon! I really enjoyed this book but did have some problems with it.

If you don't know what this book is about, it's about a girl called Cherry who has a secret talent; she can see people's negative emotions but in physical form. Her friend from when she was 7 also had the same talent however he was taken away because of this and she hasn't seen him since.

Cherry also has a love for baking and soon finds out she can put positive feelings into her cakes to make her customers feel better about themselves. Of course nobody knows what Cherry is doing but because of their love for Cherry and her baking they always come back for more which in turn is helping the neighborhood become a happier place.

But then a guy called Chase comes along and realizes what Cherry has been doing as he also has the same talent, however he can see the positive emotions, not the negative ones. So he goes out to try to stop Cherry succeeding in her business by creating his own business doing a similar thing but with alcohol.

I really did enjoy this book and the characters within it and I love the magical realism elements to this story. Carrie's books are always unlike any other books I have read and I never know what to expect when going into one of her stories.

I loved the baking element to this story and coffee shops and the close neighborhood setting as I always find it to be really cosy. Those things always just create such a warm atmosphere and even when things aren't exactly going right, the story is still able to keep that cosy warm feel.

I loved the characters in this story, even Chase who isn't exactly the nicest person in the world, well to start with at least! He has a funny way with words so even when he isn't being very nice, he still has a humor about him that keeps you entertained. I also loved Cherry and her want to try to make everyone as happy as they can be. She has such a loving, caring nature and someone I'd definitely want to meet had she been real.

The one problem I had with this was the ending. I felt it was a bit too open ended for me and although I sometimes like open ended books I felt like this one didn't pack the same punch other books with open ends I have read have had. I just found it to be a bit disappointing however it does leave it open for a possible sequel which I'd love to see.

Overall I did really enjoy the story and the characters and the atmosphere this book created and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is looking for a cosy read with magical realism and a clever take on bringing emotions to life...literally!

Rating /5
4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Beauty and the Beast. Book of the Film - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just finished my second book for the Bout of Books ReadAThon and that was Beauty and the Beast. The Book of the Film! I really enjoyed this as I knew I would do. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney film and one of my favourite films of all time.

If somehow you don't know the story of Beauty and the Beast (where have you been?!?!?) I'll write a synopsis for you now. This story is about an arrogant prince who lives in a castle and treats everyone in the castle terribly. One day at one of his parties, an old beggar woman enters the castle asking for shelter from the storm. The prince laughs and tells her her she is too ugly to be in his castle. But then she begins to transform into a beautiful enchantress and casts a spell on the whole castle turning the prince into a beast and all of the staff into animated objects because of the way the prince has behaved. (As we all know...'Beauty is found within')!

We then meet Belle who lives in a small village with her father Maurice. The villagers don't really speak to Belle as they find her strange from always having her head stuck in a book. The only people that talk to her are the librarian, the potter, her father, and of course the 'hero' of the village, Gaston. Gaston however is anything but a hero. He is an arrogant, self-centred piece of work and not someone Belle wants to be associated with. But Gaston has other ideas as he wants Belle to be his wife.

One day Maurice, Belle's father goes out into the woods on his way to an inventions fair on his horse Phillipe. But before long the two realize they are lost and as well as that they can here the howling of wolves approaching them. They manage to escape the wolves and end up at a huge castle. When they enter they don't expect that this will lead them to Maurice being captured and locked away by the beast.

Phillipe travels back through the woods to find Belle and Belle knows instantly that her father is in trouble. So she goes through the woods to the castle with Phillipe. Seeing her father locked up she soon finds out that whoever has locked him up has sentenced him to life there. But to save her father she swaps places with him not fully knowing what she has let herself in for.

The Beast is horrible to Belle and treats her terribly however the enchanted objects help Belle and make sure she has enough clothes and food. What Belle doesn't know however is that if she can learn to love the Beast then the enchantment on the castle will be lifted and the Beast will become a prince again as well as all of the enchanted object becoming human again.

I love this story like I said before and the book brought it to life just as much as the film does. I love the storyline and how magical it is and I love the atmosphere this story creates. I can also feel the magic within the words that are written and I think Elizabeth Rudnick adapted it to book form very well.

I also love all of the characters in this story, even Gaston who is awful! He is just so stupid that you can't help but love him at the same time. I also really love Mrs. Potts as she is such a mother figure to everyone, not just her son Chip who I also love and is my favourite character in this story. Cogsworth and Lumiere, the Clock and Candelabra are also fantastic characters. They are the comedy of the story and it just wouldn't be the same without them.

What is great about this story is you can enjoy it at any age. It is just as magical reading it at 23 as it was seeing the film for the first time when I was a very young child. I couldn't recommend this story more and I highly recommend you read the book and see the film as it really knows how to bring out the magic in the story as well as in the characters.

Rating /5

5

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus yesterday for the Bout of Books 22 ReadAThon and although I liked some of it I can't say I fully enjoyed it.

This book is about 5 students who all end up in detention. One of the students (Simon) ends up dead and the other four students are treat as suspects to the death.

That's all we really get to find out from the synopsis of this story apart from the different traits of each of the four students so that's all I'm going to say in terms of what the story is about.

Like I said before I did like some of the story just not all of it. I liked how we got to find out more and more about each of the students that were in detention the day Simon died and it was easy to determine which each of the characters were just on their dialogue as they were all different from one another.

This book is told in multiple points of view and I really like books that do that. However I thought the POV'S were changed way too often.Usually in a story each chapter is based from the POV of one of the characters and then in the next chapter it would be a different POV. However with this book there was multiple POV'S in each of the chapters which to me just felt too 'choppy and changey!'.

 The character development was something I did enjoy about this story as I felt I found out a lot about each of the characters and also the backstories to a few of them as well which made the story more interesting. However there were some side stories put into this that I don't think were necessary for the story at all. I think this book could have been shorter than it was and still told the story in a way it still got the message across to the reader.

I found my mind wandering quite a lot while reading this book and for me it did drag in some places so I felt I was losing engagement at some points. The writing style for me just wasn't exciting enough and I felt some of the topics in this book could have been written in a much stronger way.

Following on from that point the ending was what I had the most problems with. Although I didn't not like the ending, I also didn't like it either. The way it was written felt so rushed and for me it came across as a bit insensitive at times. It was as if I'd just read this whole murder case story and everything was revealed within a paragraph. I felt like everything could have been explained much much better and I think a more in depth explanation would have done the book more justice.

Overall I think this book was good however it did let me down as well so for that my rating is going to be in the middle!

Rating /5

3

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Bout of Books 22 TBR 2018 | BookTube

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Here is my TBR for the Bout of Books ReadAThon which is taking place this week! I'm so excited to get stuck into so many more books! If you're joining in with the ReadAThon then let me know as I'd love to speak to you during the week and find out what books you plan on reading! Here is my TBR video and I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Spring Cleaning Book Tag 2018 | BookTube

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Here is my Spring Cleaning Book Tag! I had lots of fun answering these questions and if you'd like to do this tag then feel free to! Here is the video and I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just finished Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher and really enjoyed it. I think it is a perfect book to read in the Spring/Summer time so I'm really glad I read it when I did.

This is about a lady called Lizzy who has been with her partner Ian for 10 years. Because of this, her friends and family are expecting Ian to pop the question within the year. And a perfect time to do it would be when the couple go on holiday to Dubai! Lizzy Can't help but get her hopes up that Ian will finally ask her to marry him, but instead of this perfect romantic moment for the couple, Lizzy is left alone without a ring and flies back home as a single woman.

After Lizzy has got through the initial hardships of the break up, she begins to wonder who she would have been if she never had met Ian in the first place so goes out to discover who she is and who she could become now Ian isn't in the picture.

This is a really engaging read and also very real in the sense that these kinds of things happen all the time. I think it gives a great message that you don't need to be with someone to live a perfectly happy life. You can have the happiest life even if you're single.

I loved how strong Lizzy became in this story and she is a great inspiration for anyone who is going through or has gone through a break up. It was great to go along with her on her journey of discovering who she is and see her development through the story.

I also really loved the family and friends element to this story. You could tell the different dynamics between a family member or a friend and the funny quirks of these personalities really shone through. It gave the story a funny entertaining element and I think when the story is about something so real, you need to have that balance of serious and entertaining and I think Giovanna wrote that very well.

The writing style was so easy to follow just like in her other books and I definitely got attached to characters in this story just like I have done in her other works. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and especially if you are going through or have gone through a break up and you feel you need a bit of a guide towards growing into a 'strong independent woman/man!'.

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - Review

(Image from Google)

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and enjoyed it but also had some issues with it. I really wanted to read this book as its of course its a classic and it sounded like something that I'd thoroughly enjoy as I'm a fan of murder mystery novels.

If you don't know what this is about I'll give you a brief overview now (with no spoilers). The story is of course set mostly on the Orient Express train and like the title suggests, someone is murdered while on there. The famous detective Hercule Poirot is also on this train so he takes it in his own hands to uncover what happened and who the murderer is.

There ends up being 12 suspects and the number 12 comes into play quite a lot as the story unfolds. There is also another story from the past which involves the person that has been murdered. This ends up being a key lead into finding out why this person has been murdered.

I think this story was clever and kept you guessing however I did have an incline quite early on as to who would be the main suspect in the murder. I did however like the back story of the murdered and how that came into play while finding out what had happened and why it had happened.

I thought the writing was easy to follow however I did find it quite repetitive at times. And I know its a murder mystery so when it comes to collecting evidence of course a lot of interviews were going to take place, however after reading that the suspect was asked to write down their name, age, home address etc. at the beginning of nearly every interview got really repetitive and a little annoying. We knew that this was going to be the beginning of each interview so it didn't really need to be written down each time.

The characters were well developed and each of their stories were told well in terms of their past, their links to the person that was murdered if they did have any links, and whether they had any reason as to why they might murder this person. I didn't however get attached to any of the characters and I felt myself being a bit stand offish with them instead of becoming engrossed in what they had to say.

Other than the repetitive writing, this story was fairly fast paced and because of that it didn't take me too long to read which I expected for some reason that it would. I would recommend this if you're an older reader, I definitely wouldn't recommend it to younger readers for obvious reasons, however it is a story I think everyone should read at some point in their lives to get their opinion on it.

I also watched both of the film adaptations to this story and again enjoyed them but I think the films made it even more obvious (but maybe that's because I'd already read the book). I enjoyed the 1974 adaptation as it has such a classic murder mystery feel to it. Hercule Poirot did get on my nerves a lot though as I just found him to be quite full of himself and although he is a well known detective so obviously knows a thing or two when it comes to uncovering crimes, he came across like he was boasting about this a lot of the time.

In the 2017 adaptation I found Hercule Poirot to be a lot more likable and I didn't find him annoying at all which increased my enjoyment of this film. I did however still find it obvious (again maybe that's because I already knew the outcome) but I did still like how it was brought to life on screen during this adaptation. It felt much more eery which did keep my attention more than I expected it to.

If I was to pick a favourite of the films I do think it would be the 1974 adaptation due to its feel. I really liked the old style murder mystery vibe it gave off whereas the new one although it is based on an old murder mystery novel, just didn't have quite the same feel.

If you've read this story or watched any of the film adaptations I'd love to know your thoughts on it (without spoilers for everyone who hasn't read/watched it) so feel free to leave a comment and I'll speak to you all very soon!

Rating /5

3

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Aprilathon Vlog 2018 | BookTube

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've eventually got round to uploading my Aprilathon Vlog! I really enjoyed participating in this Readathon and I'd highly recommend it for next year if April (Aprilius Maximus) on YouTube decides to do this again.

So here is my weeks progress and I hope if you joined in with the Readathon it was a successful week for you and if you didn't then this might create an interest for you to join in with a Readathon in the future as they are super fun!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just finished my fifth book of the AprilAThon and that was The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. What I didn't know going into this is that this isn't just the original written version of the story we all know of The Jungle Book, this is actually a collection of short stories including the story with Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera etc. So it was nice to read some works I wasn't familiar with.

So the first story was The Jungle Book that we all know of. However this is quite a lot different from the film but I knew that would be the case. I really enjoyed this as a short story and I liked that Bagheera's personality was kept similar in the film adaptation to what it was in the book. However I much preffered Mowgli and Baloo in the film than I did in the book. Although Mowgli wasn't that different, he seemed to grow up way too quickly in the book and didn't have as much of an innocence about him. And Baloo seemed a lot more angry and aggressive in the book whereas in the film he was this big lovable bear who sings about the bare necessities of life and dances around the jungle (definitely more my cup of tea!). Overall the story was quite a bit different and I don't feel like we got to know as many of the characters however it was a great experience reading this story and seeing the similarities and differences and where the inspiration for the film adaptations came about.

The second story was called The White Seal and this definitely wasn't one of my favourite stories. I know that these stories were set many many years ago but I felt quite uncomfortable reading about the hunting side of seals and how the humans would kill them. I'm a huge animal lover so obviously I probably wasn't going to enjoy reading this story however it was good to learn a bit more about this subject and I always think learning about things that happened in history and comparing them to now is interesting to see.

The third story was called Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and was about a mongoose who lived with a family of humans (mum, dad and child). The mongoose ends up saving the humans on many occasions and we read about how he saves the family from two snakes that were planning on killing the family and the mongoose because they wanted their garden back. I actually really enjoyed this story and found I got quite attached to the mongoose. I think this is quite a random animal to write about however its definitely not like anything I've read before and this story has stuck in my head throughout. I would definitely say alongside the first story this is my favourite of the collection.

The fourth story was called Toomai of the Elephants and I couldn't keep focused while reading this story. It just didn't hold my attention and was probably one of the least memorable stories of the collection. I didn't find this story to be entertaining and I didn't find any of the characters that interesting. I was also hoping that the elephants would remind me of the elephants in The Jungle Book which they did in some ways but weren't anywhere near as entertaining and humorous as the elephants we have seen onscreen. Overall this was probably my least favourite of the collection.

And the final story was called Her Majesty's Servants and was about a collection of different animals. Once again we had some elephants but we also had horses and a dog to name a few. It was interesting to see all of these animals interact and it reminded me a little bit of the interactions of the animals in the children's classic Charlotte's Web by E. B. White.These animals did have a funny quality about them and I found myself a lot more interested in this story than the previous story. It was also funny to see that one of the elephants was the 'leader' however we soon find out he is quite a scaredy cat and is even scared of the little dog! (So really I think its the dog that is the leader!). I got a little bit lost by the end however it was still enjoyable and I'd say this was middle of the rating scale out of the collection.

Overall I think this collection is interesting and I felt like I learnt quite a bit but it didn't hold my attention the whole way through. It was nice to read some of Rudyard Kipling's less known work however and I'm glad I did. I wouldn't recommend this to younger readers as it deals with quite gruesome topics (definitely stick to the Disney adaptation until you're a bit older!).

Collection Rating /5

3

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Geekerella by Ashley Poston - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just finished my fourth book for the AprilAThon which was Geekerella by Ashley Poston! This was to complete the challenge of 'read a hyped book or a book that has been recommended to you'. And I'm so glad I have eventually read this story!

This is a Cinderella retelling with a fanbase twist! The main character Elle lives with her Stepmother and her two Stepsisters and she hates it. The only thing she currently likes about her life is her little job in the Magic Pumpkin (a food truck) where she spends her time serving customers and working with Sage (a very quirky character with a hilarious sense of humour!).

Elle also writes a blog about her favourite series Starfield and really wants to go to Excelsicon (the cosplay convention her dad created before he passed away). But more than anything she wants to win the cosplay competition so she can win enough money to get into the college of her dreams.

While all of this is happening, she also gets a message from a random number (on her dad's old phone that she now has) asking about Excelsicon. She would usually just ignore messages however something about this person intrigues her and before long they start messaging each other on a daily basis, not having a clue who each other are.

This is such a fast paced and exciting story and a fantastic Cinderella retelling. It made me laugh, it made me feel so attached to Elle instantly, and I was constantly wanting to find out what was going to happen to all of the characters.

On the lines of characters, one of my favourite characters ended up being Cal (one of Elle's stepsisters), which I never thought would happen. However she had so much depth to her character I really grew to love her. I also loved how the stepmother was written and reminded me a lot of Madame Tremaine from the Disney Cinderella. She was so evil but you couldn't help but love her character in a 'love hate' kind of way.

What I liked about Elle is how relatable I found her. I definitely have a geeky fandom side to me (Harry Potter!) and I also understood her personality down to a tee which definitely made me more attached to her than any of the other characters.

I also loved how the story was told in multiple perspectives as you got to know the two main protagonists very quickly from the offset. Darien (the other protagonist) is made out to be this 'famous, full of himself' kind of character however when we get to know Darien a bit more we soon find out that this isn't the case at all.

The writing style itself was very easy to understand and I never felt myself getting bored. I always wanted to know what was happening and I didn't want to put this book down. The only thing I didn't like so much is how long it took for two of the characters to meet. It drove me mad knowing everything and them not knowing. I just wished I could have jumped into the story and told them everything that had happened!

Overall this is a great book for if you're wanting a fun-filled retelling with geeky characters and a Comic Con style convention full of cosplay and competitions. I'd definitely recommend this and will more than likely reread this in the future.

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - Review

         

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just finished reading Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie for my third read of the AprilAThon which covered the challenge of 'read a book with a beautiful cover'. Now I've left a collection of photos above for you to look at because as you can see this book doesn't just have a beautiful cover but is truly stunning throughout! I'd highly recommend picking up this edition if you ever wanted to read this story!

If somehow you are unaware of what Peter Pan is about, it is about the Darling children that live in London with their parents and their dog that is also their nurse (called Nana). One night while sleeping, a boy flies through the window of the nursery where they are sleeping trying to catch his shadow that has detached itself from him.When the boy begins to cry, this wakes Wendy (the oldest of the three Darling children) and she soon finds out that this boy is Peter Pan that the children have been creating stories based around for years! She begins to sew Peter's shadow back onto him and eventually the two other Darling children, John and Michael wake up as well.

Peter asks them to come with him to Neverland, a magical place full of pixies and fairies and mermaids and pirates! The Darling children ask how they would get to such a magical place and Peter replies with 'well we fly of course!' Now this clearly isn't something Wendy, John and Michael have learnt to do so after Peter explains to them that they need to think of a happy thought, and get a little extra help from Tinkerbell with her pixie dust, they begin to fly!

Once in Neverland the Darling children meet the Lost Boys and Wendy becomes their 'mother'. Together they all go on many adventures including facing the menacing Captain Hook!

This is a truly magical and captivating story and one that has been told for many years and will continue to be told for many more. I love the story of Peter Pan and Neverland has always been a place I would love to visit myself if that was possible.

The characters are so addictive and you can't help but love them all, even Captain Hook and his pirates, (however I've never been much of a Wendy fan, I find her pretty annoying!). Overall though the characters are fantastically described and it is so magical being transported into their imaginations and thoughts and go on all of these adventures with them.

The way Peter Pan is written is of course an older style as it was first published in 1911 (I think!) so naturally some of the language used we wouldn't see in today's more modern works. This didn't halter my enjoyment to the story at all however and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Neverland with all of the incredibly written characters.

As you can see from the above images, this edition of the story has also been beautifully captured by the incredible MiniLima (a company that also worked on the visuals for the very well known Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling). Through drawn images to newspaper articles, maps and interactive pop up pages, MiniLima have done an amazing job in helping bring to life this magical story even more.

Overall I'd highly recommend picking up this edition of the story as it brings a whole new level of magic to the characters, Neverland and your overall enjoyment to the story itself.

Rating /5

5

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just finished Turtles All The Way Down by John Green for another challenge for the AprilAThon. This covers the challenge of 'read a book you are excited to read' and I'm so glad that I did!

This book is about Aza who is in high school and enjoys spending time with her friends (mostly Daisy). However Aza also struggles with her anxiety which causes her to have worried and panicky thoughts running through her head a lot of the time.

As well as this Aza and Daisy also find out that one of Aza's friends from years ago (who is also in a very rich family) is also going through difficult times. Davis' father has disappeared and nobody has any idea of where he is. So Aza and Daisy try to uncover the truth of his disappearance.

That is all I'm going to say in terms of the synopsis however I'd love to be able to say so so much more as I loved this book so much! From the very first page I was engrossed in John Green's beautiful writing style. He has a way with words that just transports you into the world of the characters in his stories.

I felt very quickly attached to pretty much all of the characters and I wanted to help them and comfort them through all of the difficult things they were facing. Aza like I mentioned previously suffers from anxiety and the way John Green wrote about anxiety and used a lot of metaphors to try to explain what was going on in Aza's head was truly mesmerizing. As someone who does get anxiety I thought this topic was dealt with incredibly well and I couldn't have asked for a better written book involving this issue.

The story itself was eye opening and thoroughly engaging throughout. I never felt bored, my attention never wandered elsewhere, I was just captivated from start to finish. Overall I think this is a book everyone needs to read at some point in their lives however I will put a trigger warning on it for anxiety and depression.

I loved this story and it has definitely become one of my favourite books of all time.

Rating /5

5

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finally finished A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas! I'm currently taking part in a ReadAThon called the AprilAThon hosted by April over at the YouTube Channel Aprilius Maximus and there are challenges involved in this ReadAThon. One of the challenges is 'read a book you've been meaning to read for ages', so I thought instead of picking a book I hadn't started yet, I'd pick A Court of Wings and Ruin as I have been reading it for so long and wanted to get it finished. And I'm so glad I can finally say I've finished it!

If you aren't aware of this book, it is the third book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and the fourth book to this series is coming out this year. In this third book we follow the characters from the previous two books in their search for the cauldron that is going to be used to destroy the wall separating the mortal lands and the fae lands.

The characters go on a huge quest and on the way build an army that will go into battle with the enemy to save the wall from being destroyed and keep the mortals safe.

As this is the third book I don't want to say too much about the synopsis so we will leave it there but I will say that I enjoyed some aspects of this story but not all. I found that the book probably didn't need to be as long as it was and I definitely got lost in a lot of places which meant the story wasn't always holding my attention.

However I did really enjoy the battle scenes and the excitement and tension they built. I felt like I was holding my breath hoping my favourite characters weren't going to come to any harm and that they would survive everything they had to face.

I did still really love some of the characters (mostly characters I became attached to in the previous two books) however I found that there were so many characters to keep up with that I couldn't really get attached to many more and didn't feel like I got to know all of them as well as I'd like to have done.

The descriptive writing within this series is always so well done and I could always picture where the characters were even when I felt myself getting lost. The world within this story is so magical and its a world that although it is full of danger, I would still like to visit (even for a very short amount of time!).

Overall I think this book has its pros and cons and although it did lose my attention on a few occasions and took me so long to read, I think that the bits I did really enjoy brought my rating up slightly.

Rating /5

3

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Aprilathon 2018 | BookTube

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Here is my 2nd video of the day! And I'm so excited about it! That is because it is my TBR for a Readathon that is taking place from 2nd - 8th April! It is called the Aprilathon and was created my April from the YouTube Channel Aprilius Maximus! I haven't participated in a week long Readathon for a while so I'm so excited to get stuck in with this one!

If you're participating in this Readathon then let me know as I'd love to know what you're planning to read and your progress throughout the week and I'll speak to you all very soon!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Intimidating TBR Tag 2018 | BookTube

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Today I have two videos for you! The first video is the Intimidating TBR Tag which is an older tag now however I've realized my TBR Shelf has become much bigger recently so I thought this would be a good tag for me to do! If you'd like to do this tag then I tag you! And post links to your tags when you have done them so I can check them out!

Keep your eyes peeled for another video I'm super excited about later on and I'll speak to you all then!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

The second book I managed to get read during the 24 Hour Readathon was James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. This is one of my more favoured Roald Dahl stories so it was great to be reunited with these characters again.

If you somehow don't know what James and the Giant Peach is about then its about a little boy called James who's parents were killed by a rhino that had escaped the zoo so he now lives with his awful Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge. They treat him horribly and all James wants is to escape from them.

One day while he is out in the garden, a man comes up to James and tells his about these magic crocodile tongues he has and that they can make you happy again and that they are now James'. James is told to keep them very safe but on the way back up the garden he drops them all over the grass.

In the morning Aunt Sponge notices there is a peach on the peach tree...and this doesn't sound like exciting information, however the peach tree hasn't grown any peaches on it in years. So when they see this peach they get incredibly excited. But then they notice the peach starts to grow until it is so big its taken up nearly the whole garden!

People start to come round to look at the peach and Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge start charging people to look at it so they can make more money. But one night when James is sent out into the garden to pick up all the rubbish people had dropped while looking at the peach, he ends up finding an entrance into the peach itself...so he goes to investigate...and this is where the story really starts.

I really enjoyed this story once again and Roald Dahl's writing never fails to amuse me. He has a way with words that don't just entertain children but people of all ages. The story itself is highly engaging and in a lot of places, very funny.

The characters help bring this story alive and I love how all of the characters are all so quirky and funny. Even Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge who aren't likable characters are still brilliant to read about and because they are so stupid, you can't help but laugh at what they say and get up to.

James is such a lovely boy and always puts everybody else's needs before his own and because of this it is so lovely to see how he develops and gets the ending to the story he deserves.

The illustrations from Quentin Blake are once again fantastic and I don't think Roald Dahl's books would be the same without them. He is an amazing illustrator and a one you don't forget.

Overall this story is highly engaging and perfect for younger readers but also if you want a short story that will have you laughing and get you attached to the characters then I'd highly recommend this one.

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx