Read in August

I read a lot of the current popular young adult fiction books this month, which was a bit of a change for me, but a change I very much enjoyed! So, I just thought I'd give you a little breakdown of the different books I read during the month of August and what I thought:

If I Stay - Gayle Forman

I've already written a review of this book here which you are very welcome to read! But long story short, I adored this book, and I love it even more so now after having seen the film last night which by the way, was totally and utterly amazing. It was every bit as good as I was hoping it would be and Chloe Moretz was great in it as well!

Rating: ««««

Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

Again, I've already written a review of this book here and it's another one that I just really really loved. I'd definitely say it's up there among my favourite books of all time now. I just completely fell in love with the characters and just found this book so lovely and warm and touching. A must-read if you haven't already!

Rating: «««««

We Were Liars - E. Lockhart

The blurb for this book is as follows:

'We are liars

We are beautiful and privileged

We are cracked and broken

A tale of love and romance

A tale of tragedy

Which are lies?

Which is truth?

You decide'

Purposely ambiguous, since it's just one of those books that's better to go into blind, so I'm not going to say much more other than that the story revolves around an extremely wealthy, privileged family who spend their summer holidays each year on a private island. 

I decided to read this book mostly because of the ridiculous amount of hype surrounding it and thought I may as well jump on the bandwagon. It took me a really really long time to get into (basically the entire book) and I very much disliked all of the characters- even the righteous Gat managed to rub me all the wrong ways- but I do feel like that was kind of the idea with this book. Also, at times I found the writing style extremely pretentious. However, the ending did manage to redeem this book in my eyes and I'd urge anyone reading it at the minute who feels similarly to me to read on until the end, it is worth it. 

Rating: «««

Where She Went - Gayle Forman

This is the sequel to 'If I Stay', continuing the story between Mia and Adam and how their lives pan out in the years following Mia's accident. I was reluctant to read this book, just in case maybe things didn't work out well and it ruined how I felt about the first book, but I went for it anyway and I'm so glad I did because I thought it was actually even better than the original book, which I had never expected! The writing is just a lot more mature and the characters more developed. The story itself was so beautiful and heartbreaking, I felt like I was right there living it. If you're a fan of 'If I Stay' I'd definitely say don't hesitate to read this book, it's really brilliant!

Rating: «««««

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

This book is just about a girl called Cath- whose passion in life is writing 'Simon Snow' fanfiction- and her experiences starting college and having to survive on her own for the first time, separate from her twin sister Wren who she's been close to all her life.

Again, a big reason I read this book was because of the hype and all the great reviews I'd read recommending to read it, but also because I'd enjoyed 'Eleanor & Park' so much I was really looking forward to reading more from Rowell. I did like this book, don't get me wrong, but it just wasn't on par with 'Eleanor and Park' for me. I found the plot a little bit thin and the characters didn't grip me and tug on my heartstrings the same way they had in E&P. However, what I did like about this book was the fact that Cath and her college experiences are very easy to relate to- particularly if you're an introvert. She's basically a poster child for all us introverts out there which was nice to see in such a popular young adult novel.

Rating: «««