Every Time We Say Goodbye

Every Time We Say Goodbye

Author: Kristina McMorris

Publisher: Avon/ Harper Collins

Year published: 2012

Pages: 420 (Paperback)

Rating: 4/5

“Two people. Two cultures. One love. One war.”

This was the one sentence which instantly drew me too the book, after reading this one line I definitely wanted to read this book. I'm a sucker for a good romance story and knowing fully well that this would be one I was pretty excited to read it.

The story is about two people who fall in love with each other despite coming from different cultures/races. Against their families wishes the couple elope and this is when the war begins between the two countries. Maddie and Lane have known each other for a long time, with Lane being Maddie’s brother’s best friend. They get married and after a while the Japanese bomb pearl Harbour (Lane is Japanese), war then breakouts between the two nations and because of their different cultures Lane and Maddie find it difficult to be together. Both Lane and Maddie have to try and fight for their love while the rest of the world tries to tear them apart.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I instantly liked the characters too, it's a love story but there's so much more to it than that. The book goes through a lot of emotion and it is definitely worth the read. 

The Year I Met You

The Year I Met You

Author: Cecilia Ahern

Publisher: Harper Collins

Year published: 2014

Pages: 328 (hardback)

Rating: 2/5

After reading the title I thought that this would be some sort of love story, but I was wrong.

This is the first book that I've read by Cecilia Ahern so I didn't really know what to expect, but I was slightly disappointed whilst reading this book as I felt like nothing really exciting or major happens in the book.

The story is about a successful business women Jasmine who is so busy in her work life that she never notices the things around her until she is on gardening leave from work. Without her work Jasmine doesn't really know what to do, and with having nothing else to do Jasmine starts to notice her surrounding and the lives of the people around her. There are quite a few characters who have a main part in the book like heather (Jasmine’s sister), Jasmine’s father, Matt her neighbour, and Monday (I can’t remember who he was but I remember him coming up in the book), there are other characters such as her other neighbours but these characters mentioned above play a important part in her life while she is on gardening leave from work.

The pace of the book was really slow and it took me a long time to get into the book, the book is split into four parts and it did take me a while to get interested in it, but then I’d lose interest after a few pages.

I felt like there was something missing within the book and I just felt like there wasn't much of a story within it. I do get parts of the book but overall I don’t think this is a book that I would read again. 

The Best Of Me

The Best Of Me

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Year published: 2011

Pages: 292 (hardback)

Rating: 2/5

Yes, I'm here again with another novel from Nicholas sparks, this one being the best of me.

I was quite disappointed when I finished reading this novel firstly because I loved the story line but after a few chapters I got bored of reading it because I felt like it was dragging. Secondly this book also does not end happily, like okay its okay to have some books not end happily as realistically not everyone has a happy ending but come on Amanda and Dawson were childhood sweethearts and they still clearly loved each other and were meant to be together.

This story is about Dawson and Amanda; they are childhood sweethearts but can’t be together because Amanda comes from a good family whereas Dawson doesn't. Dawson does not live with his family he lives with some man named Tuck who sort of took him in, but when he dies his funeral brings both Amanda and Dawson back to their home town and after years apart they finally see each other again. 

I did like the story but I found it got boring after a while; I liked reading about the younger versions of Amanda and Dawson, but other than that the book literally dragged on with nothing really happening. Then you get to the last few chapters and then things happen so quickly and then the story is over. The last few chapters were sad and what happens did make me a bit emotional, but other than that there was no other emotion within the book. The overall story is good but again I didn't like writing style. 

One Minute To Midnight

One Minute To Midnight

Author: Amy Silver

Publisher: Arrow

Year published: 2011

Pages: 407 (paperback)

Rating:5/5

                

One minute to midnight is a book which should be read around the Christmas and New Year’s time.

The cover is what drew me to pick the book up, I didn't really know what to expect from the book but I'm glad that I picked this book up because I absolutely loved it.

The book takes us through the many New Year’s Nicole has been through with her friends since she was 14. The book is so realistic with the events which take place; I found it hard to put the book down because it drew me in from the very first page.  

The book goes from the present to the past, telling us about all the New Year’s Nicole has been through with her friends. Each year there’s good, bad, heartbreaks and friendship problems, and Nicole goes through all of this with the same people.

When reading the book you don’t really know what to expect and each event which takes place in Nicole’s life is a shock to the reader too because with most books you can kind of tell what’s going to happen but with this book you can’t. This is what kept me interested in the book because of the realistic events which take place and because from not expecting this from the book.

I loved this book and would definitely read it again through the festive time. 

Dear John

Dear John

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Year published: 2010

Pages: 276 (paperback)

Rating: 3/5

I'm going through a book phase where I want to read all of Nicholas Sparks novels, this is my third book which I reading by him and before reading it I was really hoping for a romantic love story.

I’d already watched the movie before reading this book, but I couldn't really remember what happened in the movie because I watched it a while back, but I'm sure the movie was quite different from the book, but then I can’t really remember.

The book started off really good but then halfway through I did put the book down and couldn't get back in to it. Again with this book of Nicholas sparks I felt like it dragged on at certain parts and again I got bored of reading it.

The book is about John and savannah, they meet when John is on leave from the army, but then he has to go back to the army and that’s basically the end of their little love story. Savannah moves on but as John is in the army he has no time to find love, and so he’s still in love with Savannah.

Dear John focuses a little on the relationship between John and his Father and Savannah sort of helps with their relationship as both father and son have a rough relationship.

I really liked the story of this book as it’s really realistic, but the ending ruined it for me as John did not end up with Savannah.  - oops spoiler alert. 

The Wedding

The Wedding

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Year published: 2004

Pages: 304 pages (paperback)

Rating: 3/5

The wedding is a follow on from the notebook, but the book is now about Noah and Allie’s daughter Jane. This book is written in the point of view of Jane’s husband Wilson.

Before picking this book up I didn't even know there was another book after the notebook, but when I realised that this was a follow on from the notebook I knew that I just had to read it.

I was pretty excited to read this book, and was hoping to read another cute romance book but I was quite disappointed as I found this book quite boring. There was too much unnecessary detail in it that the book kind of dragged on for me and when I put it down I wasn't exactly excited to pick it up again.

The book is about Jane and Wilson, Wilson forgets their 29^th anniversary, and obviously this makes Jane upset- this would make any women upset, so yeah I felt bad for her, but then she decides to go away for a while to live with her son and is thinking of divorcing Wilson. Poor Wilson knows that he’s going to lose Jane if he doesn't step up and be more romantic, but it’s going to be difficult for him as Jane’s dad is Noah and he basically sets the bar high for romance.

So Wilson goes off to Noah for some advice, and after this Wilson basically does little romantic things to try and woo Jane again. I don’t want to tell the whole story but the story is good but for me it was just too much extra detail which didn't really need to be there, and because of this I did get bored whilst reading the book.

There are parts in the book which are cute and romantic and in the last few chapters you will be shocked by what happens, but let me tell you it might take a while before you get there.

The overall story is good but I didn't really like the style of writing in this book. 

The Notebook

The Notebook

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Publisher: Sphere

Year Published: 2007

Pages: 240 (paperback)

Rating: 5/5

The notebook is a well known book and movie, I have tried many times to watch the movie but I could never get in to it, so I decided to give the book a go and I am glad that I did because I absolutely loved it, I loved everything about the book from the characters to the story.

The notebook is a love story about Noah and Allie, the book starts off with Noah telling the story and at this point it is the older version of him telling the story. As we go into the book it goes into the past with Noah relating the past telling us of the summer that him and Allie met and the adventures and the fun which they did together.

I don’t want to give too much away if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, but let me just say that it’s a cute love story about how you never forget your first love. The story is really touching and it’s amazing how fate works to bring two people who love each together in the end.

This book is definitely worth reading and I would definitely read this book again because I'm a sucker for a good love story.  

Welcome!

Hey fellow book lovers,

I've finally got around to starting this book blog. I've written many of the posts already but never put them up, so now I'm going to try to get as many of them up as I can.

When I was younger I used to love reading but then after a while I stopped and then last year during winter I got back into reading and was always on the lookout for a good book to read, but for me it was difficult task to find the right book. Then I came across some book bloggers on instagram and that got me thinking about starting my own blog.

I put off the idea for a long time always trying to start a blog but on different things, but finally I think I've found the right thing to blog about which is books! 

I'm going to try my best to post regularly and post as much as I can, hopefully you’ll enjoy reading this blog and let me know if you know of any good book.

Happy reading! 

'Love at second sight'

Love At Second Sight 

Author: Cathy Hopkins

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Year published: 2012

Pages: 309 (paperback)

Rating: 3/5

Finding a good book is always a difficult task for me, there are just so many books to choose from it’s hard to pick just one to read.

After such a long time I am getting back into reading, and I wanted to read a really good book, so while looking around judging all the covers, I came across this book by Cathy Hopkins. 

The author sounded familiar, and I remembered reading some of her books when I was in high school. I was pretty excited to get this book hoping that it would be a good read.

"Unlucky in love Jo is dragged along to see a clairvoyant by her two coupled-up best friends, and is told that there's only one boy for her. The trouble is, the last time she saw him was in a past life, when she worked as a governess to his younger brother. The clairvoyant tells her that as she is back in this life, so is he, and she must find him if she is ever to know true happiness and love. Jo doesn't believe a word of it - but then a series of events begin to change her mind. Could her one true love really be out there? In her quest to find the One, she visits psychics and cemeteries - but will she even be able to recognize her soul-mate when she finds him? Or is she destined to continue looking for love for all of time?" 

The story is all about how Jo and her two best friends, go around trying to figure out whose Jo’s lover was in the past and who he is now. 

This book is a quick and easy read and can be finished in a couple of hours. It was a good book, but when you get into the story you can kind of guess what is going to happen, and so there isn't any big twists in the story.

I wouldn't pick this book again to read, only because this book is aimed at younger readers.