REVIEW: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE:  Letters to the Lost
WRITTEN BY: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLISHED BY: Bloomsbury Children’s
VERSION I READ: paperback
PAGES: 393
TRIGGERS: grief. Especially if you have lost a parent this book can be triggered.

(PLOT BY GR) Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother’s death, she leaves letters at her grave. It’s the only way Juliet can cope.
Declan Murphy isn’t the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he’s trying to escape the demons of his past. When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can’t resist writing back. Soon, he’s opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they’re not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.

Review: Solitaire by Alice Oseman

TITLE:  Solitaire
WRITTEN BY: Alice Oseman
PUBLISHED BY: Harper Collins
VERSION I READ: paperback
PAGES: 392
TRIGGERS: self harm, eating disorder, depression, suicide.

.5

(PLOT BY GR) In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story. My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.  Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.
I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.
I really don’t.

Reasons why I had to stop watching ’13 Reasons Why’

As a tv shows addicted I had to write a post on the new Netflix hit “13 reasons why”.  I actually read the book a couple of years ago and I kind of hated it: the writing was so confusing (Hannah and Clay thoughts merged together and you can’t really understand the character who is actually talking) plus I find the entire plot a bit problematic. Ok, a lot problematic! I am not talking about bullying and suicide but how a victim becomes the bullying.
As someone who felt bullying on her own skin I would EVER willingly put someone else in the situation. The loneliness. The lack of self esteem. The hate for yourself. The tears. I would never do something like that to someone else. Not even for payback. I actually think the entire tapes concept is so wrong!

I still wanted to give a shot to the Netflix series because there is no series that I didn’t try on; aside the tapes revenge, I found the storyline has been adapted pretty well for the small screen: I quite enjoyed every characters and even the story, the cast is just supreme and I love every single actor but this show is just wrong for people who has been bullied and suffers of mental health.

Arc-Review: Optimists die first by Susin Nielsen

TITLE:  Optimists die first
WRITTEN BY: Susin Nielsen
PUBLISHED BY: Andersen Press Ltd
VERSION I READ: e-arc through netgalley
PAGES: 272
DIVERSITY: mental health and disability.

(PLOT BY GR) Petula has avoided friendship and happiness ever since tragedy struck her family and took her beloved younger sister Maxine. Worse, Petula blames herself. If only she’d kept an eye on her sister, if only she’d sewn the button Maxine choked on better, if only…Now her anxiety is getting out of control, she is forced to attend the world’s most hopeless art therapy class. But one day, in walks the Bionic Man: a charming, amazingly tall newcomer called Jacob, who is also an amputee. Petula’s ready to freeze him out, just like she did with her former best friend, but when she’s paired with Jacob for a class project, there’s no denying they have brilliant ideas together – ideas like remaking Wuthering Heights with cats. But Petula and Jacob each have desperately painful secrets in their pasts – and when the truth comes out, there’s no way Petula is ready for it.

Spotlight on: Sara Barnard

“Spotlight on”  is my first (hopefully) recurrent post on the blog, I’m planning to make it a MONTHLY thing; the purpose of these blog-posts is to spread out the voice about Young Adult, especially the authors (new or less new) who makes this world so special to us. In the future, it might contains storytellers who hasn’t written only YA books.

This month spotlight is dedicated to SARA BARNARD aka my new reading obsession, in a good way. She has been added to my auto-buying author list, plus she is also a Potterhead and I love talk to her on Twitter, she is so kind and funny to talk with. *fingers crossed I would be able to meet her at YALC*

WHO IS SARA? Sara lives in Brighton and does all her best writing on trains. She loves books, book people and book things. She has been writing ever since she was too small to reach the “on” switch on the family Amstrad computer. She gets her love of words from her dad, who made sure she always had books to read and introduced her to the wonders of secondhand book shops at a young age. Sara is trying to visit every country in Europe, and has managed to reach 13 with her best friend. She has also lived in Canada and worked in India. (Thanks to her tumblr).

A quiet kind of thunder by Sara Barnard

TITLE:  A quiet kind of thunder
WRITTEN BY: Sara Barnard
PUBLISHED BY: Macmillan Children’s Books
HOW DID I GET IT FROM? Pre-order from Wordery
VERSION I READ: paperback
PAGES: 320
DIVERSITY: race, mental health (anxiety), selective mutism, deaf.

(PLOT BY GR) Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life – she’s been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He’s deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she’s assigned to look after him. To Rhys, it doesn’t matter that Steffi doesn’t talk, and as they find ways to communicate, Steffi finds that she does have a voice, and that she’s falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it.

Reasons to stay alive by Matt Haig

TITLE: Reasons to stay alive
WRITTEN BY: Matt Haig
PUBLISHED BY: Canongate Books
HOW I GOT IT: Gift from one of my BFF
VERSION I READ: paperback
PAGES: 264
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Depression, Anxiety, OCD

(PLOT BY GR) What does it mean to feel truly alive?
This is the true story of how Matt Haig came through crisis, triumphed over a mental illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. Moving, funny and joyous, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth.

Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard

TITLE: Beautiful Broken Things
WRITTEN BY: Sara Barnard
PUBLISHED BY: Macmillan Children’s Books
HOW I GOT IT: Gift from my Secret Santa
VERSION I READ: paperback
PAGES: 322

(PLOT BY GR) Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

Top Ten 2017 Debuts I’m Excited For

“Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!”

This year I am so ready for a bunch of pre-orders but my credit card is not really in agreement with me since it has its expiration date in 2 months I will have to wait a little bit. But I’ve already pre-ordered TWO books that are out this month before of renewing my credit card. So.. Here is the books I am most excited for.