Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review #118

The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Are there spoilers?

No.

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Title: Fangirl 

Author: Rainbow Rowell

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Pages: 438

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2013

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

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Date Read: July 8, 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆

A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, family and first love
CATH IS A SIMON SNOW FAN. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan... But for Cath, being a fan is her life--and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.
Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath that she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words...and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? 

The Rating:

My Review:

I enjoyed reading Landlines by Rainbow Rowell and since a lot of people talk such good things about Fangirl I knew I would like that too. And now that I have read it I am happy to report I that I do like Fangirl. Not as much as thought I would but still.

I can't remember much about the book because a lot of things have been going on in my personal life lately but I do remember liking the part where Cath describes how she feels her heartstrings tugging in her stomach. I appreciated that because I feel it in my gut too. Especially when I watch a romantic movie or a sad scene or when I read a good book and the main couple isn't doing so well.

I didn't think much about Cath and Levis relationship. Except that they were realistic and sweet together. I couldn't help but root for them. I liked that Cath read to him and he would believe everything she told him. That he wasn't bothered by Cath fanfictions and actually liked listening to her stories.

Now I can happily read Carry On.

Goodreads    |    Book Depository

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The Bookish Island
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Adult Contemporary Romance | Valentine's Day 2018

Happy Valentine's Day!

A long time ago I did something like this where I mentioned books that I hadn't read and it didn't make that much sense. So I'm trying this again. This time with some books I've read. I'm also going to divide them by different categories.

Young Adult Contemporary Romance

Adult Contemporary Romance

No Romance But Cute Stories

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Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Georgie and Neal love each other but their relationship isn't the same as it used to be. Georgie doesn't know what to do about it till she discovers a way to communicate with Neal from the past.

I loved it! I cried, I laughed, and I broke down in the middle.
4 out of 5 stars.                

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North to You by Tif Marcelo

Camille is the owner of the internet famous food truck. Winning money to get her baby sister to college. One day she crashes with her former love who had been in the army, Drew Bautista whose family ends up rivaling her in the food business.          

4 out of 5 stars. 💖              

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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Louisa Clark is an ordinary woman who gets a new job helping  Will Traynor whose wheelchair bound.

Just don't read it sleep deprived like I did. Still gave it 4 out of 5 stars.              

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The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack

Theo and Semele are caught between a grand story of love, fortune telling and adventure.      

Read it in one day and gave it 5 stars. That good.              

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The Prettiest One  by James Hankins

One thriller just cause.

Caitlin had been missing for 7 months. She appears at her home where her husband greats her and sees she's acting like she didn't go missing. She has amnesia.

There is more romance further in the book but since its a thriller I don't want to ruin it.    

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Stacking The Shelves - 4

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what books they got throughout the week!

Reviewed:

   

Last week I didn't do one of these, because I had nothing to talk about but this week I do. I not only wrote the reviews of two books but I finished one two.

I had read The New Guy (And Other Senior Year Distractions) by Amy Spalding. But I hadn't written the review until a few days ago.

REVIEWED!

As for Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell. I also wrote the review to this.

REVIEWED!

As For Update:

    

I stopped reading All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and in turn tried to read through We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun & Susan Mullen. Im halfway through it and hope to finish it soon. I have to say that I really like the way it was written. It's fun and easy to read through. I would have finished it by now if it wasn't for my english project that is due on monday.

As for A Week of Monday by Jessica Brody. I actually finished it when I wrote this (which is on Thursday) and I will write a review for this book as well.

Hint: I really, really liked it.

(Click on the covers to visit their individual goodreads)

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Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review

Book Review:
Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Spoilers?

Yes, Kinda.

Title - Kindred Spirits By - Rainbow Rowell
Publication - February 25th 2016 by Macmillans Kids UK
Format - Mass Market Paperback, 96 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Short Story

'Everybody likes everything these days. The whole world is a nerd.'
'Are you mad because other people like Star Wars? Are you mad because people like me like Star Wars?' 
'Maybe.' 

If you broke Elena's heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she's expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does. What she's not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectible Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels. Kindred Spirits is an engaging short story by Rainbow Rowell, author of the bestselling Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On, and is part of a handful of selected short reads specially produced for World Book Day.

The Rating :

My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.

via GIPHY

The Cover:
Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.
The cover is simple, lovely, and bright. I love the font and I love the colors.


The Story:
This is a 96 page book with just a handful of characters and only two settings. But even with those conditions it ended up being a great story. Perfect for Star Wars fans, or even fangirls in general.


Relationships:
This book didn't have that many characters so it didn't have that many relationships. But out of the ones it did have I did like Elena and Gabe's relationship.


Elena x Gabe
Even if at first Elena couldn't feel comfortable around Gabe she grew to like him. And although the story doesn't allude to there being an official romance between them, even at the end, I quite like them as a couple. And I hope we could see them again, even if it's a small part, in the future.


Family Dynamics:
As for Elena's family.
I think that it's sad that she shared something so beautiful with her father only for him to walkout on her and her mother. I feel that with that bit I sort of related wit her. Like my dad was only in my life when I was little and for short bits but I do remember the first movie I can remember seeing was with him in the town's theater and it was A Bugs Life. So many years have past since I last saw my dad but I still like that memory. 
Her mother was cool too. She worried about her daughter and she watched over her while at the same time giving her some space. Which is admirable. Not that many parents care where their kids are most of the time.



Overall:
I enjoyed every page of this book. I'm not lying. 
I don't know if it's the fact that I had just finished Santorini Sunset and it's so much different than this book. Or the fact that it was late at night and I had just finished two books, not having finished one in months but I was way happy and way proud of myself for finishing this right after I had read Santorini Sunset. 


PS: I did a review for Santorini Sunset by Anita Hughes in the past.

Get a copy at:
 Amazon US  | Barnes & Noble

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Stacking The Shelves - 3

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what books they got throughout the week!

Reviewed:

This week I finished 3 books on the day I wrote the last Stacking The Shelves. I finished Santorini Sunset by Anita Hughes and wrote the review. I also read The New Guy (And Other Senior Year Distractions) by Amy Spalding. Review Pending! As well as Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

As For Update:

All The Bright Places has been going slow. I think I read like five or ten pages. With We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun & Susan Mullen I've done 42 pages and I really like it so far.
I did try to start another of the books that I borrowed, A Week of Monday by Jessica Brody. And I'm 81 pages in so far and I'm liking it too. 

(Click on the covers to visit their individual goodreads)

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My True Love Gave To Me by Stephanie Perkins | Book Review

Book Review:
My True Love Gave To Me by Stephanie Perkins

Spoilers?

No.

Title - My True Love Gave To Me  
Edited by - Stephanie Perkins
Authors - Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White

Publication - October 14th 2014 by St. Martin’s Press
Format - Hardcover, 321 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Short Stories, Contemporary, Romance

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love. 

The Rating :

My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 4 stars.

via GIPHY

The Cover:

Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

With this cover it’s easy to love it and just buy it because it's beautiful. Well, that and the fact that's it's by a group of very talented writers. You could also see the couples of each short story skating in the frozen lake.

The Short Stories:

I prefer to do separate reviews of each short story then an overall review.

"Midnights" by Rainbow Rowell > 5 stars.

I was so in love with Midnights that I legit cried more than once. I identified so much with the main character without knowing it. It was so fluffy and adorable.

"The Lady and the Fox" by Kelly Link > 2 stars.

Although I did like this story I found it hard to finish and it was confusing  in some parts. And after reading Midnights which was really good it just didn't fit.

"Angels in the Snow" by Matt de la Peña > 4 stars.

I really liked it! it was so adorable and there were kitties and the guys name was Shy. I enjoyed this story.

"It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown" by Stephanie Perkins > 5 stars

One of my favorites from this book. I adored the connection the characters had. Loved their names, Marigold and North. Beautiful!

"Polaris is where you'll find me" by Jenny Han > 5 stars

I really, really loved this one. I kinda want this to be a book on its own with more to it.

"Your Temporary Santa" by David Levithan > 3 stars

It was cute and I could tell they really liked each other but for some reason I didn't quite like it. There were parts that just didn't get to me like they should have, I don't know.

"Krampuslauf" by Holly Black > 3.5 stars

Very interesting but I got lost a few times and the ending confused me. Still it was fun to read.

"What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth?" by Gayle Forman >  2 stars

 I couldn't connect with the characters. The writing was beautiful, but I just didn't like Sophie.

"Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus" by Myra Mcentire > 4.5 stars

I love this story! It was so cute and funny. The characters were adorable. It felt like something that I would gladly watch on tv or something similar.

"Welcome to Christmas, CA" by Kiersten White > 4 stars

Just like Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus this one felt like it could be a movie, but this one gave me a Hallmark movie type of feel. The guy was perfect partly because he could make good food. 

"Star of Bethlehem" by Ally Carter > 4 stars

I wish this story was longer because I actually liked it. It was heart warming and the family in this was loving. I liked this one too.

"The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor > 3 stars.

This one kinda didn't fit in with the others but I liked it. It was a bit weird in someparts but yeah. It was magical and the ending was something different. Okay, so I'm still confused about the whole thing.

Overall Review:

It was a fun book to read. I took my time reading each story. Like some took me longer than others but with homework and stuff it made sense. The cover was adorable depicting all the couples skating.I loved it.

I would like to say that my favorite stories were:

"Midnights" by Rainbow Rowell

"It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown" by Stephanie Perkins

"Polaris is where you'll find me" by Jenny Han

"Star of Bethlehem" by Ally Carter

"Welcome to Christmas, CA" by Kiersten White

Get a copy at:
Barnes&Noble  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon UK  |  Book Depository Affiliate Link

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