I thought it was time for another book review! I loved writing the last one and it seems that you guys loved reading it! In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a bit of a book worm, so these are one of my favourite kinds of posts to do. I recently read Everything, everything by Nicola Yoon – I fell in love with the characters and just the entire plot in general and decided it was worthy of a blog post, so here we go!
Overview: My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
The first thing which really appealed to me was the medical/psychological aspect that was evident from the blurb. I’m fascinated by rare diseases so this was a definite plus. I related strongly to the main character (Madeline) through this as I too have a rare medical condition (nothing too weird, just a sleep disorder!) I really related to some of her thoughts and feelings because of this. Towards the end of the book the Psychological aspect comes into view – I can’t say too much about this without any spoilers!
Another thing I loved was the romance aspect. This is, quite obviously, a romance novel and I am such a sucker for romance books. Some of the quotes about Olly really made me melt – see below.
“He’s definitely a noticer, the kind of boy who would know if you’d rearranged a painting or added a new vase to a room.”
The storyline is really beautiful and sends a good message. I’m going to put a few of my favourite quotes/extracts from the book down below. Another thing I liked was how easy it was to read – it was well-written and exciting all the way through. If you love anything to do with romance or maybe have a bit of a fascination for all things weird and wonderful, I strongly suggest reading this book!
“You can find the meaning of life in a book.”
“If my life were a book and you read it backward, nothing would change. Today is the same as yesterday. Tomorrow will be the same as today.”
“There’s more to life than being alive”
I hope you enjoyed this and will add it to your to read list! If you’ve already read it, feel free to leave a comment below so I can hear your opinion! Megssaskia x
Clarissa Belhaven and her sister are struck by tragedy and are forced to move from the luscious hills of Assam to Newcastle, England, where they have to endure poverty. The first book follows Clarissa as she desperately tries to make a home for herself in Newcastle.
The second book follows Sophie as she lives a full and happy life living in Newcastle with her aunt. But the distant memory of her parents still haunts her as she tries to find out what really happened to them. She is taken to India by her new husband, where she delves deeper into the mystery of her parents and tries to make the most of her new life.
The third book follows lively, dramatic Adela as she struggles through school with the ambition of becoming a glamourous film star. She captures the attention of Sam Jackman, a young film maker. By the outbreak of the second world war, she is living in Newcastle where her life is turned upside down by an unpleasant discovery. Adela deals with shameful secrets and guilt as she falls in love with Sam.
I recently finished reading this series and I decided it was worthy of a book review – because I loved it! This series is quite different from things I usually read; it still had a healthy amount of romance, but also had a lot of cultural aspects involved.
My favourite thing about these books was reading about different places and cultures. The books are set in India and Newcastle from 1904 to the late 1900’s. I also love that each character is linked to the characters in the next book, therefore we still indirectly learn about the lives of previous characters as they progress. This is great because I hate finishing a book and not knowing what happened to the characters!
Each book is filled with joy, comfort and sadness. I have cried and laughed multiple times throughout reading the series – I simply love when books are able to touch you in such a way.
Here is the link to the books on amazon:
I hope you enjoyed this book review and it’s inspired you to read them! 🙂
I thought to end a chapter (and year) I would look back at the best moments of 2016.
January
In all honesty, January didn’t start out great with both my mum and I being ill. However, it was the start to a brilliant year. New Years Eve was spent at a friends house, which was a lot of fun!
On the 31st January we celebrated Burns Night – a Scottish tradition celebrating a poet. We’re not Scottish but my mum went to a university in Scotland so we always celebrate it. As always, my best friend (Char) came and we laughed our way through dinner with my family, which is a common occurrence on this night!
February
February (as always) was very cold. In the half term a group of friends and I went to stay in a house near Hereford for the weekend. Although wet and muddy, we had a lot of fun and laughs. We went on walks, made a mud slide (never again!) and drank hot chocolate whilst playing board games. We also went into the city and did a bit of shopping (and eating)!
March
March arrived and with it brought a lot of rain and cold weather. My brother celebrated his birthday in early March, which was fun! Apart from that, not a lot happened in March other than revision for exams!
One great thing about March this year (well, last year now!) was that I wasn’t ill for 3 weeks! Considering it was winter, that was pretty good.
April
In April I went to Devon for the weekend with my dad. This was great and I got loads of revision done, as well as being able to stroll along the beach and enjoy the delicious pastries from the bakery. The weekend was really relaxed and well needed to de-stress just before exams started! To hear more about my Devon trip and see more pics check out my Weekend Away – Devon blog post. https://megssaskia.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/weekend-away-devon/
Walks
Devon
May
May went past very quickly in a blur of revision and exams. My GCSE exams started half way through May so I wasn’t able to do much other than revise. However, it started to get warmer so I still managed to find time to get out and enjoy the good weather with friends. May was also the start of BBQ season, which made up for all the revision! Check out this post for more: https://megssaskia.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/summer-evening-with-friends/
Posing amidst the daisies!
June
June was a very exciting month. It was the month of my dad’s birthday and the end of my GCSE’s!! We celebrated my dads birthday half way through the month and a few days later I was done with exams. This was the best feeling in the world! I then had around 2 and a half months of holidays to do whatever I liked, without having to worry about exams.
I also got my first job as a waitress in a local cafe! This was awesome because I needed something to do and also money!
July
In July I went to Spain with my family for two weeks. We spent most of the time by the pool and went out in the evenings to restaurants and simply to stroll through the late night stalls in nearby towns. It was a very relaxed/refreshing holiday. To see more photo’s from this trip, here is the separate blog post: https://megssaskia.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/spain-2016/
Throughout the summer I also played quite a lot of cricket as I got into the county development squad! One of the best matches I played was when I got 4 wickets in one game – 3 of which were taken in one over! Definitely something I’m going to remember!
Spain
Spain
Spain
August
August started off with a choir tour to Hereford. We got to sing in the cathedral each day for a week. In the evenings we went out for meals or just hung out together. The week went very quickly and I’m so excited for the next one!
GCSE results were on the 25th August. This was so nerve wracking and I remember it seemed to take forever for them to find the envelope with my name on it. I passed everything and I was so pleased! I managed to get a few A’s, B’s and only 1 C! Actually, I think I was more pleased with my C in maths than my full marks in English as I had been so convinced that I hadn’t passed, but I did! August ended with a good feeling and happiness.
Hereford
Canoeing in Wales whilst on the choir trip
The shock of my results on results day!
September
In September I started at a new college for sixth form. I also chose my A levels; English Language, Law and Psychology. The start of college was more exciting than daunting as a few of my friends were also starting so we all got the bus together. It was easy to make friends in some classes and I also knew a few people from previous schools.
I attended a KLS (Kleine-Levin Syndrome) meeting in London. This was very eye-opening and helpful as I was able to meet other people who understood what it felt like to be ‘in episode.’
I also started visiting universities, starting with Bath. This was really cool and made me feel very grown up. I’m so excited to go to Uni!
Afternoon drinks in the sun
At a rugby match
October
October was also a fun and exciting month. We went back to the house in Hereford for the weekend – I seem to have spent a large amount of time in Hereford this year haha! This time more people went so it was a lot more fun! We did the same as before, except no mud slide this time!
At the end of the month we went to Paris for a few days for my 16th Birthday. This was an amazing experience as I’ve never stayed in Paris before. We saw most of the main attractions, including the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. We stayed a few streets away from the red light district and drove through it a few times at night – this was an experience in itself. When we came back it was my 16th birthday and we celebrated by having an excellent meal (creds to my grandma!) and I went out with some friends a few days later.
Herefore
Cardiff
Paris
Paris
November
In early November both my mum and my grandma celebrated their birthdays also. 3 generations of my mums side of the family have birthdays within a week of each other, which means the excitement lasts longer than a day! 🙂
On the 5th November, it was fireworks night, which meant going into town with friends and watching the firework display. This year fireworks night was one of my favourite nights of the year! I was with Char and another friend and we just had the best night. It was good to see girl-friends as I spend most of my time around my guy friends!
Fireworks
Fireworks
December
Of course, the highlight for many people in December is Christmas! Our Christmas was fairly relaxed and quiet with just my parents, brother and grandma, but it was good none-the-less. Most of the day was spent lounging around, opening presents and (of course) eating!
December ended on a high as I saw friends most nights leading up to New Years Eve. The highlight was definitely seeing friends I haven’t seen in ages! We had a ‘raclette party’ which consisted of having raclette (obviously!) and playing games. Oh don’t forget Just Dance! Here’s to a great 2017!
Good Morning! 🙂 It’s about time for a new blog post, so I thought I’d do something a bit different. Earlier this week I watched a new TV series called Thirteen. It’s about a girl named Ivy Moxam who gets kidnapped when she’s 13 and escapes at the age of 26 – 13 years later. The series follows the police inspectors and Ivy (and her family) as they try to find the person who took her.
After watching the first two episodes I absolutely loved it! It was one of those programmes where you think you know whats happening and then there’s another plot twist. It was slightly eerie, but not massively scary. Although I don’t recommend watching it late at night (like I did) because you will probably end up having nightmares, which isn’t fun. The last 30 seconds of the second episode was actually the most terrifying bit and made me jump. I really want to go into more detail but don’t want to spoil it in case you haven’t seen it yet. One thing which I noticed was the music – it just made it that little bit more exciting. Music is so powerful, it can change the mood of a scene so easily.
All in all it was a great programme which kept me on my toes and I recommend it to anyone who loves murder mystery kind of programmes – although there isn’t a murder, but I think it’s along the lines of something like that. The next episode is on Monday at 10pm – can’t wait!
Megssaskia 