Showing posts with label Contemporary Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contemporary Books. Show all posts

Friday, 17 October 2014

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - Review

**A note on my notes: This review is spoiler free.**

"A blank canvas...has unlimited possibilities."

Isla and the Happily Ever After is the second and final companion novel in the Anna and the French Kiss trilogy. The story is once again set in the School of America in Paris; however, this time it follows Isla, her best friend Kurt and her love interest Josh, as they try to navigate through their senior years.

The Good 
I loved this book. I flew through it so quickly because it was just so adorable and easy to read. The plot was very interesting and I felt like the problems Isla and Josh faced were a lot more realistic than the problems Lola and Anna faced in the previous books. The romance is adorable. Isla as a character is going to be very relatable to some people because she has absolutely no idea what she wants to do with her life and is extremely jealous of those who are passionate about something.

The Bad
First of all, I really enjoyed this book. In saying that, I've seen a few other reviews where people haven't enjoyed this book that much at all, and it's all because of the characters. Some have said they thought the characters were a little flat, that they had no substance. On the other hand, I didn't think that at all. Isla is completely consumed in Josh; all she thinks about is him, all she wants to do is be with him, and that can get a little annoying sometimes.

The Recommendation
If you read the previous two books, then I would recommend looking into this one. The love story isn't as developed, but it's still a really good read. If you haven't read the other two books, then I strongly suggest that you read them first! While it's not critical, you will be spoiled about some major details at the end of Isla, and you'll for sure regret not reading the other books first. I've done reviews on them here and here.

Happy Reading!

You can find out more about Isla and the Happily Ever After here
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Monday, 22 September 2014

A Subjective Guide to Genre - Choosing Your Next Book

**A note on my notes: This post is of my opinion only, and I'm not an expect.**

Choosing your next book is hard. 

We've all been there - when you have so many books that you haven't read, but you have no idea how to choose which one to read next. When this happens to me, I tend to choose a genre that I'm in the mood for and pick a book from it. These are the genres that I usually feel in the mood to read.

Contemporary
If you're searching for a light, easy read, then the contemporary genre is where you need to look. Often featuring cute romances and beautiful friendships, good books from this genre can easily make you laugh and cry within a few pages. If you're in a reading slump, then contemporary is usually a good genre to dive into because they're often short, stand-alone books that you can get through quickly. Some of my favourite contemporary author's are Rainbow Rowell, Nicholas Sparks, and I'd also 100% recommend Wonder by R.J. Palacio and The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick.

Fantasy
Fantasy books are often a commitment because they usually come in a huge series. Fantasy is split into two sections (that I read, anyway): urban fantasy and epic fantasy. If you're new to the fantasy genre or if you don't really feel like learning a whole new world, stick to urban fantasy (which is set in the world as we know it, but with fantastical elements, while epic fantasy is in an entirely different world). Some fantasy series that I love are the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, the Obernewtyn chronicles by Isobelle Carmody and the Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare. If you're looking for some fantasy stand-alones, then I would recommend Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta or Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

Dystopian 
This is one of my favourite genres, and I think that it always is the most enjoyable when you hate the world. If you're feeling depressed about something that's happening in the world that you can't change it, or if you're reflecting on how shit people are or how nothing is fair, then you need a dystopian book. These books often come in trilogies, although there are several classic dystopian stand-alones that I really enjoyed. Of this genre, I would recommend The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth and any dystopian I mention in the classics section.

Science Fiction
I love science fiction a lot, but it's not a genre that I read that often. I often find that sci-fi is a good cross between fantasy and dystopian, so if you're feeling like one of those genres but can't quick pick something, try looking in the science fiction genre. Some of my favourites include Ender's Game and Pathfinder, both by Orson Scott-Card, as well as The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Classics
It's not often that I'm in the mood for a classic, but when I'm feeling really smart (or that I need to be more well-read), I usually quite enjoy them. Most classics are a challenge, so don't pick them up when you're looking for something to read quickly. For me, classic dystopians are my favourite, and I'd recommend reading Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm by George Orwell, as well as A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Other classics that I've enjoyed have been Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (although don't expect to get through this quickly), To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Historical Fiction
I don't read much of this genre either, but the books that I have read from it have been really good. Books from this genre often tug at your heart strings, so if you want an emotional book, something from this genre will give you that (especially some World War II fiction). My favourite historical fiction books are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

Hopefully, the next time you're stuck trying to choose your next book, you can come back to this list and make an informed decision. Happy reading!

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Friday, 19 September 2014

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - Review

**A note on my notes: This review is spoiler free.**

"Every woman wants a man who'll fall in love with her soul as well as her body."

Set in 1999 - a time where the Internet isn't the centrality it is today - Attachments follows three characters who work in various sections of The Courier newspaper. Beth and Jennifer are two friends who constantly email each other back and forth using their work emails and it's Lincoln's job to monitor everyone's work emails to ensure they aren't sending personal messages. Lincoln quickly becomes engrossed in the personal lives of Beth and Jennifer and the novel follows Lincoln as he embarks on a journey to finally get his life together.

The Good
I enjoyed this book a lot, but it's not my favourite Rainbow Rowell book. Attachments is so easy to read. There are sections of the text that are written as the emails that Beth and Jennifer send to each other and I found these sections to be hilarious and very interesting. I loved the two females characters despite hardly seeing them interact other than through their emails. The three main characters all deal with very mature issues that real-life people will all probably face at some point in their lives. I found the final third of the book really picked up and I flew through it so easily.

The Bad
If you don't connect with Lincoln, or are completely opposed to what he has to do for his job, then you won't relate to him as the protagonist, which is obviously an issue. I found the first two thirds of the book to drag on a little bit (and I really mean a tiny bit; I still read it very fast) because Lincoln was thinking about the same problems over and over again. I didn't connect to any of these characters as much as I did in Fangirl and Eleanor and Park, but that's probably only because I'm closer in age to the latter characters.

The Recommendation
If you've read another book by Rainbow Rowell, then you will love this book. If you primarily read YA fiction and are looking to branch into adult books, then this would be a good book to start you off with. If you're looking for a quick, easy read then this is the book for you.

You can find out more about Attachments here
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Friday, 12 September 2014

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - Review

First of all, I'm sorry that I didn't post anything on Monday, and I'm sorry there haven't been any YouTube videos up lately... I've just been super busy with university and I had some other stuff going on so I just needed to take a break. But hopefully, within the next couple of weeks I'll be back on track.

**A note on my notes: This review is spoiler free.**

"There are some people in life that you can't get over."

Lola and the Boy Next Door is the first of two companion novels to Anna and the French Kiss, which I posted a review for here. The story follows Lola, a budding fashion designer who likes to express herself through her outrageous clothes. Lola thinks her life is pretty good: she has a hot boyfriend, a great bestfriend and an amazing job at the movie theatre. Things are going well, that is, until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, move back in next door. Lola finds herself flooded with old feelings that she has to deal with before her perfect world comes crashing down around her.

The Good
Like Anna and the French Kiss, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The plot moves fairly quickly and is pretty engaging, making the novel very easy to read. The characters were extremely unique, and I had never read anything like them before. I loved how Lola was a fashion designer and this made her a more interesting character. Cricket was the perfect love interest and I enjoyed his little quirks. I think Calliope was an interesting character as well. Lola's dads (yes, plural) were also great characters. I also loved the small appearances of Anna and her boyfriend.

The Bad
I didn't enjoy this story as much as Anna and the French Kiss; however, that has nothing to do with the actual book, I just personally connected with Anna more than I did with Lola. The only problem I had with this book is that it's very predictable, but that just comes with reading a Stephanie Perkins novel - you're not reading it for the surprises, you're reading it because you know exactly what's going to happen.

The Recommendation
If you're looking for a cute and easy read, then you will enjoy Lola and the Boy Next Door. If you haven't read Anna and the French Kiss, then I would suggest you do actually read that one first; it just makes seeing Anna in this book more satisfying.

You can find out more about Lola and the Boy Next Door here
You can find out more about Anna and the French Kiss here
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Friday, 5 September 2014

Anna and the French Kiss by Stehpanie Perkins - Review

**A note on my notes: This review is spoiler free.**

"The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you." 

Anna and the French Kiss follows Anna, a 17-year-old girl who is about to enter her senior year in high school. She's very excited to spend the year with her best friend and potential boyfriend. Instead, however, her father decides that Anna will finish out her schooling at The School of America, a boarding school in Paris. The novel follows Anna throughout the year as her relationships with all those close to her develop for the better of the worse.

The Good
I absolutely adored this book. It's so easy to read and I flew through it so quickly. As the main character, Anna is pretty interesting and her values, ideas and beliefs are pretty relatable to the average female reader. The other characters are fairly interesting as well and they all function nicely together as a group of friends. The plot moves along fairly quickly and is very easy to follow. The romantic relationships that develop between various characters are also pretty believable, as are the issues they all face.

The Bad
At the beginning of the book, it's possible to get quite frustrated at Anna because she's presented with an incredible opportunity and she can only see the negatives for a short period of time; however, I think Anna's reactions were quite realistic because no teenage girl wants to be isolated from her life and friends during high school, let alone her senior year. Another thing that some readers might find frustrating is that every single romantic near-miss that occurs focuses on the same issue every single time and there is a lack of depth behind the reasoning.

The Recommendation
If you love contemporary novels, then you will love this book. I would recommend Anna and the French Kiss to anyone who is looking for a quick and easy read. I would also recommend reading this book if you're in a reading slump, because the ease of reading this book will probably help you get out of it.

You can find out more about Anna and the French Kiss here
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Friday, 8 August 2014

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Review

**A note on my notes: This review is spoiler free.**

"I thought about all the things that everyone ever says to each other, and how everyone is going to die, whether it's in a millisecond, or days, or months, or 76.5 years, if you were just born. Everything that's born has to die, which means our lives are like skyscrapers. The smoke rises at different speeds, but they're all on fire, and we're all trapped."

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a very interesting piece of fiction. The novel is told in an experimental style and involves sections of pictures, letters and pages that are symbolic of the protagonist's thoughts. The novel is told from the perspective of Oskar, a nine-year-old boy who sits somewhere on the Autism Spectrum, as he embarks on a journey to discover any kind of information about his father.

The Good
I thought the experimental way in which this book was written was perfectly suited to the way Oskar narrated the story. The book deals with a lot of emotionally heavy topic, such as 9/11 and the finite nature of life, but in my opinion, these topics were dealt with in such a beautiful way. I found the writing style to be unique and interesting and I loved the characterisation of Oskar. I loved Oskar's perspective on life, and I love the way that the author dealt with a  lot of heavy issues in such an innocent way, and there are so many quotes that I've highlighted because of this. This book made me laugh and cry so many different times, which usually tells me that I loved the book, which is certainly true in this case.

The Bad
The novel deals with two generations, Oskar's and his grandparents'. While I think this definitely added some much-needed depth to the story, there were a couple of times that I was so completely confused about who was narrating a particular chapter. This was especially true of the letter writing aspects - and even when I knew it was from the grandparent generation, I was sometimes then confused about which grandparent was writing the letter... However, once I got into the story more it became easy to distinguish each perspective.

The Recommendation
If you have never read any experimental fiction before, then I would definitely recommend this book to you, because while the experimental aspects are very prominent, they're also easy to understand and follow. If you've never read a book in which the main character suffers from some form of Autism, please read this book! It's such an eye-opening experience and can really help people to gain a better understanding of why people like Oskar do what they do. At the same time, if you've read a book that ticks both of those boxes, I would still recommend Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to you, because I thought it was an excellent book.

If you're interested in this book, you can read more information here.
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Friday, 4 July 2014

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - Review

**A note of my notes: This review is spoiler free. Please remember that this is my opinion of the book and that not everyone will agree with me.**

Time to fangirl about Fangirl.


I don't even know where to begin. I flew through this book and I can now say that it's definitely one of my all-time favourite novels and has helped to cement Rainbow Rowell as one of my favourite authors.

Summary
Fangirl follows Cath and her twin sister Wren as they start their Freshmen year at college. After sharing a room their entire lives, Wren decides that she wants to become more independent from Cath and doesn't want to be roommates, so Cath is left to fend for herself. The story follows Cath as she tires to find her feet in a completely new world and struggles to find the balance between her old life and the new one unfolding right in front of her.

The Good Excellent 
The characters in the novel are fantastic. Rowell developed them perfectly and they each had their own unique quirks and habits that made their voices really distinguishable. The thing I loved the most about the characters was that they were real; each of them were familiar in so many ways which made it easier for me to identify to the story.
The plot moves along at a good pace; there are no boring parts throughout the entire story. The situations that the characters are put in are also extremely realistic and really spoke to my heart because a lot of them were things that I've been through during my first year at university.
Cath writes fanfiction, and at the end of every chapter was an except from either Cath's writing or from the original world that Cath writes in. I loved these excepts, because I found that they were really relevant to the events that had just occurred in the chapter. Also, if you've grown up with Harry Potter, then you will absolutely adore the elements of Simon Snow in this novel.

The Bad Not-As-Good
I had almost no problems with this book, in fact, only two. The first being that I wish the book ended a little later than it did, or that there was an epilogue just so we could see where the characters were at after or during the Summer and especially what happens with Cath's fanfiction novel.
The other thing that I didn't like was the reference to Harry Potter about halfway through the book. The whole time, the Simon Snow series is paralleling Harry Potter, and then referencing actual Harry Potter made me feel very confused. I wish that the reference to Harry Potter wasn't there at all.

The Recommendation
I recommend this book to everyone, but I think you'll particularly enjoy it if you're about to start university. If you grew up reading Harry Potter, then I would doubly recommend this book to you, because you'll really understand the emotions Cath feels for the Simon Snow series. Fangirl is a fun story that's super engaging and easy to read, so if you're looking for a book like that, read this one.

Thursday, 19 June 2014

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - Review

**A note on my notes: This review is spoiler free. If you've read the book and disagree with me, I don't care.**

I loved this book! I went into this book as my rebound right after finishing City of Heavenly Fire, which would normally mean I wouldn't give it a fair chance. But I flew through it and finished it in just over a day.

The novel follows two teenagers who are completely different people. Eleanor, who's somewhat new to the town, has crazy red hair, is overweight and loves listening to her music. Park loves comic books and despite living in the town his entire life, still doesn't really fit in. The pair meet on the school bus and after a while, they begin to form an unlikely relationship. As their stories progress, we see how they grow and change as people and how the rest of their lives impact on their friendship.

Young Adult Contemporary isn't my favourite genre because I find that authors try and comment on ideas and social situations that aren't really relevant to their lives so they get it wrong. And let's be honest, teenagers find other teenagers complicated, so trying to create realistic teenage characters when you're no longer a teenager is a mammoth task. However, I think that Rowell managed to successfully steer clear of the typical clichés of the genre and produced characters and a plot that was very believable. The novel deals with situations that are relevant to many teenager's lives today, such as bullying and unstable families.

The story is told through the dual perspectives of both Eleanor and Park. Normally, I am not a fan of dual perspectives because it's hard to really distinguish the character's sense of voice. However, I think that Rowell wrote the two characters parts beautifully. It was easy to tell the difference between the two perspectives unlike other books (Allegiant, anyone?) and it really enhanced the way the story was told.

The characters were just beautiful. They seriously could have been real people, that's how realistic this story felt to me. Their thoughts and reactions to their situations were believable and the way that Rowell expressed each character's opinions was spot on.

Overall, I loved this book. It was beautiful. If you're looking for a fun, easy but emotional read, I would definitely recommend this book to you. If you're like me and you tend to stay away from romantic contemporary novels, I would also recommend this book to you.

"Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice. It was supposed to make you feel something."

Friday, 25 April 2014

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak - Review

**A note on my notes: If you have not read the book, then you will be spoiled by reading this review. If you disagree with my opinion about the book, that's okay. We can all think differently.**

This book was absolutely beautiful; I don't think I have ever been so emotionally invested in a story before. The writing was beautiful. The character's were beautifully developed. The relationships were beautiful. Everything was beautiful. I loved it.

Now, I did go into the book having already seen the movie which I 100% enjoyed, so that could potentially have impacted my opinion: I didn't come into the book knowing nothing about the storyline and was already invested in the characters. Because of this, I didn't have any trouble getting into the story, but I can see how for someone who knows nothing about it could have trouble getting started. Big books are always daunting to pick up for the first time, and it does take a few pages to really understand what's going on and how it's relevant to the story. Nonetheless, I really loved this book.

If you haven't read it, the novel follows a young German girl called Liesel who is living during World War II. She was adopted into a new family and the plot basically follows her and the people she develops relationships with while they struggle to survive.

The novel was narrated by Death, which I thought was really interesting. I've never read a book that was narrated by a concept rather than a character (well, really, Death is a character, but you know what I mean) and I thought that it fit the tone of the novel perfectly. Being able to sympathise with Death just affirmed for me how talented Marcus Zusak is in his writing. Scattered throughout the novel were these sections that were kind of separate from the overall tale and were more of Death's thoughts and beliefs about certain things. I thought these were incorporated into the story really well and were extremely interesting to read as they were from a perspective I haven't really considered before.

The characters were really well developed and fleshed out. Liesel was an excellent protagonist and I really loved how her desire for reading and knowledge was an important part of her life. I think she was written beautifully and that her reactions to events such as Mama, Papa and Rudy's deaths was perfect. I think Rudy overall was a great best friend to Liesel and I thought their relationship was adorable! I found their interactions and the way they were somewhat mean to each other was very believable. Mama and Papa's relationship was also hilarious. Rosa's attitudes and personality really bought some humour to a world that was otherwise dark and dangerous, and it made her soft spots even more touching, especially when she told Liesel that Max had awoken and when she sat with her husbands accordion. I think the way the family bonded with Max was touching, but also believable - there was a certain fear shared between them that made the story much more realistic and really drew me into the story.

My heart shattered with the ending, even though I'd already seen the movie and the death's are mentioned several times throughout the book. I felt so so so sorry for Liesel; she had really lost everything then. Her old family, her new one, her best friend, her home, her books and even Max was gone.While I wish that things worked out differently for her, I think that having those characters die was important to capture the essence of World War II and the fact that nobody was safe, not even kind German families.

Overall, this book has really touched me and will stay with me for a really long time. I would recommended it to everyone. While it is touching, it is also sad and if you're an emotional person like I am, you will probably cry several times. Nevertheless, The Book Thief is an example of beautiful writing and storytelling and will be on my favourites shelf for a very long time.

I would also like to thank Little Book Owl for raving about this book so many times, for otherwise I would never have been interested in it! You can check her blog out here: http://www.littlebookowl.com/ and her YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleBookOwl

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Wonder by RJ Palacio - Review

**A note on my notes: If you haven't read the book, you will be spoiled. Go and read it, you won't regret it! Also, don't hate on my opinion; accept that perception is a real thing that exists.**

I only picked up this book because I saw someone who I usually have similar literary taste to post a review raving about how much they loved it. Then I saw the cover, which is absolutely gorgeous, and I knew I had to own it for my collection.

I started reading it, and I loved it right from the very beginning. The writing is so beautiful and I completely fell in love with Palacio's style, which I think perfectly captured the mindset of each character. The novel was extremely easy to read due to really short sections, so when I had a few spare moments I could smash out a few chapters, which is always a nice feeling!

If you're reading this post, then you should have already read the book, but it you haven't here's a basic plot summary. August Pullman is about to enter middle school for the first time after being home schooled for the entirety of his education. He's not just an ordinary boy and is classed as somewhat of a 'medical wonder', having needed numerous surgeries and facial reconstructions. The novel basically follows him and his close family and friends as he goes through one of the most difficult, yet rewarding years of his life.

The story is told in parts, each narrated by a different character. I'm not usually a huge fan of multiple points of view because it's difficult for an author to get inside the head of so many characters and display their voices completely separate from one another. However, I thought that each character was narrated perfectly. I loved how the parts intersected so there were times when the same event was seen from two or more characters perspectives. Each character made me sympathise with their POV, but only until the next part narrated by a different character where I almost immediately sympathised with the new character's perspectives instead. If I could change one thing about this book I would include some of the adults perspectives into it, especially August's mother, Mr Browne or Mr Tushman. Although I do think it would be interesting to hear their thoughts and perspectives on some of the overarching themes, bullying in particular, I think the characters that were chosen to tell their side of things did the story justice.

I finished this novel when I was on the train home from uni. I catch an express train from the city in peak hour usually, so this train was packed full of people. I literally cried for half of the thirty-three minute journey. Tears of joy. I never cry from happiness, but I was just so happy that Auggie got his standing ovation and that Julian was leaving school and Mr Tushman's speech was just beautiful and gosh it was seriously my favourite book ending ever. I can't even describe how happy it made me feel, to see everything resolved like that. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

I cried a few more times throughout my reading as well, mostly from sadness and frustration. When Julian made the comments about Darth Sidious I cried a little. I burst into tears when Daisy died. I cried from frustration at the boys on the camp, because it just made me remember how evil and ignorant some people can be, but Amos standing up for Auggie that night was so beautiful. 

I loved how Auggie was such a Star Wards nerd. I loved Summer. I loved Mr Browne's precepts. I loved reading all the main character's precepts at the end of the book. I loved how the fight between Jack and Julian split all the boys into sides but the girls were all too mature for that kind of stuff. I loved the relationships between all the characters, because they weren't perfect and they all had fallouts at one point, just like in real life. 


Wonder was so uplifting and made me feel so happy. This has easily become one of my favourite books of all time, and I can see it staying in that list for quite a while. I would 10000% recommend this to anyone, because I think there are so many lessons that everyone would benefit from. Seriously, read it.

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Looking for Alaska by John Green - Review

**A note on my notes: This review is mostly spoiler free and is more-so my thoughts about the book than a critique of it; however, if you don't want any spoilers at all, use your common sense. Also, these are my opinions, not absolute fact, so don't get upset.**

I only recently lost my John Green virginity, and as a person who reads almost a book a week and has for years, that might be hard to believe. I was wary coming into this book - there was so much hype around the story and the author and I didn't want to be disappointed. As it turns out, I had no reason to worry. Looking for Alaska overflowed the ginormous shoes the reading community allocated it.

I don't read a lot of contemporary novels because I often find them unrealistic, cheesy and painful to read (this is probably why it's taken me about six years to pick up a John Green novel) so I came into this book expecting at least one of those poor elements. However, I found this book engaging and exciting and was completely drawn into the characters and their individual stories and backgrounds and how they were all connected.

The novel is a first-person recount from the point of view of Miles Halter, a teenage boy who feels as though he just doesn't fit in anywhere. His story begins when, somewhat fed up with being an outcast, he decides to move to Culver Creek boarding school in search of something worthwhile, some meaning to fill the empty walls of his life at home. The move changes his life dramatically: he makes some great friends, falls in love and he becomes a part of something great by creating memories he will treasure in years to come.

The cast of characters was amazing! All of them worked really well together and I found Alaska very intriguing. I loved how she was extremely intelligent and loved reading as well as being a well-respected person in her community. She was the leader of the group and was at times such an open book and at others so mysterious. I loved how there was a mixture of her school life and her home life and how the two affected her emotions. The relationship between Miles and the Colonel was the perfect mixture between brothers, best friends and role models for the other. They had some really hilarious moments and the way their relationship changed towards to end of the book to counter certain events was really accurate in my mind. I also thought their reactions to certain events were perfect for their character and were also they way that actual people would react to those events in real life.

I loved the underlying question of the labyrinth. The whole concept of 'why are we here' and 'what is the point of life' and 'why are things so negative' is a really relevant theme in the average teenager's mind. I appreciated Alaska's answers to these questions and I think Miles' journey to answer these questions and the way he progressed his opinions throughout the story was very believable. I could also identify with Miles' idea about why people have religion.

I also loved the references to literature, whether it be famous author's last words or snippets of poems. The references to literature were great because it encourages the reader to be more interested in other literary forms that they might not have previously been interested in, like biographies and poetry.

There were aspects of Green's writing that really set this book apart from other first-person narratives which made me appreciate him more as an author. There were some sections in which Miles was reflecting on something or thinking about what someone else said and his thoughts were written in lists. I really enjoyed this because I can relate to this style of thinking. There were other times where Miles' dialogue was broken up with his thoughts about what he was saying, which I found really effective and accurate in the context of his conversations.

I would really recommend this book to anyone who's looking for an easy read with enjoyable characters. I really loved if and it's been a huge influence on my reading profile.