4.5 stars

Rachael Lucas has done it again! I adored The State of Grace and was really highly anticipating the release of My Box-Shaped Heart as a result and I was not at all disappointed. This book is gorgeous and filled with layered characters that I could really connect with. I loved their stories and how authentic the whole book felt. What really stood out for me is that this is the kind of book that someone somewhere will pick up and see themselves for the first time.

Holly and I clicked immediately. I really felt for her when learning about her living conditions with her mother. Although she loves her mother wholeheartedly, she is embarrassed by the state of their house due to her mum’s hoarding, which inevitably causes her some social difficulties too. The teachers are concerned about her, she has so much responsibility on those young shoulders and I just really warmed to her. Holly’s passion is swimming and it was really great to read a book where the character’s passion was what really kept her going when things were tough.

At a first glimpse I was wary of Ed (or ‘the boy’ as I first called him in my review notes). He seemed quite full of himself but I could also sense there was something going on. When that something became more revealed my feelings for Ed changed completely and I just adored him.

There are a whole host of other fantastic characters in this book including Cressi the amazing neighbour who supports Holly with her swimming as well as at home with her mother. I think we could all do with a Cressi in our lives from time to time! I also really liked reading the scenes with Allie and Rio in and I warmed to Lauren more and more as the book went on. In fact some of my favourite scenes were with Lauren and Holly. There are also a few not so nice characters in the book so it’s not all rainbows and puppies!

The friendship and romance with Holly and Ed was so perfectly written it still makes my heart swell thinking about it now and I read this book a few months ago! They are absolutely adorable and I’m not sure I will ever see Oreos in the same way again after that gorgeous scene (if you’ve read the book then you know the one, if you haven’t then what are you waiting for?)

My favourite thing about this book though? Definitely seeing Holly’s struggle and I say this because her struggle is so real and so many readers will resonate with it. Holly is embarrassed of their house, she keeps herself to herself because of her mum but at the same time she adores her mum and still counts herself as lucky to have a loving home – even if it’s not her dream home physically. Some parts of this struggle were so honest that they left me feeling raw with emotion. It’s a really touching and beautiful read.

I don’t want to go much into the plot as I think this is a book that is best discovered for yourself but what I can tell you is that My Box-Shaped Heart is much more than it first appears. It is a book about friendship, love, families, learning to love yourself and it will leave your heart pounding with emotion. I really can’t wait to see what Rachael Lucas will write next!

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Children’s Books and Rachael Lucas for my advanced copy in exchange of a fair and honest review.

Reading Theatrical is like a long, warm hug from a best friend. It was absolutely everything I needed and I was so content curled up with this beauty (I mean, LOOK at that cover!!).

Theatrical is Hope’s story. Hope is a theatre lover and her passion runs through her veins, that’s clear to see from the very beginning. She helps out behind the scenes at her local theatre but has just been given an internship as deputy stage manager on a top secret but very exciting new production – it even has a famous lead role! Hope can’t quite believe her luck but somehow manages to keep it all a big secret from those around her.

What I loved most about this book is how I felt instantly transported to the theatre. Maggie Harcourt’s writing is gorgeous: I could feel the props as Hope touched them, I could sense the buzz and excitement, the first night nerves. That special atmosphere of being back stage at a show, let alone being part of the audience viewing the show. For anyone who has ever helped out in theatre or been in a show, this book will be your everything! My experience is limited to leading the props team when we do our annual school musical but even I could relate to Hope’s excitement. I can’t imagine how some of my friends have felt reading this!

I immediately loved Hope from the very first few pages. I knew straight away she would be a character I adored and my love for her just grew and grew as I eagerly flicked through the pages. I loved her vulnerability and lack of confidence at the beginning just as much as I loved the person she grows into as the production gets nearer to opening night. She has some absolutely cracking moments that had me chuckling aloud but also some moments where I wanted to wrap her in cotton wool and protect her forever.

As far as the other characters go there were plenty to love! George is definitely up there in the second best character spot for me. I loved how sassy he is and thought his personality really balanced well with Hope’s. It goes without saying that Luke is just an absolute babe. He is so adorable and I loved peeling back his layers. Tommy is a whole other kettle of fish and I spent a good portion of the book disliking him but he did redeem himself slightly towards the end.

Hope’s story of finding herself is possibly my absolute favourite thing about this book though. Hope’s mother is a famous costume designer who now works on designing dresses for the big celebrities. Hope’s mum is so famous in the theatre world that should Hope wish to name drop she could literally get any internship or theatre job there is, just because of her name. Hope doesn’t want that though. She doesn’t want the pressure of people knowing who her mother is. She adores theatre and wants to dedicate her life to theatre but she wants to do it on her own merit. I cried my eyes out at a certain part in this book where Hope and her mum have an emotional conversation. It got me right in the feels.

Theatrical is a gorgeous novel of friendship, romance and family all in the beautiful setting of the theatre. A story that will capture the hearts of many.

4.5 stars

Wow. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this second book from author Amanda Foody but I enjoyed her debut Daughter of the Burning City so when I was offered this one to review I absolutely jumped at the chance.

Ace of Shades is a novel full of wonder and mystery. I loved the setting: a 1920’s Las Vegas vibe was really strong with the casinos being laden with glamorous, expensive decor and acrobatic performances galore. I loved the different gangs and the gang lords, the way there were different sections to the City of Sin, the politics of how the different gangs and gang lords operated. Not to forget the big guns such as Vianca and Sedric. The atmosphere of the City of Sin just oozed through each page and that’s a real credit to Amanda Foody’s writing style. Her world building is incredible.

I love a book that throws me straight in and this one definitely did that. Whilst there is a lot of world building and storytelling to do at the beginning to get us up to speed, to me, this didn’t feel like too much of an information dump. Rather we learn a lot about the world and the history as Enne discovers more about herself. It didn’t take too long for me to get to grips with the world at all.

I really loved the magic in this book. It was quite disguised and isn’t at the forefront but the idea that people are born with two talents and that this can define who you are for line was really intriguing, especially as the book went on and I learnt more about the different talents that were available. The history of the Mizas and elements like the Game of Shadows all kept this book really mysterious, not to mention the mystery of Lourdes herself.

I really loved the characters by the end of the book. To start with I wasn’t so sure about Enne. She starts off as a ‘lady’ and there was just something about her I couldn’t connect with but after that first meeting with Vianca and seeing how Enne grows during this novel I am totally sold. She is an absolute badass and I’m so glad there’s a sequel coming next year as I can’t wait to see what is going to happen after that ending. Levi I just fell in love with straight away. He is such a charmer and even though he was a gang lord, he had so much empathy and I kind of just wanted to hug him forever. I felt very much the same about Jac too.

The mystery and intrigue in this book just keeps on building and after that ending I couldn’t be more thrilled that there is a second book coming our way. I can’t wait to see what happens next to Enne, Levi, Jac and Lola!

Thanks to the lovely people at YAHQ for my advanced copy and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

4.5 stars

Editing Emma is such a refreshing read. It is funny in all the right places, witty where it needs to be and honest. Before picking up the book I had heard whispers of comparison to Louise Rennison’s series and it took only a couple of pages for me to see why. It is filled with hilarious anecdotes that are so relatable I couldn’t help but cackle to myself.

Emma has been ghosted by her ‘boyfriend’ Leon and after taking what she deems as adequate time for self-pity, she takes to stalking him and his new girlfriend on social media. Then Emma embarks on a new journey, one where she will edit her own life to pursue her own new romance with unexpectedly funny and touching results. In true teenage fashion, Emma discovers a lot about herself in this book as well as about those around her. There’s plenty to make you both laugh and cringe in this hilarious set of blog posts.

It took only a few pages before I fell in love with Emma’s voice. She has such a refreshing voice and I’ve not read one quite like hers in a YA novel for some time. Written as a series of private (or not so private!) blog posts, we truly get to grips with exactly who Emma is right from the beginning of the book. I loved her edgy, sassy voice that, combined with some eye rolling moments and plenty of laughter, had me sucked in straight away. The main reason I loved Emma was that she was so relatable.

Whilst there is a big focus on romance in the book (Emma is, after all, trying to find herself a boyfriend) it doesn’t feel like it is pushed in your face. The anecdotal style writing makes for a light, quick read whilst actually Emma is making leaps and bounds in character development. I think a lot of teenage girls reading this book (basing this on the teens that I know) would really love the romantic aspects and reading about Emma’s dates – the good and not so good.

I loved how heavily weighted social media and the Internet were in the story. I thought the book did really well to show both the positive and negatives of using the internet. From approaching online personas and Internet safety, to online dating (even finding your Mum on there!) and a bit of good old Facebook stalking (which we are ALL guilty of…) there were definitely plenty of things to relate to for anyone of these modern times. As mentioned, the book is written as blog posts so the Internet was sure to have a big feature but I think one of my favourite moments was when Emma had her devices taken from her and she had to live without the Internet. She used the time to rediscover an old passion of hers and, whilst that may not happen for everyone, I thought it was a really nice way of showing that life isn’t all about the internet and sometimes we all need to take a break.

This book also delivered in many ways that I did not expect it to and I think that’s why I’ve given it a high rating. Not only is it a laugh out loud novel but it also covers so many topics that are often taboo in YA novels. Emma openly talks about masturbation in the book, both privately in her blog posts and openly with her friends, and it was nice to see this put out there in such a way that doesn’t make female masturbation embarrassing. There is talk of periods, the societal pressures put on women to act or look a certain way eg. to wear makeup or shave their legs – my feminist heart was bursting to the seams with joy at reading certain parts of this book. Level this out with really strong messages that (despite the romantic nature of the book) relationships aren’t the be all and end all and you don’t need to be with someone else to be happy and I was a very happy camper. There is diverse representation in the book as well and discussion between the main 4 girls (one of whom is a lesbian) about why being straight has to be considered the norm. Again, this book approaches topics I didn’t think I would find within the covers and I was very happy to see these topics being discussed so freely.

The four main characters are all flawed in their own ways. Emma certainly makes a lot of mistakes and it was nice to read a main character that is not deemed to be perfect. It also shows that friendships are not always perfect, even within our closest friendships we will all make mistakes and that’s okay. Editing Emma shows that even after some pretty horrific mistakes within a friendship things can be fixed if you work on it and I think that’s a great message to send out into the world. It was also good to see a rocky relationship between Emma and her mother being explored and there was a scene towards the end that really brought a tear to my eye.

This book truly reignited teenage Kelly within me and I can’t begin to imagine what it will do for the thousands of teenage girls out there who will read this. Teenage Kelly would have fallen head over heels for this book and I can’t wait to share it with some of my older pupils who will find so much of themselves in Emma.

Filled with plenty of laugh out loud, relatable moments and with a fresh new voice for the YA scene, Editing Emma is sure to capture many hearts.

Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and Chloe Seager for my advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The title of Katherine Webber’s second novel may suggest that only love can break your heart but let me assure you that this is false. This book will also break your heart. It will smash your heart into little smithereens and then slowly and gently put it back together until it is once again filled with love.

Only Love Can Break Your Heart is a story of love, loss, family and friendship. It is a journey about Reiko discovering herself and learning to love and accept herself. Most importantly, it is about Reiko learning to forgive herself and move on – something I can so, so strongly resonate with, especially this year. There’s first love and heartbreak, the ups and downs of friendship and the ever growing peer pressure that teens face today. Katherine manages to cover so much in this book but nothing feels brushed over or less important than other elements. She somehow ties it all together in the perfect, tear inducing package.

Read my full thoughts and review on my blog: https://kellysramblings.wordpress.com/2018/07/30/only-love-can-break-your-heart-by-katherine-webber/

3.5 stars

This book had been on my TBR for several years before its recent UK release and I did enjoy it. There were certainly things in the book that made me feel uncomfortable but I would assume that was the aim of them. I really liked the concept of the book: the danger of lies, betrayal and deceit. It shows the nature of what lengths teenagers will sometimes resort to in order to protect themselves, their image and social standing. I liked that it was told from multiple perspectives: Elaine the super popular girl, Kelsie the now popular ex-best friend of Alice, Josh the sporty best friend of the now dead Brandon and Kurt the weird kid. I love a cliché stereotype and that definitely fed into this story. I thought it was really interesting that as the layers got peeled back it wasn’t until right at the end we finally hear from Alice and things become a bit clearer. Kurt was without a doubt my favourite character.

3.5 stars

Beautiful Broken Things is a story of teenage friendship, more specifically female friendship. This is originally what drew my attention to this book (aside from the beautiful cover, that is). I am a sucker for a book about female friendships as I think they are so dynamic. This book certainly did not disappoint on that front.

This is a story about best friends Caddy and Rosie, whose lives change dramatically when Rosie introduces new girl Suzanne into the mix. It doesn't take long for Caddy and Rosie to realise there is a lot more to Suzanne than meets the eye and this goes a long way to explaining some of Suzanne's extreme behaviours. Caddy and Suzanne embark on a friendship which has life changing consequences for the both of them.

I both liked and disliked the characters in this book. I liked Rosie a lot and felt really sympathetic towards her during the later parts of this book when she was watching Caddy spiral out of control under Suzanne's influence. Rosie made some courageous decisions in this book, although she also made some problematic ones too. Suzanne was probably my favourite because there was such a depth to her character. I thought her character was very realistic and that, given the circumstances behind her move to Brighton, quite a lot of her behaviours were understandable. I thought she was very well portrayed.

Caddy caused me a few issues. On one hand I totally sympathised with her when she was feeling left out towards the beginning, the way in which she so desperately thought she was helping Suzanne when really she was enabling her. These are things that teenagers do and feel every day. What I couldn't get my head around was the way in which she described herself as 'boring' compared to Rosie, whose baby sister had died, or her own sister, who has bipolar. This just didn't sit well with me.

I really, really liked the way the friendship between Caddy, Rosie and Suzanne was written. I identified with elements of their friendship in such a strong way and I think at some point most of us could sympathise with each of them. This made them realistic and it was nice to read the friendship of a trio and the added elements this can bring.

From a plot point of view, not a huge amount happens for about 85% of this book. I knew that we were leading towards something big happening, but by the time we got there I was almost finished with the book and it felt a bit rushed. Saying that, I did fly through this book and it did keep me interested so it's not all bad. I found the ending of this story very emotional and it was with tears in my eyes that I closed this book and said goodbye to the characters. Very well written.

When I went into this book I knew I was in for an emotional ride. I had some idea what the book was about and knew to expect an abusive relationship. The trickiest part of reading this book is how emotionally abusive the relationship is as well as physically. I adored Beck and there were definitely parts of this book where I just wanted to wrap him up in cotton wool and look after him. The Maestro is an incredibly cold and cruel character but I was also pleased to see a story where the mother is abusive as this is so often overlooked. August is an absolute breathe of fresh air and I adored her presence in this book. Her friendship with Beck feels so incredibly real and I also adored her slightly whacky family. I am also a sucker for a slow burn romance and this book definitely provides the goods on that front! I also have to give a big shout out to little Joey, Beck’s sister, who is an adorable little being. I loved how fiercely protective Beck is of Joey because those sibling feelings are oh so real. A Thousand Perfect Notes is definitely an emotional read but with plenty to keep you clinging on to hope too.