matmatmatty's Reviews (128)

This is the story of Leila, a sex worker in Istanbul, who while dying is remembering her life and the moments that led up to her death.

This is a very emotional story, with Leila going through a lot on her childhood and a lot as an adult. Through the story, we learn about her closest friends she met along the way and all the characters felt so real and so complex.

Spoiler:

The second part of the story follows Leila's friends deciding to give her a proper burial and did feel a bit like a different story. I think it could've flowed a bit better but I am glad that we got a happy end. Once we hear about Leila's story, the book could have ended there and it would have been a sad story.  But with this, we know she is a peace and everyone is a little closer because of that.

Overall, I really loved this story, it was very emotional at times and I felt for Leila at every point. Beautiful story ❤️

This was quite a story. Quite emotional, and an important read.

It is a bit "of it's time" - I didn't realise it was written when I was the perfect age for it and I could tell a lot if the slang was out if date now!

But this felt really realistic in it's portrayal of someone like JJ, and I think gives you some insight into how knife crime and gang violence can happen here.

Certainly not written with me in mind as the target audience but I'm glad I read it.

This is the story of Nala, who compared to her young-activist cousin, just wants to chill this summer and have fun. When she meets Tye, another young-activist and her cousin's friend, she falls for him and in an attempt to impress him, tells a few...un-truths.

This story is about Nala and Tye and their relationship, but also about Nala and her relationship with herself, and her family.

I thought this was a nice story - I think I would have loved reading this when I was 15ish, so absolutely would recommend this for young teens.

The writing was a little young for me, which meant I didn't love it but I liked the structure of the writing and how you could get a lot of Nala's personality from that. I did like some of the commentary, and the message of the book is something I can get behind.

Overall, this was a little too young for me, but I really liked the messaging and think this would be a good story for a young teen to read.

Finally: kids, don't lie just to impress someone you have a crush on! It never works out!

I feel like I have so much to say about this book, and yet I am struggling to put it onto words.

This is the story of Klara, from her POV - she is an Artificial Friend (AF) and is powered by the Sun. 

Her role is to be a companion and when she is bought by a little girl, she finally gets the chance to do that 

There is so much in this story and I finished it feeling very bittersweet. It is a "happy ending" but also a very sad ending. But I think it really works for this book 

Very cute, this one has some scenes that weren't in the anime which is great! Really liked that!

Short tale about a salmon who is a bit different from everyone else, the meaning of life and those around you .

I thought it was quite sweet - Silver Salmon is young and still curious about the world and through his eyes we get to think about our world and our own lives.

If you're not into stories with metaphor and not a lot of action, this might not be for you. But otherwise, I would recommend it - I found it a great listen!

A very cute epilogue!

I've said it before, I'll say it again - Talia Hibbert can do no wrong!

This is a story about Eve, the youngest Brown sister, who is a hot mess (her words). After an intervention where her parents cut her off untill she can hold down a job for a year, she drives around and finds a B&B where she applies for the chef job advertised.

After getting into an argument with the owner Jacob, Eve accidentally... hits him with her car. And so is tasked with helping out while recovers 

This was such a lovely story (that genuinely helped mental health) and I would recommend this to everyone!

If you haven't read Talia Hibbert, what are you waiting for???!