This was such a lovely read!
I really enjoyed this novel. It was interesting to read a book set in Bristol, too! I don't think I've ever found a book that is set specifically in modern-day Bristol before. It was so nice that I could picture each place in my mind.
This is a beautiful little story about a dad who can't work out what's going on with his life. He feels a million miles away from his autistic son, and he can't even seem to show his wife how much he cares about her.
If I'm honest, it was a little predictable and slow-paced, which is why it doesn't quite deserve 5 stars. It's still well worth the read! I laughed so many times and one part of the story literally had me in tears, though that time I wasn't laughing. I could have flown through this book, but I was on holiday and it was the only book I had brought with me, so I was trying to make it last.
Although I already know a bit about autism and how it affects people, especially developing children, this book still taught me a whole lot. Sam is a wonderful portrayal of an autistic child, and I think if more people read this book, people would have a better idea of how to act around people diagnosed with autism.
I personally have played Minecraft quite a lot and I enjoy the game, so I think that helped me to understand some parts of the story. However, if you have never played or it's just not your type of thing, don't let the Minecraft aspect of this story put you off! Although it's mentioned quite a bit I think you could enjoy this story even if you don't like the game.
So, for a cute novel about what really counts in life, told by a hilarious narrator with a dry sense of humour, pick this one up. (I hate to compare books, but if you enjoyed The Rosie Project, chances are you'll love this too.)

Here we are: I have finally read a book written by Agatha Christie. And I loved it. Now I understand why she is the Queen of Murder.
Something to know before jumping straight into Christie's works: She's written like a million different books so don't expect great characterisation or an emotional read - just follow the story for the murder mystery. That's what she does best.
At first I wasn't too impressed. Our main character seemed a little too proud of himself and there wasn't anything I could find myself getting attached to. I personally really enjoy emotional reads so this was a little bit of a disappointment for me to begin with.
As the story progresses, Christie develops only the points needed for her mystery. Many characters in this story are completely obsolete and are treated as so. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that instead of going into pointless details when certain characters converse, Christie shortened the situation to "Here the conversation became technical." This saves a whole lot of time (although it does mean that you are left with a feeling of detachment from the characters, but I didn't mind too much).
I must admit, I did not work out who the murderer was. I picked up a few points here and there and was on almost the right track, but Christie still completely wowed me with her "murderer reveal", I suppose I can call it.
The story picks up momentum in about the last third of the book, at which point I decided to give up on any other plans I had for today because I just simply had to carry on reading to find out what would happen.
By the end of the book, I was completely accustomed to Christie's writing style and now I can see that although it's different from what I'm used to in more modern books, it is still superb.
Although I'm not in any particular hurry, I'm quite sure that I'll pick up another Agatha Christie sometime soon - it was wonderful to read for hours on end and be completely absorbed in a good old-fashioned mystery.
I would recommend this book to anyone. In fact, I've already given the book to my mum for her to read it too.

“Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.”
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There are few books in this world which are as good as The Shadow Of The Wind. There is no way I can do this book justice with this review... but I'll try anyway.
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“I was raised among books, making invisible friends in pages that seemed cast from dust and whose smell I carry on my hands to this day.”
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I haven't read such a show-stopping book for a very long time. Such a complex, well thought out plot! So many emotions packed into these pages! If you are thinking of reading this one, prepare to clear your schedule because this book is going to render you incapable of thinking of anything else.
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“Few things leave a deeper mark on the reader, than the first book that finds its way to his heart.”
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It's been far too long since I read a book I could not bring myself to put down. I've read plenty of addictive books; but they are not the same as this. The Shadow of the Wind completely lifted me out of reality and into its story. It felt surreal, but at the same time, painfully realistic. With a few simple words, it filled me with dread, and then had me smiling to myself a few pages later, feeling all warm inside like I'd just bonded with these fictional characters. The ending was... excuse the cliché, but it was explosive. There was nothing that was going to distract me from getting to the end of that novel.
Best of all, this is a book that is based around books. I love stories like that.
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“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”

"What the war did to dreamers."
^Essentially the whole plot of this novel.
This is a good book. But I must admit I was disappointed by it.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
To be honest, I really have a feeling that I'm going to manage to blurt some spoilers in this review so if you wish to remain unspoiled, don't read beyond this point!
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
I really like the way that Doerr frequently drew attention to the idea that a million different things are happening to different people at exactly the same moment in time. I felt that he really enjoys writing about chance and probabilities and the fact that our actions can affect people more than we may think. I really enjoyed this part of the story.
However, I felt that the rest of the book was simply mediocre. That includes storytelling, plot and characters.
Where was the dialogue?? I kept noticing a distinct lack of dialogue for long stretches of the novel. To me, dialogue is a very, VERY important part of storytelling. It's what fully characterises your characters. It's what draws your readers in, makes them relate to the people in your novel. And it's very difficult to get right.
In All The Light We Cannot See, Doerr quite often doesn't bother with dialogue. His main characters don't often say much at all, and for this reason I found it hard to like them.
Next: Descriptions. They were too long and uninteresting, to put it bluntly. Why did he spend so long describing the quality of the pavement rather than giving his characters a personality? Don't get me wrong, sometimes the descriptions were beautiful. But mostly, they were a turn-off for me.
Okay here's my final rant: the ending. What was with that ending?!?! I was very dissatisfied with this ending. Maybe that's just me - after all, I am a real lover of happy endings. Or at least, if I'm going to read something sad, I'd like to feel emotional enough about it that I shed a tear or two? I was pretty unmoved by this book. The overwhelming feeling was only Frustration ("I've pushed myself through 530 pages of descriptions and that was the ending??")
I read because I want something that is going to distract me from the real world. Something that's going to excite me, or thrill me, or teach me something. Sometimes I read a book and get a new perspective on life. Sometimes I read a book and there's no particular philosophical point to it, but the story was interesting enough to have gripped me for a few days.
This book has left me feeling... kind of bored, kind of frustrated, kind of disappointed. I honestly don't think I've learnt much; all that stuff about radios and science and snails was so in depth I haven't actually remembered any of it.
But there was an interesting side to the war that I haven't read about before. The nazi school was interesting. The occupation of France and how it affected the normal people. The way the war played with people's consciences and thoughts and left them emotionally wrecked.
It is a good book. Just not a particularly great book.

This book is amazing.
How did Emma Donoghue write something that is so incredibly harrowing and moving and disturbing and yet make me laugh all the way throughout the book?
The entire novel is narrated by 5 year old Jack.
"Today I'm five. I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I'm changed to five, abracadabra."
Jack is honestly one of the most wonderful characters I've ever read about. He's a very honest narrator, and he has such a way of describing things it's amazing. While you read this book, you will begin to see your own world through Jack's lense.
This story, as I mentioned earlier, is harrowing, moving and disturbing. However, even if you tend to avoid that kind of book, I recommend that you read this one.
Stolen by Lucy Christopher is a very similar story to this one - the main difference I found is that while I read Stolen, I was frustrated and irritable and incredibly stressed out. I didn't experience any of this while reading Room. This story is not a stressful read. It's an eye opening experience.
I really don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say this: If you haven't already, read this book.

Undoubtedly 5 stars.
This story is inspiring, without being soppy; hilarious, without being entirely absurd.
The amount of storytelling that went into this novel - it's phenomenal. Not one of the characters is left without a personality or an intricate back story, and the tightly woven plot never contradicts itself.
This book with introduce you to characters that feel so real that you'll never be able to forget them.
And, no matter how funny and laugh-out-loud the story was, it still had a strong, important message to it: "It is what it is, and it will be what it will be."
Alongside all of that, I learnt a whole lot of history from this book. I would definitely recommend.

This was not quite as good as The Rosie Project. But it was still amazing.
Don is one of the funniest characters I've ever met in a book. He's also incredibly motivational - he never gives up. However, this book made me like Rosie less. She came across as far more annoying than in the last book.
I'm still not entirely sure how Don Tillman manages to make me laugh out loud, cry out in frustration, smile happily and cry real tears of sadness in the same book... but he does it.
I would recommend!

Oops I forgot to add this book! Can't quite remember exactly when I read it. It's a good little novel for kids. Very educational, yet still quite gripping. I was surprised how relaxed the author was when approaching deep subjects such as slavery or suicide or child trafficking in a children's book. Still, these are important subjects and it's good for children to be aware, in way that won't terrify them for the rest of their lives.

Well, I knew absolutely nothing about this story before starting to read it, including the fact that it is a novella. I did not expect it to end that soon.
A very interesting writing style. An enjoyable subject. But... a lack of plot, I suppose? Not much happened at all, when you think about it.
I guess it's supposed to be that way, considering the nature of the story. Its a reminiscing. A collection of memories. Reading this book had the same kind of vibe as watching home videos that belong to someone you don't know.
That's the intriguing thing about this story. You never find out the narrator's real name. He's not as important as Miss Holiday Golightly, the real star of the show. Interestingly enough I didn't even realise the narrator was lacking a name until I was over halfway through the story. Props to the author for that. He draws attention to exactly what he wants you to be focusing on.

This book turned out to be such a pleasant surprise.
Honestly though, who was in charge of designing the cover? It doesn't do the story justice at all. I was immediately put off reading this book because of how silly the cover looks. It's practically aggressive in its silliness.
(No offence meant to the illustrator in saying this... her illustrations completely fit the story and I loved the smattering of them throughout the pages that added another dimension to the book. I just wish it didn't look like someone had used powerpoint to copy and paste her drawings onto the front cover of this book, that's all).
What this story lacks in skilful writing or intricate plot points, it makes up for with pure charm. However, some people would not enjoy this book at all. It really depends on the type of reader you are. If you're serious about your novels, maybe this isn't for you.
Looking at it as a children's book, I loved it. It was simply so funny. Sometimes the metaphors and similes were overdone and overused. Most of the time, the authors got it just right. I wish I had read this as a child. But I still laughed even as the late teen that I am. (Excuse the sound of my back creaking).
I really liked the moral of the story. Embrace your differences, be kind and good to people, and you'll be okay as long as you don't give up. It's cheesy I know, but a good story for children to be reading. I thoroughly support this kind of fiction becoming a trend for young readers.
What an unexpected treat.