Thoughts For 50 - Pages 100 - 148 Of The Sudden Appearance Of Hope By Claire North

My name is Hope Arden, and you won't know who I am. We've met before - a thousand times. I am the girl the world forgets.
It started when I was sixteen years old. A slow declining, an isolation, one piece at a time.
A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A teacher who forgets to chase my missing homework. A friend who looks at me and sees a stranger.
No matter what I do, the words I say, the people I hurt, the crimes I commit - you will never remember who I am.
That makes my life difficult. It also makes me dangerous...
THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF HOPE is the tale of a girl no one remembers, yet her story will stay with you forever.

Laura's Thoughts

I'm starting to find it really ironic with this book being based on a girl that nobody can remember. This book will be just as easy to forget as Hope is, well based on the way it is going so far.

I experienced the opposite of last weeks 50 pages this week where I began by enjoying the first 20 or so pages of this section and then hated the rest where as last week I hated the beginning and enjoyed the rest. I feel as though Claire has some good ideas but just hasnt got the content to create such a big book, so far anyway.

Jen's Thoughts

Could it be this book is starting to go somewhere? After last week’s cliff-hanger, I was sort of looking to reading it. I do think it’s a post-modernist book, were the story doesn’t really move forward. I have only read one book of this genre and I disliked it for that reason. I do hope Hope isn’t one of these books, were I will end up hating the characters and the book itself. I got a bit of excitement with the fire incident, but the narrative doesn’t really sustain it with what it is going on.
I think this is the type of book were you have to read it in one go and not fifty pages per week. The fragmented reading doesn’t lend itself to this genre at all. With Falling by Jane Green, the storyline was maintained and I would have rung in sick to work to finish it.
I don’t want to reveal too much with what is going with Hope….SPOILERS and all that.

Laura Predicts

• Byron14 will be someone that she has met in the past
• Hope will track down Parker
• Hope will get revenge for nearly being burnt alive

Jen Predicts

• Parker will change his mind
• Hopes mistakes will come back to haunt her
• Byron14 will reveal himself
• Hope will be rekidnapped by her family 

Carry On - A Review By Laura

What is it about?
Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

Who is it for?
Young adults 

Genre? 
fantasy fiction

Is it any good?
I took a little bit more convincing getting into this book, although I was the one introducing Jen to Rainbow Rowell and telling her a little bit about this book she automatically loved it where as I felt the beginning was a little bit too similar to Harry Potter for my liking. On saying that I am so glad that Jen kept on at me to just keep reading because I honestly loved the book once I got into it. If it wasn't for the similarities to Harry Potter there is no doubt in my mind this book would have got 5 stars.

I was looking forward to this book just from reading the extracts in Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell introduced us to Simon and Baz as part of Caths fanfiction in her latest release before this which was called Fangirl. As soon as I heard that she was actually writing a book dedicated solely to those characters I was excited. Just like in every Rainbow Rowell character you will come across she writes these characters just as amazing and lovable if not more when looking at Simon, Baz and Penny... Agatha annoyed me a little but I suppose in a way that just makes the book that little bit better. A good book puts you through a lot of different emotions and this book does just that! So although I couldn't really get started with this book I was actually really upset to be finishing it... You are yet to let me down Rowell.

Was the ending Satisfactory?
Yes, I wasn't left thinking 'is that it?' or 'what happens next?'

Would I recommend the book?
Highly, I was recommending this book from the snippets of it we got to read from Fangirl before I had even read Carry On 

Read it if you like:
Rainbow Rowell
John Green
Krystal Sutherland 

Stacking The Shelves - October 2016

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews! It is a list of what books you have received over the previous week or in our case over the previous month. 

This was a bad month for us both for Stacking the shelves, Laura had just moved into her new house and Jen was preparing for a move too... I swear sometimes it is like we are the same person. Jen is still dealing with the move as is Laura but now Laura has a little less stress and a little more time, just a little more time to do such things... This stacking the shelves will only consist of the books that Laura has some how managed to afford this month, Jen will do a double Stacking next month... God help us all with the amount that she buys monthly!

I am surprised I have ended up with this many books this month I was expecting to buy none but you all probably understand how impossible that would be! I miss my old shelf for my photograph this one looks a little rubbish sorry but I am living in chaos right now.

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

The one below this Once upon a time came in on the delivery a few weeks ago and I instantly needed it in my life, I am a Disney fan through and through and it just didn't make sense not to buy this when I seen it in Tesco a few weeks later, I bought this along with The Beast within as part of the buy two for £7

Once Upon A Time by Liz Braswell

As mentioned above this book came into work on the delivery, I loved the look of the cover and the feel of the book as well as it being Disney related and bought it without hesitation

The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

I have blabbed on and on about this book since I read Me Before You  and After You that Jen so kindly bought me it as a house warming gift when I moved into my new house, what better way to war a house than to fill it with books, books and even more books... Thanks Jen!

Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige

When it comes to anything Shiny I am a magpie, if you seen me in the street you would know it was me from the amount of jewellery I have on that is so sparkly... same with books, a little bit of glitter or mirrored front covers and I will buy it no matter what it is about but this one looked pretty as well as sounding really interesting.

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

I don't know why all of a sudden I am buying books with fish in the title or on the cover, I don't mean to its a fluke but this month I have managed to buy two that have fish on, This book caught my attention because it was described as John Green meets Rainbow Rowell in this heartbreaking tale of bittersweet first love. John Green... Rainbow Rowell... it had to be a winner and I only have a few pages of it left and I have loved it so much!

The Beast Within By Serena Valentino

Everyone who knows me will know that I love Belle and Beauty and the Beast... I am considering a village Bella tattoo too... At first I thought this book was part of the other two Disney books I have bought this month but now looking at it I can see that it is not... Still cannot wait to read it though!

Silence Is A Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher

My other fish book from this months haul... I pointed this one out to Jen as soon as I spotted it and she had bought it and read it before I got a chance to but i've heard its good so I bought it anyway.

Thoughts For 50 - Pages 350 to End

Eight years ago, Emma Montague left behind the strict confines—and rather dull boyfriend—of her upper-crust English life and moved to New York City, where she immediately found success in finance. But her soulless, cutthroat, all-consuming job was another life she didn’t want.

Answering an ad on Craigslist, Emma finds a tiny beach cottage in the small town of Westport, Connecticut. It needs work—lots of work. But it’s the perfect project to satisfy Emma’s passion for interior design and gardening, if her new landlord, Dominic, is agreeable to the small changes she yearns to make.

To Emma, Dominic himself is somewhat of a fixer-upper. A local handyman with a six-year-old son, he’s a world away from the men she should be interested in, but he’s comfortable in his own skin, confident, quiet, and kind. And slowly, over a shared garden, time spent with his son, and late-night conversations, Emma finds herself falling for Dominic... 
From friends to lovers happens as naturally as the changing seasons. But setting down roots doesn’t come easily when two lives as different as their own merge into one. And Emma will realize that the seeds of happiness must be nurtured and cherished to grow into something strong enough to shelter all their hopes and dreams..

Laura's Thoughts
Well I certainly wasn't expecting that, over the weeks we made our predictions but that didn't crop up once! I can't believe it, I don't want to believe it... It's hard to say much on the subject without ruining anything for you if you are planning on reading it which I really think you should. Jen sent a tweet to Jane Green asking how could she and she liked it... That woman is evil! Genius but evil! What am I going to do now that I haven't got this book to look forward to at the end of the week. 5 stars all around for Falling.

Jen's Thoughts
The last segment of this book was let’s just say was eventful…. I don’t want to say too much at all: SPOILERS! Jane Green is a complete genius, I couldn’t guess anything. None of my predictions apart from one came true. I would like to rename this book Great Un-Expectations as what happened; neither me nor Laura predicted. I understand why what happened happened even though I was like: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOO ITS JUST A DREAM: A VERY BAD DREAM!!! It wasn’t though *insert sad face here* and after discussing with Laura: we both concluded it was a good ending. I want a sequel; Laura doesn’t! All I am going to say is Jane Green is going to get a naughty tweet!!!

 

The Marble Collector - A Review By Laura

What is it about?

A forgotten childhood. A discovered life.
What if you only had one day to find out who you really were?
When Sabrina Boggs stumbles upon a mysterious collection of her father’s possessions, she discovers a truth where she never knew there was a lie. The familiar man she grew up with is suddenly a stranger to her.
An unexpected break in her monotonous daily routine leaves her just one day to unlock the secrets of the man she thought she knew. A day that unearths memories, stories and people she never knew existed. A day that changes her and those around her forever.
The Marble Collector is a thought-provoking novel about how the most ordinary decisions we make can have the most extraordinary consequences for how we live our lives. And how sometimes it’s only by shining on a light on someone else, that you can truly understand yourself.

Who is it for?
When reading the blurb I thought this book was going to be for older teenagers to younger adults but the issues you deal with throughout the book are a bit too deep for younger teenagers at least

Genre?
Adult Fiction

Is it any good?
The book is told from two different perspectives, we have Sabrina who is Fergus's daughter, talking about the present situation as she embarks on her journey for answers about her Dads past and who he actually is. Along with Sabrina we have Fergus's view on the past helping us as the reader to understand what is going on in Sabrina's journey throughout the book.
It took me a while to read the first few chapters, well when I say few I mean about 9 or something chapters, It takes a while to get the story rolling, I wasn't fully enjoying the book until I reached the ending. I don't know whether that was just because I could relate too much with Sabrina and the feeling of not knowing her fathers past. My own father is terminally ill and I only get to see him twice a week from the age of 11... I realised I don't actually know much about his past, for example where his tattoos came from, who his family was and it really hit home.

Was the ending satisfactory?
Usually its the ending that lets me down in books rather than the ending being the only thing I actually liked about about the book. It was a happy ending although I was dreading a different outcome and I think Cecila was trying to convey that the past will always come back and catch you up.

Would I recommend the book?
I would and I wouldn't... I think part of my problem though was that I related to the issues in the book a bit too much and it was a reality check

Read it if you like:
A Man Called Ove
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
One More Day