Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella – Contemporary September Day 9

Audrey is a fourteen-year-old-girl who deals with a social anxiety disorder after a traumatizing incident at school. As a result, she is now being home-schooled, and prefers staying home at all times. Audrey is now afraid to come out of her shell, and is unable to interact with the world. She only finds herself comfortable with her family; her psychopathic mom, her older brother Frank  who is addicted to the virtual world, another brother named Felix, and a very laid back father. Soon, an encounter with a friend of her brother’s, changes Audrey’s world.

The first half of the book is focused on Frank and their mom’s relationship. It feels as though Audrey’s mom is more concerned about Frank than Audrey. I understand that relationship between the mother and Frank was depicted in a funny manner to add humour, but after a while it starts to get on your nerves. Having said that, Frank is one of my favorite characters. Frank is Audrey’s fifteen year old brother who is obsessed with computer and video games, and he will do anything in order to get to play his games. Frank is also funny and smart. Although he isn’t always serious, when push comes to shove, he’s the older brother Audrey loves and needs. He would support her at any cost. I adored this sibling love-hate relationship.   

Audrey is such an amazing character, someone who we all can relate to. What I loved about Audrey is the way she hilariously presents her family. She is a sweetheart; she is forgiving and incredibly inspiring due to her constant desire to get better. Kinsella wrote Audrey’s anxiety disorder in a very descriptive manner, making me understand it through the eyes of someone who suffers from it.

We are also introduced to one of Frank’s best friends, Linus, and Audrey’s love interest. He was very supportive of Audrey’s illness. I did however dislike how Linus and Audrey’s friendship developed too quickly, which was a bit unrealistic. Despite this, I liked how their relationship started in an incredibly adorable way. I liked how with Linus’s help, Audrey starts to see herself improving.

I really enjoyed Finding Audrey. Sophie Kinsella truly shines in this novel. She deals with a tough and weighty subject, yet she skillfully pairs it with wit and humor, creating a balance for what would otherwise be a very serious book. It’s mainly focuses on a coming of age, so this delightful read will be appropriate for all ages, for old fans of Kinsella’s work or new. Audrey has a sweet yet smart voice. Readers will enjoy this solid understanding of how teens deal with their severe mental health issues. A fun and fast read to enjoy on a summer day!  Highly recommended!

4/5

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson ~Contemporary September Day 8

Emily and Sloane have always been different, yet their mutual interests make them best friends. Emily and Sloane have gone through everything together, from disastrous haircuts to outlandish conspiracy theories. When Emily is with Sloane, she suddenly becomes another person, and feels secure only with her. Sloane knows Emily’s weaknesses and that she is dependant on her for lot of things. One day Emily wakes up to find her best friend gone. There’s no trace of her except for one last crazy list, that seems like a parting gift and a ridiculous last wish at the same time. It’s a check list full of things Sloane wants Emily to do, everything from dancing til dawn to skinny dipping.

Through reminiscing about Emily’s friendship with Sloane, we get to know about Sloane’s personality. Sloane is the complete opposite of Emily. She is fun, enigmatic, and a social butterfly. Emily has always remained under Sloane’s shadow. Emily is a fun character to read about and is very relatable if one is introverted or shy.  She can be awkward and is often unwilling to interact or approach with people, but with the help of the list she is able to break from her isolated life. As the story progresses, Emily, in the absence of her best friend, shows tremendous character growth. During this enthusiastic journey, she finds new friends as well, including Frank…

Frank is a supporting character who plays his part very well and helps Emily to complete her tasks. Frank is funny, charming, and adorable. Emily and Frank’s relationship starts on a very nice note as well. Matson has incorporated a number of playlists that they share with each other into the book very cleverly, which makes them even more prominent as a couple.  

Probably the best element in Since You’ve Been Gone is the friendship that Matson has projected so wonderfully and smartly. This book is not only about Emily discovering herself, but also focuses on friendship; instead of the plot surrounding relationship troubles, like a first glance at the title led us to believe, what really started everything was based on a wonderful friendship. Although Sloane is gone, it is fun to read Emily’s recounts of their friendship, and through these we feel the utter confusion and sadness she feels due to Sloane’s abandonment. We also learn through the stories of how Sloane and Emily compliment each other through their opposing personalities, bringing out the best in one and other. Their trust with each other sets a great example of true friendship.

The book is also filled with cute, creative, and original concepts that make the book so much more interesting and entertaining to read. The hardcover book jacket is beautiful to look at. At first glance it’s pretty normal, although nice looking. However, once opened the jacket has a whole enlarged picture on the entire inside, capturing the perfect summer moment. As mentioned before, there are also multiple playlists recorded at intervals in the book that the characters have created themselves. Through these, or listening to these, we really get a deeper understanding of the character. It’s also fun to compare your own music taste to the characters’. In addition, the tradition of Emily and Sloane leaving each other to-do lists is a wonderful concept itself. After seeing this, we as the readers were pushed into doing something similar, and living life to the fullest. It makes you want to make sure you complete everything on your bucket list as well. In fact, after reading this book I have my best friend a list of things to do when she went on a trip to New York.

Here are the playlists which are included in the book, we suggest listening to them whilst reading the book to enhance the experience.

http://8tracks.com/oficexndfire/run-emily-run

http://8tracks.com/lucy-hollow/mix-4

http://8tracks.com/lucy-hollow/mix-7

http://8tracks.com/lucy-hollow/music-better-for-running-than-observational-comedy

http://8tracks.com/lucy-hollow/pick-up-your-pace-porter-more-songs-about-trucks

http://8tracks.com/lucy-hollow/mix-14

4/5

Fangirl ~Contemporary September Day 7

Cath and Wren have been attached at the hip since birth. They have always been major Simon Snow fans; reading, writing fan fiction, and spending time on forums. All of this helped them get through their mother leaving their family. But when they move to college, Wren announces that she does not want them to share a room together, which pushes Cath completely out of her comfort zone. The problems in her life start to mount, which leads Cath to question whether or not she can actually fit in and make friends, like everyone around her. Cath has to challenge herself to find her own individual identity. 😀

Cath is a character you can easily fall in love with, and relate to. She’s quirky, cute, and fun to read about. What makes her so relatable is her introverted personality and social anxiety. We have this university freshman who is surrounded by outgoing and socially active friends, yet she would rather stay in her dorm and write fan fiction than go to a party. Speaking of fanfiction, yet another thing we have in common with Cath is, of course, fangirling. The way Cath can relate to the characters in her books, and use make-believe fantasy worlds as an escape from reality, is something I’m sure all of us book lovers have done many times. To see this brought up constantly in this book, and to see a character obsess over fiction the way we obsess over her, is itself something to fangirl over. Cath gets Regan as her roommate, who, along with her friend Levi, are her polar opposites as they are very out-going and open to changes. They seem to be the yin to her yang and fit her personality well.

The idea of this parallel universe Harry Potter was very amusing. We enjoyed comparing and contrasting everything in the Simon Snow universe to the world of Harry Potter. How Cath loves the Simon Snow characters and books intensely; how they’re always on her mind, even after she’s done reading the next book; how she can’t wait for the next instalment in the series, all takes us back to when Harry Potter was still being released. The way it felt to know that there is a community out there that feels exactly the same way as you do, who turns to the same characters and the same world for comfort, is a wonderful feeling which is what is expressed in this book. It makes it so easy to see the world through Cath’s point of view. The book left us feeling nostalgic and happy, which we think makes this book a perfect recommendation. 😊

4.5/5

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith ~Contemporary September Day 6

Lucy and Owen meet in an elevator stuck between floors during a city wide outage in New York City. Upon being rescued, they roam around Manhattan and get to know each other. However, once the lights come back on, their love story takes a different direction, and the bubble they created together disappears, forcing them to snap back to reality. Lucy moves to Edinburgh while Owen goes on a road trip with his father. Their romance continues across continents until they reunite in the city where it all began.

When I picked up this book, I expected it to be a cute, fluffy read. Instead, I was greeted with a good premise that was poorly executed. I was under the impression that the entire book would be about the one special night they meet, but the story continues beyond it; dividing the book into two halves. The first half was written well enough, and the descriptions Smith gave of each city were especially well done. The story was cute despite the fact that the characters fell in love instantly. They believed their feelings were strong enough, based on one night, to be the foundation of their relationship. This was hard to buy.

In the second half of the novel, our protagonists separate as Lucy goes off to Europe and Owen road trips around the U.S. The writing grew stale fast as the story revolved around the lives of two teens who were torn between their feelings and constantly doubting themselves. To me, there also seemed to be no chemistry between these characters. Their lack of communication made me wish that they would break up with each other and move on with their lives, which is something you likely do not want your readers to think, especially in a contemporary romance novel. I did, however, enjoy the descriptions of the numerous cities the characters visited. Overall, the story was very slow and stale during the second half.

I felt little to no connection with both Lucy and Owen. Their characters felt flat and seemed one dimensional. Owen’s dislike for technology irked me. It was the way he thought about certain things, like how he never kept in touch with anyone. Their decision to send postcards to each other was cute in the beginning, however later on, when there was barely any communication between them, it simply annoyed me that they never bothered to talk through something quicker, like email. Lucy felt abandoned by her parents and Owen was dealing with a huge loss in his life, yet I never felt sympathetic towards them. These characters weren’t awful, but they weren’t amazing either. I would like to relate to at least a couple of character in a book to truly experience it best, but this book did not even give me one character to really become involved with or understand.

This book was not my cup of tea. I felt that though it had a lot of potential, the way it was written and the initial instant love made it impossible for me to love it. If you liked this book I’m glad, however I barely enjoyed it. Despite this poor review, I have loved Jennifer E Smith’s other books and hope her future novels will be more to my liking.

1.5/5

The Edge Of Never by J. S. Redmerski ~Contemporary September Day 5

Life has been hard for Camryn, in more ways than one. Her parents are divorced, her brother is in jail, and her boyfriend passed away in a car accident. Following the death of her boyfriend, Cam loses her purpose in life. After an argument with her best friend pushes her over the edge, she’s finally had enough. Camryn ends up boarding a bus going to nowhere in particular. Little does she know, her life is going to change forever.

Camryn is an interesting character. She is depressed at first and doesn’t know what she wants from life. She goes through hard times and the decision she makes, to escape her hometown, is understandable. Due to this, we as the reader, get to see her daring side. Cam does a great job of managing herself strongly and through her adventure discovers so much more about herself. She was relatable in so many ways and her story is encouraging. Andrew, who doesn’t seem so at first, is actually not so different from her and harbors his own dark secrets. He is very confident and charming, despite his own heart-breaking backstory. He has a quick temper and he is very protective. Once he notices Cam, he is instantly intrigued by her.

This book is written in a dual point of view which gives us more insight on the two main characters individually. Both of them are trying to escape their problems. Andrew’s relationship with Cam makes him come to peace with a lot of things in his life, and how to react calmly in difficult situations. She fills holes in him he never knew existed, and she becomes a strength in the hard times he is experiencing. He and Cam complete each other and together they make each other better people. As her relationship with Andrew develops, you slowly see her empower herself and become a whole new better person. She is shy to be herself, initially, being afraid that others won’t accept her, but with Andrew’s help she is able to overcome her fears. The wonderful thing about Andrew and Camryn is how they are realistic whilst still having a romance you can fantasize about. When they meet, there is no instant connection and no butterflies. Instead, there is animosity, which is soon replaced by small talk. The conversations were interesting while still remaining normal enough to be something we’ve likely conversed about. The relationship grows slowly yet steadily and the book still leaves plenty of time to focus on the romantic aspects. The author kept a wonderful balance between the sad, the mundane, the romance and the fun. Another aspect of the book that we truly enjoyed was the humor. It came out at the right points and nearly made us laugh out loud. The author placed the humor so perfectly; it doesn’t take away from the story or its occasional seriousness, instead it brings out some of the best parts in Andrew and Camryn’s relationship. Andrew was silly and risk-taking, and through his careless character he brought out the best in Camryn. And of course you could always count on her for a sassy backlash. The dynamics and dialogue in their relationship was incredibly entertaining to read.

While this book was fantastic as a whole, there are small things about this book that weren’t so great. Right from the first chapter, some of Camryn’s inner dialogue can come across as pretentious, and in turn rather annoying. She thinks of herself as a deep, insightful person, but only comes across as thinking she’s better than the girls around her, as if they are inferior to her for thinking more about boys. In fact, going through some of the dialogue again actually left us laughing because it was slightly ridiculous. This new adult book had some sexual scenes as well, which is often a given with this genre. However, Andrew has an odd view in terms of “owning” or belonging to one and other. Aside from this, we absolutely love Andrew as a character, and we love how he truly cares for Camryn. Despite this, his stance would sometimes come across as slightly misogynistic. While some people might have found the nature of this appealing, we found it slightly gross and unnecessary, and at the very least out of place where the author had it written.

In The Edge of Never, you have two young people who felt completely lost until fate brings them together and they learn to complete themselves. A story of two strangers who lose themselves in new experiences and find out what they truly want along the way. The love story was beautiful and watching it unfold through the pages was an unforgettable experience. The characters were amazing and we can’t wait to see where their journey takes them in the sequel. Suffice to say, we enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of New Adult Contemporary books.

4/5

Let’s get lost by Adi Alsaid ~Contemporary September Day 4

I had been eyeing this book for a long time and wanted to read it terribly. I craved something lighthearted, so I finally gave it a shot. Let’s Get Lost is told from the point of view of four teens who all encounter Leila, a girl who is on her way to see the Northern Lights. She meets four characters one after the other during her journey. These characters have separate stories which get entangled with hers. Leila is the most prominent character yet she still remains a mystery. I immediately fell in love with the characters in this book. They include the following:

1. Hudson: On her way to see the Northern Lights, Leila meets Hudson in his garage. Hudson is a very smart, charming, and ambitious guy. The attraction between Leila and Hudson is almost palpable, and is accompanied by drama.

2. Bree: Leila bumps into her while she is on her way. Bree has a very laid back personality, making me wish she was my best friend. She is very similar in nature to Leila so they both get along very well. She hides the sadness in her life with a happy exterior that she puts up as a fake front.  

3. Elliot: A lonely character who is unsure of his ability to make his dream come true,  and loses hope very quickly. Leila helps him try and get together with the girl of his dreams.

4. Sonia: Finally, we meet our last character, Sonia. It’s been a year since her boyfriend’s death, but she remains afraid to move on. She is stuck between her past and present, and worried that her broken heart will never heal. Leila bumps into Sonia on her way and helps Sonia figure out her life.

5. The last section was from Leila’s POV. Although Leila was there to help these characters, she herself was going through a lot. I was actually quite impressed by Leila; the fact that during the entire length of the book, she was constantly putting on a smile despite her hardships.

There were a few small problems I had with this book. The romance between Leila and Hudson bloomed too quickly; it felt rushed and it would have been more enjoyable if the reader was eased into it. Additionally, the ending was abrupt because when Leila reaches her destination, we finally get to see her backstory but we are not given the details fully. For instance, Leila wants to travel across the border, but why she wants do that was never fully explained. Therefore, I wish there was more given from Leila’s point of view. Aside from these minor setbacks, this story was quite impressive.

My personal favorite point of views were Eliot’s and Bree’s. I enjoyed Leila’s character; especially how she was there to help at every situation. Her fun-loving, quirky, and outgoing personality made her stand out from most of the characters I’ve read about. I also loved reading about the dynamics between the characters. I loved Leila and Bree’s friendship, Eliot’s stage fright and Leila’s encouragement. Essentially, I loved nearly everything. If you want to read something light or something about travel, go read it now!

*4.5*

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover ~Contemporary September Day 3

Sky has had an interesting childhood. She’s been in foster care, been adopted, is homeschooled, and her adoptive mother is a health obsessed vegan who allows Sky to have no access to technology. She convinces her mother to let her go to a normal high school for her senior year. Before school starts, however, Sky has a strange encounter. She feels attracted to a guy, even though normally she feels no attraction to anyone; no feelings, butterflies, or stomach flips. Even when she kisses someone, she feels nothing but numbness. But Dean Holder is different. He not only makes her feel things, he scares yet fascinates her. Everyone knows how he’s dropping out of school, after spending a year at juvenile detention. Little does Sky know, Dean and her paths have, and will cross in more ways than she can imagine.

The characters in this novel are well thought out and have a sense of self, making each character seem like an actual person. Holder was the typical brooding bad boy in the beginning. Sky describes him as having many personalities, sometimes he is light and caring, other times deeply intense and even frightening. We learn there is more to Holder than meets the eye, and as we get to know him, we start to understand the reasons for his mysterious personality. Bracken, Sky’s first friend at her new high school, provides instant relief amidst all the angst. He is funny and charming, and the reader, as well as Sky herself, are instantly besotted. And lastly, Sky’s best friend Mel, who isn’t with Sky in person as all of this is going on. Mel is eccentric, quirky, sweet, and intensely protective of Sky.

Different aspects of the story were interwoven in a masterful way; there was a balance between the distressing and the happy. The book was clearly well researched, as it deals with quite a serious topic with tact and understanding. It’s written so realistically, in a way that makes you relate to the characters, yet still have an understanding of how tragic the journeys they had to take are, and how you can never truly understand their pain. The entire read was a beautiful, heart-wrenching, mess. And by mess, we mean a beautiful creation packed with punches and tears. During the beginning of the book, Colleen Hoover foreshadowed a few of the upcoming plotlines, making us think we knew what was coming. Surprisingly, there were still many other factors that were a huge shock to us, and kept us at the edge of our seats. There were creative and niece- sorry, nice, twists {wink wink}. This wonderful novel is best described as a roller coaster of emotions and we recommend that everyone pick it up. You can’t go wrong with Colleen Hoover.

4/5

Landline by Rainbow Rowell ~Contemporary September Day 2

Georgie McCool is in a marriage that is breaking apart at the seams, despite the fact that both Neal, her husband, and Georgie still love each other. Georgie has a tendency to put work before her family and just before christmas, when they are supposed to leave for Omaha to visit Neal’s family. When the opportunity of a lifetime comes up at work, that she can’t afford to miss, Georgie decides to skip the trip. She knows that Neal will be upset with her; she doesn’t however, think that Neal would pack up and go on the trip with their daughters, leaving her behind alone. She feels as though not coming along on the trip is the last straw in their marriage breaking down. She is desperate to find a way to connect to Neal, and finally she does through the old landline she has in her old room. However, she realizes this landline has actually connected her to Neal in the past; Neal from 19 then she finds a way to talk to him, except it’s Neal from the past due to a very special Landline.

Neal often left me feeling conflicted. At times I thought he was so sweet; behind the scenes he did so much for Georgie, their daughters, and the family in general. At other times he seemed rather bland. I realized I liked the cute, past Neal better; the one who was in Georgie’s flashbacks and phone calls. I also often felt bad for Georgie as a result of Neal’s actions. Georgie was such an outgoing and open character, and I felt like she needed that openness in response. However Neil always came across as rather closed off and slightly cold. As a person who can relate to Georgie’s personality, I feel like trying so hard to get through to someone, and trying get something out of them, only to have them be so unresponsive, must have been extremely hard. I understand that we can’t change Neal’s personality or who he is, but I feel that he still could have put in the extra effort for Georgie once in a while. It doesn’t take much to show you care, especially to someone who is trying so hard to make things work. In general, I feel like Georgie was the only one trying to make their marriage work out, while Neal had practically given up. Watching Georgie suffer like this, with Neil being so unresponsive, left me really frustrated. I think it would have been interesting to know Neil’s thoughts on their relationship and marriage as well. However in general present-day Neil did not play a large part in a majority of the book.

The ending of Landline left me wanting more, just as most of Rowell’s books do. She tends to end them at points in the story that leave you wanting more, especially as seen in Eleanor and Park. There is no definite closure and the reader is unsure of the direction in which the story will go, and if that ending will truly be happy.

The landline concept added a touch of magic, which I think is really original and interesting to read about, especially in a contemporary novel. However, the reason for this was never explained and I would’ve liked an explanation.  The dialogue in the book was cute, quirky and funny, just like our character Georgie.  The fact that she was a comedy writer made itself quite evident through her inner thoughts and in her interactions with other characters. It was a fun read, as Rainbow Rowell’s books always are.

4/5

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han ~Contemporary September Day 1

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is a contemporary romance about sixteen year old Lara Jean. Everytime Lara Jean falls in love, she writes a letter to her crush. She pours all her feelings into the it and this helps her to get over them. She keeps these secret letters in a special box given to her by her deceased mother. However, one day she finds they have been taken and mailed to her previous crushes, and our story takes off from there.

Lara Jean’s character is really innocent and pure, definitely not typical of a person her age. Her character was truly enjoyable and whilst staying naive, it wasn’t written to the point where it was unbelievable. Lara Jean was relatable and someone who we’d love to be friends with. She just seems like the kind of person who would bake you cupcakes on your birthday, let you borrow their books, and knit scarves for you. She’s a true sweetheart, and has fun, sarcastic and perceptive inner dialogue.  Although her sarcastic nature doesn’t necessarily translate in her day to day dialogue in the beginning, it comes out more and more as her character develops and she becomes comfortable with who she really is. Her character development is great; she grows more confident and comfortable without losing who she is or giving in to the pressures around her. Overall this book was full of characters that were easily loveable, relatable, and funny.

Lara Jean’s relationship with her family is wonderful to read about. Her sisters play a huge part in her life and always come before anyone else, including boyfriends. Lara Jean and her sisters are always there for each other, through thick and thin, but remain realistic enough to have fights and make mistakes. In addition, Lara Jean and her sisters are half Korean. It’s refreshing to read about a diverse family and the parts where their korean heritage really shows. In fact, we would have loved to get know more about their cultural values and traditions. The father of the family is really supportive of the girls’ heritage, while not being Korean himself. Despite the death of their mother, he still pushes his daughter to follow and understand Korean traditions so that they do not lose sight of their roots. In addition, the father was always supportive of his daughters without being overbearing. It’s quite moving when you realize that he knows that the girls have no mother and he can’t replace that relationship, yet he does his best to ensure that his girls feel no sort of loss.

Lara Jean and her family aren’t the only worthy-of-mention relationships in this book. Lara Jean’s best friend Chris is also very interesting. Chris is very different from quiet, sweet, and shy Lara Jean. Chris is wild, rebellious, and eccentric. As opposed to innocent Lara Jean, who has always thought of herself as “a nobody” at school, Chris has the reputation of the school slut. Nevertheless, despite their differences, at the end of the day they are best friends who are are willing to go out of their comfort zones for one and other. They don’t always spend a lot of time together, but are there when they need to be, which itself is also very realistic. Additionally, I would’ve liked to learn more about Chris and her problems. It would’ve been nice to understand her further and also see some character development. Peter, another major character, also has interesting character development. Although initially he comes across as full of himself and selfish, as per the cliche, we realize there’s more to him that meets the eye. Peter remains narcissistic but is also easily offended, and that makes him cute and again, more real. Additionally, you know he’s a good person by the genuine kindness he shows Lara Jean, even when they are not around others that they would have to put up a show in front of.

There are not many points in the novel that annoyed us but the one thing that bugged us was how Lara Jean never bothered figuring out who mailed her personal love letters without her knowledge. Moreover, when she finds out who did send the letters, she isn’t mad or reacted how we would’ve, or how it makes sense to us. She is very calm and simply accepts it. This, however, might just be related to her character and how her personality is. As she is, in actually, a very collected and forgiving person.

From a purely aesthetic point of view, we really loved the cover. We loved the font as it looked as though Lara Jean had taken a sharpie and written on the cover by herself. The script and style really fits her personality. It is such a simple thing, however, it really added to the cute simplicity of the cover.

Originally, when first coming across this book, its cover, and its pretense, we thought it would be a fluffy read focused on light romances. We’re very glad to be able to say we were wrong. This novel focuses on character, tough situations, and deeper problems. The book ends with a cliffhanger. Not an ‘oh my god, I’m going to die if I don’t find out what happens next’ cliffhanger; but one nonetheless. Some people may disagree with whether or not the ending was suitable, but we thought that it was a very clever place to end it. It wasn’t unsatisfactory but it left you wanting more. Despite there not being a total conclusion, it leaves you with hope for the sequel. It’s the kind of book that you are still able to go back, read, and obsess over your favourite cute parts.

4.5

Contemporary September

Hi guys! This month we decided to shake things up a bit. Instead of going the usual route and posting one or two reviews a month; we’ve decided to post a review every Tuesday and Thursday of September. The theme of September’s reviews will be contemporary: a genre that the three of us love.

Contemporary September’s first review will be one of our absolute favourites, ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ by Jenny Han. That’s something to look forward to!