Thursday Thoughts: Girl Against The Universe by Paula Stokes!!!

Hey there guys!!

I'm finally here with a review that is not part of a blog tour, so maybe now I can get back on track with reading AND reviewing! Because yes, I haven't stopped reading at all, but I've been really bad at writing reviews for all the books I've been reading (and loving!).

And the first review had to be for Girl Against The Universe, a book that is massively special in many ways, and it's become my most re-read book of 2016 already! From the first time I read it as a beta reader I fell in love with it so completely I kept on sending all sort of "feels filled" messages to Paula while I was reading and cursing her for making me tear up... Everytime I've started reading the book I've been unable to not read it cover to cover because it's the kinda book that grabs you and doesn't let you go!

This book is extra special because I am a character in the book, Nurse Pili here everyone, and I'm also mentioned in the acknowledgements and both those things still have me reeling and being overwhelemed and giddy, but those are not the reasons I give this one 5 stars, those would be responsible for some extra stars, but the book itself made me fall in love with it, hard!


Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Girl Against The Universe is the kind of contemporary that I can re-read time and again and love it as much or even than I did the first time!

Contemporary YA is not my go to genre, but since I'd read anything that Paula Stokes would wrote and her first contemporary was absolutely therapeutic for me (The Art of Lainey), GATU was a must read and it delivered in every which way.

It's what I call a "feel good" book, there's conflict, there's serious issues but there's no overabundance of drama and there's no unnecessarily added conflict. There's wonderful relationships, from family to friends to a developing new romantic relationship but none of them are really the focus or maybe all of them are. All the relationships are important in this books, and all of them help Maguire to finally get fighting to try and get better.

Mental health is an important issue to discuss and although not all cases are equally dire or grave, they all deserve attention and treatment. This book does a fantastic job on showing up different levels of mental health issues and different stages of acceptance of help and progress of treatment, as well as a positive depiction of therapy, along with the false starts, the progress, the doubts and the reality of humans "not being toasters that can be fixed".

Maguire had a lot of bad things happen to her and she came to think that she was cursed and was a danger to others, so she kept herself from interacting with the rest of the world as much as she could. The book starts with her first therapy sessions where she starts by being silent and thinking it's a waste of time, to start listening to what her therapist has to say and once she finally decides she want to try and face her fears, we see how she makes progress, how there are setbacks and doubts and we're there with her every step of the way.

The romance in this book is the kind that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and it adds to the "feel good" feeling of the book. And no, the romance doesn't mean the mental health issues are fixed by finding love or anything of the like. The characters do provide support and motivation for each other, first as friends and then as more, but they both have their own issues to face on their own, and they do. The relationship is not a crutch to make everything better.

This book managed to make me laugh, sigh, swoon, want to hug the characters, tear up more than once and upon finishing I procedeed to hug the book and have a contented smile on my face. I've re-read it quite a few times already, and it will be one of my go-to books when I'm on a slump and I need a favourite to make me want to read again!

Very much deserved 5 stars if not a few more!!



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Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven!!

Hello there guys!

Welcome to a new week, starting with a new Monday! And what better way to start the new week than with a new book review for Mark This Book Monday!

I was approved for this book via NetGalley and I have to give a big thanks to Penguin Random House UK for the approval! This is one book that I MUST recommend for everyone, even if I have to recommend that you stock up on tissues, comfort food and a strong cuppa tea!

This one is part of my 105 Challenge but not as part of my review shelf part of the challenge, but the one for Diversity, because there's still plenty of conspiracy of silence and stigma about mental health issues, and this book talks about them in a very raw and real and rather well done way.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had read plenty of reviews from my fellow bloggers warning me about the crying with this book, but I was not prepared to spend the last 10% of the book bawling my eyes out, connecting so much with the characters and feeling so much for them... It took me a good half hour to stop sobbing and then I was still feeling pretty gutted for the rest of the night.

All The Bright Places is told in dual point of view for the most part, following both Theodore Finch and Violet Markey who meet at the top of their school's bell tower, both thinking about jumping and both saving each other in a way at the time.

I was both fascinated by Theodore as well as worried sick after the first few chapters. My mental health knowledge is pretty basic since that's not my work speciality, but with what little I know, I could see so very clearly what was going on and what was likely to happen in the end, but seeing it coming didn't prepare me well enough for the emotional punch that I'd be getting. Theodore helps Violet through her loss and her insecurities, but he never feels like he can get help or accept other people's help.

There's such a stigma on mental health illnesses that people are afraid to speak up, to search for help, to ask for help that they end up fighting entirely on their own, and that's not always a battle you can win without help. But society as a whole still tends to ridicule or hide or ignore or a combination of all three when it comes to mental health, and books like this one are so important for all of us, but even more for young adults that might be dealing with something similar and don't even know what it is that they are fighting, and only get the "freak" treatment.

Be ready to be changed somehow by this book, Theodore Finch won't pass through your life and leave you as you were. We can all learn a few things from this boy that burns like the brightest star.

A wonderful and poignant book that is both relevant and intimate. More than well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars. Read it now, but buy some tissues first.



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Saturday Pages: ARC Review of Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke!!!

Sometimes books are so powerful and resonate so much with you, even if you are not in the same place that the character is, that you need a break because otherwise you feel like you might drown in the emotions that book is stirring within you. This Saturday Pages' book is one of those books.

I discovered this book through Jenny from Supernatural Snark, since she designed the utterly gorgeous cover and so when I saw it on NetGalley I requested it, and luckily was approved by Spencer Hill Press, so a BIG thank you for them! As an ARC this one will be counted towards my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and I hope it'll continue to help with my NG rating!

Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is one amazing and powerful book. If you've ever felt sad and had any insecurities, you will feel connected with Imogen in one way or another and will feel like her pain is your pain.

I am not clinically depressed and I have not Imogen's issues but I have dealt with insecurities before and even if I'm much better know, there's always a lil something in the back of my head, and now dealing with the emotional distress of a massive heartbreak... Reading this book has meant a lot of anxiety flaring for myself too because I was connecting so much with Imogen, but has also meant a lot of warmth and happiness as I saw every little bit of improvement.

Imogen has been fighting depression since her mother's death, seven years ago, and she was spiraling down to clinical depression for a long time, but things have been getting a little better as of late, getting out of the darkest part of her dark hole, but then a new change comes into her life, only with not the best of intentions.

Gen has a stepmother that has very good intentions and tries to help, but it's still an awkward situation for Imogen since she feels like she's a burden for someone without a real obligation towards her, a father that has written a book about living with grief (about Gen's mother) and is more out of the house than in because of promotion and the new addition, Carmella or Ella, the stepsister.

Seems like the stepsisters situation will be once again like the usual ones in the fairy tales, the beautiful one gets the prince and the ugly stepsister gets nothing. And Gen feels like the ugly and worthless stepsister way too often without Ella helping pushing her down with a vengeance. But Gen is not alone, she has friends and she has Grant, her best friend since childhood, the one that has seen all the worst and the best that she has, and the one that keeps on trying to help her out her dark places.

Gen's journey is a very slow and dark one and with her anxiety and her sadness and self-deprecation and self-doubts. She's her worst enemy and her journey to discovering that and to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel is a tough one to read, but it is never without hope and that's a wonderful message to take from this book, mental illness is a real illness, it's not something you can simply "snap out of it" but with time and the right help and people around you that love you, you can find hope again and you try and go towards the light at the end of that dark tunnel.

Very well deserved 4.5 stars to this one, a wonderful and powerful debut. The ARC didn't have all the enhanced artwork and music that the final book will have, and I am very much looking forward to get my hands on a finished copy!



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