Helloooo everybody! How has your February been? I hope it has seen you well!
It is that time of month again where I do a round up post of the books I read. How did we find the last one? Please leave a comment to let me know if you prefer these to full book reviews.
This blog includes spoilers!
1) ’The Names They Gave Us’ by Emery Lord.
Lucy has her perfect summer planned out: perfect boyfriend, perfect job and quality time with her perfect parents. Then her mom’s cancer comes back, and suddenly life makes no sense. Before she knows it, Lucy finds herself as a councellor at a camp for troubled kids, where lives are more different from her own than she could have imagined possible. Here lucy meets the dashing but mysterious fellow councellor Jones, who will change the way she sees the world forever. With tragedy hovering at the edges of Lucy’s life, this summer she must find out who she really is and what it means to love.
Started: 01/02/2021 Finished: 05/02/2021
I loved it! I read 200 of the pages in one day. I loved reading through the experiences of Lucy Hansson and seeing how she deals with the trauma and upset of huge concepts that come up out of the blue. Her mums cancer coming back, a break up (well, a pause), an unexpected crush on another councellor in class, revelations of her parents past that she never knew. She deals with anger and upset and love all at the same time and it was beautiful to read. We watch as she tries to figure out her faith and what it actually means to her to be Christian. It was enlightening to see the big things/changes people go through on a day-to-day occurance and understand how people may deal with their situations. It was such an emotional rollercoaster from the first chapter. Constantly up and down. A heart-wrenching yet up-lifting story!
Rating: 5/5
2) ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ J.K. Rowling.
The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only wizards who are over seventeen are allowed to enter – but that doesn’t stop Harry dreaming that he will win the competition. Then at hallowe’en, when the Goblet of Fire makes its selection, Harry is amazed to find his name is one of those that the magical cup picks out. He will face death-defying tasks, Dragons and Dark wizards, but with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he might just make it through – alive!
Started: 05/02/2021 Finished: 23/02/2021
I enjoyed this book, particularly towards the end. I liked how we see the trio, specifically, now growing up and figuring out the ways of life (i.e. friendships and relationships, heartache and crushes). It is however, a very long book and I found some parts kind of boring. There is, however, a lot more information and scenes in this book and a lot more little moments between multiple characters that we don’t see in the films that I would have liked to have been in the films. For example, the trio meeting with Dobby in the kitchens and Dobby giving Harry a pair of socks for Christmas. I found these moments cute.
Rating: 3/5
3) ‘Letters to the Lost’ by Brigid Kemmerer.
Juliet Young has always written letters to her mother. Even after her mother’s death, she leaves letters at her grave. It’s the only thing that helps Juliet cope. Declan Murphy is the kind of tough guy you wouldn’t want to cross. But while on community service doing landscaping at the local cemetery, he is haunted by ghosts of his own past. When Declan finds a letter left beside a grave, he can’t resist writing back. Soon, he is sharing his pain with a perfect stranger… Except they’re not strangers, and when real life interferes with their secret life of letters, Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.
Started: 23/02/2021 Finished: 26/02/2021
Loved it! Like, absolutely, loved it! I couldn’t put it down. Emotional rollercoaster from start to finish; with ups and downs from both the main characters, Juliet and Declan, both individually and together. Brilliantly conveys the emotions of heartache, love, desperation, confusion and loss.The letters, that the title speaks of, are written at the beginning of each chapter. A letter back and forth between Juliet and Declan; a letter from Juliet at the beginning of one chapter, and the next chapter beginning with a letter from Declan. This gives the book a refreshing structure which we don’t see from many books these days.I 100% recommend this to anyone who loves books by the likes of Emery Lord. Kemmerer’s writing style is very similar.
Rating: 5/5
What books did you read in February? Which was your favourite? Let me know in the comments, I would love to hear!
I hope you have a great March!
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DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to claim these books or the ideas behind them. The rights belong to the authors included.
Thank you for reading,Paige.
Paige’s Blog 