Book Review #577 - Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

My Rating: 5/5

Source: Simon & Schuster Australia

Buy: The Book Depository

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In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching summer before Cullen Witter's senior year of high school, everything he thinks he understands about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town vanishes. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes absurdly obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and, most troubling of all, his sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother, Gabriel, suddenly and inexplicably disappears.

As Cullen navigates a summer of finding and losing love, holding his fragile family together, and muddling his way into adulthood, a young, disillusioned missionary in Africa searches for meaning wherever he can find it. And when those two stories collide, a surprising and harrowing climax emerges that is tinged with melancholy and regret, comedy and absurdity, and above all, hope.

I picked this book up once before and just could not get into it. It is rather slow paced and in that sense I found that I had to be in the right frame of mind to read it. 

When I picked it up for the second time however I was completely immersed in the story and the slow pacing of the story enabled me to savor it more. 

The book follows two seemingly non-related stories that end up culminating into an unthinkable finale. 

I didn't particularly like the religious aspects to it at first  but when it became an integral part of the story it didn't bother me at all. 

I loved the remote, seemingly peaceful setting of Lilly and the small, close community feel to the people. 

One of the stories follows Cullen Witter, a teenager who dreams of leaving his boring life. His life gets worse however when his younger, much loved brother Gabriel disappears. 

The other story follows Benton who is away on a missionary when he discovers an ancient Ethiopian Bible which he soon becomes obsessed with. 

There is also an interesting sub-plot involving a rare bird that had been thought to be extinct and its sudden arrival in Lilly. 

The town becomes obsessed with the bird and soon forgets a missing teenager. 

I loved the mystery aspect of this book. My wanting to discover Gabriel's fate was my major motivation in reading this book as quickly as I did. 

The more I read of this book, the more I convinced myself that Gabriel was dead. In that way I could completely understand Cullen's grief and helplessness. 

I know this is a big call, but I would consider this the best book I have read so far in 2015. 

Book Review #576 - iJustine: An Analog Memoir by Justine Ezarik

My Rating: 2/5



Source: Simon & Schuster Australia



Buy: Booktopia



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A one-woman media phenomenon and a leading YouTube influencer takes readers behind the camera, and deep inside her world.

Justine Ezarik has been tech-obsessed since unboxing her family’s first Apple computer. By sixth grade she had built her first website. A decade later, she became one of the Internet’s first—and most popular—“lifecasters,” inviting people around the world to watch her every move, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. But it was a one-minute video about an itemized AT&T bill that gave Justine her first taste of viralsuccess: Within ten days of release, her “300-page iPhone bill” had garnered more than 3 million views and international media attention. These days, iJustine is a one-woman new media phenomenon: The popular techie, gamer, vlogger, and digital influencer has an army of nearly 3.5 million subscribers across multiple YouTube channels, with total views approaching half a billion.

Now, Justine is giving friends and fans a look behind the scenes, sharing never-before-told stories about the hilarious (and sometimes heartbreaking) reality of sharing your life online. With her trademark wit and delightfully weird sense of humor, Justine delivers an inspirational message in support of creativity, entrepreneurship, and the power of staying true to yourself, while reminding readers that the Internet is a very small world—you just never know who you’re going to meet.

Like with Joey Graceffa, I had never watched any of Justine's videos. Although I had (I think) heard of her before. 

I did enjoy the beginning part of the book which covered the childhood years. I found this part interesting and at times humerous. 

The rest of the book however felt like more a non-fiction book about technology and Apple products rather than a personal memoir. These parts were often boring and drawn out. 

Some memoirs can be interesting and enjoyable no matter what level of fan you are of the subject. This book however, I wouldn't recommend unless you are a definite fan. 

Book Review #571 - In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World by Joey Graceffa

My Rating: 3/5

Source: Simon and Schuster Australia

Buy: The Publisher

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A confessional, uplifting memoir from the beloved YouTube personality.

It’s not where you begin that matters.

It's where you end up.

Twenty-three year old Joey Graceffa has captured the hearts of millions of teens and young adults through his playful, sweet, and inspirational YouTube presence (not to mention his sparkling eyes and perfect hair). Yet, Joey wasn’t always comfortable in his skin, and in this candid memoir, he thoughtfully looks back on his journey from pain to pride, self-doubt to self-acceptance.

To his fans, Joey is that best friend who always captures the brighter side of life but also isn’t afraid to get real. In the pages of his first book, he opens up about his years of struggling with family hardships and troubles at school, with cruel bullying and the sting of rejection. He tells of first loves and losses, embarrassing moments and surprising discoveries, loneliness, laughter, and life-changing forks in the road, showing us the incalculable value of finally finding and following your true passion in this world. Funny, warm-hearted, and inspiring, Joey Graceffa’s story is a welcome reminder that it’s not where you begin that matters, but where you end up.

I have to admit that prior to receiving this book I had never actually heard of Joey Graceffa. 

I loved the layout of this book. It had bits of advice at the end of each chapter, lists of random things and lots pictures. 

As I have never watched any of Joey's videos before I obviously didn't know anything at all about him prior to reading but I do feel like I got a good grasp of his personality from reading his book. 

I particularly enjoyed the childhood stories as they were interesting and similar to that of some of my extended family. Reading about all the struggles he has been through really enhances how much he really has achieved. 

The chapters about dating etc were a little too involved. For example, whole conversations or texts were listed when just a brief summary would have sufficed. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would but would recommend this book to actual fans rather than someone just wanting to read a memoir. 

Book Review #566 - When You're Back (Rosemary Beach #12) by Abbi Glines

My Rating: 3.5/5




Source: Simon and Schuster Australia





Buy: TBD





Goodreads

Love is a journey - Rosemary Beach is the destination...The future is bright for Reese Ellis. She has Mase Colt-Manning, the man of her dreams, and a family she didn't know existed until her long-lost father arrived on her doorstep in Rosemary Beach. Everything is finally falling into place. While Reese is visiting her new family in Chicago, Mase spends time with his "cousin," Aida, who has worshipped him since childhood. Unrelated by blood, Mase and Aida have been raised to think of each other as family. But when Reese returns, she can tell something isn't quite right. Aida clearly resents Reese and excels at manipulative little games. And though Mase is unsuspecting, Reese knows Aida doesn't love him like a cousin should...

This is the 12th book in the Rosemary Beach series. I had not read the previous 11 books and I had not problems understanding this book. They seem to be more companions to one another rather than follow a continuous plot so don't feel worried about reading them in order. 

This book is first and foremost a romance book. This is not usually my type of book as I prefer romance to be more of a sub-plot but I found that I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. 

As I hadn't read the other 11 books the characters obviously weren't familiar to be but I found that I grasped pretty quickly the dynamics of it all. 

The characters were a little stereotyped but that didn't really bother me as it wasn't that much of an issue. 

The plot seemed a little all over the place. The cousin disappears for a large chunk of the book and didn't turn out to be as big an issue as the synopsis would suggest. 

Book Review #561 - Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

A bitter-sweet, coming-of-age novel that's perfect for fans of John Green and Stephen Chbosky.


When he's sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over.

But when he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers - he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn't have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure.


Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about true friendships, ill-fated love and the rare miracle of second chances.



There are so many young adult books around at the moment about sick teens but what makes this book different to those is that the teens in this book aren't given an definite death sentence which means they are all hopeful of recovery. 


The book is told through split narration of the two protagonists Sadie and Lane. They are both completely different yet equally intriguing characters. They complimented each other really well. 


Sadie seemed to accept her predicament and settled well into the environment at Latham House whereas Lane constantly mourned for his previous life. 


The only negative thing I can say about this book is that the ending followed all the previous books I have read in this genre and in that sense it was rather predictable. 


I really liked the setting of Latham House and apart from the constant coughing and the lack of dress code, it seemed like a normal school. 

My Rating: 3.5/5

Source: Simon & Schuster Australia

Buy: TBD

Goodreads

Book Review #550 - Arkarnae (The Medoran Chronicles #1) by Lynette Noni

With just one step, sixteen-year-old Alexandra Jennings's world changes--literally.

Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her... but he's missing.

While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora's boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can't ignore her fear that something unexpected... something sinister... is looming.

An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex's shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race's survival. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home?

Will Alex risk her entire world--and maybe even her life--to save Medora?

My Rating: 3/5

I received this book for review from Simon and Schuster Australia. This is the first of five proposed books in the Medoran Chronicles. 

The perfect way to describe this book would be a combination of Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. 

Alex, the protagonist was easy to relate to and the secondary characters like Jordan, Bear and DC had significant depth to them unlike most other YA literature. 

The pacing of this book was a little unpredictable. At times I felt like I could read it non-stop and others I was just waiting for something to happen. 

I loved the Hogwarts like setting of the Akarnae Academy especially the library which was constantly full of surprises. 

The classes at the school and the teachers were all interesting but definitely could have been explored deeper. 

It was also very interesting and somewhat refreshing to read a book where there was absolutely no romance. 

Overall, this was a very compelling and enchanting read and I am looking forward to reading the sequel Raelia.