Image from Goodreads.com

Intermission: So... I did some background research on the author because that's what I do. Also, her surname is 'Yoon', which is a Korean surname. Turns out that the author is black, not Korean. Her husband is Korean. When I found out I was like, "Okay, cool."

Now for the review...

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Genre: YA, romance

Blurb: Maddy is allergic to the world. She hasn't left her house in seventeen years.

Olly is the boy next door.
He's determined to find a way to reach her.

Opinion: Basically, I regret buying the book (Heck yeah I'm picky). I have been told many times not to judge a book by its cover and boy have I learned the importance of that phrase. I wish I had looked past the beautiful exterior. I was even warned that there was insta-love in this. But no I had to give it a chance! Also, I knew that it was going to be a romance novel. Why on earth did I pick up a romance novel?

Realistically, it wasn't completely terrible. I didn't die after reading it. It was pretty decent for a debut novel. However, I had so many problems with it and that is why I'm writing a negative review.

Firstly, I couldn't really connect with the characters. Maddy was sweet and intelligent and stuff but I could not feel anything but sympathy for her. Olly... I didn't like him but I didn't dislike him either. He was okay... I guess. My favourite character was Maddy but I didn't really have a choice with the lack of depth in the characters. 

The short chapters and rushed story-line did not help at all. I might have liked the characters a little bit more if it weren't for that.

The 'romance' in this novel was all sweet and innocent at the beginning and then boom! (Spoiler in white, highlight to see) the obligatory sex scene that happens at the middle of YA romance novels because why not? It's not like there's anything wrong with rushing relationships!

giphy.com

This book was kind of predictable. Also, the ending wasn't my favourite.

Good things - The doodles were pretty cool. The protagonist was a POC (Asian and African American). It was beautifully written.

Recommendation: This is for fans of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Basically.

Rating: **- Two stars out of five

~

So, have you read this book? Are you planning to? What do think about romance novels in general?

I have compiled a list of Christian YouTubers to watch since it is very difficult to find them.

Note: I know this page is messed up. I'll try to fix it someday!

1. Blimey Cow

So basically, I was talking with a fellow writer friend of mine and I randomly brought up my blog. It wasn't really self-promotion but at the same time... it kind of was?

Anyway, I asked her if she liked to read blogs. She said she did. I was satisfied with this response so I asked if she could check out my blog and point out any errors. She checked it out and advised me on many things but the main advice that sunk in was to get a different template.

Her: Switch to Wordpress.. it's better!

Me: Nah...

Her: Blogger blogs usually look similar tho :/ Wait a minute... you could search for other templates.

Me: Hmm....

I asked her to find anyone who could design a template for me for free. She told me she would but later on she actually sent me a link to a website with lots of free blogger templates and then I was overjoyed. However, I had a little problem with actually uploading the templates.

For two, three, four (I dunno) days I tried to upload a new template to no avail. However, I kept trying.

Yesterday, in the afternoon I finally figured out how to upload a new template and when I did...



...my blog was ruined, basically.


The posts were here and there and it looked hideous and I kept changing it to different templates and it became even more hideous and some things weren't even in English and then I became really angry and frustrated. I even got kind of angry at the person who suggested the templates (he he sorry). I acted moody and stuff until I went to church. After church I jumped on the computer and then tried out different templates and then bam... 

... my blog was healed. Yay. (I really need to get gifs)


And that was my story. Did you like it? You probably didn't. It was kind of rushed because I want to post it today before I forget and my brother is gonna push me off soon.


So yeah... comments are cool...

I have been technically tagged to do the Siblinghood of the World Blog tag by Nate Philbrick.

The idea of a book tag is to answer ten questions and then make up another ten for the people you tag.


1. How do you go about naming your characters?

 I usually look up girls' names and boys' names on the internet. Or I simply come up with them.

2. What's your favourite character name inspiration?

See above.

3. Do you have a preferred book length to read?

I read books of different lengths but I personally prefer if it contains 300-400 pages :)

4. How many characters (estimate) have you killed off in all your projects?

None. I haven't written much so...

5. What's the most you've ever written in one day?

A couple of A4 pages, I guess. I don't usually write on the computer, I prefer to use hardback notebooks.

Sorry this wasn't fun. I was in quite a rush to write this. If you want to do this, you're tagged. And make sure you comment a link to your blog post in the comments.

Here are my ten questions:

1. At what age did you start to write?

2. What authors do you admire?

3. What is/are your favourite genre/s to read?

4. What country would you like to travel to?

5. What is/was your favourite subject in school?

6. Did/do you like school?

7. Do you find it easy to trust people?

8. Have you ever written a character that is the complete opposite of you?

9. What book cliché's do you hate?

10. Have you ever eaten Nigerian food before?

Today, I will be reviewing the book Solitaire by Alice Oseman. This book has received quite a lot of mixed reviews from readers.

[Image from Goodreads.com]

Title: Solitaire

Author: Alice Oseman

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Plot: This story is about an introverted, pessimistic 16-year-old girl named Victoria Spring who finds a trail of post it notes on her school locker that leads to an old computer room where she discovers a website called Solitaire.co.uk and an eccentric boy named Michael Holden.

Opinion: Many people disliked this book because of Tori Spring's rude and judgemental ways. To be honest, despite being an introverted pessimist myself, I found it difficult to like Tori Spring's character. However, Tori Spring is a depressed character and when you are depressed, it is very difficult to think positively. Of course, this is no excuse for her often un-called for nastiness but the readers do need to put themselves in Tori's shoes.

I quite like Alice Oseman's style of writing in this book. It was okay and not over descriptive. And despite Tori's nastiness, I could often relate to how she felt.

Recommendation: I recommend this novel for teenagers that are 15 and above as there is quite a lot of bad language and some issues that are difficult for others to digest. I also recommend this book to fellow pessimists because such a novel might ruin an optimist's day.


Rating: ***1/2 - Three and a half stars out of five