Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Banard

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 354 

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books 

Released: 7th of February 2019 

'This time around, I'm going to be so much better. I'm going to prove to them that it was worth waiting on me.' 

Two years after a downward spiral took her as low as you can possibly go, Suzanne is starting again. Again. She's back in Brighton, the only place she felt she belonged, back with her best friends Caddy and Rosie. But they're about to leave for university. When your friends have been your light in the darkness, what happens when you're the one left behind?

What I Have to Say 

It was so great to get to see Caddy, Rosie and Suzanne again, especially from Suzanne's view point, because I find Suzanne an amazing character. I love how perfectly she's written, a screwed up survivor coping with PTSD and her crappy family, who still, after everything she went to, defend her father and see her as being dramatic.

I felt so much for Suzanne. She's been through so much and now she's out in the world having to live on her own. Though at some points it's frustrating (ask for help, Suze!!!) you can't help rooting for her. It's like she's a friend. You can definitely see how Caddy and Rosie feel trying to support her. She's such a sweet person but her life is so hard and she has some bad habits when she gets triggered.

I just really really loved seeing it all from Suzanne's viewpoint. It worked perfectly, in the same way that the first book worked really well from Caddy's point of view. I just want so much more from these characters.

And it has a dog in it! What more can you ask for?

My thanks go to Macmillan and Netgalley for providing me with this free copy for review. 

Truly, Wildly, Deeply by Jenny McLachlan

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 304

Publisher: Bloomsbury 

Released: 8th March 2018 

Annie is starting college. She can’t wait. No more school, no more uniform, and no one telling her what to do. It’s the start of a new adventure and Annie’s not going to let anyone or anything get in the way of that. Freedom matters to Annie. She has cerebral palsy and she’s had to fight hard to get the world to see her for who she truly is. 

Then she meets Fab. He’s six foot two, Polish and a passionate believer in…well, just about everything, but most of all Annie and good old fashioned romance. The moment Fab sees Annie, he’s wildly drawn to her and declares she must be his girl. Annie’s horrified. She doesn’t want to be anyone’s anything, especially if it means losing her independence.

But then Annie finds herself falling for Fab. As things go deeply wrong, Annie realises that love can make you do wild, crazy things, and so she sets out to win his heart with a romantic gesture of truly epic proportions!

What I Have to Say 

Best Character of the year award goes to...! Seriously, Annie is fantastic. She's so strong and feminist and she knows her own mind. She won't take shit from anyone about her cerebral palsy or honestly, anything else. And when it comes to romance, she doesn't want to be tied to anyone. So when discussing Wuthering Heights in English class, she and romantic Fab have some very firey debates. 

The romance in this book, the struggle that Annie faces between wanting her independence and her feelings for Fab. It was beautiful watching her journey, the debate as to whether love can truly exist without giving up some of your independence. It was a book with so much to say. 

And the way it ended. That perfect, adventurous journey, a wild gesture to try and win back Fab's heart. It was such a good story from start to finish. 

If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for? 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with this copy for review. 

Love and Other Man-Made Disasters by Nicola Doherty

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 240

Publisher: Orion Children's Books 

Released: 2nd of June 2016

Juno is scared of a lot of things. Climate change, urban foxes, zombies - the usual. So when she goes on a skiing holiday with her mum's adrenaline-mad new husband and his tearaway twins, she doesn't hold much hope of surviving. Then she meets Boy. Gruff, hairy and thrill-seeking, he's everything Juno doesn't like. Or is he? Juno's about to discover there's nothing more scary than falling in love.

What I Have to Say 

From first glance this could be a book about a girl with anxiety who meets a boy and falls in love and ends up being cured, but it isn't. Yes, Juno meets a boy and yes while being with him she learns how to quiet down some of the worries in her mind. But what I took from it was more than that. This isn't a story of girl meets boy, this is the story of a girl learning to take risks and do things despite the way that they could turn out. It's more than anything the story of a girl learning to be brave. 

I feel that there was too much emphasis put on the love though. It was an important part of the book, but I feel that the events later were more important. I don't know how they could have shortened the romance, but I feel if they'd condensed it down and made it less of the whole story it would have put more importance on Juno's coming-of-age story line. 

Despite this, it was a good book. Funny and lighthearted as well as covering some very important points. This would be a good read for the summer. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Orion Children's Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

Sing by Vivi Green

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books 

Released: 2nd of June 2016 

America’s most famous pop star flees the spotlight to recover from her latest break-up in Maine – only to fall for a local boy and be faced with an impossible choice at the end of the summer: her new guy, or her music.

Multiplatinum pop icon Lily Ross’s biggest hits and biggest heartbreaks (because they are one and the same):

1. AGONY. (That feeling when her ex ripped her heart out of her chest and she never saw it coming.)

2. GHOSTS. (Because even famous people are ghosted by guys sometimes. And it sucks just as much.)

3. ONCE BITTEN. (As in: twice shy. Also, she’s never dating an actor or a musician ever again.)

But this summer’s going to be different. After getting her heart shattered, Lily is taking herself out of the spotlight and heading to a small island in middle-of-nowhere Maine with her closest friends. She has three months to focus on herself, her music, her new album. Anything but guys.

That is… until Lily meets sweet, down-to-earth local Noel Bradley, who is so different from anyone she’s ever dated. Suddenly, Lily’s “summer of me” takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself falling deeper and harder than ever before. But Noel isn’t interested in the limelight. She loves Noel-but she loves her fans, too. And come August, she may be forced to choose.

What I Have to Say 

I feel there was too much romance in this book. It's not that I'm against romance, though I do think a lot of YA books insert romance in when it's not necessary to the plot far too often. And it's not that I think that Noel and Lily's relationship shouldn't have been part of the book. I just think that it should have happened differently, that the emphasis shouldn't have been on whether or not they end up together. 

I just feel that the whole point of the book, of Lily leaving the city and her schedule behind, was to learn how to live and write music on her own, without a man in her life. While part of the story was concluded, I feel that it wasn't quite as strong as it should have been. I feel that Lily didn't really stand up for herself and say "No, I need to be alone for a while" like I would have liked. 

Though it fell flat to me on that one issue, the rest of the book was enjoyable and interesting. I liked the viewpoint of a big name celebrity and how nice a person Lily was. Often in books, celebrities can come off as jerks, so it was a really cool concept. 

This is perhaps not one that I'd go out of my way to recommend, but if you think it sounds interesting then I'd definitely say to read it! 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Collins for providing me with this copy for review.