Review: Amber by Julia Sykes

Book Title: Amber
Author: Julia Sykes
Genre: YA, Sci-fi, Contemporary
Nº of pages: 304
Date Published: 12th September, 2013
Rating: 

Amber’s lost her memory. She doesn’t even know her real name. The only clues to her identity are a beautiful amber necklace and a broken mobile phone. She’s determined to learn the truth about her past life, and the secrets she’s hiding, but how many rules will she break along the way?

My Thoughts:

Amber was not what I was expecting. When I first read the summary I new I just had to read it, no question. The cover and summary really drew me to wanting to read it. I won't say it's an incredibly amazing book, but it's definitely still very high up - close to some of my favourites.

Can we first just have a moment to admire the cover? The colours work so well together and the overall look is just beautiful!

Amber was one of those books where the author has made it so that there are steep cliff-hangers at the end of every chapter - this also mean't that I stayed up past midnight a few times because I felt like I just had to keep going.

I want to compare Amber to another book I've read so you get the idea of what it's like, but to be honest, I haven't really read a book like this before. Something exciting happens in each chapter which makes it almost impossible to get bored of reading it. Although sometimes I found in parts I just wanted the characters to get going already. I found that the main character Amber is a kind and sociable person who loves to make friends. I understand that she doesn't want to pass her own problems onto her friends.

I really would recommend this book to a lot of people. I'm not sure whether I would read it again, since the suspense wouldn't really work on me. I gave this a 4-star rating, mostly just because I really quite enjoyed it, I also really liked the authors writing style.

Amber was sent to me by the Curious Fox Publisher. However, all the following is 100% my own, honest opinions. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Heroines From Books/Films

Everyone likes a good, brave heroine in their books. This weeks topic for Top Ten Tuesday is my top 10 favourite heroines from books or films.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme created by The Broke and The Bookish.

Jacinda from Firelight

By Sophie Jordan

Although Jacinda can be clueless at points in time, she's always determine to go with what she feels is right. This is something I love in any character.

Amber from Amber

By Julia Sykes

Although I can't really relate to Amber as I've never lost my memory. I definitely feel for how she doesn't want to burden anyone with her problems.

Thomas from The Maze Runner

By James Dashner

I've only watched the film - but I intend to read the books. I like how Thomas tries to find a way out - even if he's suppose to not go in. He's brave and won't leave anybody behind!

Charlotte from Runaway

By Marie-Louise Jensen

This also happens to be quite a favourite of my books. Charlotte is so courageous and will sacrifice anything to save those she loves. I felt like she deserved to be in my favourite heroines.

Lottie from Saving Sophia

By Fleur Hitchcock

Lottie may not have the greatest selection of friends - but she's the most easy to relate to. Lottie just wants an adventure, but will stick with her friends to save them. I could never do what Lottie did in Saving Sophia. 

Thora from Daughter of Fire and Ice

By Marie-Louise Jensen

Again, another heroine from Jensen's books. I guess I just love her books - including the characters. Thora is strong willed and will not give up. At times she can be a little nervous or jealous but is also forgiving and will help those in need.

Beatrice/Tris from Divergent

By Veronica Roth

I haven't read the books, but doubtlessly enjoyed the film. I'm am so looking forward to Insurgent! I liked Tris's character because she has a way with people to make them see reason and would be a great leader.

Prim from The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins

Prim isn't really a main character in The Hunger Games, but it's still easy enough to fall in love with her character. She's sweet, kind and innocent. I just found in her situation - this was the best part her character could play.

Hermione Granger from Harry Potter

By J.K. Rowling

Hermione is clever, smart and intelligent. Yup! Those all mean the same, but she is really clever. I doubt Harry and Ron would have made it ten steps without her help. 

Harriet Manners from Geek Girl

By Holly Smale

I fell in love with Geek Girl by the first line - literally. Harriet is probably the funniest, quirky, clever and most sarcastic character I've read. I laughed at with her all through the books!

Interview with Erika from The Red Bookmark

Would you care to say hello? Would you like to tell us a little about yourself?

Hi, I'm Erika. I'm a British book blogger originally from the UK. I've been blogging since June 2013 when I came across some book blogs and decided I wanted to start my own. A few of my favourite books are The Fault in Our Stars (duh!), Divergent, Anna and the French Kiss and The Naturals. I'm currently reading Red Queen by Victoria Avegard, it's not the best start of the book but we'll see how it turns out.

So what kind of posts do you like writing? Is there a particular meme that you enjoy participating with?

I generally like writing about books, design and life generally. The red Bookmark started as a book blog but since then has drifted away from that. It is still a book blog if you get what I mean but it's also leaned towards other topics as I've mentioned before.

I generally don't participate in many memes but I do like Top Ten Tuesday. Even though everybody is posting the same topic, it's always going to be different content.

When did you start blogging? What made you want to become a book blogger?

I started blogging in late June 2013. It was in the middle of Summer and I really just had nothing to do so it was mostly out of boredom. I actually found a few book blogs and I thought it would be quite fun to start my own. I really had no idea what I was doing but hey, at least I know a bit about it now!

What are your 3 all-time favourite reads?

Whoops! I've already put some of my favourites for the first question, but here are a few more. Goose by Dawn O'Porter, Geek Girl by Holly Smale and The Isobel Journal by Isobel Harrop. This last one is more of a journal type this than a book but it's filled with wonderful looking illustrations so I love it!

I recently read your 'When the Book You're Reading is Just Meh.' post and I was curious to know if you had some advice for how to review a 'Meh' book? (A book which you didn't love but didn't hate).

I'm pretty much the wrong person to ask advice for this topic but I will put something out there! When writing reviews like this, don't force yourself to write a 500 word review. Keep it short. Explain why it was "meh" and that's it really. I'm sorry I can't give you a more detailed answer as I haven't actually figured this out myself yet!

Sweet or Savoury?

This depends how I'm feeling. Sometimes I really can't handle something sweet because it makes me feel a little sick but sometimes I will choose it over anything. I still put sugar in my cereal every time I have it for breakfast.

What book did you get most excited for when you found out it was being made into a film?

Definitely Divergent. I loved the book so incredibly much (I might of read it in one sitting! Whoops!)

I sometimes find I run low on blog post ideas, whereas you've always got a really interesting post to read. How do you keep your blog fresh with new and different posts?

Well, thank you! But - this happens to me almost every week. Everyone who works in the creative field (whether it's writing, designing or anything else), is going to face times when they don't have any inspiration or ideas. For me, I just try and write as much as I can when I do (italic) have inspiration so that when I don't have any, there will be posts ready.

Would you recommend any blogs that you love the read?

That's funny - I'm actually writing a post listing the blogs I love. I'm not sure when it's coming out though! But here are a few I can think of at the top of my mind: Nose Graze, What She Reads, Adrift on Vulcan and These Paper Hearts.

A big hug and thanks for taking the time to answer my questions Erika! I hope you enjoyed answering them. Hope to see you again for future guests posts!

Big enormous hug to you too for interviewing me! :D

Follow Erika on Instagram / Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook / Blog

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I like/dislike when it comes to romance in books

I had lots of wonderful comments from you guys last week on my previous Top Ten Tuesday so I decided I'm going to continue! This weeks topic is interesting. I know some people like lots of love and sloppy stuff in their books and others - well to keep it simple... Let's just say they slam the book shut, burn it in a fire, then scoop the ashes and flush them down the toilet. That's my 'non exaggerative' version. But anyway, let's just get straight into this!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme created by The Broke and The Bookish

 This is a like/dislike in one. It's really nice when the book ends with two holding hands walking into the sunset and everything. But it can't just end like that! Every time that happens it just really messes with me and I so want to know how they continue. Do they break up? Do they get married and everything? Is one going to cheat on the other? Okay, so maybe I'm a little nosy when it comes to people's private lives.

 You can really get into the romance vibe when it's subtle and everything, a few kisses, maybe a few 'looks into the eyes' parts. I personally quite that. However, - (read next one to see what I dislike...)



 After a while they start getting really into it. I get a little grossed out with it (that's an understatement). So in the end I basically skip a whole chapter of the book to spare myself the soppy, gross details of their romance.



 I really liked the romance in TFIOS. Mainly because it's a funny type of romance. Also because I cried at the end which just comes to show what a perfect match Hazel and Augustus were (and also just because it was very sad).

 I can tolerate a medium amount of romance but that's about it. I'm okayish with soppy love but tend to find myself cringe at it.




This is about as far as I got. I tend to read books with only a small part of romance.

Do you like romance in books? If you have a Top Ten Tuesday to share then I'd love to read it! Leave it as a reply in the comment section.

My New Blog Design

I was figuring what post I wanted to do next, and I just really wanted to write about my new blog design! As you can probably tell my blog design was finally finished, so now everything looks beautiful, neat and absolutely gorgeous! I really have to give my heartfelt thanks to my best friend Erika who's done so much for me (I'm still wondering how I'm going to be able to repay her). I wanted to go over a few key parts of my blog and why I love it so much.

Header

I get so excited when I see the header. Each time I go onto my blog I'm like 'Woah! Is this amazing blog really mine?' I adore the mixed fonts and the pale pink rose in the background! They really go so well together, and although I could never make something as good looking as this - this is still something I would have attempted to make.

Navigation Bar

This is really quite simple, even I could probably have made this. But yet again it looks so cool and clean looking. This just looks so fab!

Button

This is really quite a nice part on the design. Although my header is a top favourite, this button probably comes as a second or close third favourite. The swirly 'D' over the same pink rose as the header, in my books = perfecto!

Side Bar

The side bar pretty much follows the same font and style as the navigation bar, which for me is why this just looks super nice! Not much to say about this, other than this is just really perfect to finish the look off.

Do you like my new design? Is there anything you'd want to change?

Review: The Beggar Maid by Dilly Court

Book Title: The Beggar Maid

Author: Dilly Court

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Nº of pages: 480
Date Published: 24th October, 2014
Rating:

From the age of eight, sixteen-year-old Charity Crosse has been living rough with her grandfather and begging on the streets.
When he grandfather passes away, Charity is helped by a kindly doctor who introduces her to bookseller, Jethro Dawkins. He takes Charity in to help in his bookshop and keep house in their one room behind the shop.
Charity sleeps under the counter and is not well treated, but Jethro instills in her the love of books that began when her grandmother taught her to read. And she starts to hope for a better future for herself.
But Jethro dies unexpectedly, and Charity is faced with eviction when the rent is raised by the unscrupulous landlord. Must Charity give up her dream of running the bookshop herself, and worse, be forced to return to the streets...?

My Thoughts 

You're probably wondering why I gave this a 3 stars, to be honest I don't blame you. This book seemed to have very good reviews on Goodreads. This book was very well written and it had a good plot line but it just wasn't fast pace enough for me.
This is (compared to most of my books) a very long read. I prefer fast-moving books which didn't drag out a scene for too long. I guess this book didn't exactly hit it off for me very well. I did still sort of enjoy it, though I wouldn't consider it as a personal favourite.

I picked this one for it's historical fiction genre and I liked the look of the storyline. Don't let my words put you off this book because I suppose it will appeal to some and others might not enjoy it as much.

Presumably this novel is set in the late 19th Century London. The main character named 'Charity' is quite a strong-willed character and very clever. I find that I liked her character very much. Another thing is that although when the exciting or dangerous parts happened they were really enjoyable, they also stand quite far apart.

Overall a fairly good book, as I said not a personal favourite but I would still recommend it to anyone who is looking for an interesting, historical fiction novel.

What do you think about this book? Would you read it?

Top 10 Tuesday: Books I Can't Believe I Haven't / Want To Read From The Dystopia Genre

 Top 10 Tuesday is an original meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

I'm so excited for today's post! You may guess why (if you've read the title), for today I'm writing my very first meme post. I've chosen to do Top 10 Tuesday just because it seems one of the most fun meme's out there. This week I'll be telling you my top 10 (or as many as I can) of books I can't believe I haven't or want to read from the dystopia genre.


Divergent by Veronica Roth

I will admit that I did not for one second feel excited about it until the film came out. I just find dystopia books easier to watch than read. Now though, pretty much everyone has read Divergent, I'm still debating with myself if I want to read it or not.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

*Cringe* Yes, as well as Divergent I haven't read The Hunger Games either. Yet I still enjoyed the film tremendously. So I should probably give it a go.

Under My Skin by Shawntelle Madison

This isn't really a book I've already heard about, it was just a book I came across while looking for others. For one, I really like the look of the cover. For two, the story line just really appeals to me.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Apparently this book is really good - possibly better than the film. According to my dad the book contains a lot more detail than the film. Maybe..just maybe I'll read it.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

I really like the look of this book. The cover, the story, everything. I still can't think why I've never heard of it.

The thing with Dystopia books is that I just find it way harder to picture how everything looks in my mind. Sure, the people probably look the same - now that just leaves me to figure out what the technology, clothes and everything else looks like. That's why I tend to prefer dystopia films rather than the books.