I have not been the most consistent bullet journaler in the past, I'll admit, but I'm hoping that with the new year and a new journal, I can start the year off right and keep it going. Once I'm in the swing of things, I really love planing and drawing out all the monthly pages and using it to keep track and organise life. 

I got a new Moleskine dotted journal in red (😍) for Christmas and over the last few days have been planning what to put on the first few pages to start the year off. I have made a few mistakes but I am just going to say that it makes it look more rustic... 

Firstly, I have my index page. I have left quite a few blank pages here - four in total - as if I do manage to keep this going for the whole year or longer, there will be a lot of pages to put down! But if I do run out of the room for some reason, I can also stick in another DIY page. I think I will group together as much as I can. So for example, I will label all the pages I have in my monthly set up under January Set up or somthing similar. 

Next, I have my yearly overview. I never had this in my previous journal as I completely forgot to add one in and it was sourly missed. However, I think I have also made a mistake on this one in trying to fit the entire year in one double page which means I've already run out of room to add dates too. I wanted to use this page to mark down important dates that come up months in advance that I need to remember and transfer into the monthly set up when the time comes. Hopefully, I can fit it all in but I would recommend doing this across 4 pages, or have a separate calendar completely for birthdays as they seem to have taken up the most room! 

Also, whilst flicking through many pages on Pinterest, youtube and a few blogs, I saw this really fab idea of using washi tape down the side of a page to bookmark it. I've done this on this page as I feel like I will be flicking to this page a lot! 

In my new organised year (we'll see how long that lasts!) I thought it would be good to lay out what I want to achieve this year. There just going to be simple things like get good A-levels and read Anna Karenina (it is a very big book so I think a year is a good time) so that I can flick to it, see what I wanted to achieve this year and keep my focus. I also have a bit for any goals in life, which sounds dramatic I know but I am planning to just add to this page whenever I think of somthing I want to have accomplished in life, like live in another country and go travelling. Hopefully, I can achieve some of them and keep them in focus so I can work towards achieving them throughout the year!

The next page I have is my Goodreads reading challenge. As you can see, with what I have done on the next page, the pen has bled through quite badly so I am going to have to do somthing a bit inventive (maybe find some coloured paper to stick over the top?) as I don't like how unclear it all looks. And of course, this is a very important page for me! I have decided on a goal of 45 which is lower than last year but I wasn't able to reach it and with another busy year up ahead, hopefully, this is more achievable goal than my last. 

In keeping with my goals, I thought it would be good to have a visual on how my blog and instagram page is doing. I really want to focus on growing these two this year as I love doing both, but felt like I lost focus at certain parts of the year so I am hoping this will help me to be more consistant.

And lastly, I had a spare page before I got into the January spread and couldn't think of what to fill it with. When I stumbled across something similar to this on Pinterest, I had to put it in. I love stars and the moon so it seemed like a nice visual thing to add in. I have no idea how accurate this is as all I did was searched for the 2018 lunar calander and then chose every third moon to draw... So it is not accurate at all! But at least I have a general idea of when a full moon will be.

And there are we have my set up! I will add more pages as I think of them, or see them, throughout the journal so I will keep you updated throughout the year. Have a good 2018!

Release by Patrick Ness

Published by Walker Books LTD, 2017

Genre: Young-adult Contemporary

Pages: 287

Rating: 🌟🌟

Release is one day in the life of Adam Thorn, 17. It's a big day. Things go wrong. It's intense, and all the while, weirdness approaches...

Adam Thorn is having what will turn out to be the most unsettling, difficult day of his life, with relationships fracturing, a harrowing incident at work, and a showdown between this gay teen and his preacher father that changes everything. It's a day of confrontation, running, sex, love, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, hope. He won't come out of it unchanged. And all the while, lurking at the edges of the story, somthing extraordinary and unsettling is on a collision course. 

Good reads

Just a warning, I didn't enjoy this book very much so if you absolutely adore it please either stop reading here or keep reading and tell me why I am so wrong! Maybe you can change my mind?

To say 'weirdness approaches' is a bit of an understatement here. I have heard a lot about Patrick Ness', with people saying that they absolutely adore his writing and storylines but for me, I didn't quite get it. He did have a very whimsical writing style, but I actually found it difficult to read with  his very long sentences that became confusing instead of poetic. This was even more evident in the parts told by the ghost. Yes, the ghost. This story was told about two people, Adam who is a gay teen struggling with first loves and the disapproval of his family, and the ghost of Katherine van Leuwen who was murdered but has now risen from the lake and is walking through the town.

I really didn't get the ghost elements to this book. It all just seemed too random. I don't think it added to the plot or help Adam to evolve as a character (he did that all on his own) so I really don't know why it was in there. Maybe there is some deeper meaning to it all and it symbolises somthing monumental but I think I missed that mark. I didn't really enjoy reading these sections either, much preferring to read about Adam and how his day was going catastrophically wrong than this confused ghost who is a Queen of some sort and is followed by a huge, magical fawn. Like I said, a bit random for me. I also struggle with books that seem to just dip their pages into the magical elements instead of just jumping right in. I had to the same issue with David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks which was perfectly normal, except for a few random pages here and there, until the last few chapters when magic scale went from 0 to 10 in the last few chapters which just confused me.

I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was more about Adam and his life. Because for me, they were the most interesting parts and the ones I wanted to read about. It's a short book anyway and with the added ghost bits, I really felt like I only got a very small window into Adams life and I would have liked to have seen more of it.

Also the cover is so clever with the river forming the silhouettes of (I assume) Adam and Katherine!

Beleive it or not after this review, I am going to try some more of Partick Ness. He is so well loved by a lot of people and I was recommended another one of his books by @court_of_readers_and_writers on Instagram so I am going to give that a go and hopefully I will love it a whole lot more than this one.

If you also love Partick Ness, please recommend your favourite and why so that I can read it and hopefully love Patrick Ness too! 

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

March 2018

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. 

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. 

New, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. 

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers - and her growing feelings for the enemy. 

Goodreads

My English teacher sent me an article about Tomi Adeymeni's debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone and it sounds amazing. I love books based on mythology as their stories are so interesting but West African mythology is not somthing that I have read very much about or seen a lot in literature so I am really excited to read about somthing new. Tomi Adeyemi also sounds amazing. I have linked the article above as I don't think I can do her much justice but she sounds like an empowering and inspirational women who does not let herself be pushed around and stands up for what she believes in. I also agree with her that YA literature has the power to make a difference to society and change the way people think, hopefully for the better.

Leah on the Offbeat by Becki Albertalli

April 2018

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat - but real life isn't always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she's the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-consious to show it. And even though her mom knows she's bisexual, she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends - no even her openly gay BFF, Simon. 

So Leah really doesn't know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It's hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting - especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended. 

Goodreads

I am so excited for this one. Becki Albertalli is one of my favourite YA contemporary authors and Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda was one of my favourite books that I have read this year. So when I found out she was realising another book, I was excited. When I found out she was realising another book about Leah from Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, I was ecstatic. I mentioned in my review of Becki Albertalli's The Upside of Unrequited that I love it when you get a sneak peak into how characters are doing from other books so for me this is a dream come true. I was planning to re-read Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda soon but I think I will hold off until April now so that the characters are fresh in my mind, ready to dive into this and fall in love, once again, with Becki Albertalli's characters.

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard
May 2018
VICTORY COMES AT A PRICE

Mare Barrow learned this all too well when Cal's betrayal nearly destroyed her. Now determined to protect her heart - and secure freedom for Reds and newbloods like her - Mare resolves to overthrow the kingdom of Norta once and for all... starting with the crown on Maven's head. 

But no battle is won alone, and before the Reds may rise as one, Mare must side with the boy who broke her heart in order to defeat the boy who almost broke her. Cals powerful Silver allies, alongside Mare and the Scarlet Guard, rove a formidable force. But Maven is driven by an obsession so deep, he will stop at nothing to have Mare as his own again, even if it means demolishing everything - and everyone - in his path. 

War is coming, and all Mare has fought for hangs in the balance. Will victory be enough to topple the silver kingdoms? Or will the little lightening girl be forever silenced?

In the epic conclusion to Victoria Aveyard's stunning series, Mare must embrace her fate and summon all her power.. for all will be tested, but not all will survive. 

Goodreads

So it is not unknown that I absolutely love the Red Queen series. It was the first proper fantasy series that I read and it is was fueled my interest in the genre, which now happens to be my most read genre this year. A lot of people say that it is like a lot of other fantasies but I really don't see it - all fantasies are similar in some way or another aren't they? I powered through the first three books in this series at the beginning of the year and some of the facts are a bit fuzzy now so I will definitely be re-reading it all before I get onto this one. It comes out in the middle of my exams so I will have to wait until they are finished to get onto it but that will just give me more incentive to get all my work done! 

Legendary by Stephanie Garber
May 2018


Stephanie Garber's limitless imagination takes flight once more in the colourful, mesmerizing, and immersive sequel to the bestselling and breakout debut Caraval, following Scarlett's younger sister, Tella, on a journey to the empire's capital to fulfill a mysterious bargain. 

I read Caraval when it was first released and gave it three stars so I am really interested to see how it evolves in the next book. Whilst Tella was a key part of the plot of Caraval, she wasn't part of the actual story as she went missing so obviously, wasn't actually there... So I think it will be really interesting to find out more about her as she seemed like a fun character. The descripti9on doesn't give too much away so I don't really know what it is about which is exciting as I like going into a book not knowing too much about it.







What If It's Us? by Becki Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Fall 2018

This is the most exciting thing I have heard all year! https://t.co/IqBX5AJZYU pic.twitter.com/cYvaSqlehd

— Kizzi May (@Kizzimay) December 16, 2017

What If It's Us opens as Arther and Ben meet as the post office as Ben is shipping his ex-boyfriend's things back to him. They subsequently endure the frustration of knowing there was a missed connection, before the universe pushes them back together again in a series of failed "first" dates. 

Goodreads

So I only found out that Beck Albertalli and Adam Silvera where co-writing a book the other day and I cannot believe that I didn't know about it sooner. I have only read one of Adam Silvera's books, History is All You Left Me, which I gave three stars and I really want to read some of his other books so this match sounds incredible. I can see how the two authors fit together and their story of how they became friends and came up with the idea of the book is great. Becki Albertalli writes her parts from the perspective of Arther, and Adam Silver from the point of view of Ben, which is a really great way of getting the two different voices across. I really can't wait to see how this comes together, in a hopefully heartwarming, if not with some slightly sad moments as it is Adam Silvera, book that I will love.


So those are the top releases that I have seen and am desperate to read! But as always, I am always wanted to add more to my TBR list so if you have seen anything that you think looks amazing coming out next year, make sure to mention it down in the comments below!

Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is one of my favourite contemporaries and probably one of my favourite books I've read this year. Every since then, I have been wanting to read Becki Albertalli's other book, The Upside of Unrequited, but for some reason never picked it up. But whilst preparing for my week of mock exams, I went through a really big contemporary bookish phase with exam stress as I find them to be the perfect switch off. So I decided to order a few online and when I was scrolling through  Book Depository and saw this on my wishlist, I thought why not? I probably shouldn't have as I was meant to be revising instead of reading but oh well...

I wasn't disappointed. I have to say that didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens agenda but as I really loved that book, it had a lot to live up to. It still made me smile throughout at the brewing romance, family dilemmas and it was pretty much everything I was looking for at that time.

The Upside of Unrequited is about Molly, a teen girl who has had 26 unrequited crushes. She doesn't really expect much to happen in the summer, but of course, it gets a whole lot more interesting. Her twin sister Cathy gets a new girlfriend who brings along with her a best friend Will, a handsome hipster that seems to be showing some interest in Molly... But then there is Ried, the geeky co-worker at her new job who is strangely really easy to talk to and is actually quite good looking too... Its story about family, romance, coming of age and is a general feel-good book!

The love triangle trope may be overdone but I am not going to lie, I don't mind a good love triangle so this really didn't bother me. Even so, if you absolutely detest the triangle of love, it is so clear who is best for Molly that it never really becomes a full-on love triangle and I doubt it would annoy most people.

I really loved the characters and I could really relate to Molly with her insecurities which I think are pretty normal for a teenager to have. As I am the same age (or there about) as Molly, reading about her thoughts and problems just made everything seem a bit more normal as I know I think about the same things and others do too. Her family is also amazing, her sister and baby brother, her mums (as it's American should I say moms?) are all so fab and supportive and fun, I loved reading about them and how their life worked.

I love Becki Albertalli and I know that if I pick up her books again to re-read, they will definitely make me smile and laugh. Also, there was a little look into some character from Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda which I always love as I like to have a little updated on how some of my favourite characters are doing 😃.

Have you read any Beck Albertalli? What did you think?

Published by Simon and Schuster, 2017
Genre: Young-adult, Contemporary
Pages: 292
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This was the second book I bought in the buy-one-get-one-half-price deal at the airport alongside Orbiting Jupiter. Honestly, I'm not really sure why I picked this up but I saw it and decided why not? It was probably some subconscious thing as since buying it, I have noticed Adam Silvera is everywhere, especially with his new release They Both Die in the End so I probably recognised the name and thought I must have read a review somewhere.

Griffin is still trying to get over his first and only love, Theo, who moved to the other side of America and got a new boyfriend. But when the love of his life tragically drowns, it seems like every day just gets duller, more and more difficult to get through. Griffin pushes everyone away with his grief but he ends up finding comfort in the least suspecting person- Theo's new boyfriend, Jackson. This is a story about the struggles of grief, first loves, second loves and friendship.

I expected to cry with this book and was slightly disappointed when I didn't. Sounds like an odd criticism and don't get me wrong, I don't go into every book wishing for it to make me cry, but when you expect it, you expect it. For me, if a book can make me cry, it must be a good book. I don't cry often so it must have really made me feel some strong emotions for those characters and what happened to them. Sadly I didn't get that with this. I think it is maybe that it started off sad, was sad throughout most of the book, but actually had a happier ending than expected which meant there wasn't a sudden moment of sadness that really got me, as it was a sadness then kept throughout the book.

However, that doesn't go to say that I didn't enjoy it. Now thinking back, I think I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I did when I first finished. The character development of Griffin who started off completely consumed by is first love with Theo and couldn't see anything past that, or the guilt in moving on, grows so much by the end of the novel. And he grows in a way that isn't necessarily noticeable until the end so I really loved how Adam Silvera dealt with that.

I really want to read some of Adam Silvera's other books (and I saw he has a few more in the pipeline for the next few years on his Instagram including one with Becki Albertalli so that's very exciting) as I really loved his writing and characters. His other books also sound really interesting one of which is definitely meant to be a cryer so fingers crossed!

Published by Penguin, 2017

Genre: Young-adult Contemporary/ Mystery 

Pages: 358

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

What would you do if someone was poisoned during detention? And then you were accused of their murder...

One of Us is Lying begins with 5 kids heading to detention, all there for somthing they didn't do.But when Simon, the outsider who runs the school gossip app, drops down dying from an allergic reaction, they begin to take notice. Addy is your typical popular school girl with the perfect boyfriend, on the outside anyway. Cooper is the typical action man look-a-like, baseball player destined to be a star, but even he has his secrets. Brooklyn gets perfect scores on every test and plans to follow to footsteps of her parents at Yale University. And then Nate, the bad boy who is rumoured to already be on probation and a known drug dealer. Who would blame?

I have to admit, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I would say it was a cross between Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and The Breakfast Club so it is a little cheesy with its classic high school tropes, but it's a really fun YA mystery to read and I really got into it and enjoyed it! Despite it sounding like a heavy plot line it managed to be quite a light read that was perfect for when I read it.

It is told through switching perspectives from each of the four accused of murdering Simon and what I really liked is the doubt placed on each one. Maybe because I am in the middle of my English Literature coursework so I am probably completely over analysing it, but Karen Mcmanus slips in these one line that makes you doubt whether or not the narrator is telling you the whole story. When reading somthing in the first person, it's too easy to assume they are telling you everything that happened and we tend to trust them without even realising it. I liked how Mcmanus played on this instead of just focusing on one character so we just had to start doubting all the others.

For me, it wasn't wholly unpredictable as I did guess most of the main big plot points and twists before they happened, but I don't really mind that too much. I didn't go in expecting a bind blowing mystery that would have me guessing all the way through. This was more about the character development and general friendships in high school, both the fake ones and the real ones that show themselves when you need them to and family pressures and relationships.



For me, it was the perfect break away from heavy work and I really loved reading it, getting to know the characters see them all develop throughout the story! Also, how beautiful are these sprayed pages? I only have a few other books like this and I love it!

Have you read One of Us is Lying? What did you think?

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I am way behind reading Fangirl, I know, but I finally got my act together, ordered it, and then preceded to power through it. Even though this has been everywhere for years, I actually knew very little about it when I picked it up as I never looked into it much. But, I did have a hunch it was about a fanfiction writer... I know I am such a detective.

If you are like me and have been living under a rock and have no idea what Fangirl is about apart from the obvious, here is a little synopsis for you. Cath and Wren are twins, built in best friends. But when they both head off to college, Wren decides to she wants to spread her wings and live the wild college life with a new roommate. Cath, however, is more anxious about this new adventure and her rather blunt roommate and her maybe, maybe not boyfriend. Instead of partying, she prefers to stick to her room and write her fan fiction for Simon Snow, a made up series which I think is based on Harry Potter.

Rainbow Rowell has also brought out her own version on some of Caths fanfiction, Carry On, which is so cool! There are extracts throughout Fangirl from both the Simon Snow series and Cath's own fanfiction but I have to admit I skipped some of them. I know it's bad. I normally don't skip any bits in books but I found these to be slightly boring compared to the rest of the book and I just wanted to find out what happened next to Cath. But I would really not recommend doing this. When I got to the end I felt cheated out of an ending as it finished on an extract from Simon Snow which didn't make much sense to me and would probably make much more of an impact if I had read it properly. 

I loved Cath. For someone who obviously loves books and can get quite geeky about my favourite series, (I am sure my friends are sick of me trying to force books upon them,) I completely loved her geeky side and her refusal to give up on it, even though it might not be deemed cool. I've never really read any fanfiction but I am always upset when my favourite series ends and I no longer get updates on my favourite character, how they are, what they're doing (does anyone else gets possibly too connected to characters? Or just me...) so maybe fanfiction is the way to go?

Of course, there was a bit of romance throughout the book which I thought was really lovely how it grew throughout the book. There was a moment when something happened (I am really trying not to spoil anything!) with the guy (I'm not going to say who it is either!) which really made me severely dislike him for a while and I felt so bad for Cath, I just wanted to give her a big hug!

Cath's family is a big part of her life. Her mum left when she and her sister were young, leaving them to be brought up by their dad who loves them but couldn't always care for them as he struggles with mental health. So not only is Cath dealing with trying to settle into university, her classes, and for the first time being without her sister, she also has to worry about her father being left on his own. Cath is so strong to cope with everything going on and all the added pressures she puts on herself. But her development as a character is fab as she grows to learn that these added pressures aren't always as important as she makes them, somthing I need to take into account from time to time too!

I am very glad that I finally got on the Fangirl train and I am really excited to try some more Rainbow Rowell books. Which one would you recommend next?