It's Got to be Perfect | BOOK REVIEW

Hello!

"If that doesn't justify it being a good book, I don't know what does!"

Many people are huge fans of holiday reading. They'd chill be the pool or on the beach with their heads buried in the book. Me? Yeah, I like it, but if it's boring I'd easily stop and jump in the water.
You may, or may not, know that I was in Egypt last week. It was the week I began, and finished, reading 'It's Got to be Perfect' and let me tell you - it was good.

Anybody Out There | BOOKS

Hello!

"you'd find yourself getting very emotional over, laughing with, crying with and definitely enjoying every second of it."

Since the last book I read (review here) I had sort of lost hope in reading. Dramatic? Yes, I guess it is a little bit. Well, when one of your favourite authors of all time end up disappointing you so much, you're bound to feel a little disheartened (J.K. Rowling, how could you?). Everything happens for a reason, and I believe it was fate that this beauty entered my life.

The best thing about the novel? The storyline kept on going. There was not one point at which I thought 'I could do with skipping a few pages'. I wanted to read and read until the cows came home - or until my eyelids gave up on me.

"It'd be one of those movies you could watch again and again."

Another thing I've got to give Mariyan credit for, the lack of confusion when she writes.
Throughout the book, especially the first half of it, there is a lot of back and forth on what's happening 'right now' and what happened in the past. The thing is: you can tell the difference. It's put very clearly and it's incredible to see how a persons life can change so dramatically.
One more thing: the protagonist is very 3 dimensional, making the whole thing even more realistic.

On the note of characters, she has done a fantastic job! There are characters of which you will end up crying of laughter over, characters who you admire and characters that you wish were your best friend.

"Everything happens for a reason, and I believe it was fate that this beauty entered my life."

If you've read a few of the previous book reviews on BBXO, you'd know the ultimate thing I judge a book over: how it visualises as being a movie.
Let me tell you, this story was definitely a movie in my head. It would be a movie you'd find yourself getting very emotional over, laughing with, crying with and definitely enjoying every second of it. It'd  be one of those movies you could watch again and again.

Have you got any books you can read again and again?

Blog Recommendation: LaurenConrad.com

Hello!

"One of my favourite things about LC.com is the comment section"

Okay, so I was in a bit of a blog rut, and me being me, I get a little anxious if things aren't done on time. So, I'm sitting here, Wednesday night, knowing my weekend is jam-packed and I will not get a chance to breathe, let alone write a blog post. Then it hit me: like HEY, I love reading blogs, and I'm sure others will love reading this one. So here it is:

LaurenConrad.com, run by the LC Team, and the founder being the Lauren Conrad herself - like you didn't figure that out already! 

The blog is quite an inspiration, with it talking all things ranging from clothes to beauty to decor, I can't say it didn't influence the start of BBXO.

Great for a go-to girl-time read and it is full of helpful tips. One of my favourite things about LC.com is the comment section. The community on there is just lovely, the people are intelligent, have such great ideas and good things to say.

So, if you're out on the hunt for a blog to follow, check out LaurenConrad.com.
Who are your go-to blogs that you get inspiration from?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson: BerryReads

Hello!

"Quite expectedly, as it's totally cliché, the two Will's cross paths and their lives intertwine"

With a new year, the idea of resolutions is very strongly in mind. Although reading may not directly be one of those resolutions, relaxing and spending more time for yourself may be, and this is where reading comes in. On the other hand, reading may well be on your resolutions list, and I'll let you know that this book will make things a lot easier for you - you will not be able to put it down. As John Green is a co-writer, I didn't expect any different - and this did not disappoint. 

"One of the Will's is gay, and the other not, but, has a gay best friend...that's where trouble arrises"

The story told from the perspective of two boys, both of which are named 'Will Grayson'. Every chapter a switch is made from one Will Graysons life to the other Will Graysons life. They live very different lives and although you can sometimes get a bit confused of which characters are in which Will Graysons life, you can vividly picture each Will's life in your head (gosh that's confusing to explain but the book is totally not). A few chapters in and it is easier to distinguish between the lives of the Will Graysons. One of the Will's is gay, and the other not, but, has a gay best friend. You read the story of how the gay Will Grayson comes out and comes to terms with who he is. It is nice to see that it's not a 'big deal' that he's gay, and he is still completely accepted. The Will's are quite similar too, both like to give off the I-don't-care-about-anything vibe but it's nice to see how they evolve as characters.

Quite expectedly, as it's totally cliché, the two Will's cross paths and their lives intertwine. With one Will Grayson going out with the other Will Grayson's gay best friend - that's where trouble arrises.

Without giving much of the story away, I will say that it's an easy read (the best types of reads!). 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson' has a great story line which you find yourself easily following along with. You're bound to find something in common with at least one aspect of the characters, and it's nice to see how things play out.

Overall, something especially great for teenagers, but not meaning anyone of any age will not enjoy it, very modern and a book you will not be able to put down (can John Green do any wrong?).
*Available on Amazon (link)

Tell me, are you a fan of John Green books?

The Last Letter from your Lover- Jojo Moyes :BerryReads

Hello!

"It was a hard book to get into, but about 1/2 way in, it grabbed me."

It's that time again, about a month on from writing about one of the best books I've read this year, it's time to review The Last Letter from your Lover. This one, a completely different genre to the one we last talked about here, cannot even compare to Cuckoo's Calling. It's good, but not as great, and considering she's the author of Me Before You, I was disappointed... until I read the ending. 

"the book has a deeper meaning... (which) seeps in when you grasp what is going on"

There's the woman, Jennifer, who every girl was jealous of - after her accident she lost her memory and had to just believe she was what others tell her. Later did she realise she was leading a double life, although she was married, she was with a 'secret' man who actually made her feel happy. She was part of  society when divorce was frowned upon, when womans' opinions should not be expressed, nor should they have a say in politics. Jennifer had thought she was being 'out of order' by doing what made her happy and in her eyes, most importantly: 'what would people say?'. This really does show how society has changed. How lucky we are, as woman, to have the same rights as men in the world we live in today.

The dilemma: after Jennifer realised she would not never be as happy with her husband as she did with her lover, but will she do whats right for her, or what's right for woman in 60's society?

"I was disappointed... until I read the ending."

As I mentioned before, the ending was great. Don't get me wrong, I did not skip a few pages to read the ending, I read it cover to cover, but the beginning was a bit of a let down. It was unstructured, jumping from one decade to the next, one scenario to another without much of a clue to what's going on. It was a hard book to get into, but about 1/2 way in, it grabbed me. The story line is like a typical romantic book - it's got the protagonist, the problem they face and the love life they're not happy with. The interesting thing about this, which you realise mid-book, is that there's another girl, decades later, who can relate to all of this. I feel the book has a deeper meaning, the idea that 'you are not alone' seeps in when you grasp what is going on.

Overall, a good book - if only the beginning drew me in quicker!
Are you a fan of romantic stories? Or do you feel they always have the same storyline?

Read before Watching the Movie - Spring/Summer 2014

Hello! 

I find that I am reading a lot more now, sometimes for longer than I should, but reading never hurt anybody, right?! Also, I feel like The Fault in Our Stars has been getting a lot of attention and there are other books/movies coming out very soon that deserve credit too! If you're just looking for new books to read or movies to see, read on! 

Vampire Academy

This movie is actually already released - which I haven't seen. It seems like a fun, girly movie which is quite light hearted. It is basically about a girl who gets turned a vampire by her best friend, she is extremely cheeky and feisty!
Because I can't describe very well, heres the description from Wiki: 'It tells the story of Rose Hathaway, a seventeen/eighteen-year-old Dhampir girl, who is training to be a bodyguard for her Moroi best friend, Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir. In the process of learning how to defeat Strigoi (the evil undead vampires) in St. Vladimir's Academy, Rose finds herself caught in a forbidden romance with her instructor, Dimitri Belikov, while having an unbreakable bond with Lissa'
Trailer: here 
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5
Movie Release: 7th February 2014


Divergent 

Another very thrilling, interesting and rather popular book - a different take on life, one would say! From Amazon: 'For sixteen-year-old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs.

Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead….'

Trailer: here
Amazon Rating: 4.6/5
Movie Release: 21st March 2014


The Fault In Our Stars

After featuring it on another post - click here to view - I decided it was too good to miss out on this post too! The storyline from Wiki: 'The story is narrated by a sixteen-year-oldcancer patient named Hazel, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she subsequently meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee.'
Trailer: here
Amazon Rating: 4.7/5
Movie Release: 6th June 2014


The Hundred Foot Journey

Oprah Winfrey is helping produce the movie. Just to put that out there!
The storyline from amazon 'The Hundred-Foot Journey is about how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can represent the gulf between different cultures and desires. A testament to the inevitability of destiny, this is a fable for the ages—charming, endearing, and compulsively readable.' 

I thought the storyline seems wonderful and exotic, as well as Oprah being part of production, I'm excited to see how the movie turns out! 

Trailer: N/A
Amazon Rating: 3.8/5
Movie Release: 8th August 2014

I hope you got some ideas from the post and tell me, what is your most looked forward to movie?

image source: background, books 

BerryReads: Me Before You

Hello!

I'm catching up with our little Book Club with another Book Review! I actually have read another book after this one and was debating on which of the two to do a review on and to be honest with you, this one won hands down! The other one was good but this, this was life changing. I'm not joking.

It's basically about a girl, who is the narrator throughout the book as it is in first person, whom worked in a Café for about 7 years. That café shut down - you know recession and all these days, no I'm only joking, it was because another café kind of took over, it was to do with money problems - ANYWAY, that's beside the point. So, as she was one of the few sources of income in her home, she needed to find another job. The job that she found was as a carer in a wealthy family. She was told she would just have to talk to the man in the wheelchair. At first, the idea of a man in a wheelchair makes you think of an elderly man who has lived his life and age had gotten the better of him, but no. This was completely different.

The man in the wheelchair used to be a CEO of a huge company in the city of London, but an unfortunate accident got the better of him, and he was left with no motion from the neck down. EVERYTHING has to be done for him. He was left helpless. 

The carer, Louise, was given the job to help him out of depression. Being someone who was so high up in the ladder and living a great life to someone who cannot use the toilet must have been a HUGE jump, and I don't blame him for going into depression. Louise, who was living a simple life in a small town finally realised that she needed to break out of her shell. The man in the wheelchair, Will Traynor, has a very strong mind and opens up a window in Louise's mind that she needs to EXPAND her Horizons. She needs to get out there and get herself out of the small town she was in.

This book is written so well and I wish I could meet Will Traynor. He is so inspiring (even if he is only a character in a book!).
Honestly, when I was reading this book, the face of Daniel Grayson from Revenge was who I thought Will Traynor would be like. They seem so similar to me in my head - and my god is Daniel Grayson hot!

Louise has a mission in this book: to save a life. Did she do it? Read the book and find out!

Honestly, I cannot recommend this enough! I also told you about this book which I also recommended, but I've got to say 'Me Before You' has taken it to a whole new level.

What book should we discuss next?