My life next door huntley Fitzpatrick

My life next door

Huntley Fitzpatrick

   
 5 star read

Reviewer: Emily
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
 Format:Paperback
Source:book depository

 Genre: Young adult, contemporary

About Book

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.

As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A transporting debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another.

My Thoughts

         

I picked this book up for a friend for christmas but after reading the blurb again i decided to read it. Im so glad i didnt. i finished it within a few hours and after just sat there a little unsure about how to feel. so now I'm finally going to write what i think. 
first off 9 kids, thats a hell of a lot of kids but they made it work, the house was warm and loving. Parents totally in love and the children fed and very happy. Seeing a mother with two not even show half the affection toward her own children was sad and even in the end i dont feel like the mother redeemed herself enough to be likeable. 
Samantha and Jase come from totally different worlds and even with only a fence between them dont encounter each other often enough to know the others name by sight. The garrets were the kind of family i would want to be in, there house chaotic and often very messy but filled with laughter with parents who are still deeply in love, the Reeds are stiff with sterile surfaces, the Grace the mother, cleaning as a stress reliever. 
Sams older sister is rarely seen and only out to do for herself, Grace the same. The Garrets have each child with big personalities who look out for each other and i feel like sam fit right in. 
What i loved most about this book was the fact both Sam and Jase, even being only 17 years old, were mature. There was no real drama, of course there was the climax and i understood why sam handled it the way she did but it was resolved without much fuss and for that Huntley is now right up there in my top 5 favourite authors. Dont get me wrong i love drama but sometimes its refreshing to have young adults act like young adults and not spoilt 3 year old. 
George by far was my favourite character, funny, cute and wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind but lets face it! what 4 year old is!!!
This book id say is a light summer read, it wasn't heavy, simple enough to read and didnt leave me a balling puddle on the floor. The cover alone is beautiful enough to draw you in but what lays beneath will leave you wanting more. Thankfully there is A SECOND BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 as you can see I'm very excited and will be preordering shortly. 
I can't wait to get to know the hard as nails Alice and slightly messed up Tim a little more. I just hope Tims sister isn't in it because i really dont like her. 

After by amy efaw

After 

Amy Efaw

 4 star read

Reviewer: Emily
Author: Amy Efaw
 Format:Paperback
Source:book depository

 Genre: Young adult, contemporary

About Book

                                 

BEFORE it all, Devon was a good student, a good athlete, an all-round good girl. But then IT happened- the thing that was so horrible, so shameful, so impossible to imagine that Devon simply chose not to admit it to anyone, even herself.

But denial cant make things go away, and now Devon’s in a juvenile detention center, facing a possible life sentence for her actions.

Does she deserve that punishment? Did she know what she was doing? Or was her denial so deep that she was unable to register the seemingly unavoidable changes happening to her?

Told with empathy and precision, Devon’s story is a gripping page-turner that will challenge your beliefs about conscious and consciousness.

                       My Thoughts

                                   

An infant left in the trash to die. A teenage mother who never knew she was pregnant . . .

Before That Morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon Davenport: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby. Soon the connection is made - Devon has just given birth; the baby in the trash is hers. After That Morning, there's only one way to define Devon: attempted murderer.

And yet gifted author Amy Efaw does the impossible - she turns Devon into an empathetic character, a girl who was in such deep denial that she refused to believe she was pregnant. Through airtight writing and fast-paced, gripping storytelling, Ms. Efaw takes the reader on Devon's unforgettable journey toward clarity, acceptance, and redemption.

Now whilst both those desciptions sound amazing they really don’t give you an insight as to how heartbreaking this book really is. From the second I picked it up I couldn’t put it down, I just had to know what would happen and how it would end.

In the beginning I hated Devon for what she did and just wanted to see her get punished. Firstly she dumped her newborn baby into the trash without a care in the world. Id only just given birth to my son so I was judging her on something I didn’t truly understand. Whilst I might never have been able to do that I am not her.

Throughout the book we see that Devon is very driven, smart and would do anything for her team. I started to really like her at this point but still had what she did in the back of my head so I was undecided. I wasn’t sure what I would have done, she was so far in denial that she honestly didn’t admit to herself she was pregnant so when it came time for her to have the baby she didn’t know what was going on. I think in the back of her head she knew all along but after the traumatic experience of labor, going through it alone and not really knowing she was pregnant made her react instead of think. She made huge mistakes and ruined her life but I see why she did it, I just don’t agree. In the end she did the first and last good thing she would be able to do for her daughter.

By the end of the book I was crying like I did throughout the book, finding out the baby was ok and Devon accepting what she did as wrong.

Overall id give this book a 4/5 stars because it was amazingly written and really got me into the head of Devon and change my opinion of things and for a mother that’s a really hard thing to do when it comes to innocent babies involved.

Beautifully written, heartbreaking and giving you a look into why some people do things. The mind is a powerful thing and I truly believe that if you think something and will it to be true that eventually your mind will help you overlook the facts.

To anyone who was thinking about reading this but wasn’t sure I say please do, this book is worth the time to read. 

End of year bookshelf

 Hello everyone, Emily here. 
Seeing how the year is almost over i thought i would give you all a look at my bookshelves before christmas. Though i do have about 12 books coming over the next month ill be showing them to you in a book haul later this month. 
My bookshelves are my babies, i had them custom built so the shelves are adjustable to maximise book space and they go from floor to ceiling almost. I'm in the process of getting a third built :)
i have quite a lot of books but to me is just doesn't feel like i have enough yet, so maybe another shelf or two will help with that. 
I have a range of genre on my shelf but YA and paranormal are my favourite, i rearrange them twice a month and its about due to be done as you can see but hopefully ill be fitting in more books by the time i get around to it. 
If you want to hear a review for a particular book just let me know and ill be more than happy to. Ive read every book on those shelves as i keep the ones I'm still reading on my desk so ask away :)

 

So Hi, My names emily, I'm 21 and a mum to a little boy. He's my entire world and his laugh makes the days seem brighter. 

Im a massive book nerd and would spend my days with my nose stuck in a book if i could. I hope to be sharing my book adventures with you so keep checking in because you never know what book ill review next !!!!

Siege Sarah Mussi

Siege
Sarah Mussi

 5 star read

Reviewer: Emily
Author: Sarah Mussi
 Format:Paperback

 Genre: Dystopian

About Book

                                 
Leah Jackson - in detention. Then armed Year 9s burst in, shooting. She escapes, just. But the new Lock Down system for keeping intruders out is now locking everyone in. She takes to the ceilings and air vents with another student, Anton, and manages to use her mobile to call out to the world. 

First: survive the gang - the so-called 'Eternal Knights'.
Second: rescue other kids taken hostage, and one urgently needing medical help. 

Outside, parents gather, the army want intelligence, television cameras roll, psychologists give opinions, sociologists rationalize, doctors advise - and they all want a piece of Leah. Soon her phone battery is running out; the SAS want her to reconnoiter the hostage area ... But she is guarding a terrifying conviction. Her brother, Connor, is at the center of this horror. Is he with the Eternal Knights or just a pawn?

She remembers. All those times Connor reached out for help ... If she'd listened, voiced her fears about him earlier, would things be different now? Should she give up her brother?

With only Anton for company, surviving by wits alone, Leah wrestles with the terrible choices ...

                                                               
                       My Thoughts
                               

I really did enjoy this book, i purchased it from my local big w without bothering to read what it was about since it had no blurb anywhere. I went of the name and gunshot marks on both sides of the book and thought it was about a shooting but nothing more. 
Here i go beginning to read and within the first few pages i begin to think somethings off. i continue reading anyway but before i know it i am hooked. 
I'm brought into a world set a few generations from now, the school systems different and the technology a little more advanced. Enough to be believable. 
Leah is the main character, it follows what she goes through from the the beginning of the day of the shooting until the end. Without giving to much away it begins with Leah, 16, her younger brother Conner who is 14 and younger sister who is 6 living with their single mother who suffers some severe depression. The mother not even getting off the lounge long enough to notice her children are even alive. So leah takes responsibility. She has a concert that evening and it seems to be a massive focus for her, something she can look forward to thats purely her own. Its the brothers day to take the sister to school but he skips out leaving Leah to take her making her late for school and having after school detention. There goes her concert hopes and dreams out the door but before Sarah lets you focus on that too much gun shots sound off. 
From there its a race against time to save whomever Leah can and try and find out who is behind this. Risking her life to save others  like any good heroin and it was believable.  I believed every moment of this book from the first page to the last. Set in a dystopian world that changed are slight, it captures you and draws you in. 

Whilst this is not a light read in the slightest its not a long book but brings forth every emotion we have. i cried, laughed and clapped all through this book. 







I highly recommend this book to those who do not mind a sad story and are not triggered by shootings and death. Sarah Mussi really delivered on this book.