Review: Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Kindred Spirits
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Macmillan Kids UK
Published: February 25th 2016 (World Book Day Book)
Page Number: 96
Rating: 4/5

Summary:
'Everybody likes everything these days. The whole world is a nerd.'
'Are you mad because other people like Star Wars? Are you mad because people like me like Star Wars?'
'Maybe.' If you broke Elena's heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she's expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does. What she's not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectible Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels.

REVIEW

 

For those who don't know what a World Book Day book is, they're basically short stories that some authors write that sell for £1 on World Book Day in hopes to get people into reading. So, I received Kindred Spirits in a special package from Macmillan - Thanks Kat! - I knew I had to start reading Kindred Spirits straight away and I'm so happy I did because despite it's size, I got so much out of it. I learned then Kindred Spirits isn't a book for just Star Wars fans, it's a book for everyone who is apart of a Fandom; getting together with people who bleed the same thing you do and building up friendships from doing so.

 

Rainbow Rowell does what she does best and that is creating characters that you fall in love with so easily, she mastered it with her short story 'Midnight' and she did it again. I want a full novel on Elena. She's quirky and fun, and slightly reminded me of a mixture of both Eleanor from 'Eleanor and Park' and Cath from 'Fangirl'. And then we have Gabe. Sweet, awkward Gabe. I honestly couldn't help but fall in love with him, he's the kid in high school that we all recognise immediately; nerdy and gangly and stands out too much in a crowd even if they try to hide themselves, it never works! There also is the fact that Elena's friends happen to bully him as well and Elena tends to just sit by and not say anything, so you can't actually dislike him for hating Elena, I would to. But I just love how they worked together in the short story to become sort of friends.

 

Would I pee in a Starbucks cup like Elena had to? No.

Would I recommend you pick this short story up? Hell, yes!

 

 

 

🎧 : Out of the Blue by Adore Delano

 

ARC Review: This is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang

Title: This is Where the World Ends
Author: Amy Zhang
Genre: YA Contemporary / Mystery
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published: March 22nd 2016
Page Number: 304
Rating: 2/5

Summary:

Janie and Micah, Micah and Janie. That’s how it’s been ever since elementary school, when Janie Vivien moved next door. Janie says Micah is everything she is not. Where Micah is shy, Janie is outgoing. Where Micah loves music, Janie loves art. It’s the perfect friendship—as long as no one finds out about it. But then Janie goes missing and everything Micah thought he knew about his best friend is colored with doubt.

 

REVIEW

As soon as I read the synopsis for this novel, I knew I had to read it. I love YA Contemporary that also has that hint of Mystery that has you trying to guess what's happened, and 'This is Where the World Ends' was completely compelling and captured my attention completely.

The story is told in duo POV between Janie and Micah, and while I liked getting differing POV's I also felt like this is where the story also became a little...repetitive and annoying. Micah as a character is incredibly hard to relate to because he has no idea what happened that night and he's on a journey to finding out what happened but because he has no idea he tends to lash out quite a lot and second guess things. I wanted to like Micah and in the beginning I was rooting for him; I was rooting for him because of his friendship with Janie but by the end of the novel the only feelings I had for him were hatred. I quite liked Janie. We didn't get to see the full story from her POV but what we did see was insightful and I could see how anyone would be friends with her.

The whole book is based on trying to find out what happened that night, the night of the accident and I was really looking forward to finding out but the end result was disappointing, I felt like it was a cop out, like it was the easy root to take and I just didn't appreciate that. I thought the whole twist would have been life changing but it just wasn't.

I'd still recommend the book because it was like nothing else I've read before and we all need something entirely out of our comfort zones to read.

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🎧: Gentle Face Massage and Cleansing Role Play by Deluca ASMR