Review: WHAT LIGHT by JAY ASHER

Recently I received a beautiful package from Macmillan Children's books called Stories With Heart,  which is a range of their upcoming releases from Christmas 2016 to Spring 2017. All these books sound amazing and I am really excited to check them out. Below is just a sneak peek of some the amazing books coming out in the next year, see if you can see anything your dying to get your hands on or are intrigued by! By the way,how beautiful do these proof copies! Normally a proof copy will be white, maybe have the title on... but these are beautiful on a whole other level! I will quickly go take a picture of their covers so you can see what they look like as well as the spines.



BACK!!! Here are these beauties! I am not going to talk about them much now as hopefully you will get to see reviews of these over the coming months, mostly likely closer to their release dates which you can see on the spines.




So... as soon as I got these books, I was dying to read them... I just didn't know which! In the end I chose the book with the release date that is soonest, which was What Light by Jay Asher. And I am really glad I did :)

So Jay Asher, as many of you may already know, is the author of the infamous Thirteen Reasons Why, which I read a very long time ago now but enjoyed nonetheless and gave the book 4 out of 5 stars.

What Light is a very different style of book to that of Thirteen Reasons Why as even though What Light does look at some difficult topics, the book is not as focused on that and is a lot more light hearted.

Off point: Whenever I say What Light I think of the Shakespeare quote: 'What light through yonder window breaks?'

So you can probably see what the cover looks like for What Light above in the picture, its the green one with the fairy lights. Below I have attached the cover of the book that will be published on the 20th of October 2016. I think from looking at the second cover you get a lot more of an idea of the book, but what I do love, is the text that features on the published cover is used throughout the books for the chapter numbers.

So what is this book about?

The main character of this books Sierra, is a teenager whose family runs a Christmas Tree Farm in Oregon, and every winter they travel to California where they sell their trees. However, Sierra has always struggled living with her two different lives, at home and in California. At home, her best friends Elizabeth and Rachel want to be able to spend the winter holidays with Sierra and go to the Winter Formal and do Christmas, holiday type things together. But in California she loves helping out selling the Christmas trees with her family, and gets to see her other best friend Heather, who she only sees as winter. This year, however, may be Sierra and her families last year in California as the business is becoming harder to make a profit with stores selling their own trees etc. Sierra wants to make this winter be one to remember as it could be her last.

And then along comes Caleb, a good looking boy with cute dimples and an affinity with Christmas trees and not combing his hair. He has a and reputation for something that happened years ago but is a lovable character.

The story explores the relationship between these two characters, and how their relationship develops. Can Sierra understand Caleb's past and how will they cope with so little time left together when they are falling head fast in love.


My Review:

A solid 4 stars.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a perfect cutesy romance where the characters were interesting and the relationships between family and friends is paramount. The love story is a fluffy and adorable, at sometimes the characters could be a bit frustrating and I think it doesn't hint at their age, but it is difficult to work that out. Sometimes it was a little too cute, but the story is meant to be that and fluffy stories like these are perfect for this time of year. This is very much a book you will want to read at Christmas, snuggled up with blankets, hot chocolate, with the Christmas tree lights going and a warm fire (if only).

This book is set for age 12+ , it is a very cutesy romance and I can see young mature readers being able to read this with not problem in terms of content.

The book centres on messages and topics such as family and friends, forgiveness, trust, redemption, misconceptions, love and CHRISTMAS :D

I thoroughly enjoyed this and if you like Stephanie Perkins books or Dash and Lilly's Book of Dares, I think you will love this.
I would recommend this book if you are wanting something fluffy, light-hearted and something to get you in the mood for Christmas.



I hope you enjoyed my review, let me know what you have been reading lately, or if you have read this book and want to comment on it. Hopefully, I will be back again with a review of another book soon. And thank you to Macmillan Children's Books for being so generous and sending me these books :) Bye Bye for now

The Night That Changed Everything By Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice

Book Review: The Night That Changed Everything 

by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice

4.5 Stars out of 5

I received this book from Penguin recently when I was asked if I wanted to read and review Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice's new book! When I realised this was the author's that wrote The Best Thing That Never Happened to me, I thought I would pick it up. I really enjoyed the first book Laura and Jimmy wrote together and was excited to try something new from them. This book comes out of the 24th of March, so this week!

So what is this book about?

The Night That Changed Everything is a contemporary chick-lit with a dual perspective that reverts the normal love story.

Rebecca and Ben have been together almost a year when the book opens up and are perfect for each other. Until, a throwaway comment at Ben's birthday causes the couple's past to be changed. The book follows the couple as their relationship struggles with this new information and how it impacts all the people around them.

The book is about relationships, but more importantly friendships. The book is sad and happy and everything in between.

My Opinion 

This book didn't take me long to read at all, I flew through it. It was an easy and enjoyable read. I really enjoyed the dual perspective as I feel it brings another dimension to the books. Being able to write from both genders is a interesting and creative way of showing how a relationship affects both the people in it. I loved the way the book is not a normal love story, the opposite of what most film and books do - 'the getting together'. Although, that made the story sad in parts. I loved the friendship dynamic and the support network that the authors create for these characters. There are so many great characters and I love the message that, it's the people who are there every step of the way that matter. I found the characters frustrating at some points, with miscommunication and how they could have solved things by just talking. But at the same point the authors create a modern and realistic relationship. You are rooting for the relationship which makes it even harder to read. The story has a lot of laughs and happy points but it also has moments that break your heart.

I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it for people who love contemporary books, and love stories that are a bit different and  realistic. As I said this book comes out on the 24th, so in 5 days!

Thank you Penguin for allowing me to read this book, and I can't wait to see what Laura and Jimmy come up with next :D