REVIEW: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Title: Saving Francesca
Author: Melina Marchetta
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary.
Publication Date: June 5th 2006
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Format: Paperback
Pages: 252
Rating: 4/5

Francesca battles her mother, Mia, constantly over what's best for her. All Francesca wants is her old friends and her old school, but instead Mia sends her to St. Sebastian's, an all-boys' school that has just opened its doors to girls. Now Francesca's surrounded by hundreds of boys, with only a few other girls for company. All of them weirdos, or worse.

Then one day, Mia is too depressed to get out of bed. One day turns into months, and as her family begins to fall apart, Francesca realizes that without her mother's high spirits, she hardly knows who she is. But she doesn't yet realize that she's more like Mia than she thinks. With a little unlikely help from St. Sebastian's, she just might be able to save her family, her friends, and - especially- herself.

There’s something about Melina Marchetta’s writing that just makes me irrevocably happy. This is my third book of hers, and by the end of each book, every single time, I end up feeling happy and like something inside me has changed. Saving Francesca was, obviously, no exception.

I always go into Melina’s books a bit hesitant, I don’t really know why but I always do, however by about page 30 or so I’m completely in love and there’s no turning back. I don’t know what it was about Saving Francesca that made me suddenly fall in love, but before I knew it I’d reached the end and I was desperate for just a few more pages. I think that’s always the sign of a good book, when you reach the end but you know it’s not going to be enough. Luckily, in this case there is a companion novel so I won’t be completely without the characters I fell in love with here.

Francesca is a really great character. She is definitely flawed, but there are parts of her that I could connect to and I could understand (most of) her reactions to the events in the book. Her group friends are completely amazing. They’re so fun to read about and they’re all so different – it’s especially great to see how their friendship evolves through the book. I can’t choose a favourite, I love all of them equally.

It’s such a fun book, it’s just easy to get through and it feels so short. It is only 243 pages long, but it feels even shorter than that. I’m still sitting here 24 hours later just desperately hoping that I somehow missed out on the final page or something because I just need more.

Now we’ve reached the part of the review where I tell you all to pick up this book if you haven’t already because you seriously NEED it in your life. You may think you’re all good without it, but I’m telling you – just read it.

MINI-REVIEW: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Title: Belzhar
Author: Meg Wolitzer
Genre: Young Adult, Magical Realism.
Publication Date: October 1st 2014
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Format: Paperback

Pages: 266

Rating: 4/5

If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing him in the library stacks.

She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.

But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.

Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss.

From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.

This book was provided to me by the publisher but this in no way alters my opinions.

Belzhar was different than I was expecting. I knew it was magical realism and that it was had elements of The Bell Jar/Sylvia Plath, but that was it. I enjoyed the story – I’ve never read anything like it and I thought it was very beautiful and unique. It was also just really easy to plough through – it’s only a short book, but it’s also just one of those books that you can read in a number of hours. I think the only thing that stopped me from being a 5 star book was that I didn’t feel there was a lot of Plath in there – I would have liked to see a bit more, but that’s just because I’ve recently become a Plath fangirl. I’d definitely suggest Belzhar to anyone who’s looking for a quick, fun read.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book.

#UPDATE - TBR

*Wipes the dust off the other co-bloggers side of the blog*

Ha! So I'm sure you have heard, but Chami is back! I've finally finished exams and now surf in the kingdom of freedom. Hugs and books all round!

And what better way to come back than state ALL THE BOOKS ON MY TBR. So, I really did not have the chance to read a lot these past two years because of finals and so without further a do (is that what they say? no, Chami, no it is not - Ely), here are the books on my DEFINITE TBR!

- The Infinite Sea (#2) by Rick Yancy
- The Retribution of Mara Dyer (#3) by Michelle Hopkins
- The Lux Series by Jennifer LA
- Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass
- The Grisha Series by Leigh Bardugo
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowel


Not many, I know! But these are the ones I really do have to put aside time for! If any has any suggestions please leave them down below!

REVIEW: Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

Title: Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned"
Author: Lena Dunham

Genre: Humor, Autobiography.

Publication Date: September 30th 2014

Publisher: Random House

Format: E-Book

Pages: 256

Rating: 3/5

"There is nothing gutsier to me than a person announcing that their story is one that deserves to be told," writes Lena Dunham, and it certainly takes guts to share the stories that make up her first book, Not That Kind of Girl. These are stories about getting your butt touched by your boss, about friendship and dieting (kind of) and having two existential crises before the age of 20. Stories about travel, both successful and less so, and about having the kind of sex where you feel like keeping your sneakers on in case you have to run away during the act. Stories about proving yourself to a room of 50-year-old men in Hollywood and showing up to "an outlandishly high-fashion event with the crustiest red nose you ever saw." Fearless, smart, and as heartbreakingly honest as ever, Not That Kind of Girl establishes Lena Dunham as more than a hugely talented director, actress and producer-it announces her as a fresh and vibrant new literary voice.

My knowledge of Lena Dunham before I picked up this book was pretty limited – I knew she was the creator/writer/star of Girls and that was about it. Despite that, I picked this up because I’d heard so good things about it and I have this new obsession about trying books that are normally out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed reading it for the most part.

I personally found it funny. Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot I could relate too, but there were still things I found funny even though I’d never experienced something like that. It was also reasonably quick and easy to get through – it didn’t require a lot of thought so I could read it late at night when I was starting to get a little tired.

There were some things I didn’t like. I found it kind of hard to follow at some points – I would get confused with people in the story. The biggest thing was the timeline – there wasn’t really one at all, the entire story was just all over the place. I never realised how much I appreciated strict linear timelines until now. There were also a few parts that I just found completely unnecessary or just plain weird.

This might sound strange, but I don’t know if it’s a book I would recommend. Sure, I enjoyed it but I think you need to be in a particular mood to read something like this.