Monday, April 28, 2014

More from Patrick Ness please!

More than this by Patrick Ness

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts
472 pages
Released: September 2013
Buy it @ book depository

A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . . 


Review

Patrick Ness has done it again! This book is like "A Monster Calls", it's hard to truly explain how you feel when you finish it. Anyone who reads this will get a different meaning or take something away from this. 

For me, what I take away from this is that we as humans live such short lives and we should try to make the most of what we have now. There is always more out there and never feel like 'is this all my life is going to be?'. If your life isn't what you want it to be, then go out there and do what you want and make it how you want it to be.

Seth was a refreshing character, I didn't particuarly like or hate him, but I can understand him. He was realistic and I liked that. I really loved Tomasz, always saving the day and giving us some comic relief in a world where there's nothing much except confusion and fear.

As with Ness' other books that I've read, there are always so many questions needing to be answered and lots of twists along the way too. This book is no different. There was action, suspense and mystery. I want MORE Patrick Ness please!

The next part of my review is a bit of a spoiler so read at your risk if you haven't read the book. Ness really made me think: How would I feel if all my life until now had ony been a sort of dream, not real and that I was living a life that meant nothing? If this isn't real then I would be happy with the descisions I've made. But, I don't think I'd like to live two different lives. I'm happy with the one I have now, I can see how for some people this would be a blessing to have a chance to live life a different way.

 

On the cover 

Something I have to mention about this cover is the feel. When holding this book in your hand and rubbing the cover it has a weird almost soft feel to it. Pick the hard cover up and have a feel. I love this cover! So simple but it draws my eye straight away. It's telling me could there be more than this? Open up this book to find out.

What I'm listening to next: How I Live Now Meg Rosoff


Thursday, April 10, 2014

Chocolate Birds Nest Treats


I was extremely busy during March and it showed in the amount of blog posts for last month. Only 1! That has to be some sort of a record for me haha! We are just over a week away from Easter, Have you bought all your chocolates and gifts for family & friends yet?

Have you got your special treats organised to bring along to an Easter party? No!? Well, here is something I want to share with you all. They are so simple to make, look fantastic and most of all taste delicious!

These are just your everyday chocolate spiders with some cute easter chocolate eggs on top! Peanut butter lovers will gobble these up!

Makes: approx 20 (it all depends on how big you make them)

Prep & Cooking time: approx 30mins

Setting time: Min 3hrs

Ingredients:

1 100g packet of Chang's Original Fried Noodles
1 350g block of Cadbury Chocolate
2 Tablespoons of peanut butter
1 Bag of Chocolate Candy Eggs

Instructions:

1. Prepare trays with grease-proof paper

2. Cut or break up all the Cadbury chocolate, then melt it along with the peanut butter in a large saucepan over another saucepan filled with water on the stove.

3. Once this is melted and combined, remove from stove and add in the noodles. Mix very carefully, trying not to break too many of the noodles.

4. Taking a spoon (I use a table spoon) scoop out mixture and place onto prepared tray until all is used.

5. Now you can artisticly arrange your eggs on top of the nests however you like!

6. Put this into the fridge and let it set for at least 3 hrs. ENJOY!

TIP: You can put the chocolate and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl, then microwave for approx 1min instead of melting it on the stove if you prefer. This way is a lot quicker. Make sure that mixture is smooth before adding in noodles. You may need to reheat if not completely melted.

Have you ever tried making these before? How did it go?





Monday, April 7, 2014

The reluctant reviewer

The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts
264 pages
Released: February 2012
Buy it @ angus & robertson

But there I go, getting ahead of myself. Skipping straight to the part where I was front-page news and they were calling me Dorothy, instead of starting at the beginning...

When Dodie's parents go missing just as final year exams are about to start, she convinces herself they're fine. But when the least likely boy in class holds the key – quite literally – to the huge secret her parents have been hiding all these years, it's up to Dodie, her sister, the guy from school, and two guys she's never met before, to take on the challenge of a lifetime. So now Dodie's driving – unlicensed –to Sydney, and being chased by bad guys, the police, and one very handsome good guy.



Review

 

I have been waiting SO long to read this. I've heard all sorts of really amazing things about it and couldn't wait to find out what was in the basement. Unfortunately for me, the big secret of what was in the basement was spoiled by someone opening their BIG mouth! It would've been awesome not knowing and finding out through reading the story. I would never have guessed what was down there. ::grumble grumble::

Anywho, What I want to talk about is the actual book now. It was such a strange, but simple story. I wonder where the author got the idea from. (If anyone follows her or has read anything about it, please leave a comment, thanks!)

Now that I've read it, I don't think it's as awesome as I thought. Maybe I hyped it up too much or it could be that the mystery surrounding the book had been revealed to me. Either could be true, I still really enjoyed reading it and it was a nice short book with under 300 pages. Something else that let the book down a bit was the ending. I'm a little disappointed, it felt like what happened with Jones (people who have read this may know what I'm talking about) was a way to wrap up the story quickly and didn't need a lot of explaining. There was a good amount of romance and intrigue to keep me going, but not enough to get 5 stars.

Overall, a pleasant story with likable characters and an interesting twist. Worth the 4 stars and I will definitely try something else written by Gabrielle Williams


On the cover 

 

Now that I've read the book I can understand what that sparkly cross means. Why sparklers though? I guess because they are used during special occasions, and this journey will always be remembered in the characters hearts? All I know is that I think it's an awesome cover and I'm drawn to it!


What I'm reading next: Just One Year by Gayle Forman


 
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