Night Owls and Summer Skies by Rebecca Sullivan

Emma Lane is a newly-minted adult who for the past several years has been living under the custody of her father. It is now summer and she is being driven to her mother's to spend time with her before she goes off into the big bad world. But not all is what she hoped it would. When arriving at her mother's she is told that instead of staying at her mother's home, her mum is going on a cruise... but without her. Instead, she is thrown into the world which she escaped from as a kid, Camp Mapplewood.

Camp Mapplewood and her have history that goes way back, but one of the main points which Emma makes early on is the mental health issues which she has inherited from it. The only connection that she does seem to have left since her last encounter is her friend, turned pen pal, Jessie.

Emma seems like one of those people who doesn't think before she speaks or doesn't like it when she doesn't get her own way. This is expressed when she realises that she has to spend the summer at camp rather than staying with her mother. For instance, the first thing she tries to do is ring her Dad up to complain about how she is made to go to camp, rather than staying with her mother. Yes, this can be seen as in some ways understandable, due to her previous experiences of being there. But then, this can be seen to take a different turn of trying to upset people and their relationships so that she gets what she wants. It's not charming. It's ignorant and selfish.

There are also moments which present itself where it is clear that there are times when people are trying to help her or offer a hand in defeat and instead of taking it she snuffs it in a childish demeanour. I hate to say it, there are not many books where I have come across where from the very beginning my opinion of a character is not likeable. But it is true, Emma Lane is not likeable or relatable. The only thing I truly feel for her is when her mother suggests that going to camp would make her straight, which is understandably blood-boiling in any situation.

But this is when my rant is over and my opinions begin to soften. Although I'm not the biggest fan of Emma, I did begin to like her more with her relationships with the Black family. How she treated Gwen as a friend when she didn't have any; with Vivian and how she began to soften to the idea that maybe sharing things is not a bad thing, especially when you are crying for help and finally Julie, lovely and motherly Julie who helped her decide that her future can mean something, even when you feel like you are not getting anywhere.

So I don't feel as though this book is a bad attempt, no way. It is just that sometimes its ok to not like someone completely, but that is normal as its like life itself. You can't be forced to like every single person you meet. It is just in this case, Emma needed someone to open her up and show her what is really important. It's crazy to think that when I did finish this book I felt some sadness that I didn't get to see Emma in the next stage of her life, which is not something that I would have ever thought about in the beginning.

At the beginning I was adamant that I wanted to give this book a two star. However, I think that as Emma improved, so did my opinion of her and now I give it a three star.

Thoughts of a Bookworm #5: Goodreads Choice Award is Fake

Hello! So, I know that it has been some time since I was last writing to you all. But I saw an email the other day and it really got me that I couldn’t not share my thoughts on it. As we all know it’s that time of year again. The fairy lights are beginning to twinkle, the days and nights are getting darker and colder and we are all starting to look ahead to the next year. But what comes before next year? Well, the Goodreads Book Choice Awards of course. One of the biggest events in a bookworm’s calendar. But personally, I think the whole thing is an insult to the whole book community. Obviously, when I was younger I didn’t think any different to most bookworms. However, I have come to realise that it isn’t necessarily what is the best book of the year but rather a popularity contest. More so now than ever with the insurgence of ‘BookTok’. Honestly, I don’t think we will ever get a book worthy of the title ever again. It has become a pure vanity project. Take me back to the T...

What's not to be perfect?

Happy New Year! Like as I have said last week, we are going into something a bit more depressing. To start off this post I have decided that before I do go into specific details, I thought it would be a good idea to look at New Years resolutions. What is yours? I know for a fact what mine will be. It would have to be about how I always leave work until I have to do it. So this coming year my method for to stop making this habit would be to maybe make the habit of doing it earlier than what I once did. Just remember guys, never make a New Years resolution if you can't keep at it. Otherwise what is the point of actually making one? Anyway the book I am going to be focusing on this Tuesday, would be a book called The Perfectionists. It is about how five girls devise a plan against this boy called Nolan Hotchkiss and of course there will be a murder, betrayal and a bit of poison. I have to be completely honest about how i felt about the whole plot, before going onto other re...

Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking

The sequel to Frostfire in the Kanin Chronicles trilogy... So it finally came out in May, after the very disappointing ending of the first book - Frostfire. But this time it came back with a slightly big bang. Not only do we get to the bottom of the mysterious disappearance of Queen Linnea. But also that there is something much more going on, which corruption fills the air with a metal taste. The plot itself is largely more focused compared to the latter first book, which really only took us in the direction in terms of background and context. There is a lot more heated passion between a few characters, as well as some expected deaths towards the end. Luckily with this trilogy, all of the three books take place of being published within 2015. Therefore, it is not a long wait until we all find out how Bryn would end up. Towards the end of the book, I must admit that I found it to become very addictive. As there was a lot of...